Page:1898 NB Magazine.djvu/10

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
4
THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

was burned and the house of Mr. Brint, adjoining it on the south was badly damaged.

All this time the fire was advancing rapidly in other directions. To the north it burned everything before it on Ward and Water streets and the South wharf. Extending to Prince William street, it made a clean sweep of that thoroughfare from Market square to the Bank of New Brunswick, on one side, and from Miss Farley's, the second building north of Church street, to Miss Boyd's, on the lot south of the present city hall, where the Jarvis building now stands. The buildings between Miss Farley's and the corner of King street were not destroyed, but within the bounds previously mentioned—Prince William street, Dock street, South wharf, Ward street, Peters and Johnston wharves—every building but one was burned. That exception was the brick building on the south side of Market square which stood on the site now occupied by the telephone office, and its preservation was ascribe to the fact that it had iron shutters on the rear windows. The building was occupied by C. R. Jarvis, merchant, and by Neville Parker and John H. Gray, attorneys.

During the progress of the fire the sight was a terrible one. The wooden buildings, some of which were four stories high, burned with a blaze that lighted up the city and its surroundings, and the reflection could be seen over the whole country for a distance of many miles. It was noticed at Fredericton, for instance, and for a long distance in various other directions. The streets in the vicinity of the fire were littered with all kinds of moveable property, and here and there were shivering wretches striving to guard what in many cases was all that remained of their earthly possessions. Daylight added to the horror of the scene when it revealed the extent of the desolation over what had been the business centre of the city.