Destructive fire in Manchester — over three Million dollars' worth of property destroyed.
--One of the most destructive fires which has ever occurred in this State took place in Manchester on Friday night last. About 12 o'clock, the citizens in the neighborhood were aroused by the roaring of the flames, which proceeded from the northwestern wing of the Messrs. Gary's tobacco factory, situated on Barney street, between Allen and Bainbridge, and in an incredibly short time the whole building was in a light blaze. The wind setting in a favorable direction, the large tobacco warehouse, on the opposite side of the street, owned by Messrs, John Gilmour & Co., soon took fire, and despite the efforts of a number of citizens to put it out, the destructive elements traveled from one section of the vast structure to the other till the whole of it was entirely consumed.When the last portion of this warehouse and all the various buildings inside of the enclosure were levelled to the ground, the wind suddenly changed to the northwest, and carried the flames in the direction where the fire originated, communicating them with the fine family residence of Mrs. Ophelia Fuqus, a widow lady, on the corner of Bainbridge and Barney streets, and from thence spreading to her kitchen in the yard, Mrs. Susan P. Allen's kitchen on the next lot, and another building adjacent, in the occupancy of the Messrs. Gary, owned by William Gray, of this city, resulting in the total destruction of them all. In addition to these buildings, which were destroyed, the residences of F. W. Redford, Patrick Gary, Mrs. Susan P. Allen, and the large framed tenement used as negro quarters for the Manchester cotton factory, took fire several times, and were considerably damaged.
The buildings known as Gilmour's tobacco warehouse covered a whole square, fronting on Bainbridge street, all of which were enclosed by a brick wall. Inside of these were burnt up six hundred and seventy hogsheads of fine stripped tobacco, four hundred hogsheads of leaf tobacco, three hundred hogsheads of stemmed tobacco, which were the property of Gilmour & Co., and two hundred and thirty-four hogsheads of leaf tobacco, the property of the Confederate States. The aggregate cost of the tobacco destroyed, belonging to Gilmour & Co., amounted to £35,000 before the war, which, estimated at the present value of exchange, will exceed the sum of $3,000,000. On this there was an insurance of $224,000, held altogether in Southern companies. Add to the above amount the loss of the warehouse buildings and that used as a factory by the Gary brothers, also owned by Gilmour & Co., and the loss will be increased to upwards of two hundred thousand dollars more. Upon the buildings was a nominal insurance. The senior partner of the concern, Mr. John Gilmour, left this country for Scotland (of which he is a native) in the year 1859, where he has resided over since. During his absence the business of the firm has been attended to by a young man bearing the same name, who is a relative.
The Messrs. Gary, the proprietors of the tobacco factory in which the fire was first discovered, lost upwards of one hundred thousand dollars' worth of tobacco, (a large portion of which was manufactured,) tobacco presses, screws, frames, &c., on which they had an insurance of $25,000.
About $50,000 will probably cover the whole loss of property owned by Mrs. Fuqus, Mrs. Allen, William Gray and others, on which we have heard of no insurance.
On account of the low state of water in the river, and the limited supply which could be pumped into the Manchester reservoir, no assistance could be rendered by the fire engines. The Richmond fire companies, as soon as the alarm was given, buried to the foot of Mayo's bridge, where they awaited the return of Chief-Engineer Barnes, who went over to ascertain to what extent the department there could be assisted. In a short time Mr. Barnes came back and ordered company B. and the Hook and Ladder company to hasten to the scene, but the stream which the reservoir afforded was so feeble that it soon became manifest that the fire was not to be extinguished with water.
This fire, which was without doubt the work of an incendiary, lit up the whole heavens for upwards of five hours, and at a late hour yesterday afternoon its entire area was still in a blaze from the burning rubbish and smouldering tobacco scattered around.
Fortunately no very serious accident occurred, although Mr. Ajax Gary was compelled to jump from a second-story window, and made a narrow escape while under it from having a box of tobacco thrown on him.
