evidence: Incidents of the Portland Fire NEVER had Portland looked more beautiful than when the sunrisegun boomed across the waters, announcing the ninetieth anniversary of our independence. The sun, which on another day should look down on the city’s desolation, rose unclouded over the houses, that stood forth from the foliage of the embowering elms, or nestled in their shadow ; over the quaintness of the old-fashioned churches and the beauty of the more modern temples ; over the stately public edifices, and the streets everywhere decked with flags and thronged with crowds of happy, well-dressed people. Of course, the popular satisfaction expressed itself in the report of pistols, guns, and fire-crackers ; and all through the day the usual amusements went on, and in the afternoon almost everybody was on the street. A few minutes before five o’clock, when the festivity was at its wildest, the alarm of fire rang out. Every circumstance was favorable for a conflagration,— the people scattered, the city dry and heated by a July sun, and a high southwesterly wind blowing. It needed only the exciting cause in the shape of a fire-cracker, and lo ! half the city was doomed.