Punctuation challenge, help needed! Here's another mindboggling task of mine. A passage from "The Monster City: Defoe's London" by J. Lindsay (from which all punctuation was removed). I put some commas and the rest where felt to be correct, but the text needs your revision, dear native speakers, BADLY. Thanks in advance. That's how it looked: Fire was a great problem many towns still had thatched roofs and wooden chimneys as well as crowded conditions london with its new brick houses was less vulnerable but the danger was still acute some towns suffered again and again tiverton was burned down in 1598 1612 and 1731 and preparations for market day profaning the sabbath were blamed for the first two occasions london kept on having lesser fires after 1666 on march 2 1712 swift states I was waked at three this morning my man and the people of the house telling me of a great fire in the haymarket I slept again and two hours after my man came in again and told me it was my poor brother sir william wyndhams house burnt and that two maids leaping out of an upper room to avoid the fire both fell on their heads one of them upon the iron spikes before the door and both lay dead in the streets it is supposed to have been some carelessness of one or both those maids That's how I've corrected it: Fire was a great problem. Many towns still had thatched roofs and wooden chimneys as well as crowded conditions. London with its new brick houses was less vulnerable, but the danger was still acute. Some towns suffered again and again: Tiverton was burned down in 1598, 1612 and 173, and preparations for market day profaning the sabbath were blamed for the first two occasions. London kept on having lesser fires after 1666. “On March 2, 1712”, Swift states, “I was waked at three this morning, my man and the people of the house telling me of a great fire in the hay market. I slept again and two hours after my man came in again and told me: ‘It was my poor brother, sir’. William Wyndham’s house burnt, and that two maids leaping out of an upper room to avoid the fire both fell on their heads, one of them upon the iron spikes before the door, and both lay dead in the streets. It is supposed to have been some carelessness of one or both those maids”.