Manhattan has several times been sadly impoverished with conflagrations. On September 21st, 1776, while the British were in possession of the city, a fire broke out in a wooden grogshop, near Whitehall Slip, and as there were then no engines in the city, and the men were mostly in the army, little resistance could be offered. 493 buildings were destroyed, reducing the impoverished population to great suffering.

On the ninth of August, 1778, the second great conflagration occurred. This began in Dock, now Pearl street, and consumed nearly 300 buildings. In May, 1811, another fire broke out in Chatham street, when nearly 100 houses were destroyed. In 1828 a large fire occurred, and nearly a million dollars of property was destroyed. The most destructive fire, however, occurred in 1835. It began on the night, of the sixteenth of December, in the lower part of the city. The weather was colder than it had been known for over fifty years. The Croton had not yet been introduced, little water could be obtained, and that little froze in the hose before it could be used. The buildings were mostly of wood,

greatly favoring the work of destruction. For three days and nights the flames raged furiously, sweeping away 648 houses and stores valued at $18,000,000, and leaving 45 acres of the business portion of the city a desert of smoking ruins. To crown the disaster, the insurance companies unanimously suspended. On the 19th of July, 1845, another great conflagration occurred, second only to the one just described. It began in New street, near Wall, sweeping onward in a southerly direction, until 345 buildings were consumed, inflicting a loss of at least five millions.

The Fire Department of New York has, in some form, existed since 1653, but never attained to any eminence in point of discipline or quiet efficiency, until within the last few years. For many years it was composed of volunteer forces, who served gratuitously; the engines were worked by hand; the force, though large, was undisciplined, frequent collisions occurred between the different companies, and the noise, riot, and plunder at the fires became intolerable. On the 30th of March, 1865, the Legislature created the paid "Metropolitan Fire Department," the commissioners of which, after some litigation and much opposition, proceeded to reorganize and suitably discipline the force. This has gone steadily forward until New York can at length boast of as intelligent, disciplined, and vigilant a Fire Department as can be found in any city in the world.