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Show ; CONSTANTINOPLE i FIRE IS GREATEST- j TOR FORTY YEARS Two Square Miles Burned Over; 5000 Houses Are - Destroyed. CONSTANTINOPLE, July 4. The conflagration which atarted yeaterday afternoon continued until 'clock thia , morning, by which time the flame were gettea under control, bob-practically be-eauaa be-eauaa there waa bo farther fuel in their path. The diaaater waa the great -eat (inea the great fire in Pera, the European Quarter, in 1870. It ia believed that the preaent fire waa the work of political incendiaries It broke out simultaneously at aeveral point, in Stambul, the ancient eitv. while the people ware celebrating the annivereary of the new constitution. Tha most formidable blaze flared up naar"tbs vrrnisliy wf war aad was burns by a. strong north wind through the residential section to the southern coast. From the aquare in front of the war ministry, east of the center of Stambul to the Sea of Marmora, on the aouth, practically nothing' waa left atanding. Two aquare miles of 'he city were devastated. It ia roughly estimated that more than SOO0 houses were destroyed. de-stroyed. The greater number of these were wooden buildings, but aeveral important im-portant atone structures were ruined. The European quarter, across tha Golden Horn to tha north and east, waa at no tiros in danger owing to tha contrary con-trary direction of tha wind. Stambul, having the sea of Marmora oa the south and the Bosphorus on the east, with tbe Golden Horn, aa inlet of the Bosphorus, on the aorta, baa a sea front of eight miles. On the feat it i. walled. This distance constitutes the Seraglio, tha sultsn's pslsee, the principal prin-cipal mosques, the mausoleums, tha pub-lie pub-lie offices, the bathe and baaars and the remains of ancient Constantinople. Here chiefly reside the Turks, Jews, Armenians aad Greeks. |