Page:1898 NB Magazine.djvu/7

The 14th of January, 1837, fell on a Saturday, as it does in 1899, sixty-two years later, when those who have even a faint recollection of the eventful night of that day are now among our very oldest inhabitants. That Saturday night was one of the coldest which had been known for many years, and it was the occasion of what would have come down in history as the great fire of St. John, had it not been for the still more memorable calamity of the 20th of June, 1877.

Three-score years ago, nearly all the mercantile houses of St. John were near the harbor front, and most of them in the limited area between and including Prince William street and the wharves to the westward. There were, indeed, some prominent houses in King street, on Market square, the North wharf, Nelson and Dock streets, etc., but the wealth of the community was largely represented in the district first named. It did not look like a wealthy place, however, for nearly all the buildings were of wood, and most of them dated back to the early years of the city, yet they held vast stores of merchandize, much of it brought hither from