1853 not one was totally destroyed; only four were extensively
affected; the very large majority, 77, were slightly scathed from the
burning of window and bed curtains, &c. Among the trades which are
too hazardous to be insured at any price are--we quote from the Tariff
of the "County Fire-office,"--floor cloth manufacturers, gunpowder
dealers, hatters' "stock in the stove," lamp-black makers,
lucifer-match makers, varnish-makers, and wadding-manufacturers;
whilst the following are considered highly hazardous,--bone-crushers,
coffee-roasters, composition-ornament makers, curriers, dyers,
feather-stovers, flambeau-makers, heckling-houses, hemp and flax
dressers, ivory-black makers, japanners and japan-makers,
laboratory-chemists, patent japan-leather manufacturers, lint-mills,
rough-fat melters, musical-instrument makers, oil and color men,
leather-dressers, oiled silk and linen makers, oil of vitriol
manufacturers, pitch-makers, rag-dealers, resin-dealers, saw-mills,
seed-crushers, ship-biscuit bakers, soap-makers, spermaceti and wax
refiners, sugar-refiners, tar dealers and boilers, thatched houses in
towns, and turpentine-makers.

It is a notable fact that the city of London, which is perhaps the
most densely inhabited spot the world has ever seen, has long been
exempt from conflagrations involving a considerable number of houses.
"The devouring element," it is true, has made many meals from time to
time of huge warehouses and public buildings; but since the great fire
of 1666 it has ceased to gorge upon whole quarters of the town. We
have never had, since that memorable occasion, to record the
destruction of a thousand houses at a time, a matter of frequent
occurrence in the United States and Canada--indeed in all parts of
Continental Europe. The fires which have proved fatal to large plots
of buildings in the metropolis, have in every instance taken place