| From the Carolina Observer |
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| January 16, 1865 |
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| A Terrible Calamity |
| On Saturday morning, about 2
1/2 o'clock, a fire broke out in the Paymaster's department in the
building immediately south of the C. & S. C. {Charlotte
& South Carolina} railroad, and N. C. {North
Carolina} railroad passenger shed, and before assistance could
be admitted it became impossible to subdue the flames. The next
building and adjoining, one of the largest in the Southern
Confederacy, occupied as a government warehouse, was soon destroyed.
The fire then communicated with the largest warehouse just being
completed, to the south of the depot shed, thence to the shed, a large
and beautiful structure, thence it crossed to the north, destroying
the old buildings formerly used as a depot and ticket office of the C.
& S. C. railroad, all of which were totally destroyed. The fire
then ranged eastward, consuming the western wing of the N. C. railroad
depot owned by the Charlotte & South Carolina railroad company. |
| The loss by this conflagration
cannot be correctly estimated. The government, railroad companies and
associations, to say nothing of the loss private individuals will
sustain, cannot fall much if any short of $20,000,000. Our railroad
companies have lost heavily; and the Tredegar Iron Works company, of
Richmond, have also suffered heavily. |
| Charlotte Bulletin |
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