From the Richmond Dispatch, 11/30/1861, p. 2, c. 3
Fire. – Between 8 and 9 o’clock
yesterday morning, a shed in the rear of Dibrell’s Warehouse, on
Cary street, below 21st, was discovered to be on fire, and the alarm was
promptly given. The reel of Company “C” was soon on the ground, and the flames
were extinguished after burning some big holes through the roof. The shed runs
back to the County Jail, the windows of
which overlook it, and some of the Yankee prisoners seemed vastly amused at the
proceedings incident to the fire. The supposition is that they know something of
its origin, for there is no way in which the building could have taken fire
unless someone had climbed upon the roof and kindled it, (which would hardly
have been done in broad daylight,) or else by dropping some combustible from the
Jail windows. Though this may possibly have been done carelessly or
thoughtlessly, there was a very general impression in the neighborhood that the
fire originated in this manner. If our caged Yankees show a disposition to
indulge in that sort of pastime, it would be well enough to have them looked
after. Had not the fire yesterday morning been early discovered, many thousands
of dollars worth of tobacco, to say nothing of other property, would have been
consumed.
Page
last updated on
01/15/2008
|