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f  E.  /Vi.  CUDAHY  Me:/nOKIA[,  LIBRARY 
I  L()Vm  A  UNIVHPSITY 


DATE  DUE 

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Jl^ 

GAYLORD   234 

"'"«•'""•* 

THE  DOOMED  CITY. 


Vi^J!I!LX%yxi.\jrVi/ 


DURING 


AN   APPALLING  ORDEAL. 

THE  FIRE  DEMON'S  CARmi 


The  Conflagrations  in  West,  South  and 
North  Divisions. 


\ 


GRAPHIC  SKETCHES  FROM  THE  SCENE  OF  THE  DISASTER. 


Prepared  and  Written  I17  a  Journalist. 


DETROIT  : 

Published  by  the  Michigan   News  Company,  / 

iW.  R.  TUNIS.)  /T 

1871. 


/^i-S\ 


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W.  E.  TUNiaPRINTKR 
S6  ^^'oodwar' 
Dhtroit, 


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:.  i:iOC 


HISTOH  Y 

OF    THE 


GREAT  FIllE  II  CHICAGO. 


GRAPHIC   DESCRIPTION   QF   THE   TERRIBLE   EVENT, 


soEWES,   :i]N"cix>3i:t^ts,  e:to. 


"  OxLY  a  fire  in  the  West  Division." 

This  was  the  reply  to  anxious  enqui  vers  or  perhaps  disinterested  curiosity-seek- 
ers, as  a  bright  light  burst  upon  the  horizon  and  illumined  the  district  situated' 
between  the  southern  bend  of  Chicago  River  and  Jeiferson  Street. 

Only  a  fire  on  ^he  West  Side— and  despite  the  efforts  of  firemen,  despite  the 
genius  of  human  skill  and  mechanism — four  magnificent  blocks — magnificeat  by 
reason  of  the  wealth,  industry  and  enterprise  they  represented — were  reduced  to 
ashes,  only  three  or  four  structures  remaining  on  the  entire  area.  Vinegar  Works, 
Planing  Mills,  Bos  Factories,  Lumber  Yards,  Wagon  Works— all  were  swept  like 
paper  from  roof  to  foundation,  and  fully  ^500,000  sacrificed.  Amongst  the  heavy 
losers  were  Messrs.  Lull  and  Holmes,  Gweigle,  Sheriff  &  Sons,  Chapin  &  Son,  Pitts- 
burg, Fort  Wayne  &  Chicago  Railway  Co.,  Wilmington  Coal  Co.,  Boltzer  &,  Co.  On 
JeffersoH  Street  a  row  of  tenement  houses  were  consumed,  together  with  the  chattels 
and  personnl  property  of  dwellers  therein,  who  narroely  escaped  with  their  lives, 
while  an  unfortunate  lady,  Mrs.  Margaret  Hadley,  was  so  blinded  and  smothered  that 
she  fell  upon  her  face  in  the  hall  of  her  residenee,  and  naught  save  a  calcined,  charred 
and  ghastly  skeleton  remained  to  identify  the  ill-fated  victim. 

But  it  was  only  one  life,  only  a  loss  of  a  few  buildings,  only  a  loss  of  half  a 
million  dollars.  The  Insurance  Companies  were  responsible,  were  sound;  let  the 
merry  bellg  ring  instead  of  the  loud  fire  alarms ;  let  the  gloom  of  an  hour  be  cleared 
before  the  glowing  progress  of  a  prosperous  people. 


z 


S  HISTORY    OF    THE 

It  ten  hours  the  Western  conflagration  was  forgotten  ;  in  ten  hours  a  rich,  enter- 
prising, pleasure-loving  people  were  sketching  out  their  plans  for  Sunday  amuse- 
ment, recreation,  and  devotional  exercises ;  the  fashion  of  the  city,  the  poor  of  the 
city,  thousands  gathered  under  the  roofs  of  magnificent  churches,  which  in  the  short 
space  of  a  few  hours  were  to  fall  before  the  resistless  advance  of  the  fire  fiend ;  thou- 
sands entered  their  offices  and  finished  some  neglected  task;  thousands  visited 
pleasure  resorts  or  listened  to  the  Orchestrion's  jangled  music,  in  a  northern  saloon  ; 
thousands  promenaded  the  parks  or  visited  their  friends  and  arranged  future  specu- 
lative transactions ;  whilst  in  the  evening  Turner  Hall — the  great  German  Sacred 
Concert  establishment — was  packed  with  jubilant  humanity.  Then  the  Western  Light 
Guard  Band  struck  up  an  exquisite  selection  from  the  opera.  What  cared  the  gay 
masses  for  the  howling  of  the  wind  or  the  mournfnl  warning  of  the  night  before  ;  let 
(khe  poor  feel, — let  the  rich  enjoy  themselves — proceed  with  the  music,  pass  around 
■the  glorious  Rhein  Wein,  and  drown  the  hurricane's  roar  without,  by  strains  of  music 
more  exquisite  and  fascinating  than  the  famed  breathings  of  the  iEolian  harp. 

But  there  is  an  alarm  of  fire ;  the  door  keeper  looks  out ;  the  manager  runs 
down  to  listen ;  still  the  light  is  west —  ;  miles  away  in  fact — and  the  answer  to  en- 
quiries is : — "  Only  a  fire  in  the  West  Division.'"  "  Only  a  fire  in  the  West  Division  "  is 
re-echoed  throughout  the  vast  assemblage— and  the  music  proceeds.  But  the  din 
grows  louder — the  bells  ring  out  a  heart-rending  peal — ;  the  sky  is  radiant — and  6he 
people  quietly  ret're  from  their  Sunday  evening  amusements.  At  the  Shei'man,  Tre- 
mont,  Briggs,  Palmer  and  other  hotels,  successful  speculators,  bold  operators,  inter- 
ested tourists  are  calmly  discussing  various  questions  more  directly  concerning  them- 
selves— when  the  "  clang,  clang,  clang,"  of  the  bells  arouses  them.  "  Where  is  the 
fire  1 "     "  Oh,  way  up  in  the  West  Division,  I  think,"  answers  the  porter. 

But  the  bells  almost  speak — there  is  something  deathly,  awful,  supernatural  in 
Uieir  wild  appeal.  The  streets  are  crowded  with  anxious  faces,  running  to  the  scene 
of  disaster — running  to  meet  the  foe  so  rapidly  advancing  upon  their  fortunes — 
families  and  homes.  God  knows,  if  a  veil  could  close  out  the  black  spot  upon  the 
memory  of  those  who  witnessed  these  awful  scenes  which  followed,  humanity  would 
kneel  submissively  and  crave  the  boon  ;  heads  which  never  before  bowed  would  sink 
in  Christian  humility  ;  voices  which  rever  spoke  save  to  curse  their  Creator — would 
\)e  raised  to  thank  Him  for  his  great  goodness  ! 

"  Clang,  clang;  clang!  " — and  through  streets,  across  squares,  down  every  possible 
thoroughfare  hundreds  of  excited  people  rushed  ;  from  the  north-west  section  they 
came  to  assist  the  firemen  and  sufierers ;  from  the  river  towards  the  west  dense 
masses  of  people  thronged,  wildly  screaming  fire,  fire,  ^re— whilst  the  south-west 
wind — blowing  a  perfect  hurricane — hurled  clouds  of  dust  and  other  refuse  into  the 
«yes  of  the  excited,  yelling  racing  crowd.  The  roar  and  hiss  of  the  fire  after  it  had 
fairly  started  is  indescribable ;  it  seemed  as  though  a  large  pent-up  power  Lad  sud- 
denly sundered  the  shackles  which  bound  it  and  revengefully  burst  upon  its  victims. 
On  the  corner  of  De  K  oven  and  Jelferson  streets,  the  scene  paralyzed  description:  the 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  j 

fire  had  spread  with  the  wind  and  darted  off  with  the  rapidity  of  lightning  ;  in  fiioS 
to  trace  legitimately  its  progress  would  be  an  impossibility.     In  half  an  hour  two 
solid  blocks  of  fire  spread  a  ghastly  radiance  between  Jefferson  and  Clinton  street* 
north.     The  firemen — bruise^,  exhausted  and  over  worked,  tore  down  buildings,  at- 
tempted to  head  off  the  fire  to  the  north — but  in  vain ;  shrinking  multitudes,  the 
victims  of  temporary  lunacy,  wild  with  afright  and  excitement,  closed  together  and 
gave  vent  to  loud  lamentations ;  they  cursed  and  jostled  each  other,  knocked  one 
another  down,  trampled  over  females  in  their  mad  anxiety,  when  the  flames,  with 
electric  rapidity,  sped  on  in  their  work  of  mad  destruction.     Building  after  building, 
block  after  block,  followed  in  quick  succession;  Taylor,  Farquar,  Polk  and  Ewing 
streets  were  soon  in  flames,  whilst  hundreds  of  unfortunates,  sacrificing  property  and 
all  earthly  possessions — vacated  the  districts ;  many  of  these  were  Germans,  a  few 
Irish  and  others  of  foreign  nationality.     One  unfortunate  woman  on  Polk  street  was 
seen  to  appear  at  the  upper  window  of  a  blazing  building  and  wildly  display  a  child 
wrapped  in  a  blanket,  and — true  to  a  mother's  instinct — she  would  not  part  with  the 
treasures  of  her  heart,  both  perishing  together.     Another  woman,  issued  from  a  build- 
ing screaming  at  the  top  of  her  voice,  tearing  her  hair  and  calling  on  God  to  curs© 
and  kill  her ;  others,  happily  a  majority,  were  collected  calm  and  resigned ;  whilst 
retreating,  they  gazed  on  the  magnificent  buildings  which  boldly  fronted  the  fire,  as 
though  to  dispute  its  passage  ;  there  they  felt  confident,  the  conflagration  must  cease. 
Cease ! — scarce  had  this  carnival  of  the  fire  fiend  commenced ;   this  was  but 
as  advanced    lines    of    skirmishers    to  prepare  the  road  for  complete  desolation, 
one  column  of  fire  held  its  way  along  Clinton  and  Canal  street,  the  other  along  Clintoa 
and  Jefferson — moving  north-west  with  a  sullen,  angry  roar.      Fire  and   wind  coal- 
esced— a  bond  of  unity  seemed  established,  and  man  stood  abashed  in  the  presence  of 
the  terrible  progress eccoraplished. 

"  My  God,  the  fire  has  broken  out  in  the  South,"  was  heard  from  the  lips  of  a  citi- 
zen, and  sure  enough  while  the  blanched  and  weary  toilers,  with  bloody  hands, 
burned  faces  and  many  with  torn  garments,  had  been  checking  the  progress  on  the 
West  Side,  a  suggestive  light  appeared  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Gas  Works,  between 
Adams  and  Monroe,  and  Wells  and  Market  streets.  Immediately  there  was  a  stam- 
pede in  that  direction,  though  the  atmosphere  by  this  time  was  stifiiing;  the  heat, 
dust,  wind,  burning  cinders  and  scorching  ground  was  almost  unbearable;  it  was 
maddening.  A  myriad  of  burning  cinders  had  been  hurled  over  one-fifth  of  a  mile, 
impregnating  a  wooden  tenement  situated  as  above  described,  and  in  an  instant,  with- 
the  rapidity  of  breath,  the  structure  was  wrapped  from  roof  to  foundation  in  a  seeth- 
ing blanket  of  flame  !  The  fire  crackled  and  roared,  leaping  with  demoniac  exulta- 
tion from  roof  to  roof  ;  buildings  apparently  uninjured  suddenly  steamed,  smoked  and 
in  a  moment  flames  darted  from  beneath  the  eaves,  grappled  with  the  windows,  em- 
braced the  girders,  and  with  a  parting  roar,  sped  on  to  other  quarters.  This  was 
before  one  o'clock  Monday  morning,  and  as  the  flames  leaped  toward  the  miserable, 
grovelling  district,  popularly  known  as  "  Connolly's  Patch  ;"  that  portion  of  the  fir© 


S  HISTORY    OF    THE 

between  Clinton  and  Canal  streets,  in  tiie  West  Divibion,  was  making  rapid  headway, 
quickh''  engalphing  the  lumber  yards,  tenement  houses,  and  buildings  on  Van  Buren 
street,  whilst  the  extreme  western  branch  had  reached  West  Harrison  street,  border- 
ing the  scene  of  the  previous  night's  calamity. 

Suddenly  another  cry  of  alarm  was  heard,  and  each  heart  sank  as  a  bright  light 
appaared  in  the  vicinity  of  Adams'  street,  and  engines,  firemen  and  volunteers  dashed 
toward  the  scene.  "  Connolly's  patch  "  was  now  blazing  with  intense  fury,  dozens  of 
■unfortunates  ran  out  in  almost  a  nude  condition  ;  straggling  females,  crying  children, 
groaning  men,  rushed  in  dozens  from  the  fire-feeding  shanties ;  but  not  all — many 
were  unable  to  escape,  being  perfectly  hemmed  in.  A  poor  man  who  got  out  with  his 
hair  almost  singed  to  the  skull,  raised  his  hands  above  his  head  and  cried  piteously 
for  his  child.  "  She's  in  the  back  room — my  God,  my  God — save  poor  Anne,  my 
poor  child  !"  but  it  was  an  entire  impossibility,  and  as  the  roof  fell  in,  and  millions  of 
sparks  sprung  from  i-he  grave  of  the  child,  the  unfortunate  man  fell  prostrate  on  the 
groand.  The  maddened  sea  of  flame  broke  like  waves  over  the  devoted  settlement ; 
it  darted  in  fiery  arrows,  or  rolled  like  a  blazing  cylinder,  then  suddenly  burst  into 
shafts  which  cut  with  the  seething  precision  of  a  reapar  at  his  work  ;  a  perfect  para- 
pet of  fire  blocked  many  in  their  dwellings  ;  one  man  rushed  forward  and  was  silently 
drawn  down  to  his  long  home  ;  ethers  madly  screamed  for  help — but  the  barrier  was 
impassable  and  fully  eight  or  ten  perished  in  the  space  of  as  many  seconds — some  with 
curses,  some  with  prayers  upon  their  lips.  In  the  neighborhood  of  LaSalle  street, 
.Monroe,  Clark  and  Dearborn  streets,  very  little  anxiety  was  felt  concerning  buildings  in 
these  neighborhoods.  Few  dreamed  that  the  exquisite  creations  of  genius,  the  hand- 
some, massive  marble  structures  which  had  comprised  the  wealth,  the  hope,  the  pride  of 
the  mercantile  community,  would  prove  but  pasteboard  obstacles  in  checking  the  ad- 
vancing flames.  Whilst  this  fire  was  in  progress,  a  junction  of  the  western  branch  was 
rapidly  approaching — by  way  of  Jefierson  street  towards  the  VanBuren  street  bridge 
and  Market  street ;  but  the  intensest  interest  was  created  on  the  south  line  of  Monroe 
street  and  running  along  Wells  and  Market  street.  On  Monroe  streei,  the  stables  of 
J.  V.  Farwell  &  Co.,  and  the  American  Union  Express  Company,  were  next  attacked. 
The  shivering  horses  nestled  closely  together;  they  neighed  with  fear  and  stood 
tremblingly  eyeing  the  advancing  death  fiend ;  very  few  escaped ;  not  more  perhaps 
than  eight  or  ten  out  of  a  hundred  powerful,  animals.  It  was  a  fearful  sight;  but 
man  was  suffering  still  greater  afflictions.  .On — on  to  Wells  street— the  poor  again 
•attacked  and  poverty — in  such  a  case — the  sure  courier  of  ruin  and  death — clung  to 
its  little  store  until  the  scorching  cohorts  drove  it  from  what  had  ever  been  its  strong- 
hold. Old  men  and  women,  stout,  stalwart  men  and  little  children,  all  alike  quailed 
before  the  march  of  this  terrible  enemy.  Sick  and  maimed,  decrepit  and  crippled, 
many  fell  by  the  way  and  were  speedily  lapped  up  by  tongues  of  flame' only  too  ready 
for  prey.  And  the  fireman — noble,  reckless.  Spartan-like  in  their  efforts — no  praise, 
,ao  eulogy  would  do  them  justice ;  they  worked  with  the  defiant  energy  of  men  who 
"would  assert  their  manhood  and  discharge  their  duties  even  at  the  sacrifice  of  life  ; 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  9 

darting  ihiough  windows  whilst  dense  smoke  and  lava-like  rivers  of  fire  streamed  from 
the  roofs ;  scaling  the  summits  of  blazing  edifices — God  knows,  had  it  been  possible 
to  subdue  the  wild  onset  of  the  flames,  these  men  would  have  achieved  a  victory. 
But  Providence  had  otherwi^  ordained — the  extraordinary  powers  and  perseverance 
of  these  noble  fellows  was  an  imperishable  monument  in  the  record  of  manhood's 
heroism.  And  now  the  Southern  Division  was  alive  to  the  threatened  danger.  The 
managers  of  the  Sherman,  Tremont,  Briggs  and  other  hotels,  hastily  warned  their 
guests — and  in  these  immense  buildings  scenes  took  place  beggaring  description. 
Guests  rushed  from  their  rooms  forgetting  money,  papers,  clothes  and  other  property; 
sickly  women  were  conveyed  to  the  first  flat ;  porters  stumbled  over  trunks  and 
trunks  fell  upon  guests  ;  some  fell  down  the  stairways,  others  attempted  to  pack 
their  possessions ;  but  such  a  state  of  trepidation  were  they  in  that  many  abandoned 
the  attempt  and  dashed  into  the  streets. 

The  flames  steadily  advanced  towards  the  north  branch  of  the  river— crossing 
Maddison  and  rolling  their  ravaging  columns  down  La  Salle  street — rapidly  approach- 
ing the  Pacific  Hotel,  and  there  another  voice  made  known  the  fact  that  the  fire  had 
sprung  across  the  river  at  Van  Buren  street — and  was  working  southward.  That 
Division  was  doomed,  and  strong  men  wept  upon  the  shoulders  of  their  friends  as  they 
were  warned  to  seek  safety  in  flight.  Many  dashed  towards  the  North  Division — 
having  little  confidence  in  the  west ;  some  went  south — others  stood  to  see  the  reward 
of  a  life's  labor  swept  away  in  the  space  of  a  few  minutes.  This  new  branch  which 
had  thus  partially  deserted  the  West  Division  became  a  powerful  adjunct  to  that 
whi«h  was  working  north  and  east,  and  what  the  first  fire  which  visited  "  Connolly's 
Patch "  had  left,  the  new  arrival  swept  before  it — working  toward  La  Salle  street; 
and  here  the  united  demons — impelled  by  a  furious  wind;  strengthened  by  the  unison, 
of  force,  sped  oa  in  tl^eiv  mad  career,  flames  forming  a  perfect  canopy  of  lurid  sheets, 
which  passed  like  an  archway  over  the  streets,  roaring,  crackling  and  gurgling  with 
almost  human  significance  ;  they  seemed  to  vie  with  each  other  in  the  work  of  de- 
struction. Suddenly  there  was  a  frightful  explosion  ;  in  some  parts  of  the  city  a  per- 
fect shock  as  of  an  earthquake  was  experienced — the  Gas  retorts  had  exploded,  and 
quickly  following  this  the  Government  Store  House  and  some  barrels  of  gunpowder 
iu  a  gunsmith's  shop  igu'ted  —  creating  a  perfect  panic  —  whilst  many  fiends  m  human 
shape,  in  order  to  carry  on  their  thieving  and  plundering  operations,  announced  that 

■  certain  buildings  were  about  to  be  blown  up  with  gunpowder,  thus  cheating  a  wild 
confusion,  causing  many  to  be  trampled  under  foot  and  seriously  injured.  Up  to  2:.30 
A.  M.,  no  fear  for  the  North  Division  was  seriously  felt,  for  the  hissing  monster  sprang 
upon  and  clung  to  his  prey  in  the  South  Division,  whilst  a  wail  went  up  as  the  Lake- 
side Publishing  House  and  the  grand  Pacific  Hotel  were  attacked.  The  Pacific  Hotel 

■  was  nearly  completed  —  the  site  being  a  solid  block  of  land  having  four  distinct 
fionts  on  Quincy,  Jackson,  Clark  and  La  Salle  streets.  The  general  style  of  archi- 
tecture as  observable  on  the  exterior  was  Italian,  presenting  the  general  eflfect  of 
broad  spaces  and  bold,  sweeping  outlines.     The  principal  fronts  and  returns  were  ex- 


10  HISTORY    OF    THE 

quisitely  wrought  in  the  olive  tinted  sandstone  of  Ohio,  from  the  Amherst  quarries, 
and  presenting  a  continuous  cut  stone  front  of  over  750  feet,  rising  uiuety-six  feet  from 
fcidewalk  to  cornice — and  six  full  stories  above  a  splendid  basement.  The  total  height 
of  the  walls  was  104  feet  from  the  pavement.  Added  to  these,  there  was  a  magnifi- 
cent display  of  architecture  on  the  upper  floors.  The  attack  made  by  the  fire  on  this 
edifice  was  watched  with  considerable  interest — the  announcement  having  been  made 
that  it  was  fire-proof.  Thousands  of  feet  of  lumber,  however,  were  stacked  within, 
and  this  rapidly  ignited,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  stately  building  was  wrapped  in 
flames.  All  the  walls  and  partitions  above  the  solid  stone  foundation  were  bricked  to  the 
second  floor,  and  the  interior  divisions  carried  with  brick  to  the  tops  of  the  building. 
The  exterior  walls  were  twenty-four  inches  thick  to  the  first  story,  thence  twenty 
inches  thick  to  the  fourth  story,  thence  sixteen  inches  the  remaining  two  stories.  A 
system  of  iron  girders  entirely  encircled  the  building,  resting  on  brick  walls,  these 
girders  carrying  the  main  partitions  and  supporting  the  bricking  in  of  the  partitions 
on  each  floor,  thus  constructed  to  prevent  fire  running  from  one  side  of  the  building 
to  the  other,  through  the  joists.  Gentlemen  of  great  intelligence  and  experience  had 
pronounced  the  main  portions  of  the  Pacific  impervious  to  the  action  of  fire ;  out  the 
mad  flames,  the  roaring  sea  of  fire  which  da&hed  through  and  enveloped  this  grand 
triumph  of  architecture,  melted  the  very  stones  with  which  it  came  in  contact  and 
hurled  the  stately  piles  to  instantaneous  destruction — and  with  it  over  half  a  million 
dollars.     The  hotel  was  not  yet  opened,  aud  was  owned  by  a  large  company. 

At  this  point  the  city  appeared  like  a  boiling  cauldron ;  viewed  from  any  point 
there  was  a  weird,  impressive  grandeur.  In  the  west  fire  was  still  raging — thousands 
of  tons  of  soft  aud  chestnut  coal  transformed  the  scene  into  that  of  a  volcanic  erupt- 
ion ;  in  the  north-east  huge  fires  and  flames  darting  upwards,  illumined  the  Northern 
Division,  while  in  the  Southern  Division  the  cries  of  escaping  refugees,  the  screams  of 
injured  beings,  the  roar  of  the  fire  aud  the  shock  of  falling  ruins,  called  to  mind 
historic  descriptions  of  the  days  of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum.  At  the  magnificent  fire 
proof  building  of  the  Tribune  Office,  many  gathered  to  witness  the  fire  from  an  emi- 
nence— one  of  the  editors  thus  graphically  describing  the  awful  grandeur  of  the 
scene  : — 

"  The  sight  fi-om  the  windows  of  {he  Tribune  Building  was  one  the  like  of  whicfc 
few  have  ever  seen.  At  fifteen  minutes  to  1  o'clock  the  view  was  like  this  :  To  the 
eouth-west  rose  a  cloud  of  black  smoke,  which,  colored  with  the  lurid  glare  of  the 
flames  which  caused  it,  presented  a  remarkable  picture.  Due  west  another  column  of 
fire  and  smoke  arose,  while  the  north  was  lighted  with  the  flying  cinders  and  destruct- 
ive .brands.  In  ten  minutes  more  the  whole  horizon  to  the  west,  as  far  as  could  be 
seen  from  the  windows,  was  a  fiery  cloud,  with  flames  leaping  up  along  the  whole  line, 
ust  showing  their  heads  and  subsiding  from  view  like  tongues  of  snakes.  Five  min- 
utes more  wrought  a  change.  Peal  after  peal  sounded  from  the  Court  House  bell. 
The  flre  was  on  LaSalle  street,  had  swejit  north,  and  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  bega« 
to  belch  forth  smoke  and  flame  from  windows  and  ventilators.     The  east  wing  of  th*^ 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  U 

Court  House  was  alight ;  then  the  west  wing,  the  tower  was  blazing  on  the  South 
Side,  and  at  2  o'clock  the  whole  building  was  in  a  sheet  of  flam.  The  Chamber  of 
Commerce  burned  with  a  bright  steady  flame.  The  smoke  in  front  grew  denser  for  & 
minute  or  two,  and  then,  bursting  into  a  blaze  from  Monroe  to  Madison  streets,  pro- 
claimed that  Farewell  Hall  and  the  buildings  north  and  south  of  it  were  on  fire.  At 
10  minutes  past  2  o'clock  the  Court  House  tower  was  a  glorious  sight.  It  stood  a 
glowing,  almost  dazzling  trellis-work,  around  which  was  wrapped  a  sheet — a  winding 
sheet — of  flame.  At  a  quarter  past  two.  the  tower  fell,  and  in  two  minutes  more  a. 
crash  announced  the  fall  of  the  building.  The  windows  of  the  office  were  hot,  and  the 
flames  gave  a  light  almost  dazzling  in  its  intensity.  It  became  evident  that  the  whole 
block  from  Clark  to  Dearborn,  and  from  Monroe  to  Madison  must  go  ;  that  the  block 
from  Madison  to  Washington  must  follow;  Portland  Block  was  ablaze,  while  every- 
thing from  Clark  to  Dearborn  on  Washington  street  was  on  fire.  At  2:30  the  fire  was 
half  way  down  Madison  street ;  the  wind  blew  a  hurricane ;  the  fire  brands  were 
hurled  along  the  ground  with  incredible  force  aaainst  everything  th  at  stood  in  their 
way.  Then  the  flames  shot  up  in  the  rear  of  Reynold's  Block,  and  then  the  Tribune 
Building  seemed  doonaed.  An  eflbrt  was  made  to  save  the  files,  and  other  valuables, 
which  were  moved  into  the  composing  room,  but  the  building  stood  like  a  rock,  lashed 
on  two  sides  by  raging  waves  of  flame,  and  it  was  abandoned.  It  was  a  fire  proof 
building,  and  there  were  ont  a  few  who  exbected  to  see  it  stand  the  shock.  The 
greatest  possible  anxiety  was  felt  for  it,  as  it  was  the  key  to  the  whole  block,  includ- 
ing McVickor's  Theatre,  and  protecting  State  street,  and  Wabash  and  Michigan  ave- 
nues north  of  Madison  street.  When  the  walls  of  Reynolds'  Bl  ock  fell,  and  Cobb's 
Building  was  no  more,  the  prospects  of  its  standing  were  good.  Several  persons  went 
up  stairs  and  found  it  cool  and  pleasant, — quite  a  refreshing  haven  from  the  hurricane 
of  smoke,  dust  and  cinders  that  assailed  the  eyes." 

Now  the  fire  seemed  to  fasten  upon  the  stately  rows  of  marble  and  stone  on  La 
Salle,  Clark,  Dearborn,  and  the  southern  end  of  State  street,  running  east,  and  surg- 
ing through  lanes  and  avenues,  skipping,  leaping  from  building  to  buildina  with 
ravenous  rapidity.  W.  K.  Nixon's  building.  Republic  Life  Insurance  Company's 
building,  Boone's  Block,  Andrews'  Block,  on.  the  east  side  of  LaSalle  street,  and 
Bryan's  Block,  .Otis'  building.  Miller  &  Drew's  insurance  building.  Oriental  building, 
Mercantile  building  of  D.  S.  Smith  &  Co.,  Union  National  Bank  building,  on  the  west 
side  of  La  Salle,  were  smoking ;  then  south  again,  towards  the  lake,  the  fiend  sped 
on  unmolested  ;  buildings  were  blown  up,  but  the  flames  cast  firebrands  for  blocks 
ahead,  the  first  intimation  of  fire  being  a  burst  of  smoke  from  the  eaves  and  windows; 
iron  shutters  were  torn  open  or  drawn  apart,  metal  from  the  roofs  poured  a  flood  of 
scorching  fluid  to  the  earth,  whilst  tin  was  pulled  up  and  cast  in  coils  from  its  resting 
I)lace.  Westward  on  Washington  street  a  terrifying  sea  of  flre  existed,  the  Nichol- 
son pavement— although  resisting  the  fire  to  a  very  great  extent — was  obliged  to 
succumb,  blazing  under  the  feet  of  fleeing  multitud-s,  many  of  whom  cursed  their 
h-res  and  indulged  in  th"?  utmost  profanity.  Massive  stone  melted  under  the  mad  em- 
braces of  ttelief't ;  it  chipped  ofi'  in  blocks,  cracked  into  fragments  and  shrunk  from 


12         '  HISTORY    OF    THE 

the  advancing  fiend  ;  maV  and  the  fruits  of  his  industrious  ingenuity  were  dlike  help- 
less.    Whilst  the  western  side  of  the  South  Division  was  burning  huge  pieces  of^  fired 
timber  were  cast  forward  towards  Randolph  street,  and  even  before   many  of;  the 
buildings  on  LaSalle,  Dearborn  and  other  streets  were  on  fire,  the  Court  House  and 
several  structures  werejcommencing  to  blaze,  mus  aiviamg  the  nremen  and  preventing 
anything  like  a  perfect  concentration  of  the  score  ofjsteam  engines  at  worK.      ■;] 
X  Opposite  the  tunnel  the  great  Court  House  loomed  in  terrible  erandeur.     Removed 
to  a  great  degree  from  the  surrounding  fire,  those  in  authority  hesitated  to  allow  the 
prisoners  liberty;  the  latter  yelled  in  fury,  prayed,  beseeched  for  clemency,   charity, 
anything  that  could  soften  the  hearts  of  their  guards,  and  at  last,  when  smoke  issued 
from  the  roof,  theyjjwere  discharged,  two  persons  guilty  of  murder  being  placed 
in  custody  and  held  by  the  police.     Then  the  great  bell  of  this  splendid  edifice  seemed 
to  speak  ;  it  sent  iortn|the  wildest  alarm  which  had  yet  been  heard;  even  as   the  fire 
smothered  the  cupola,  great  harsh,  mournful  sounds  were  neard  from  it — 
"Claxg" — "Clang" — "Clang." 

This  marked  the  precinct  and  the  danger, — and  people  .-shuddered  as  volumes 
of  smoke  passed  through  the  windows  of  this  stately  edince,  and  great  shafts  of  flame 
and  myriads  of  trembling  cinders  were  caught  by  the  wind  and  huriea  as  messengers 
of  ruin  towards  adjacent  structures.  Many  people  sought  refuge  in  the  LaSalle 
Street  Tunnel,  carrying  books,jtrunks  and  papers.iWith  them.  But  aeuse  columns  of 
smoke  passing  north  and  south^warned^the  fleeing  masses  ;  immense  blocks  of  stone, 
falling  with  the  quickness  of  lightning  from  the  buildings,  cut  huge  masses  from 
the  stoning  of  the  tunnel,  and  tore  away  parts  of  the  iron  railing  as  though  it  were 
thread;  to  add  to  the  misery  of  the  unfortunates,  thieves  prowiea jaround,  stealing 
property,  frightening  women,  and  indulging  in  the  lowest  description  of  black- 
guardism. In  fact,  some  quietly  entered  back  premises  and  fitted  suits  of  clothes, 
hats,  boots  and  vests — displaying  a  refined  nicety  in  selecting  their  costumes  not  often 
observable.     The  fiends  should  have  been  handcuffed  one  after  another. 

It  was  just  previous  to  liiis  that  the  Gas  Works  exploded,  and  when  the  fire 
crossed  Monroe  street,  several  voiceis  cried: 

"  The  fire  has  reached  the  Gas  House — run,  run  for  your  lives! " 
A  frightfully  confused  scene  followed  ;    curses  and  profanity,  shrieks  of  fear    ui 
pain,  were  cast  from  white  lips  and  piassed  upon  the  wings  of  the  hurricane. 

Here  stood  a  mother  with  her  tender  child  jn'essed  closelv  to  her  bosom  tne  little 
darlingl-pouting  its  innocent  lips  and  pressing  its  face  to  the  only  lieart'it  knew. 
"  Take  the  child  away[! "  almost  yelled  the  father,  who  was  acting  as  though  perfectly 
insane — "JMy  God  !  do  you  want  to  be  destroyed!;  Run,  run  for  your  life  !  "  Anl 
he  siezed  th^jcringing,  startled  woman  by  the  arm,  forcing  ^her  towards  Clark  ;3treet.  j 
On  State  Street,  Field,  Leiter  &  Co..  had  engines  employed  flooding  the  palatial 
Duilding  which  they  occupied,  and  many  firmly  believed  that  the  structure  would  be 
saTed ;  meanwhile  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  in  goods  were  removed,  and  & 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  13 

-'systematic  arrangement  of  forces  instituted.  Then  on  the  corner  of  State  and 
iRandolph  streets  volunteers  and  others  mounted  the  roof  of  Ross  &  Gossage's 
•building,  risking  their  very  lives  in  attempts  to  chop  away  the  cornices,  which  they 
•succeeded  in  doing,  the  multitqfle  below  cheering  enthusiastically.  But  the  labor 
-availed  little,  for  speedily  the  immense  block  was  wrapped  in  fiery  garb,  and  crumbled 
■into  ashes  before  the  enemy's  attack.  It  was  heartrending  to  hear  women  calling  for 
iheir  children  ;  they  would  seize  a  bystander  by  the  arm,  and  between  hysterical 
sobbings  and  shiverings  anxiously  implore  aid  in  seeking  the  missing  loved  ones  ; 
so  startled  were  the  horses  that  at  times  they  would  break  loose  from  their  fetters 
and  dash  madly  into  the  ruins  of  the  fire — whilst  tame  pigeons — crossing  the  line  of 
fire — were  suddenly  paralized  by  the  heat  and  added  their  little  carcases  to  appease 
the  wrath  of  this  devastating  monster.  Back  towards  the  central  portion  of  Wabash 
avenue  frightful  scenes  had  occurred — scenes  too  solemn,  too  striking  to  permit  of 
any  perfect  description.  In  many  places  naught  could  be  seen  save  jagged  remains  of 
buildings,  and  angles  pointed  their  scarred  edges  to  the  sk\  ;  very  few  buildings 
stood  ;  the  Post  Office  almost  dared  the  sea  of  fire  to  engulph  it ;  with  a  roar  as  of 
the  waves  of  ocean  hurling  their  mighty  power  against  a  rock-bound  coast — the 
Sames  darted  for  their  prey  ;  they  rolled  beneath  the  cornices,  hissed  and  gurgled  as 
ihey  found  light  prey  amid  the  boxes  and  drawers  and  papers;  the  revelry  of 
..pandemonium  seemed  to  be  rivalled  in  this  earthly  region,  where  the  fire  king  held 
sway  and  passed  the  fiat  of  destruction  upon  this  doomed  citj^. 

Up  to  Wabash  avenue  the  crowd  was  immense — thousands  of  poor  houseless 
Trretches,  driven  from  their  homes,  had  sought  refuge  in  this  district ;  but  shortly  af- 
ter 4  o'clock  the  cry  came — '•  Fire  spreading  up  the  avenue  !"  and  immediately  there 
ensued  a  state  of  excitement  beyond  parallel.  The  fire  was  behind  them — the  vast 
prairie  of  palatial  residences  was  as  straw  in  checking  the  flames;  dense  clouds  of 
emoke  rolled  above,  whilst  cinders,  burning  and  igniting  everything  with  which  they 
came  in  contact,  found  resting  places  in  many  a  happy  home  which  was  soon  to  be 
desolated. 

"  Oh,  sir,  I  have  lost  my  mother." 

She  was  a  child  of  nearly  thirteen,  who  spoke,  whilst  her  sobs  told  what  suflfer- 
Ings  the  little  one  was  enduring  ;  dressed  in  fashionable  apparel,  with  a  light  "  cloud  " 
sapon  her  head — it  seemed  a  crime  that  rough  fellows  should  push,  jostle  and  frighten 
lier  ;  "  her  mother  !"  perhaps  the  tie  had  been  severed  in  this  world,  and  we  placed 
-the  poor  little  soul  under  charge  of  a  friendly  policeman,  who,  no  doubt,  did  his  ut- 
most to  restore  her  to  her  relatives.  Now  came  a  struggle  for  the  pavement;  thous- 
ands rushing  south  mat  thousands  pressing  northward ;  women  were  crushed  and 
fainted  in  the  collision ;  blasphemy,  imprecations,  drunken  jokes  and  other  orgies  in- 
dicative of  degradation,  were  indulged  in.  The  rich  jewels  of  a  pampered  beauty,  or 
reigning  belle,  did  not  preserve  her  from  contact  with  those  of  meaner  origin  or  mean- 
t-ir  position ;  both  had  hearts,  feelings — both  suflered  and  both  were  subdued.  One 
Jady  ran  about  with  several  chains  passed  ovei-  her  neck,  her  fingers  covered  witfe 


14  HISTORY    OF    THE 

jewels,  whilst  another  manifested  that  the  ruling  passion  was  strong  even  in  de^th — - 
for  she  was  attempting  to  pnll  a  "  Saratoga  "  through  the  streets ;  the  flames  captured 
the  valuable  trunk  with  its  reminiscences  of  fascinating  flirtations  and  watering-place 
insanities,  and  the  last  seen  of  this  estimable  but  unfortunate  lady  was  towai'd  the 
lake — where  a  friend  met  her  in  a  very  philosophical  mood  ;  she  remarked  to  him  : — 
"  I  don't  thnk  I  shall  go  to  the  opera  to-night,"  and  she  kept  her  word — Crosby's 
Opera  House  had  been  magnificently  fitted  up,  over  |70,000  having  been  spent  upon 
it — the  work  being  only  completed  and  approved  on  Saturday  night ;  it  was  to  have 
been  opened  by  Theodore  Thomas  with  his  Orchestra  on  that  Monday  evening 
which  saw  it  in  ruins. 

At  intervals  of  ten,  fifteen  or  thirty  minutes  an  explosion  could  be  heard  ;  homes 
were  blown  up.  Only  two  engines  were  in  this  section,  and  these  were  powerless 
without  water.  After  the  conflagration  had  sped  beyond  Adams,  Jackson  and  Van 
Buren,  and  had  arrived  at  Congress  street,  a  determined  effort  was  made  at  Harrison 
street  on  the  west  line.  Leaving  the  block  between  Cengress,  Harrison,  State  and 
Wabash  avenue,  as  certain  prey  for  the  flames,  effort  was  concentrated  on  the  line  of 
buildings  on  the  north  side  of  Harrison.  On  the  corner  of  State  was  a  wooden  build- 
ing which  was  too  dangerous  to  be  allowed  to  stand  ;  it  was  therefore  blown  up.  Ad- 
joining on  the  east  was  a  three-story  double  brick  which  met  the  same  fate,  and  in  a 
minute  only  the  front  walls  remained.  The  effect  of  this  was  seen  in  a  moment,  and 
the  fire  was  effectually  checked,  at  least  as  far  as  the  high-reaching  flames  were  con- 
cerned. Between  the  brick  hoiise,  just  mentioned,  and  the  church  which  occupied 
the  corner  of  Wabash  waa  a  small  frame  building,  (his  was  a  dangerous  heaj),  and 
partook  of  similar  treatmentwhich  reduced  the  next  house;  but  not  until  after  it  had  so 
far  been  enveloped  in  flames  as  to  seriously  endanger  the  Wabash  avenue  Methodist 
Church. 

For  once  man's  ingenuity  baffled  the  devastating  fire  fiend  ;  by  the  skillful  re- 
moval of  buildings  the  church  was  saved  and  here  the  first  check  proved  successfal ; 
the  fire  continued  burning  on  Congress  street — the  east  three  buildings  being  saved. 
The  fire  passed  from  Wabash  Avenue  corner  to  Congress  street  and  No.  830  Wabash 
avenue  received  a  gunpowder  visitation  leaving  a  gulph  between  the  fire  which  even 
wind,  cinders  and  fury  could  not  overcome. 

And  thus  the  awful  scene  closed  at  that  point.  At  4  o'clock  the  position  was 
this — the  line  in  the  South  Division  extended  from  above  Harrison  street  northward 
to  the  main  branch  of  the  river.  Eastward,  Dearborn  street  had  been  reached  by  the 
■fire — sweeping  magnificent  blocks  and  grand  edifices  rapidly  before  it.  All  hoped 
new  that  the  city  east  of  the  river  and  east  of  Honor's  block — which  had  been  de- 
stroyed— would  now  be  preserved.  In  the  south  all  was  quiet,  in  the  east  the  fir© 
seemed  to  be  subdued. 

But  the  fire  had  not  j-et  ceased — the  work  was  not  yet  accomplished. 

Shortly  before  7  o'clock  a.  m..  the  wind  springs  up  afresh  ;  it  lifts  huge  boards 
and  fans  the  dyirg  embers  wiih  its  hurricane  breath  ;  it  bursts  and  eddies  and  scat- 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  IS 

t«ts  tons  of  dust  over  all  pedestrians,  blinds  the  workmen,  blind3  those  who  are  re- 
treating, blinds  the  unfortunate  homeless  child  and  the  heart  broken  mother — and 
God  knows,  the  world  would  be  a  more  charitable,  more  kindly  disposed  could  all  in 
it  have  witnessed  the  miseries  of  Monday,  the  9th  day  of  October  1871. 

"  The  fire  has  started  again  in  the  SDUthern  Division."  This  was  the  announce- 
flient  which  nearly  maddened  the  distracted  populace — for  now  the  north  was  rapidly 
being  destroyed — deaths  were  occurring  every  hour ;  honest  men  were  being  pillaged 
by  thieving  express  men,  hack  drivers  and  rascally  carriers — ;  people  were  tired, 
hungry,  sleepy — and  yet  nothing  could  be  procured  to  meet  the  demands  of  nature. 

■'  Don't  cry  mother,  don't  cry,''  were  words  heard  thousands  of  limes  that  night 
passing  from  the  lips  of  a  child  who  felt  the  convulsive  spasms  pressed  into  her  own 
hands  and  knew  well  the  awful  anguish  which  afflicted  the  one  who  nourished,  loved 
and  would  protect  her,  even  by  sacrificing  her  life.  But  scenes  such  as  these  had 
occurred  too  often  to  excite  emotion  now. 

The  wind  increased ;  livid  coals  were  caught  up  and  hurled  upon  the  wooden 
structures  across  the  street,  and  in  a  moment  the  fire  had  gained  a  foothold,  and 
swept  on  once  more  to  the  northward  and  eastward.  All  that  had  been  left  untouch- 
ed between  Jackson  and  Madison  streets,  and  between  Dearban  street  and  the  lake 
shore,  was  now  doomed,  and  as  the  fury  of  the  first  hurricane  of  wind  subsided,  there 
came  almost  a  lull,  so  that  the  fire  began  to  work  southward  and  westward. 

Solemn  and  serious  a  task  as  it  is  to  chronicle  the  misfortunes  of  a  wealthy  city  by 
fire,  it  is  a  doubly  melancholy  duty  to  speak  of  Death,  and  to  record  His  work  of  silent 
destruction.  People  dashed  from  wagons  and  killed,  horses  burned  to  cinders,  women 
rushing  for  succor,  with  their  clothes  in  flames.  Men  in  dangerous  positions  leaping 
forty  and  even  sixty  feet,  to  be  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  pavement  below.  The  Tri- 
hunt  reporter  witnessed  Sn  intensely  exciting  leap  from  Speed's  Block,  on  Dearborn 
street,  by  which  a  man  mat  sudden  death  under  the  following  circumstances  :  While 
Madison  street  south  of  Dearborn,  and  the  west  side  of  Dearborn  were  all  ablaze,  the 
spectators  saw  the  lurid  light  appear  in  the  rear  windows  of  Speeds  Block.  Pre- 
sently a  man,  who  had  app.iren:!y  taken  tims  to  dress  h;m->elf  leisurely,  appeared  on 
the  extension  built  up  to  the  second  story  of  two  of  the  stores.  He  cooly  looked 
down  the  thir}'  feet  between  him  an  I  the  ground,  while  the  excited  crowd  first  cried 
jump,  and  then  some  of  them  more  considerately  looked  for  a  ladier.  A  long  plank 
was  presently  found  and  answered  the  same  as  a  ladder,  and  was  placed  at  once 
against  the  building,  down  which  the  man  soon  after  sUd.  But  while  these  prepara- 
tions were  going  on,  there  suddenly  appeared  another  man  at  a  fourth  story  window 
of  the  building  below,  which  had  no  projection,  but  was  flush  from  the  top  to  the 
ground— four  st^,vies  and  a  basement.  His  escape  by  the  stairway  was  evidently  cut 
«ff,  aiid  he  looked  despairingly  down  the  fifty  feet  between  him  and  the  ground.  The 
«rowd  gathered  frantically  at  the  sight,  for  it  was  only  a  choice  of  death  before  him— 
ii)y  ire  or  being  cru<;hed  to  death  by  the  fall.     Senseless  cries  of  jump  !    jump!   went 


16  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Tip  from  the  crowd — Senseless  but  full  of  sympathy,  for  the  cry  was  absolutely  agoni- 
zing. Then  for  a  minute  or  two  he  disappeared,  perhap*  even  less,  but  it  seemed  so 
long  a  time  that  the  supposition  was  that  he  had  fallen,  suffocated  with  the  smoke  and 
heat.  But  no,  he  appears  again.  First  he  throws  out  a  bed,  then  some  bed-clothes, 
apparently,  why,  probably  even  he  does  not  knew.  Again  helcoks  down  the  dead, 
sheer  wall  of  fifty  feet  below  him.  Then  he  mounts  to  the  window-sill.  His  whole 
form  appears,  naked  to  the  shirt,  and  bis  white  limbs  gleam  against  the  dark  ■wall  in 
the  bright  light  as  he  swings  himself  below  the  window.  Somehow — how  none  can 
tell — he  drops  and  catches  upon  the  tops  of  the  windows  below  him.  Ke  stoops  and 
drops  again,  and  seizes  the  frame  with  his  bands,  and  his  gleaming  body  once  more 
straightens  and  hangs  prone  downward,  and  then  drops  instantly  and  accurately  upon 
the  window-sill  of  the  third  story.  A  ehout,  more  of  jcy  than  applause,  gees  up  from 
the  breathless  crowd,  and  those  who  had  turned  away  their  heads,  not  bearing  to 
look  upon  him  as  he  seemed  about  to  drop  to  sudden  and  certain  death,  glanced  up 
at  him  once  more  with  a  ray  of  hope  at  this  daring  and  skilful  teat.  Into  this  win- 
dow he  crept  to  look,  probably,  for  a  stahway,  but  appeared  again  presently,  for 
here  only  was  the  only  avenue  of  escape,  desperate  and  hopeless  as  it  was.  Once 
more  he  dropped  his  body,  hanging  by  his  bands.  The  crowd  screamed  and  waved 
to  him  to  swing  himself  over  tl  e  projection  frcm  which  the  other  man  had  just  been 
resetted.  He  tried  to  do  this,  and  vibrated  like  a  pendulum  frcm  side  to  side,  but 
could  not  reach  far  enough  to  throw  himself  ttpon  its  roof.  Then  he  hnng  by  one 
hand  and  looked  down  ;  rising  the  other  hand,  he  took  a  fresh  hold  and  swung  from 
side  to  side  once  more  to  reach  the  roof.  In  vain  ;  again  he  hwng  motionless  by  one 
hand,  and  slowly  turned  his  head  over  his  shoulder  and  gazed  into  the  abys^  belov? 
him.  Then,  gathering  himself  up,  he  let  go  his  hold,  and  lor  a  second  a  gleam  of 
white  shot  down  full  forty  feet  to  the  basement.  Of  course  it  killed  h.'m.  Ee  was 
taken  to  a  drug  store  near  by,  and  died  in  ten  minutes. 

When  the  Ross  btiilding  near  State  and  Washington  streets  fell,  a  man  with  a 
wagon  —  occupied  by  himself  and  four  others — reached  the  base  of  the  edifice  just 
as  the  walls  fell ;  they  five  were  crushed  to  atoms  and  remained  beneath  the  tomb 
which  covered  them.  One  of  them  saw  the  ruins  topple  and  uttered  an  exclamation — 
but  was  unable  to  escape.  One  of  the  Tribune  reporters,  wandering  on  the  North 
Side,  discovered,  in  the  rear  cellar  of  the  dwelling  next  east  of  the  Historical 
Society's  building,  the  charred  trunk  of  a  human  body,  lying  amid  ruins  of  many 
wine  bottles  and  the  apparatus  of  a  water-closet.  There  was  much  roasted  flesh 
still  clinging  to  the  spine,  but  no  clue  to  the  identity,  or  even  the  sex  of  the  victim, 
was  obtainable.  The  house  had  been  occupied  by  a  German — the  keeper  of  the 
Historical  Building — but  the  body  may  have  been  that  of  some  person  who  bad 
strayed  into  (apparently)  the  upper  chambers  of  his  house,  probably  in  pursuit  of 
plunder.  Two  men  were  also  found  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  livery  stable  near  the 
Pa«)fic  Hotel,  buined  and  charted  so  as  to  render  recognition  an  impossibility  ;  ooly 


^  GREAT    FIEE    IN    CHICAGO.  17 

a  part  of  their  legs  aEd  trousers  reEiaiced  to  establish  the  fact  that  they  were  hrmpn 
teings.  Mr.  Mcrehead  perished  in  the  buildirg  of  EeyhBrn.  Hunter  &  Co.,  whilst 
endeaToriEg  to  pave  hooks ;  he  fell  tack  smothered.  One  Wolf  was  roasted  to  death 
at  95  West  Harrison  street  j^whilst  a  drnnken  man,  endearoring  to  cro&s  the  base 
ball  groiind,  was  also  destroyed,  gix  men  were  working  on  the  corner  of  Clark  and 
Madison  streets,  top  of  J.  B.  Ch^m^e^'s  store,  and  when  the  fire  caught  the  lower 
part  of  the  building  were  unable  to  get  down,  and  equally  unable  to  escape  to 
adjoining  buildings.  They  fell  through  the  roof  and  were  totally  consumed,  after 
uttering  heart  rending  shrieks  !  A  woman  on  State  street  was  unable  to  escape  irom 
her  room  ;  she  acted  'frantically,  slapping  at  ttie  names,  screaming  at  he  crowd, 
dancing,  singing  and  holding  her  head  with  both  hands  ;  then  with  a  haunting, 
despairing  shriek  she  succumbed  to  the  fire  and  smoke.  Her  son  did  all  in  his  power 
to  save  her,  birt  the  solid,  seething  firefdarted  towards  him,  and  roared  with  distract- 
ing fierceness;  the  fire  held  untrammeled  mastery  over  the  people:  (their  little  efJorts 
were — so  to  speak — mocked  and  jeered  at  as  he  leaped  from  building  to  building 
twisted  his  emissaries  throughout  a  block,  and  hurled  for  miles  around  huge  masses 
of  fired  timber;  the  wind  charged  freqirectiy,  but  the  mission  of  desolation  had  to 
be  accomplished,''and  roan  had  to  suceumb  to  the  sway  of  this  maddened  element. 
Many  of  the  dead  were  gathered  togethar  and  conveyed  to  the  West  Side ;  some  were 
smothered — some  had  their  skulls  fractured,  some  had  been  burned  to  death — but  all 
were  victims  of  the  terTible  calamity. 

Ere  turniag  attention  to  the  North  Side  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  enumerate 
a  few  of  the  prominent  blocks  and  Buildings  leveled  to  ashes  in  the  Southern  Divisien. 
Of  course  there  were  hundreds  of  other  edifices,  representing  millions  of  doilars  which 
are  omitted :  City  National  Bank,  'Illinois  Savings'  Institution,  Western  Fire  and 
Marine,  Telegraph  Office,  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Merchants'  Insurance  Block,  ^tna 
Insurance  Block,  First  Methodist  Church,  St.  Mary's  ^Catholic),  First  Preobyterian, 
Second  Presbyterian.  Trinity  (Episcopal),  St.  Paul's  (Universalist),  Swedeuburgiaa 
Chirrch,  Wabash  Avenue  Methodist  (partially),  Birch  Block,  Palmer  Block,  Michigan 
Southern  Depot.  Academy  of  Design,  Chicago  Academy  of  Music,  Bryant  &,  Siratton's 
Commercial  College,  Jewish  Synagogue,  Phoenix  Club  House,  Mayo  Block,  Drake- 
Farewell  Block,  Tribune  Block,  Journal  and  Times  Offices,  Offices  of  the  Font,  Mail 
and  Staats  Zeifvr>g,  Bepublican  Office,  Lombard  Block,  Sturgess  Block,  FarewG-ll  Hall, 
Morrison  Block  Arcade  Building,  Stones  Block.  Armory,  Hubbard  Block,  Chitteudeti 
Building,  Root  &  Cady's,  Lyon  &  Healy's,  Smith  &  Nixon's,  Kimball's,  Bauer's  & 
Molter's  Music  store.  Metropolitan  Hall  and  Music  Hall.  The  fist,  of  course,  includps 
only  a  very  few  of  the  business  blocks  of  the  South  Division,  but  such  as  prominently 
occur  to  us  in  recalling  the  former  condition  of  these  once  busy  streets,  Terrance 
Block,  Michigan  Central  Dppot,  Adams  House,  Massasoit  House,  City  Hot«l,  Metropo- 
lian Hotel,  Tremont  House,  St.  Jame's  Hotel,  Palmer  House,  Pacific  Hotel,  Bigelow 
House,  Sherman  House,  Matteson  House,  Nevada  Hotel,  Brigg's  House,  Court  House, 


18  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Gas  Works,  Crosby's  Opera  House,  McVickor's  Theatre,  Hooley's  Opera  House,  Wood's 
Museum,  Dearborn  Theatre,  Shephard  Block,  Honore  Block,  Post  Office  and  Post  Of- 
fice Block,  Reynold's  Block,  McCormick's  Block,  the  Western  News  Company's,  S.  C. 
Griggs  &  Co.'s,  and  W.  B.  Keen  &  Co.'s  Book  House,  Manufacturer's  National,  Ger- 
man National,  Mechanic's  National,  First  National.  Second  National,  Third  National, 
Fourth  National,  Fifth  National,  Commercial  National,  National  Bank  of  Commerce, 
Illinois  National,  Cook  County  National,  Union  National,  Merchants'  National,  Mer- 
chants' and  Farmers'  Saving,  Loan  and  Trust,  Badger's  Bank,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

During  the  raging  of  the  fire,  little  attention  was  excited  by  the  occurrence  of  ac- 
cidents ;  maimed,  wounded,  sick,  crippled — all  had  to  take  care  of  themselves,  and 
without  doubt  hundreds  of  men,  women  and  children  sleep  their  last  sleep  amid  the 
ashes  of  this  awful  conflagration. 

Whilst  the  south-west  and  southern  sections  were  smouldering  ruins,  the  centre 
of  attraction  was  the  north  side,  the  fire  making  rapid  progress  urged  by  a  north-west 
wind  and  reaching  Brush  street.  The  bridge  here  was  crowded  with  people  and  it 
''sras  at  once  turned  to  prevent  the  flames  making  further  headway. 

Vain  efi'ort ! 

As  though  aware  of  its  power  the  fire  attacked  the  bridge,  drove  many  into  leap- 
ing wildly  into  the  water  and  many  into  suflocation.  The  w^arehouse,  lumber  yards, 
coal  beds,  planing  mills  and  every  wooden  structure  for  blocks  around  were  soon 
darting  forth  jets  of  flame  ;  towards  the  lake  the  fleeing,  worried,  heartbroken  crowd 
wended  their  way.  And  we  cannot  better  continue  the  narrative  of  the  spreading  of 
this  fire  than  by  relying  upon  the  evidence  of  reporters  from  the  Chicago  press — 
iTKjre  particularly  the  Iribune  : 

So  little  idea  had  the  people  living  near  the  Historical  Society  Building  on 
•Ontario  street,  between  Dearborn  and  Clark,  of  the  terrible  and  utter  ruin  which  the 
lire  would  work,  but  snatching  up  what  valuables  they  could,  they  sought  shelter  in 
its  cellar,  which  was  unfortunately  filled  to  a  great  extent  with  inflammable  material. 
According  to  the  statement  of  the  Librarian  of  the  Historical  Society,  William 
Cockran,  who  was  there  at  the  time,  the  following  persons  certainly  sought  refuge 
there.  Old  Colonel  Stone  and  his  wife,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Able  and  their  daughters,  Mrs. 
De  Pelgiom,  teacher  of  French,  Mr.  and  Mr^.  Carpenter,  musical  people,  Dr.  Freer 
and  family,  the  former  having  with  hiui  |1,000  worth  of  personal  pi'operty  belonging 
%•  Rush  Medical  College,  two  patients  from  the  hospital  in  Mr.  R'chard's  place,  and 
John  B.  Girard  and  family.  Mr.  Cockran  had  hold  of  one  end  of  a  trunk,  and  Mrs. 
Gebler  of  the  other.  Her  dress  took  fire,  and  he  left  her  and  ran  for  the  stairs,  lead- 
ing from  the  cellar  up  stairs.  He  is  certain  that  old  Colonel  Stone  sufiocated  and, 
from  the  sudden  inrush  of  dense  smoke,  there  is  cause  for  fear  that  nearly  all  the 
others  who  were  in  there  shared  the  same  fate,  bewildered  by  the  fumes,  and  unable 
lo  find  their  way  out  of  a  building  with  which  they  were  unacquainted.  Mr.  Cockraa 
ran  up  the  cellar  stairs  and  went  into  the  reading-room  on  the  ground  floor,  and 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  19 

tfeence  hurried  up  into  tbe  library  room.  At  that  time  there  did  not  seem  to  be  any 
symptoms  of  fire  in  the  roof.  Then,  going  down  stairs  again  into  the  lecture  and 
pamphlet  room,  he  saw  the  flames  rushing  up  stairs,  and  made  his  exit  as  hurriedly 
as  possible.  Nothing  was  saved  from  the  building,  not  even  the  Emancipation  Pro- 
clamation; and  it  is  now  an  utter  and  hopeless  wreck. 

At  Chicago  avenue.  It  was  10  o'clock  when  the  fire  got  to  Chicago  avenue,  and 
all  down  Clark  and  Wells  streets  was  in  a  state  of  terrible  excitement.  The  fire  had 
crossed  the  river  at  another  point,  or,  rather,  the  flying  sparks  had  set  fire  up 
near  Ontario  street.  Encouraged  by  the  absence  of  policemen,  the  roughs  alon^  on 
Kinzie  street  broke  into  the  saloons  there,  and  began  seizing  and  drinking  the  liquor. 
Many  others,  at  the  very  moment  when^they  most  needed  all  the  self-possesion  they 
had,  worried  themselves,  and,  iq.  many  cases,  were  surrounded  by  the  flames  and 
ftifled  by  the  smoke.  Some  were  found  lying  on  the  sidewalk,  and,  since  no  one 
paid  any  particular  attention  to  them,  they  met  their  fate  there.  Some  women,  and 
their  children,  lingered  too  long,  and  were  either  lost  in  the  house,  or  compelled  to 
jump  out  of  the  windows,  and  receiving  injuries,  remained  where  they  were.  The 
incredible  rapidity  of  the  flames  passed  all  comprehension.  They  sprang  from  side 
to  side  of  the  street,  and  skipping  extensive  tracts,  returned  to  complete  their  work 
Often  before  the  flames  had  reached  a  house,  the  thick,  black  smoke  began  to  roll  out 
of  the  chimneys,  the  result  of  the  action  of  the  intense  heat  on  the  pine  woodwork 
within.  The  Church  of  the  Holy  Name,  which  has  a  slate  roof,  was  especially  no- 
ticeable. From  the  crevices  of  the  slates  poured  out  eddying  whirls  of  black  smoke 
which,  after  rising  a  short  height,  burned  for  a  moment  with  an  intense  flame,  and 
then  went  out.  At  an  early  hour  in  the  morning,  it  was  possible  to  get  teams,  but  it 
was  not  very  long  before  they  were  all  secured. 

So  soon  as  the  people  west  of  Clark  began  to  see  that  there  was  no  hope,  and 
that  the  fire  was  really  bound  to  go  northward  to  an  indefinite  point,  they  turned  all 
their  minds  to  getting  over  to  the  West  Division,  where  there  was  comparative  safety 
from  the  flames,  and  plenty  of  vacant  ground  on  which  to  encamp.  So,  since  Chicago 
avenue  bridge  was  useless,  the  whole  tide  turned  toward  Division,  which,  from  Grove 
to  Halsted,  was  untouched,  and  promised  to  remain  so.  It  was  not  many  minutes 
before  a  steady  stream  of  carriages,  drays,  express  wagons,  and  vehicles  of  every 
description  were  rushing  pell  mell  across  that  bridge,  interlocking  and  breaking, 
while  the  southern  streets  leadmg  up  to  Division  were  jammed  with  wagons,  which 
occasionally  caught  fire.  The  expressmen  and  draymen,  stimulated  by  the  immense 
prices  they  were  receiving— $20  to  $50  a  Joad — drove  their  heavy  teams  recklessly 
forward  breaking  down  the  weaker  teams  and  forcing  their  way  across  the  river  in 
order  to  return  as  soon  as  possible  for  another  load.  Sometimes  they  themselvei 
came  to  grief,  and  then,  unfastening  their  horses,  tried  to  find  another  wagon. 

The  roads  were  filled  with  people  crazed  by  excitement  and  liquor,  or  stupified 
by  smoke,  and  no  regard  at  all  was  paid  to  them  by  the  drivers,  so  that  at  all  those 

2 


20  HISTORY    OF    THE 

points  Dmnercus  accideuts  were  constantly  oecuning.  One  man  was  driving  up 
Clark  street  with  a  heavy  load  when  he  fell  from  his  seat  and  instantly  broke  his 
neck.  The  team  was  loaded  with  trunks  marked  "Barton  Edsall."  Mrs.  Edsall  was 
taken  from  her  house  in  a  half  insensible  condition,  iiuite  early  in  the  morning.  It 
will  'be  remembered  that  her  husband  was  murdered  in  bis  house  the  preceding 
Thursday  night. 

The  wanderers  crossing  Division  street  either  scattered  themselves  north  or  went 
straight  west,  while  many  encamped  themselves  upon  Grove  Island,  which  lies  between 
the  North  Branch  and  Ogden  Canal.  When  the  trains  moved  a  little  west  they  found 
their  way  blocked  by  the  cars  of  the  Northwestern  Road,  which  had  been  run  up 
there  to  avoid  the  lire,  and  people  were  compelled  to  make  long  detours  to  get  through 
them.  Many,  unable  to  force  their  way  through  the  confusion  at  Division  street, 
which  was  almost  e(j;ual  to  that  at  the  crossing  of  the  Beresina,  turned  into  the  side 
streets,  and  made  their  way  to  North  Avenue  Bridge,  where  they  were  able  to  get 
out  without  great  difficulty,  though  much  hampered  by  the  railroad  trains  after  they 
got  across  there.  Not  only  teams,  but  foot  passengers,  carrying  in  their  arms  chil- 
dren and  some  little  articles  of  furniture  or  wearing  apparel,  wended  their  weary  way 
in  the  same  directian.  One  woman  had  nothing  but  a  silk  sack,  and  another  was 
accompanied  by  a  child,  who  had  in  its  arms  a  couple  of  cats  and  a  little  dog,  and 
crying  itself,  sobs  out,  '-Don't  cry, mamma."  After  getting  out  upon  the  prairie,  they 
settled  down  wherever  they  could  find  room,  some  sitting  in  rocking  chairs,  and 
others  upon  blankets  on  tne  ground.  None  of  them  said  anything,  but  all  sat  looking 
intently  at  the  fire  which  was  immediately  before  them.'  Many  who  had  teams  went 
as  far  west  as  the  Artesian  Well,  where  they  encamped  around  the  large  pond,  which 
supplied  them  with  water.  There  they  remained  in  the  most  forlorn  and  uncomfort- 
able condition,  which  was  aggravated  by  the  rain,  which  began  falling  about  11 
o'clock  on  Monday  night,  and  vhich  ciused  a  change  from  the  warm  and  comfortable 
temperature  oi  the  day,  to  the  piercing  chilliness  of  Tuesday  morning. 

Late  on  Monday  evening,  Chicago  avenue  bridge  caught  fire,  and  soon  fell  into 
the  river.  It  was  even  then  almost  impossible  to  get  over  at  Division  street,  on 
account  of  the  teams  which  were  even  then  crossing.  Everywhere  the  wildest  con- 
fusion was  prevailing.  Families  were  separated,  and  ihe  members  were  vainly  seek- 
ing for  one  another.  One  policeman  picked  up  a  three  months'  old  child,  which  had 
been  lost  in  some  way.  Since  there  was  no  use  in  facing  the  flames,  the  engines 
arranged  themselves  along  the  west  bank  of  the  North  Branch,  did  tlie  best  they 
could  all  Monday  in  playing  on  the  East  and  West  Sides. 

The  fire  went  further  and  further  north,  taking  both  sides  of  North  avenue,  and 
continuing  north. 

The  people  living  north  of  Cliicago  avenue  and  rather  west  of  LaSalle  street,  were 
exceedingly  hopeful  that  they  would  escape,  and  that  the  fire  would  drift  steadily 
eastward,  not  expecting  that  it  would  make  any  progress  against  the  steady  and  furious 
west  wind.  They  also  had  great  hopes  in  Chicago  avenue,  which  is  a  100  foot  street. 
But  the  flames  running  up  Clark  street,  catching  Turner  Hall  and  the  new 
building  north  of  it,  worked  west,  and  got  into  the  brick  blocks  on  the  east  side  of  La 


GREA'L*    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  21 

Salle,  and  then  jumped  that  street  and  got  into  the  blocks  nh  the  we.-^t  side.  At 
about  the  same  time  it  crossed  Chicago  avenue  and  caught  MoEwen's  planin>i;  mill,  on 
Wells,  near  Pearson,  and  then  rushed  on  noithwaid  among  the  wooden  buildings 
sitiiated  there,  blowing  them^  down  almost  before  they  were  on  flre.  Nnmbeis  of  the 
citizens  seized  what  property  they  could,  piling  it  on  drays,  which  they  sometimes 
dragged  themselves,  and  took  the  goods  thus  temporarily  received  over  to  a  vacant 
lot  on  Franklin  street  beyond  Elm,  where  there  was  nothing  but  earth  md  green  cel- 
ery, and  there  bestowed  their  possessions  in  little  heaps,  with  which  the  ground  was 
soon  covered.  But  this  material  with  which  the  earth  was  cumbered  was  of  the  most 
incongruous  and  often  inflammable  nature.  Irish  women  brought  straw  beds,  and 
others  piled  up  chairs,  bureaux,  trunks,  and  every  conceivable  article.  It  was  no't 
long  before  the  cinders,  falling  in  dense  masses,  began  to  make  of  the  surface  of  this 
lot  a  succession  of  small  bonfires,  and  the  owners,  having  no  water,  and  no  means  of 
covering  with  eaith  what  they  had,  were  either  compelled  to  stamp  out  these  tlame:^ 
or  to  let  their  stuff  go,  and  confine  themselves  to  regretting  the  useless  waste  of  time, 
or  to  pick  up  the  most  portable  article  and  march  oft' with  it.  One  man.  was  seen 
marching  offwith  a  glass  kerosene  lamp,  and  after  he  had  carried  it  about  a  block,  ho 
met  a  friend,  who  asked  him  what  was  the  use  of  carrying  a  thing  like  that  any  fur- 
ther. He  looked  at  it,  observed  that  there  did  not  seem  to  be  much  use  in  it,  and 
tossed  it  away.  Another  man  had  secured  a  rickety  and  tremulous  cart,  to  which 
was  harnessed  a  rickety  and  tremulous  horse,  and  in  it  had  a  beer  safe,  which  witli 
great  regard  for  the  property  of  others,  he  was  carrying  out  of  harm's  way,  on  the 
prairie  or  elsewhere.  Other  men  took  their  goods  up  to  Lincoln  Park,  hoping  that 
there,  at  least,  they  would  be  safe.  But  there,  as  elsewhere,  the  fury  of  the  flames 
passed  their  comprehension,  and  everything  stored  there,  as  well  as  the  trees,  were 
swept  away. 

"  God  help  us,  where  is  this  to  stop  V  groaned  a  father,  as  with  his  children  in 
his  arms  he  traveled  ^e  streets,  now  and  again  looking  back  with  a  manifestation  of 
intense  anxiety.  On — on — on — towards  the  lake  the  unfortunate  people  crowded, 
shrinking  as  the  roar  of  the  fire-torrent  neared  them.  On — on — on — to  the  beach,  and 
still  the  serpentine  monster  left  its  devastating  marks  behind,  and  advanced  on  the 
forlorn  battalions  crouching  in  the  sand,  or  crawling  in  the  water.  As  the  hiss  and 
roar  advanced,  many  drove  their  horses  into  the  lake;  women  unused  to  fatigue,  clasp- 
ed their  children  to  their  breasts  and  prayed  fervently  to  their  Maker.  Others  laughed 
with  the  hollow  glee  of  lunacy,  others  stood  petrified,  gazing  upon  the  terrible  sight 
before  them. 

These  people  were  sandwiched  between  two  walls  of  death  ! 

To  advance  was  to  be  destroyed  by  fire — to  retreat— to  meet  a  watery  giave  f  . 

One  man  held  his  head  under  water  at  intervals,  another  bound  his  coat  arouml 
his  head  and  saturated  it  with  water.  Wagons  were  capsized,  and  many  retreated  be- 
neath t^iem  for  concealment,  and  thus  baffled  their  foe  until  far  in  the  distance. 
Wright's  and  Ogden's  groves  could  be  seen  distinctly,  although  the  fire  had  not  yet 
reached  that  point. 

The  line  of  devastation  could  be  distinctly  traced  nortli-east  towards  Newbury 
School  House,  sliding  into  Webster  avenue  in  the  vicinity  of  Lincoln  Place,  there  the 


I 

22  HISTORY    0?    THE 

rarages  spread  eastward  along  Hulbiirt  street,  east  of  Orchard  on  to  the  lake,  whilst 
the  entire  city  south  of  Orchard  was  also  destroyed. 

As  the  day  progresssd,  the  mis3ry  of  the  unfortunate  sufferers  increased  ; — nothing 
to  eat,  nothing  to  wear,  nothing  to  hope  for  save  anxiety,  danger,  trouble  and  tribula- 
tion. From  the  corner  of  LaSalle  street  north,  the  desolation  of  this  division  was  par- 
ticularily  noticable  ;  in  some  cases  the  buildings  had  been  reduced  to  ashes,  and  the 
wind,  after  scooping  rubbish  and  all  in  a  body,  hurled  it  forward  in  a  perfect  blinding 
cloud.  Division  street  was  swept  clean,  not  a  stone  remained  which  could  have  point- 
ed to  the  spot  where  stood  some  well-known  building.  Sidewalks  seem  to  have  acted 
as  fire  conductors; — they  burned  rapidly,  and  frequently  were  instrumental  in  aiding 
the  hellish  work  of  destruction.  A  battered  tower  marked  the  North  avenue  Police 
Station,  whilst  the  charred,  browned  walls  of  St.  Michael's  Church — a  German  place  of 
worship — were  particularily  noticeable.  The  Alexean  Hospital,  the  R.  C.  Church — 
both  disappeared — leaving  scarce  a  trace  behind.  Within  these  landmarks  rubbish  and 
tangled  debris  alone  remained.  From  Sedgwick,  along  North  avenue  to  Orchard,  every- 
thing is  gone,  the  Newbury  School  having  been  a  barrier  to  the  further  progress  west- 
ward of  the  flames. 

In  fact  no  casual  reader,  one  who  has  not  been  through  the  ruins,  and  witnessed 
the  gloom  and  bitterness  occasioned  by  the  fell  destroyer,  would  credit  the  assertion 
that  for  miles  south,  miles  north,  miles  east,  nothing  is  to  be  seen  save  ruins,  jagged 
corners  of  buildings,  blazing  heaps  of  coal,  smouldering  wheat  and  acres  of  battered 
machinery,  grimy,  red  and  useless.  There  one  could  see  the  Orphan  Home  ;  it  had 
accomplished  some  good  work  in  its  day — nearly  three  hundred  children  had  gathered 
to  be  educated  by  the  self-sacrificing  Sisters  of  Mercy.  Here  occurred  a  heart-rend- 
ing scene;  the  children  screamed,  hid  themselves,  and  wept  aloud — their  lamentations 
being  heard  by  many  without.  Mr.  Sullivan  at  once  secured  wagons  and  saved  them 
from  the  horrible  fate  with  which  they  were  threatened.  The  spire  of  the  Church  of 
Holy  Name  remained — a  blast  of  wind  blowing  the  platforms  down  and  severely 
injuring  several  men.  Unity  Church,  where  the  Rev.  Robert  CoUyer  delivered  so 
eloquent  a  sermon  the  night  before — dwelling  upon  the  destruction  of  Paris — now  be- 
came a  victim  to  the  element  more  deadly  than  man's  wrath,  more  potent  than  mili- 
tary heartlessness.  At  the  Water  Works  Mr.  Crejger  was  striving  to  protect  the 
interests  of  the  city — the  roof  alone  being  destroyed ;  Mr.  Creiger  was  amazed  when 
Tiewing  the  fire  on  Ohio  street,  to  observe  the  flames  heading  out  to  the  Works.  Even 
the  graves  in  the  old  cemetery  were  scorched — the  tombstones  blistered  and  scaled, 
and  iron  railings  twisted  into  fantastic  shapes.  But  why  dwell  upon  the  frightful 
work  accomplished  during  Monday  7  Why  call  back  the  painful  objects,  the  sadden- 
ing experiences  of  that  awful  dayl  The  man  who,  maddened  by  anxiety  and  suffer- 
ing, prevailed  upon  his  brain  to  conjure  up  the  burning  of  Sodom  and  Gomorra — and 
to  prophecy  a  similar  destruction  in  the  case  of  Chicago,  deserved  pity;  hooted  as  he 
was,  driven  from  his  stand — he  yet  was  less  crazed  than  hundreds  who  ran  or  walked 
or  spoke  as  though  in  a  dream,  and  who  superstitously  thought  what  the  unfortunate 
.man  was  reckless  enough  to  speak.  And  standing  to  view  the  rapidly  melting  streets, 
we  can  see  whole  families  secreting  themselves  under  bridges  or  sidewalks;  clergymen 
of  all  denominations  were  striving  to  escape  the  work  of  general  destruction — ia 
fact — like  death— the  fire  levelled  all,  and  common  disaster  made  men  brothers. 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  28 

It  were  useless  te  endeavor  to  classify  the  magniflcent  structures  reduced  to 
ashes  on  the  North  Side  ;  happy  homes  were  made  desolate ;  the  laugh  .of  youth  was 
turned  into  weeping;  the  plans  for  future  enjoyment  were  defeated;  the  prattling 
infant  in  the  cradle,  the  young  mother  full  of  hope— what  a  fearful  comment  on  the 
nncertainty  of  human  happiness.  Millions  of  dollars  represented  now  by  crumbled 
ruins ;  households  pampered  in  luxury  and  ease  praying  for  an  opportunity  of  con- 
cealing themselves,  protecting  themselves,  with  paupers,  beggars  and  thieves ;  not  a 
building  to  enter,  scarce  clothing  to  cover  their  forms;  God  in  his  great  mercy  would 
not  have  sent  so  great  an  afHictiun  without  mysteriously  ordering  it  for  some  wise 
purpose. 

The  following  were  a  few  of  the  destroyed  buildings  in  North  Division:  Revero 
Hot«l,  Dllich's  Block,  Ewing's  Block,  the  Hatch  House,  the  Humboldt  House,  Illinois 
Street  Church,  Armour,  Dole  &  Co.'s  Elevator,  Hiram  Wheeler's  Elevator,  the  private 
residences  of  William  B.  Ogden,  J.  L.  Stark,  Isaac  N.  Arnold,  J.  K.  Rice,  George  L. 
Dunlap,  W.  B.  Houghtaling,  Samuel  Johnson,  E.  I.  Tinkham,  Thomas  Mackin,  the 
contractor,  whose  loss  is  from  four  to  live  hundred  thousand  dollars;  George  F.  and 
Julian  Rumsey,  Edward  Burling,  A.  H.  Burley,  0.  F.  Fuller,  Dr.  C.  V.  Dyer,  G.W. 
Gondy,  Obadiah  Jackson,  General  Rucker,  the  new  Diversey  Block,  near  the  Water 
Works,  E.  B.  McCagg,  Perry  N.  Smith,  Philip  Hoyne,  Franklin  Mosely,  Lincoln, 
Pierson  Street  Primary,  Elm  Street  Primary,  and  other  school  buildings,  the  Clarendon 
Hotel  on  Clark  Street,  the  North  Side  Stables,  from  which  nearly  all  the  horses  were 
saved,  McCormick's  Reaper  Factory,  the  Chicago  Sugar  Refinery,  the  Galena  Freight 
House,  the  Galena  Elevator,  Lill's  and  Sand's  Breweries,  the  Tanneries  along  the 
North  Branch,  the  German  Theatre  at  the  corner  of  Indiana  and  Wells  streets.  Unity, 
New  England,  and  Westminster  Churches,  the  Clmpel  of  the  Holy  Name,  the  Cathe- 
dral, the  Hospital  of  the  Alexian  Brothers,  the  Jewish  Hospital  on  LaSalle  street,  the 
new  Catholic  one  on  the  corner  of  Sedgwick  and  Elm,  with  the  Convent  of  the  Sifters 
of  Mercy,  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  the  Huron  Street  Station,  the  Bethel,  Galena 
Depot,  &c,,  &c. 

It  is  Tuesday. 

No  papers  are  issued.  Where  once  stood  the  Times  office,  from  whence  issued 
ono  of  the  most  fearless,  dashing  papers  on  the  Continent,  was  now  a  ruin,  Mr. 
Storey's  loss  being  altogether  immense.  The  Tribune,  having  secured  Edwards' 
Directory  Office  on  Canal  street,  West  Side,  coalesced  with  the  Jommal,  for  the  time 
being,  in  fact  all  the  printing  offices  nestled  closely  together  on  Canal  and  adjacent 
streets.  West  Division  was  crowded,  as  .also  portions  of  the  South.  There  is  a 
settled  gloom  observable  ;  rich  men  on  Saturday  are  poor  to-day.  They  are  not 
downhearted,  however.  They  calmly  talk  the  matter,  each  one  wondering,  speculat- 
ing as  to  how  his  safe  has  "  stood  it."  Selfish  merchants  in  some  cases  are  extortion- 
ate in  prices  ;  they  ask  25  cents  per  pound  for  the  commonest  brand  of  sugar  ;  they 
swindle  on  bread  prices  until  a  manifesto  is  issued  forbidding  them  to  sell  for  more 
than  eight  cents  per  loaf.  One  man  hangs  out  his  shingie,  and  a  real  Una  fide  Jhingle, 
too ;  on  it  is  inscribed  his  name,  and  underneath,  "  wife,  children,  energy  !"  That  is 
all  he  had  left. 

On  the  corner  of  Canal  street  business  men  discussed  their  losses  ;  they    were 


24  HISTORY    OF    THE 

philosophical,  but  ever  and  anou  the  trembling  lip,  the  uncertain  nerTous  action,  told 
too  plainly  that  the  heart  felt  what  the  lip  failed  to  utter. 

Here  is  Mr.  Wentworth  «f  the  Michigan  Central ;  he  has  been  working  hard,  and 
evidently  has  borne  his  share  of  the  fray. 

"  How  much  money  have  you  1"   asks  his  friend. 

"  Just  feur  dollars,"  is  the  reply — and  one-half  goes  to  the  anxious  enquirer. 

A  gentleman  who  had  been  worth  $300,000  stood  viewing  the  destruction  of  his 
wealth  Jn  an  elevator.  Pointing  towards  a  mountain  of  wet,  smoldering  wheat,  he 
said  :  "  This  day  I  am  not  worth  a  dollar  ;  this  day  a  week  ago  I  was  possessed  of 
$300,000. 

Scenes  such  as  these  vrere  frequent ;  men  came  down  from  their  wealth-created 
positions,  and  removed  the  mantle  of  business  courtesy  and  practical  coldness  which 
had  too  often  frozen  their  hearts,  and  made  them  indiflerent^to  the  troubles  and  bur- 
dens of  others  less  fortunate  in  the  battle  of  life. 

But  now  all  were  wounded,  and  able  to  i)ractically  test  the  effect  of  changes, 
reverses  and  affl'ctiOns  upon  the  human  heart. 

During  the  day  the  following  notices,  proclamations,  etc.,  were  issued  ; 

"  1.  All  citizens  are  requested  to  exercise  great  caution  in  the  use  of  fire  in  their 
dwellings  and  not  to  use  kerosene  lights  at  present,  as  the  city  will  be  without  a  full 
supply  of  water  for  probably  two  or  three  days. 

2.  The  following  bridges  are  passable,  to  wit :  All  bridges  (except  Van  Bureu 
and  Adams  streets)  from  Lake  street  south,  and  all  bridges  over  the  North  Branch  of 
the  Chicago  River. 

3.  All  good  citizens  who  are  willing  to  serve,  are  requested  to  report  at  the  corner 
of  Anne  and  Washington  streets,  to  be  sworn  in  as  special  policemen. 

Citizens  are  requested  to  organize  a  police  for  tiach  block  in  the  city,  and  to  send 
reports  of  such  organization  to  the  police  headquarters,  corner  of  Union  and  West 
Madison  streets. 

All  persons  nerding  food  will  be  relieved  by  applying  at  the  following  places  : 

At  the  corner  of  Ann  and  \Ve.st  Washington  ;  Hlinois  Centi-al  Railroad  round- 
house. 

M.  S.  R.  R. — Twenty-second  street  statJon. 

C.  B.  &  Q.  R.  R. — Canal  street  depot. 

St.  L.  &  A.  R.  R. — Near  Sixteenth  street. 

C.  &  N.  W.  R.  R. — Corner  of  Kinzie  and  Canal  streets. 

All  the  public  schoolhouses,  and  at  nearly  all  the  churches. 

4.  Citizens  are  recjuested  to  avoid  passing  through  the  burnt  districts  until  the 
dangerous  walls  left  standing  can  be  levelled. 

5.  All  saloons  are  ordered  be  closed  at  9  p.  m.  every  day  for  one  week,  under  a 
jienalty  of  forfeiture  of  license. 

6.  The  Common  Council  have  this  day  by  ordinance  fixed  the  price  of  bread  at 
eight  (8)  cents  per  loaf  of  twelve  ounces,  and  at  the  same  rate  for  loaves  of  a  less  w 
greater  weight,  and  affixed  a  penalty  of  ten  dollars  for  selling,  or  attempting  to  sell, 
bread  at  a  greater  rate  within  the  next  ten  days. 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  25 

7.  Any  hackman,  expressman,  drayman  or  teamster  charging  more  than  the 
regular  fare  will  have  his  license  revoked. 

All  citizens  are  requested  to  aid  in  preserving  the  peace,  good  order  and  good 
name  of  our  city. 

October  10,  1870.  ^  R.  B.  MASON,  Mayor." 

'•  Prodaiiuiiion. — Whereas,  in  the  providence  of  God,  to  whose  will  we  humbly 
submit,  a  terrible  calamity  has  befallen  our  city,  which  demands  of  us  our  best  efforts 
for  the  preservation  of  order,  and  the  relief  of  the  sufiering  : 

"  Be  it  known,  that  the  faith  and  credit  of  the  city  of  Chicago  is  hereby  jjledged 
for  the  necessary  expenses  for  the  relief  of  the  suffering.  Public  order  will  be  pre- 
served. The  police  and  special  police  now  being  appointed,  will  be  responsible  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  peace  and  the  protection  of  property. 

"All  officers  and  men  of  the  Fire  Department  and  Health  Department  will  act  a.s 
special  policemen  without  further  notice.  The  Mayor  and  Comptroller  will  give 
vouchers  for  all  supplies  furnished  by  the  different  relief  committees.  The  headquar- 
ters of  the  city  government  will  be  at  the  Congregational  Church,  corner  of  West 
Washington  and  Ann  streets.  All  persons  are  warned  against  any  acts  tending  to 
endanger  property.  All  persons  caught  in  any  depredation  will  be  immediately  ar- 
rested. 

"With  the  help  of  God  order  and  peace  and  private  property  shall  be  preserved. 
The  City  Government  and  committees  o^f  citizens  pledge  themselves  to  the  com- 
munity to  protect  them,  and  prepare  the  way  for  a  restoration  of  public  and  private 
welfare. 

"It  is  believed  the  fire  has  spent  its  force,  and  all  will  soon  be  well." 

"  E.  B.  MASON,  Mayor. 

GEO.  TAYLOR,  Comptroller. 

By  R.  B.  MASON. 

CHARLES  C.  P.  HOLDEN, 

«  President  Common  Council. 

T.  B.  BROWN,  President  Board  of  Police." 

Gov.  Hayes,  who  had  been  in  Chicago  for  three  days,  assisting  in  the  work,  issued 
the  following  suggestions  : 

"  To  the  People  of  Ohio  : 

It  is  believed  by  the  best  informed  citizens  here  that  many  thousands  of  the  suf- 
fers must  be  provided  with  the  necessaries  of  life  during  the  whole  winter.  Let  tha 
efforts  to  raise  contributions  be  energetically  pushed.  Money,  food,  flour,  pork, 
clothing  and  other  articles  not  perishable  should  be  collected  as  rapidly  as  possible, 
especially  money,  fuel  and  flour." 

(Signed)  "R.B.HAYES." 

Lieut.  Gen.  Sheridan  issued  the  following  order  : 

"  HfiADQUARTEKS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OP  MISSOURI,      ) 

Chicago,  October  12.  S 

"  To  His  Honor  the  Mayor  : 

The  preservation  of  the  peace  and  good  order  of  the  city  having  been  intrusted  to 


26  HISTORY    OF    THE 

me  by  your  Honor,  I  am  happy  to  state  that  no  case  of  outbreak  or  disorder  has  been  re- 
ported. No  authentic  ted  attempt  at  incendiarism  has  reached  me,  and  the  people  of 
the  city  are  calm,  quiet  and  well-disposed.  The  force  at  my  disposal  is  ample  to 
maintain  order,  should  it  be  necessary  to  protect  the  district  devastated  by  fire.  Still 
I  would  suggest  'to  citizens  not  to  relax  in  their  watchfulness  until  the  smouldering 
firea  of  the  burned  buildings  are  entirely  extinguished. 

(Signed)  P.  H.  SHERIDAN,  Lieut.  General." 

Mayor  Mason  issued  the  following  appeal : 

"  Clothing  and  all  protection  from  the  cold  will  be  needed  through  the  winter  as 
well  as  now.  Send  forward  in  as  large  quantities  as  possible.  Collect  money  and  hold 
it  subject  to  our  order.  Send  in  provisions  that  will  keep.  Cooked  meats  nearly  spoil 
before  we  can  distribute  them.  Aid  arrives  liberally.  Now  we  want  to  husband  our 
resources  as  much  as  possible,  for  a  long  winter  is  before  us,  and  the  suffering  will 
continue  until  our  laboring  classes  are  again  eEable<l  to  sustain  their  families. 

(Signed)  R.  B.  MASON,  Mayor." 

The  Gov.  of  Missouri,  in  his  proclamation  to  the  people,  said  : 

"  Let  us  unite  likewise  in  the  most  generous  emulation,  and  extend  the  largest 
possible  aid  to  them  in  this  the  hour  of  misfortune.  I,  therefore,  recommend  all 
counties,  cities,  towns  and  other  corporations,  to  all  business  and  charitable  associa- 
tions, and  to  the  community  at  large,  to  t^ke  immediate  steps  to  organize  relief  com- 
mittees to  express  the  deep  sorrow  which  Missouri  feels  at  this  overwhelmning  afflict- 
ion. It  was  only  yesterday  that  they  were  united  with  you  in  congratulating  you  on 
your  own  soil  and  in  your  own  chief  eity,  whilst  their  own  homes  were  being  de.?- 
troyed.  Let  us  respond  by  throwing  open  wide  our  own  doors  to  those  who  are  with- 
out shelter,  by  sending  bread  and  raiment  at  once,  and  by  such  contributions  ward  oft" 
further  distress,  as  the  generous  heart  of  our  own  great  State  will  be  proud  to  trans- 
mit, in  recognition,  too,  of  the  warm  and  intimate  feeling  that  has  heretofore  so  close- 
ly bound  our  citizens  together.  I  cannot  forbear  lo  extend  to  all  who  have  been  thus 
stricken  down  in  the  midst  of  an  unbounded  prosperity,  the  sincerest  sympathy  of 
Missouri's  sons  and  daughters  in  their  distress. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Jefferson  this  9th  day  of  October,  A.  D.  1871. 

B.  GRATZ  BROWN, 
Governor  of  Missouri." 

The  following  dispatch  was  received  Oct.  12th,  by  Archbishop  Spaulding : 

"  To  Archbishop  Spaulding,  Chicago  : 

The  cathedral,  six  churches,  orphan  asylums,  hospitals,  House  of  the  Good 
Shepherd,  schools,  charitable  institutions  and  Bishop's  house  are  in  ruins.  Over  100,- 
000  people  are  homeless.  I  beg  you  for  a  general  collection  in  your  church  next  Sun- 
day. The  Superintendent  of  the  Teh'graph  Company  asks  you  to  report  this  message 
to  the  Prelates  of  the  country  as  our  wires  are  too  crowded  and  few.  Request  all  re- 
mittances to  bo  to  yourself. 

THOS.  FOLEY,  Bishop  of  Chicago." 

And  from  one  end  of  the  Continent  to  the  other  arrived  assurances  of  aid  and  sup- 
port. , 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  27 

It  may  be  interesting  in  the  future  as  a  reference  to  know  some  of  the  prominent 
towns  and  cities  which  contributed  to  the  fund  for  relief  of  sufferers.  It  would  prove 
an  impossibility  to  publish  all  these  who  poured  into  the  Treasury  their  small  or  great 
contributions ;  thousands  of  individuals  halved  their  finances  and  prayed  Providence 
to  help  the  stricken  people.  North,  south,  east,  west — across  the  prairies  or  across 
the  ocean — across  mountain  steeps  or  in  the  radiant  valley — all  came  forward  to  prove 
that  Charity  was  yet  an  attribute  of  man's  nature.     Here  are  the  prominent  ones : 

City  St.  Louis $  50,000 

Citizens  of  St.  Louis 70,000 

Pittsfleld,   Massachusetts 5,000 

J.  M.  Gould,  Santa  Fe 425 

Boston,  Massachujetts  (various  contributions) 400,000 

Kansas  City,  Missouri 10,000 

Pittsburgh,   Pennsylvania — citizens 200,000 

City   Council 100,000 

Hamilton,  Ontario 2,000 

Patterson,  New  Jersey 7,000 

First  installment  of  Urbana,  Ohio 1,000 

Buffalo,  New  York ..100,000 

Indianapolis,  Indiana 40,000 

First  National  Bank,  Greencastle,  Indiana 2,000 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 225,000 

Leavenworth,   Kansas 10,000 

Collin.  Randall  &  Co.,  New  York .' 1,000 

Quincy,  Illinois 15,000 

Montreal  Board  of  Trade 10,000 

Meadville,  Pennsylvania 3,000 

Fort  Wayne,  Indiana 2,000 

Jeffersonville,  Indiana 1,000 

Portland,  Maine 20,000 

Baltimore  Aynei'ican  subscript  ion  list 10,000 

Watertown,  Mass.,  in  addition  to  the  fifty  cases  of  clothing 1,000 

Rondout,  New  York 2,000 

San  Francisco  Stock  Exchange,  in  gold 8,000 

Adams  Express  Company 10,000 

Alex   Martin 2,000 

James  Roosevelt,  Hyde  Park,  New  York 1,000 

Lawrence,  Kansas 10,000 

Joseph  Barrett  «&.  Co.,  Boston 1.000 

Amsterdam,  New  York 8,000 

D.  S.  Morgan  &  Co.,  London,  England 5,000 

Drexel,  Morgan  &  Co.,  New  York 5,000 

City  of  Rochester  and  Monroe  county,  New  York 70,000 

Port  Byron,  New  York 1 '  250 

San  Francisco  subscriptions 25,000 


28  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Which  they  intend  to  add §7o,000 

8tand^d  Life  Insurance  Company,  New  York 1 ,000 

"Waynesville,  Ohio  < 2,000 

Toronto,  Ontario,  (gold) 10,000 

N.  E.  Dodge,  London,  England 10,000 

Citizens   of  Missouri 20,000 

Cily  of  St.  Joseph ?,,000 

Conutv  of  Missouri 18,000 

Syracuse,  New  Y'ork 25,000 

Jeftersonville,  Indiana 1 ,000 

Police  Department,  Washington,  D.  C -. COO 

New  Orleans,  subscriptions  incomplete 10,000 

Mechanics  Trade  Exchange,  Brooklyn 1,000 

Harerhll,   Massachusetts 10,000 

Shaneetown,  Illinois 5,000 

Guardian  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company,  New  York 1,000 

Topeka,   Kansas 5,000 

Louisville 200,000 

Naragansett  Steamship  Co ]  .000 

OswegO; 12,000 

Newark  , 30,000 

Trenton 17,000 

Rome,  N.  Y 2,500 

Palmyra,  New  Y'ork 3,000 

Piobinson,  Shade  &  Co..  New  York 500 

Employees  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior,  Washington,  D.  C...  4  000 

Manufacturers  and  Builders  Fire  Insurance  Company 5,000 

North  Britifch  and  Mercantile  Fire  Insurance  Company,  London  ....  5,000 

Emploj-ees  of  the  Engraving  and  Printing  Bureau,  Wa.sl)ington  ....  1,400 

Ohio  Falls  Car  Coir  pany,  Jefl'ersonrille,  Indiana 1,000 

Philadelphia 130,000 

Whitman  &  Field,  manufacturing  company,  Shielburg   Mas.s 50<) 

Jacksonville,  Illinois 500 

Protestant  Episcopal  General  Convention,  in  ses.sion  at  Baltimore. .  2,000 

Laflln  Powder  Company 1 ,000 

Greencastle,  Indiana,  council  appropriation 2,000 

Manchester,  New  IIam})shire 15,000 

Henry  Fawn,  of  New  Haven,  Connecticut 5,000 

Terre  Haute,  Indiana 10,000 

Bloomington,  Illinois , 1 5,000 

Dscatur,  Illinois 5,00« 

Green  Castle  citizens 1 ,20§ 

New  York  Gold  Exchange 12,000 

Alexander  T.  Stewart,  New  York 50,000 

Erie,  Pennsylvania 15,00d 


•  GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  29 

Detroit  130,000 

Baltimore 2|)0,000 

Concord,  N.  H 7,400 

Lancaster,  Pa 25,000 

Mason  City,  Illinois , 260 

Danville,  Illinois IjT^O 

Chelsea,  Massacliusetts 260 

New  York  Cotton  Exchange 5,000 

Lafayette,  Indiana 10.000 

London,   (Canada) 2,000 

Lynn,  Massachusetts 5,000 

Keokuk,  Iowa 6.350 

Commercial  Excliauge  Philadelphia • 10.000 

General  Julius  White,  Evansville,  Illinois 500 

Industaial  Exhibition  Fair,  Buff.ilo, 6,000 

Paris.  Illinois 1,000 

Up  to  Saturday  night  the  14th,  the  following  figures  were  recognized  as  being  a 
fair  estimate  of  the  subscriptions  already  raised  : 

LONnOX,  ENG.,  LIST    OF  SL'BSCRIPTTONS. 

Amount, 

Corporation  of  London ' $  5,000 

Private  citizens  of  London 35.000 

Mes.srs.  Baring,  of  London 5,000 

Messrs.  Rothschild  of  London 5,000 

Messrs.  Morgan,  of  London 5,000 

Messrs.  Brown,  Shepley  &  Co.,  of  London 5,000 

Great  Western  Railway,  of  Canada,  London 5,000 

Grand  Trunk  Railway,  of  Canada,  London 5,000 

Liverpool  Chamber  of  Commerce 2,000 

American  Cliamber  of  Commerce,  of  Liverpool 1,300 

Total  (gold) $73,800 

Recapitulation. 

Total  to  October  12  inclusive. . .  : $1,375,880.00 

Received  at  New  Vork  Herald  office 1,079.45 

At  Chamber  of  Commerce 48,266.15 

At  Stock  Exchange 2,825.00 

At  Cotton  Exchange 1,250.00 

At  Produce  Exchange 3,314.00 

Brooklyn :.  125,000.00 

At  Grocers'  Board  of  Trade 33,053.00 

Hardware  trade 15,111.50 

Fourth  avenue  and  Twenty-eighth  street 120.00 

Union,  Adams  &  Co 85.00 

Miscellaneous  city  collections 47,262.20 

Other  cities  (including'Canada) 454.500  00 

Europe 73,800.00 

Clothing.  &c.,  estimated 600,000.00 


30  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Hon  E.  C.  Ingersoll,  on  belialf  of  the  Illinois  State  Association,  Washington,  D.  C, 
had  forwarded  by  special  messenger  $3,727,  and  provisions,  and  sent  more  the  nex't 
day.  Omaha  also  raised  a  fund,  whilst  many  of  those  mentioned  added  largely  to 
these  contributions  during  the  past  week.  Food  and  clothing  arrived  in  abundance — 
hundreds  of  cars  conveyed  it  thither — whilst  it  was  rumored  in  many  cases  parties  se- 
cured the  charity  of  committees,  and  after  obtaining  articles  or  passes  on  railwayrt 
sold  them ;  such  cases,  happily,  were  few  and  far  between  ;  a  bitter  lesson  had  been 
taught — let  us  hope  it  benefitted  thousands  who  seldom  before  appeared  thankful  for 
the  protecting  hand  of  Providence. 

It  is  Wednesday.  The  people  desired  to  blot  out  the  past  — rub  the  old  reckoning 
off  the  slate  and  commence  anew.  The  Tribune  had  already  furnished  admirable  re- 
ports, and  we  are  indebted  to  the  able  reporters  for  the  annexed  pithy  information, 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  North  Division  was  accessible  only  across  Kinzie  and  Di- 
vision street  bridges  and  through  the  dark  Lasalle  street  tunnel,  passage  through 
which  was  forbidden  to  teams,  the  people  who  yesterday  visited  that  quarter  of  the 
city  were  chiefly  those  who  had  formerly  lived  there,  and  were  hunting  for  shreds  and 
scraps  of  property,  or  were  trying  to  find  the  places  where  they  had  once  lived  and 
the  property  they  had  once  owned.  The  great  rush  of  visitors  on  foot  and  in  carria- 
ges was  across  Randolph,  Lake,  and  Madison  street  bridges  into  the  South  Division. 
People  from  the  West  Side,  from  lower  down  on  the  South  Division,  and  strangers 
who  had  just  reached  the  city,  all  turned  in  that  direction,  and  wandered  from  point 
to  point,  often  puzzled  as  to  their  whereabouts,  and  seeking  in  vain  for  old  and  famil- 
iar landmarks.  The  principal  business  in  the  South  Division  yesterday  was  the  digg- 
ing out  of  safes  from  the  smoking  buildings  in  which  they  w^re  buried.  Several  per- 
sons were  shrewd  enough  to  make  that  a  business,  and  they  succeeded  in  getting  all 
the  work  they  wanted.  A  few  ropes,  shovels,  levers,  and  occasionally  a  little  water, 
made  up  the  stock  in  trade.  Some  had  gotten  out  their  fourth  safe  by  2  o'clock,  and 
were  hunting  aronnd  in  search  of  other  jobs.  Many  of  the  safes  came  up  in  excel- 
lent condition,  while  others  were  the  most  deplorable  wrecks.  One  of  Herring's  lay 
on  River  street  near  Rush  street  bridge,  the  interior  wood- work  gone,  and  all  the  pa- 
pers charred.  The  Harris  safe  of  Deeffenbacher  who  is  in  the  tobacco  business  on 
Water  street,  was  also  found  to  be  worthless.  It  contained  papers  valued  at  about 
$40,000.  Others  were  taken  out  which  had  apparently  passed  unharmed  through  the 
fiery  trial.  Others  which  had  been  opened  were  found  to  be  in  excellent  condition. 
All  things  considered,  they  have  stood  rather  better  than  was  expected.  Many  which 
have  been  gotten  out  were  not  opened  for  a  day  or  two,  until  they  got  somewhat 
cooled  off.  McVicker  was  working  to  get  out  his  and  they  were  also  laboring  on  one 
or  two  other  buildings. 

Another  business  was  started  by  a  man  in  a  cart,  who  drove  down  Randolph  to  the 
lake  displaying  a  sign  "Removal  signs  painted  here,"  so  that  persons  desirous /)f 
sticking  up  upon  the  ruins  of  their  stores  a  notice  of  the  places  at  which  they  intend- 
ed to  reopen  business  could  do  so.  Nothing  strikes  the  eye  more  favorably,  in  going 
near  the  South  Side,  than  the  great  number  of  these  little  Bulletin  Boards,  which 
have  been  roughly  lettered  oflT  with  notices  of  removal,  generally  to  Wabash  avenue 
or  te  West  Canal  or  Randolph  streets,  and  they  give  abundant  proof  that  the  energies 
of  the  merchants  have  not  been  crushed  out  by  the  catastrophe  which  has  befallen 
tliem. 


GllKAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  SI 

On  crossing  ilie  river  at  Madison  street  there  is  a  vacancy  on  tlu-  north  side  of 
t>je  street  and  notliing  else,  and  with  a  few  noticeable  exceptions  there  remain  but  in- 
Kignificant  anfi  one-story  relics  of  once  first-class  buildings.  Law's  coal  yard  on  the 
south  side  of  the  street  is  on  fire,  and  even  where  the  llames  have  not  broken  out, 
the  white  smoke  is  pouring  out  at.a  fearful  rate.  Some  of  it  may,  however,  be  saved, 
by  the  liberal  and  constant  use  of  water.  Beyond  there,  going  east,  there  is  practi- 
cally nothing  until  the  relics  of  the  Otis  Block  are  reached,  at  the  corner  of  LaSalle 
and  Madison.  Just  to  the  south  on  LaSalle,  the  walls  of  the  Arcade  building,  which 
was  immediately  in  the  rear  of  theTarwell  Hall,  remain  comjiaratively  intact. 

The  Tribune  was,  by  several  hours,  the  last  building  in  Chicago  to  survive  the 
general  destruction,  and  its  magnificent  fire-proof  building  was  the  last  to  succumb, 
although  it  had  been  surrounded  by  fire  on  two  sides  for  about  Tour  hours.  The 
building  was  a  perfect  model  of  architectural  elegance,  and  had  been  constructed 
throughout  with  reference  to  safety  and  durability  in  case  of  fire.  The  ceilings  were 
of  corrugated  iron,  resting  upon  wrought  iron  '■  I  "  beams,  while  every  partition  wall 
in  the  entire  structure  was  of  brick.  It  was,  in  all  respects,  one  of  the  most  abso- 
lutely "  fire-proof  buildings  ever  erected.  That  is,  it  was  fire-proof  up  to  the  date 
of  its  destruction.  It  was  completed  in  April,  1869,  at  a  cost  of  $225,000,  and  its 
oont«nts  were  fully  1^100,000  more.  Relying  upon  tne  integrity  of  their  edifice,  the 
Tribune  Company  had  taken  no  insurance,  although  they  have  little  cause  to  regret 
this  neglect.  In  the  corner  of  the  first  floor  was  the  counting-room  and  business 
ofl3ce,  with  a  fire-proof  vault  for  the  safe  keeping  of  records,  valuables,  etc.  On  the 
Madison  and  Dearborn  street  fronts  were  elegant  stores  of  various  kinds,  all  filled 
with  stocks  of  goods.  In  the  basement  were  the  boilers  aud  engines,  two  of  Hoe's 
eight-cylinder  presses,  several  folding  machines,  large  quantities  of  printing  paper, 
and  a  vast  collection  of  miscellaneous  machinery,  tools,  appliances  aud  material 
uecessary  to  the  carrying  ou  of  a  great  newspaper. 

The  second  and  third  floor  of  the  building  were  devoted  to  offices,  all  of  which 
were  occupied.  On  the  fourth  floor  were  the  editorial  and  composing  rooms,  all  su- 
I>erbly  fitted  up. 

As  stated  above,  the  building  withstood  the  storm  for  several  hours,  and  it  was 
not  until  10  o'clock  on  Monday  forenoon,  six  hours  after  it  had  seemingly  escaped, 
that  it  was  reached  from  the  eastward  from  McVicker's  Theatre.  The  interior  wood- 
work and  combustible  material  was  consumed  at  once,  but  the  floors  and  walls  gen- 
erally remained  intact,  although  all  were  so  blistered,  cracked  and  twisted  as  to  be 
almost  worthless  for  future  use. 

In  the  private  office  of  the  business  manager  on  the  ground  floor  was  a  relic  of  the 
fiiege  of  Paris,  a  Krupp  shell,  which  fired  by  the  heat,  and.  exploding  tore  a  wide 
breach  in  the  walls  in  its  vicinity, 

A  search  among  the  ruins  reveals  the  gratifying  fact  that  the  two  eight  cyliner  pres- 
ses, valued  at  about  $60,000,  are  not  seriously  damaged.  It  is  believed  that  both  can 
be  restored  to  service  at  a  small  cost.  The  four  tSrtles  are  also  all  right,  including 
the  two  which  were  on  the  press  when  the  men  got  scared  and  left.  The  Post  Office 
building  also  stood  well,its  wall  being  intact,  and  its  roof  is  not  entirely  gone.  It  can 
probably  be  repaired.  At  the  northeast  corner  of  State  and  Madison  Street  stands, 
comparatively  uninjured,the  unfinished  brown  stone  front  which  was  erecting  there. 


32  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Siiit-e  there  was  nothing  in  it  to  burn,  it^  front  ^^hows  very  few  traces  of  scorching. 
The  derrick  vvhicli  stood  in  front  of  it  has  fallen  against  one  of  the  upper  windows,  but 
has  broken  nothing.  Of  the  magniflcient  block  occupied  by  the  Western  News  Com- 
pany, S.  C.  Griggs  &  Co.,  only  a  fragment  remains,  the  southwestern  corner  of  the 
wall  rising  to  the  second  story  height. 

At  the  corner  of  Washington  and  State  stands  the  building  whicli  has  unques- 
tionably best  stood  the  trial  by  lire — the  First  Nadonal  Bank.  Its  walls  seem  per- 
fectly safe,  although  the  floors  have  suffered.  Field,  King  &  Co.  retain  their  office  in 
the  basement,  where  Robert  Law  is  also  installed,  and  if  the  room  were  only  swept 
out,  and  the  pieces  of  paper  removed,  no  one  could  percieve  that  anything  had  gone 
wrong  overhead.  Unriuestionably  the  comparatively  slight  repairs  will  4)ut  it  iu 
order  again,  and  it  will  serve  as  a  nucleus  for  building  in  that  quarter.  Turning  east 
into  Washington  street,  the  waj'  is  encumbered  with  the  limestone  blocks  which  once 
formed  part  of  Field,  Leiter  &  Co.'s  store,  and.  which  were  thrown  there  when  the 
building  was  blown  up.  Mixed  up  with  brick,  telegraph  wire,  and  other  debris,  it 
makes  a  mass  of  rubbish  which  ought  to  have  impeded  the  progress  of  the  flames, 
but  did  not  do  so.  Down  in  the  basement,  piles  of  dry  goods  are  still  burning  and 
emitting  an  unpleasant  stench.  On  the  opposite  side  of  Washington,  the  photo- 
graphers' places  and  the  other  stores  have  vanished,  while  Drake's  Block  is  decidedly 
more  of  a  ruin  than  it  was  a  year  ago.  The  question  of  the  removal  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  congregation  has  been  eternally  settled.  The  hard  limestone  walls  of 
the  church  resisted  very  well,  notwithstanding  the  slight  amount  of  pitumen  in  them. 
The  southern  tower  remains,  and  the  walls  are  all  upon  a  level  with  a  point  just  above 
the  great  front  windows.  The  experience  of  this. tire  has  been  rather  unfavorable  to 
the  softer  limestones  from  Lemo:it,'and  has  shown  that,  after  all.  a  thick  will  of  good 
brick  will  stand  as  well,  and  resist  the  action  of  the  flames,  as  well  as  any  stone  that 
is  used  here,  excepting|granite.  The  e'flect  of  the  tire  upon  the  Athens  marble  has 
been  remarkable.  In  some  places  the  stone  has  disappeared  altogether.  In  othero, 
tuch  as  the  LaSalle  street  front  of  the  Court  House,  it  has  been  gnawed  and  eaten 
away,  or  fallen  on  the  great  flakes.  The  sandstone  and  granite  may  not  have  been 
exposed  to  so  intense  a  flame,  but  they  certainly  stood  veiy  well.  The  lYibune  build- 
ing was  badly  scorched,  but  the  stone  was  not  materially  injured.  Dearborn  Park  has 
been  taken  possession  of  by  Keen  &  Cooke  and  Lord  &  Smith,  while  right  across  the 
way,  on  the  Base  Ball  Ground,  the  fence  surrounding  which,  has  been  wiped  out,  is  a 
sign  to  the  effect  that  parties  wanting  room  on  public  grounds  must  go  to  C.  B. 
Farwell,  at  the  corner  of  Thirteenth  and  Michigan  Avenue.  The  American  Mer- 
chants' Union  Express  have  obtained  possession  of  a  part  of  the  ground,  including 
the  diamond,  and  Gray  Brothers  have  hold  of  the  north  fifty  feet  of  the  base  ball  lot. 
C.  T.  Bolle.«,  dealer  in  stoves,  has  also  begun  rimning  up  a  small  booth.  The  ground 
is  covered  with  piles  of  lumber,  and  bears  a  more  striking  resemblance  to  Cheyenne 
in  its  incipient  days,  than  anything>else.  The  iron  stores  of  J.  V.  Ayer,  Hall,  Kimbark 
&  Co.,  and  others,  on  Michigan  avenue,  between  Lake  and  Randolph  streets,  present 
a  curious  spectacle.  They  are  filled  with  iron,  twisted,  distorted,  and  bent  out  of  all 
shape,  while  across  the  street  the  immense  iron  rafters  and  beams  have  been  dealt 
with  in  a  mcst  extraordinary  fashion.  In  many  of  these  stores,  and,  indeed,  generally 
in  the  wholesale  warehouses,  the  fires  were  still  burning,  and,  of  course,  no  attempt 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  23 

was  made  to  put  them  out.  The  sidewalks  of  the  Union  Depot,  thick  and  stioug,  are 
still  standing,  but  the  offices  in  tlie  rear  have  caved  iu,  except  at  the  northeast  corner, 
where  one  tall  pinnacle  reniainS.  The  building  occupied  by  the  Chicago,  Burlington 
&  Quincy  and  Michigan  Central  Roads  has  been  gutted,  but  the  walls  are  still  partiallly 
standing.  The  Michigan  Centra!  Freight  Depot  has  albo  been  cleaned  out,  though  the 
walls  are  up  to  the  spring  of  the  roof.  Quite  an  amount^  of  sugar  was  lost  here. 
Just  south  of  this  depot  half  a  dozen  cars  were  burned,  the  trucks  yet  remaining  on 
the  track.  Near  by  was  a  car  which  had  just  run  up  from  Tolono,  on  the  Illinois 
(Jentral  P>.oad,  filled  with  provisions,  generally  bread  and  cheese,  some  of  which  were 
issued  on  the  spot  to  hungry  men  who  happened  to  be  near  by.  The  trains  of  the 
Illinois  and  Michigan  Central  stop  jast  in  front  of  the  old  depot. 

At  the  head  of  the  slip  which  lies  just  west  of  Elevator  A  was  the  Providence,  one  of 
the  five  Amoskeag  steamers  which  came  on  from  Pittsburg,  and  the  Phoenix,  of  Det- 
roit, engaged  in  pumping  water  through  a  long  line  of  hose,  past  the  ruins  of  the  Mas- 
sasoit  House,  to  wet  down  the  ruins  beyond.  Another  engine  was  near  the  Central 
Elevator,  playing  upon  the  immense  hill  of  wlieat,  which  was  in  Elevator  A,  and  which 
was  bursting  in  little  pufts  of  smoke  all  over  its  surface.  It  cannot  be  very  easily  ex- 
tinguished, and  all  that  is  expected  is  that  it  will  gradually  smoulder  away.  The 
JIarine  Hospital,  an  old  and  substantial  building,  is  in  very  good  order,  comparatively. 
Of  course  the  inner  walls  and  the  roof  are  gone,  but  the  outside  walls  have  stood  it 
very  well. 

It  is  not  possible  to  asoerlaiu  as  yet  the  entire  amount  of  shi])piug  lost  along  the 
river  and  the  branches.  The  Navarino,  however,  a  new  vessell  belonging  to  Captain 
Goodrich,  was  lying  oft'  Goodrich's  docks,  and  tried  to  run  out,  but  stuck  just  beyond 
andtbehind  Rathbone's  stove  manufactory  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  aud  sunk  there, 
her  boilers  now  been  just  visible.  Eight  or  nine  schooners  and  brigs  were  also  caught 
near  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  burned  to  the  water's  edge.  From  Rush  street 
bridge  east,  on  the  aortli  J)ank,  the  coal  heaps  are  in  a  blaze.  Rathbone's  place,  and 
all  immediately  east  of  that,  are  safe.  Rush  street  bridge  itself  is  a  hopeless  and  utter 
wreck,  as  is  also  the  state  one.  The  great  wholesale  houses  on  River  street  have  been 
completely  swept  away,  and  nothing  is  left  to  give  an  idea  of  what  was  once  done  there, 
except  that  in  some  places  there  is  iron,  and  hi  another  a  quantity  of  Hme  which  has 
been  effectually  ruined  by  the  heat.  Along  here  were  one  or  two  buint  safes,  and  as 
many  disgusted,  but  uncomplaining,  owner?. 

Water  street  is  done  for,  and  State  street,  from  the  bridge  to  the  First  National 
Bank,  is  in  the  same  condition.  At  the  northwest  corner  of  Clark  and  Water  streets, 
one  corner  of  a  building  is  standing,  but  ought  to  be  taken  down  as  soon  as  possible. 

The  Sherman  House  has  totally  disappeared,  and  the  remains  in  that  part  of  the 
city  are  so  scanty  as  to  make  it  almost  impossible  to  identify  localities.  On  many  of 
these  street?  women  and  children  were  engaged  in  collecting  scraps  of  iron  and  all 
kinds  of  rubbish  from  the  still  hot  buildings.  Some  boys  had  found  on  Water  street 
a  lot  of  China  doll  heads,  scorched  but  unbroken,  and  were  carrying  them  off'  as  rel- 
ics. Three  men  were  also  moving  up  the  river  in  a  row  boat,  intent  on  doing  a  little 
wrecking,  if  they  got  a  chance.  The  burnt  district  is  now  so  thoroughly  patro'led  by 
regulars  that  there  need  be  no  apprehensions  as  to  the  perpetration  of  more  thefts. 


^'>^\   -  ■■  ..::  ^,,«d,dvU^n  '^•^ 


X. 


E.  M.  CI  LIBRARY 

u./iTY 


34     '  HISTORY    OF    THE 

The  old  part  of  Ibe  Court  House  is  gutted,  but  the  wings  have  stood  very  well,  and 
the  first  floors  are  safe. 

The  walls  of  the  first  storey  of  the  Board  of  Trade  Jjuilding  are  still  standing. 

The  effect  of  the  fire  upon  the  difTerent  kinds  of  pavement  has  been  very  curious. 
As  a  matter  of  course  the  stone  stood  it  the  best,  but  the  large  cobble  stones  split  in 
many  instances.  The  asphalt  laid  in  the  Court  House  square  was  not  injured  at  all. 
The  new  cylindrical  block  pavement  on  Clark  street  stood  very  well,  except  in  one 
place,  where  the  tar  kettle  had  run  over  and  a  great  strip  was  eaten  out.  The  tar 
was  gone  from  between  the  blocks  where  the  gravel  had  not  been  laid  on  it,  but  the 
blocks  were  generally  uninjured.  The  pavements  o  Madison,  Randolph  and  the 
other  streets  were  in  much  better  condition  than  was  expected.  They  were  badly 
honeycombed  in  many  places,  and  sometimes  twisted  and  upheaved,  but  can  be  gen- 
erally repaired.  The  rails  of  the  street  cars  were  in  many  cases  badly  sprung,  but 
the  sills  are  uninjured. 

The  South  side  road  will  have  its  track  all  repaired  in  a  day  or  two,  and  it  will 
take  the  West  Side  companies  but  a  short  time  to  relay  their's.  There  is  considerable 
debris  in  many  of  the  streets,  but  the  work  of  clearing  has  already  begun.  The  side- 
walks, wood  and  stone,  have  gone,  the  large  limestone  blocks.  Along  the  South 
Branch  Lind's  building  stands,  and  the  Evening  Mail  bas  its  office  there.  The  coal 
yards  south  to  MadLson  street  are  still  burning,  and  will  do  so  despite  the  water,  with 
the  exception  of  the  one  at  Randolph  street  bridge.  The  LaSalle  street  tunnel  is  in 
perfect  order,  but  on  account  of  the  of  the  darkness  there,  and  the  fear  of  accident-a, 
no  carriages  were  allowed  to  go  through.  There  are  no  records  in  there  at  present, 
and,  if  any  were  stored  there,  they  have  been  destroyed. 

The  real  headquarters  of  the  order-preserving  force  of  the  city  is  now  at  No.  569 
Wabash  avenue,  where  General  Phil  Sheridan  has  established  his  headquarters,  in  the 
house  formerly  occupied  by  the  Phoenix  Club.  Here  the  head  of  the  city  has  planted 
a  pine  table  and  entertained  his  numerous  visitors. 

The  force  at  the  General's  command,  in  addition  to  the  city  regalar  and  special 
police,  consists  of  seven  companies  of  regulars  and  six  of  volunteers.  The  former 
are  from  Omaha  and  other  western  points,  and  are  all  camped  upon  the  site  of  the 
Ball  Park,  on  Michigan  avenue.  To  them,  as  the  most  trustworthy  and  vigilant  force 
at  hand,  has  been  entrusted  the  care  of  the  South  Side  burnt  district,  reaching  from 
Harrison  street  to  the  main  river,  in  this  space  is  at  present  the  wealth  and  treasure 
of  the  city  yet  in  safes,  and  in  most  cases  buried  in  the  ruins.  The  number  of  thieves 
now  known  to  be  in  the  city,  and  the  presumption  that  they  will  make  the  safes  their 
objective  point  render  this  disposition  of  the  troops  the  most  prudent  one  possidle. 
The  orders  to  the  sentinels  Tuesday  were  of  the  strictest  possible  kind,  and  it  will 
be  wonderful  indeed  if  the  ruflianly. element  shall  triumph. 

The  militia  are  from  Bloomington,  Springfield  and  Champaign  in  Illinois,  and 
number  six  companies  in  all.  They  arrived  in  the  city  on  Tuesday  morning  under 
orders  from  Adjutant  General  Dilger,  and  were  immediately  stationed  in  diflferent  parts 
of  the  city  to  repress  pillage,  and  generally  to  preserve  order.  Two  companies  were 
placed  on  the  corner  of  Prairie  avenue  and  Twenty-.second  street,  and  were  as  flue 
looking  men  as  one  could  see.     They  were  from  the  Illinois  Industrial  University  at 


r^  /-^> 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  '  35 

'€hampaign,  and  a  heartier,  healthier,  more  intelligent  set  of  men  would  be  hard  to 
find.     . 

One  other  company  of  militia  was  stationed  at  the  corner  of  Canal  and  Wilson 
streets,  for  the  protection  of  the  thoroughly  aflVighted  residents  of  that  portion  of  the 
city. 

Another  company  was  placed  at  Halstead  street,  with  headquarters  at  the  railroad 
station,  on  Twelfth  street. 

The  North  side  did  not  need  much  military  protection  in  its  dilapidated  condition, 
and  was  abundantly  guarded  by  two  militia  companies  stationed  at  Lincoln  Park. 

Apart  of  the  Champaign  company  was  also  at  the  corner  of  Randolph  and  Eliza- 
beth streets. 

General  Sheridan  seemed  satisfied  that  the  city  was  perfectly  safe  under  the  pro- 
tection already  at  hand ;  but,  in  order  to  assure  this,  more  troops  will  arrive  shortly. 
Three  additional  companies  of  regulars  were  expected  last  night,  and  ten  companies 
more  will  arrive  to-day,  making  a  force  large  enough  to  keep  in  order  all  the  roughs 
in  the  United  States. 

Wednesday,  and  the  smoke  commenced  to  clear  away  ;  men  were  braver,  truer 
to  themselves,  more  collected,  more  energetic.  The  Corn  Exchange  members  had  se- 
cured a  large,  dark-looking  hall  at  51  Canal  street,  and  there  the  question  was  mooted 
as  to  the  best  course  to  be  pursued  v/ith  regard  to  business  on  hand — whether  to  re- 
pudiate or  declare  all  transactions  "  ofi',"  or  to  await  the  settlement  of  insurances  and 
opening  of  banks.  Men  were  certainly  downhearted,  and  yet  they  spoke  brave  words 
— and  they  meant  what  they  said  ;  "  Chicago  must  rise,"  "  Chicago  is  our  city,"  and 
they  were  justly  proud  in  being  able  to  feel  that  the  world's  sympathy  was  with  them 
in  this  awful  hour  of  doubt  and  affliction. 

Little  printing  oflSces  were  commencing  to  distribute,  and  these  little  ones  now  had 
the  upper  hand  ;  neglected  workers  who  had  feared  the  sherilf  and  dodged  the 
baliff,  put  on  their  best  clothes,  and  in  some  cases  sold  out  for  satisfactory  prices 
to  those  daily  publishers  who  were  short  ot  sorts,  or  perhaps  "  sort  of  short.'"  The 
Post  came  out — the  Tribune  came  out — the  Journal  came  out — the  Republican  came 
out,  but  save  and  except  the  Tribune  and  perhaps  the  Journal,  it  was  a  weakly 
"  come."  No  men  deserve  more  credit  than  the  journalistic  refugees  of  Canal  and 
adjacent  streets  ;  they  slept  in  old  wagons  one  night,  and  had  rented  offices  and  se- 
cured a  few  hard  looking  "cases,"  and  set  to  work  ;  verily  they  were  obliged  to 
work  in  order  to  set,  formatters  generally  were  in  a  demoralized  condition.  Boys 
took  advantage  of  limited  issues  of  the  paper  and  charged  25  cents,  50  cents  and  even 
$1.00  per  copy  for  the  Tniwee  and  other  papers  ;  the  proprietors  grumbled,  but  the 
boys — for  these  city  Arabs  were  now  the  pompous  and  wealthy  classes— main- 
tained their  prices  and  formed  a  ring,  so  that  no  youth  dare  dispose  of  his  newspa- 
pers at  an  unfair  figure — or  ratner  at  a  fair,  honest  figure. 

The  following,  from  the  Governor  of  Michigan,  was  read  with  much  pleasure  by 
the  community  at  large  : — 

'•'  The  City  of  Chicago,  in  the  neighboring  State  of  Illinois,  has  been  visited  in  the 
providence  of  Almighty  God  with  a  calamity  almost  unequalled  in  the  annals  of  his- 
tory. A  large  portion  of  that  beautiful  and  most  prosperous  city  has  been  reduced  to 
ashes  and  is  now  in  ruins.     Many  millions  of  dollars  in  property,  the  accumulation  of 

3 


36  HISTORY    OF    THE 

years  of  indusliy  and  toil,  have  been  swept  away,  almostin  a  moment.  The  rich  have 
been  reduced  to  penury,  the  poor  have  lost  the  little  they  possessed,  and  many  thou- 
sands of  people  rendered  homeless  and  houseless,  and  are  now  without  the  absolute 
necessaries  of  life.  I,  therefore,  earnestly  call  upon  the  citizens  of  every  portion  of 
Michigan  to  take  immediate  measures  for  alleviating  the  pressing  wants  of  that  fear- 
fully afflicted  city  by  collecting  and  forwarding  to  the  Mayor,  or  proper  authorities  of 
Chicago,  supphes  of  food  as  well  as  liberal  collections  of  money.  Let  tins  sore 
calamity  of  our  neighbors  remind  us  of  the  uncertainty  of  earthly  possessions,  and 
that  when  one  member  suffers  all  the  members  should  sutler  with  it.  I  cannot  doubt 
that  the  whole  people  of  the  State  will  most  gladly,  most  promptly,  and  most 
liberally  respond  to  this  urgent  demand  upon  their  sympathy,  but  no  words  of  mine 
can  plead  so  strongly  as  the  calamity  itself. 

HENRY  P.  BALDWIN, 

Governor  of  Michigan^ 

The  Secretary  of  War  telegraphed  : — 

War  Department, 
Washington,  D.  C;  October  11,  1871. 
To  LieutenSint  General  Sheridan,  Chicago,  111. 

I  agree  with  you,  that  the  fire  is  a  National  calamity.  The  sufferers  have  the 
sincere  sympathy  of  the  nation.  Officers  at  the  Depots  at  St.  Louis  and  Jefltersonville, 
and  elsewhere,  have  been  ordered  to  forward  supphes  liberally  and  promptly. 

WILLIAM  W.  BELKNAP, 

Secretary  of  War. 

To  add  to  this,  Robert  Bonner,  of  the  Ledger,  telegraphed  to  Mr.  J.  Walsh  of  the 
American  News  Company,  that  he  could  draw  upon  him  for  $10,000  to  be  used  in 
relieving  members  of  the  jjress — whilst  the  manly  tone  of  the  i^ress  sustained  and 
fortified  many  through  the  dark  shadows  of  the  hour. 

Then  news  arrived  from  London,  (England,)  that  in  response  to  the  call  of  the 
American  Minister  for  a  meeting  to  express  sympathy  and  provide  relief  for  the  people 
of  Chicago,  over  400  American  and  English  gentlemen  assembled  at  the  Lengham 
Hotel.  One  of  the  speakers  drew  a  parallel  between  the  conflagration  of 
Chicago  and  the  great  fire  in  London.  Great  enthusiasm  was  evident  from  the  opening, 
and  the  meeting  needed  no  stimulus.  Everybody  was  eager  to  conti-ibute,  and  within 
a  short  time  from  the  opening  of  the  list  £1000  was  subscribed  viva  voce.  Conspicuous 
among  the  subscribers  were  several  Confederates,who  requested  that  their  names  should 
not  appear.  A  few  merchants  of  Chicago,  whose  estabhshments  were  destroyed  by 
fire,  also  offered  their  contributions  amid  the  cheers  of  the  assemblage.  Resolutions 
expressing  the  deepest  sympathy  for  the  sufferers,  and  pledging  further  aid,  ware 
adopted  by  acclamation.  A  committee  was  appointed,  with  J.  S.  Morgan  and  Gen. 
Schenck  at  the  head,  to  produce  additional  subscriptions  in  London  and  throughout 
thes  kingdom,  and  there  was  every  reason  to  expect  that  a  large  smn  would  be  raised. 
Expressions  of  sympathy  were  received  by  telegraph  and  by  mail  from  all  parts  of  the 
country,  and  read  by  the  chairman.  Among  those  present  were  Hon.  A.  Curtin,  Min- 
ister to  Russia,  General  A.  E.  Burnside,  General  J.  G.  Barnard,  Hon.  Hugh  McCidlough, 
Messrs.  Morgan  and  Woodhull,  of  the  American  Legation,  Adam  Badeau,  Consul  Gen- 
eral at  London,  Wm.  E.  Dodge,  of  New  York,  John  I.  Cisco,  of  New  York,  Messrs. 
Munn,  Storring,  Habicht,  of  Clews,  Habicht  &  Co.,  Bowles,  Randolph  Clay,  George 
Wilkes,  Boughton,  the  artist,  John  Healy,  and  Thaddeus  Hyatt.  Many  eminent  Eng- 
lishmen also  attended  the  meeting  and  manifested  their  interest  in  its  objects  hberally 
by  word  and  deed.  Such  charity  kindly  expressed  nerved  the  sufferers — who  had 
now  not  only  to  think  for  themselves  but  also   for   the   poor — and  as  the  news  of  sub- 


GREAT    FIRE-  IN    CHICAGO.  37 

•criptions — announced  above — was  received,  proud  men  wept,  and  manly  hearts 
yearned  to  prove  that  a  world's  sympathy  was  appreciated.  Men  said  it  was  Christ- 
'like.  Let  us  hope  it  will  bear  fruits  and  make  a  more  than  lasting  impression  on  them, 
in  the  future. 

We  shall  pass  over  the  frifhtful  scenes  observable  in  visiting  the  morgue,  where 
over  eighty  unfortunate  and  almost  unrecognizable  bodies  were  laid  out;  some  had 
been  sufltbcated,  trampled  to  death;  a  few  had  fallen,  others  been  taken  from  ruins,  but 
hundreds  more  must  still  remain  in  the  ruins. 

Thursday  dawned  and  now  that  telegrams  Were  received  and  messengers 
arrived  it  became  known  that  a  majority  of  the  insurance  companies  were  anxious  to 
settle  all  claims  in  full ;  such  announcements  as  the  following  creating  intense  excite- 
ment, as  thousands  had  anticipated  advantage  being  taken,  and  an  apportionment  of 
10  or  15  per  cent  being  declared :  — 

The  Liverpool  and  London  and  Globe  Insurance  Go's,  telegraphed  their  agents : — 

.   New. York,  Oct.  12,1871. 
"Chicago  losses  probably  under  two  and  a  half  millions.     The  Directors  in  New 
York  are  authorized  to  draw  on  London.     Charge  higher  rates." 

Alfred  Pell,  Manager. 
The  Hanover  Fire  Insurance  Company  telegraphed  : — 

New  York,  Oct.  12,  1871. 
"  In  view  of  the  intense  feeling  existing  relative  to  the  standing  of  Fire  Insur- 
ance Companies,  we  take  pleasure  in  saying  to  our  friends  and  the  public,  that  we 
have  telegraphed  to  our  agents  to  draw  at  sight  in  settlement  of  all  losses  by  the 
Chicago  fire  as  fast  as  they  are  adjusted.  After  the  payment  of  which  we  shall  have 
our  Capital  intact  and  a  surplus  of  over  |125.000,  leaving  our  Cash  Assets  over  $525,- 
000. 

B.  S.  Walgott,  President. 
I.  Re>isen  Lane,  Secretary. 

The  New  York  managers  of  the  North  British  and  Mercantile  Insurance  Com- 
pany received  the  following  kindly  and  generous  cable  telegram  from  Mr.  J.  W.  Cater, 
Chairman  of  the  London  Board  : —     • 

"  Subscribe  $5,000  for  the  Chicago  suiferers.  Settle  all  losses  promptly.  Draw, 
at  three  days  sight." 

"  The  assets  of  this  company  in  the  United  States,  amounting  to  over  $1,300,000, 
will  not  be  touched  in  the  payment  of  losses  in  Chicago." 

Wm.  Conner,  1 

Chas.  E.  White,    >  Associate  Managers. 
Wm.  P;  Blagden.J 
The  managers  of  the  Niagara  Fire  Insurance  Company  issued  the  following : — 

New  York,  Oct.  10,  1871. 
"  The  losses  of  this  company  by  the  recent  fires  in  Chicago  cannot  exceed -a  quarter 
of  a  milUon  of  dollars,  which  will  be  promptly  paid  as  the  various  claims  shall  be  ad- 
justed. 

This  Company  will  have  remaining  more  than  a  million  of  dollars  of  good  assets, . 
as  a  guarantee  to  its  policy  holders." 

H.  A,  Howe,  President. 
P.  NoTMAN,  Vice  President  and  Secretary. 

The  Jefferson  Insurance  Company,  (New  York) : — 

Trinity  Building,  No.  Ill  Broadway, 

New  York,  Oct.  10,  1871. 
To  the  public :     This  Company  having  no  out-of-town  Agents,  and  doing  business 
only  at  this  OflSce,  is  not  materially  afl^ected  by  the  great  fire  in  Chicago,  the  entire 
amount  at  risk  there  being  only  $47,500." 

Samuel  E.  Belcher.  President. 


38  HISTORY    OF    THE 

The  following  was  issued  by  the  Andes  Insurance  Company  : 

Chicago,  October  11,  1871. 
"  To  the  Andes  Insurance  Co.: 

Andes  losses  will  not  exceed  $300,000." 

E.  B.  Ryan,  Agent. 
'•'  The  Andes  is  solvent  and  very  strong,   and  has  already  commenced  paying  the 
Chicago  lossvjs." 

J.  B.  Bennett,  President. 

The  "  Commercial  "  agency  announced  : 

'■  The  Company  has  only  $5,000  at  risk  in  Chicago." 

M.  V.  B.  Powler,  President. 

The  Columbia  Fire  Insurance  Company  announced  : 

"  In  reply  to  the  numerous  inquiries  as  to  our  losses  by  the  disastrous  fire  in 
Chicago,  we  have  no  agency  there,  and  but  one  risk  of  three  thonsand  dollars." 

Alfred  Douglas,  President. 

The  International  Insurance  Company,  of  New  York,  stated : 

"  In  view  of  the  general  alarm  created  by  the  insurance  losses  consequent  upon 
the  recent  fire  in  Chicago,  it  may  be  proper  to  state,  on  behalf  of  this  company,  that, 
if  all  our  risks  in  the  burnt  district  should  prove  total  losses,  they  will  not  absorb 
much  more  than  our  net  reserve,  leaving  our  capital  and  assets  $800,000. 

Geo.  W.  Savage,  President. 

The  following  dispatch  was  received  from  the  office  of  the  American  Central  Fire  In- 
surance Company  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.: 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  October  12,  1871. 
"  Messrs.  Wm.  H.  Cheppu  &  Co.,  Managers  of  the  New  York  Branch   American 
Central  Fire  Insurance  Company,  163  Broadway,  New  York  : 

Our  loss  in  Chicago  is  $300,000,  which  will  be  paid  at  once  without  interruption 
to  business,  twenty  per  cent  call  made. 

Geo.  T.  Cram,  Secretary. 

From  the  ^tna  of  Hartfor4,  largely  interested,  the  following  arrived  : 

"  A  telegram  from  E.  P.  Dorr,  General  Agent  of  this  Company  at  BnflTalo,  says 
the  JEtna  Company  pays  all  losses  promptly  at  Chicago  and  elsewhere,  and  continues 
all  branches  of  business  at  all  points  as  heretofore." 

Geo.  W.  Wolverton,  Agent  Marine  Department. 

The  aanexed  telegram  was  from  the  underwriters'  agency  : 

New  York,  October  10,  1871. 
Alex.  McLane,  Agent,  101  Griswold  street,  Detroit : 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Germania,  Hanover,  Niagara  and  Republic  Insurance  Com- 
panies of  New  York,  composing  the  "  Underwriters  Agency,"  held  this  day,  due  pre- 
parations wei'e  made  to  pay  immediately  upon  adjustments,  all  losses  incurred  at  the 
fire  in  Chicago  ;  after  doing  which,  the  capitals  of  all  the  companies  will  remain  un- 
impaired, and  have  a  surplus  of  over  half  a  million  dollars,  leaving  the  gross  cash 
assets  of  the  "  Underwriters'  Agency  "  over  two  and  one-half  millions  of  dollars. 

Alex.  Stoddart,  General  Agent. 

The  Pacific  Company,  of  San  Francisco,  telegraphed  their  agent  that  the  losses 
would  be  fully  $1,000,000,  and  they  had  levied  an  assessment  of  seventy-five  per  cent, 
which  would  meet  all  demands  and  leave  a  surplus. 

The  Agents  of  various  companies  issued  a  notice  that  the  following  Companies 
represented  by  them  can  pay  all  losses  sustained  by  the  late  fires  in  Chicago,  after 
which  their  respective  capitals  will  remain  unimpaired  : 

"  Detroit  Fire  and  Marine  Insurance  Company  ;  City  Fire  Insurance  Company, 
Hartford  .  Pacific  Insurance  Company,  San  Francisco." 

Peltier  &  Belanger. 
The  following  card  was  published  by  the  Agents  : 

"  Oflicial  advices  show  that  the  losses  of  the  Lamar  Fire  Inurance  Company,  of 
New  York,  will  not  consume  the  surplus.  The  Merchants  Insurance  Company,  of 
Providence,  had  no  Agency  in  Chicago — losses  by  insurance,  $13,000  only." 

Wm.  S.  Talman  &  Co.,  Agents. 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  :-,9 

The  People's  Fire  Insurance  Company,  of  Worcester,  Mass  ,  said  : 

"  The  People's  Fire  Insurance  Company,  of  Worcester,  Massaoliusetts,  is  perfect- 
ly solvent,  and  all  their  losses  at  Chicago  and  elsewhere  will  be  paid  promptly  on  de- 
mand." 

Aug.  N.  CujfiEK,  Secretary. 
The  Williamsburg  City  Fire  Insurance  Company  : 

"October  11,  1871. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Committee  on  Claims  and  Losses,  convened  by  the  President, 
a  resolution  was  jjassed  unanimously  authorising  him  to  telegra^^h  to  Chicago  that  all 
losses  sustained  by  the  Company,  as  soon  as  adjusted,  would  be  settled  by  sight  drafts 
without  deducting  the  sixty  days'  interest." 

Edmund  Drigqs,  President. 
The  Firemen's  Fund  Company  : 

"  This  Company  has  no  Agencies  ;  will  sufter  loss  in  Chicago  to  the  extent  of 
two-thirds  of  its  surplus,  leaving  capital  unharmed.  The  President  is  now  in  Chicago 
prepared  to  give  sight  drafts  for  all  losses  as  soon  as  adjusted." 

James  D.  Sparkman,  President. 
The  Lamar  Insurance  Company,  of  New  York,  said  : 

'•  The  Agents  of  the  Company  at  Chicago  ttlegraphed  that  the  losses  by  the  late 
lire,  after  a  careful  examination,  will  be  less  than  $200,000,  thus  leaving  the  capital 
whole,  with  a  handsome  surplus,:,  and  the  Company  are  prepared  to  pay  on  demand  all 
losses  as  soon  as  adjusted." 

W.  R.  MaCdiarmid,  Secretary. 

The  Corn  Exchange  Insurance  Company  (N.  Y.)  announced  : 

"  In  reply  to  the  numerous  incjuiiies  as  to  our  losses  by  the  Chicago  fire,  and  to 
refute  the  many  false  rumors  in  regard  to  the  standing  of  this  Co>mpany,  we  have  to 
state  that  we  have  taken  no  risks  in  that  city  since  December,  1870,  and  the  whole 
amount  of  the  unexpired  risks  within  the  burnt  district  is  but  sixty-one  thousand  dol- 
lars, all  of  which  is  re-insured." 

E.  J.  LowBER,  President. 

The  U.  S.  Branch  of  Imperial  Fire  Insurance  Company  announced  : 
"  Our  net  losses  will  not  exceed  $125,000.  by  the  Chicago  fire." 

E.  W.  Crowell,  Ptesideut  Manager. 

The  ^Etna,  Hartford  and   Plueaix  were  largely  interested,  and  the  announcement 

•  that  they  would  pay  their  losses   in   full,    gave   wide   satisfaction.     Further  telegrams 

were  as  follows :  — 

Hartford,  Conn.,  October  13. — The  following  circular  was  issued : 

Office  of  the  Conxecticut  Fire  Insurance  Company,  > 
Hartford,  Conn.,  October  13,  1871.      ) 
Definite  infoi-mation  just  received  from  Chicago,  places  our  losses  at  so  high  a 
figure  that  we  are  oblised   to   suspend   business   until   tlie   question  of  reorganization 
shall  be  settled.         (Signed)  John  B.  Eldredge,  President. 

Boston,  October  13. — It  is  announced  that  a  guarantee  fund  has  been  raised  by 
the  directors  of  the  New  England  Fire  Insurance  Company,  and  it  will  continue  busi- 
ness. 

London,  October  18. — The  losses  of  the  Liverpool  Insurance  Companies  by  the 
Chicago  fire  are  estimated  at  £420,000. 

The  following  notice  to  the'poHcy-holders  and  stockholders  of  the  Commerce  In- 
surance Company,  of  Albany,  has  been  issued : 

I  have  just  received  (midnight,  October  13)  telegraphic  advices  from  our  General 
Agent,  who  is  in  Chicago,  which  convinces  me  that  our  loss  will  not  exceed  $450,000, 
and  probably  will  be  adjusted  for  less.  As  our  assets  amount  to  over  $650,000,  there 
remains  $200,000,  if  not  more,  to  protect  outstanding  policies. 

(Signed)  G.  A.  Van  Allen,  Vice  President. 

The  banks  issued  cards  stating  their  being  prepared  to  pay  15  per  cent  on  all  de- 
posits in   a  few   days,  and   promising   prompt   arrangement  of  claims  and  liabilities — 


40 


HISTORY    OF    THE 


-one  bank  slating  that  it  would  ;pay'£dollar  for  dollar  after  the  lapse  of  a  few  weeks. 
Then  came  a  statement  of  the  position  of  all  insurance  companies — sent  privately  to 
leading  men,  but  now  publishedfin  full — it  will  there  be  seen  that  many  companies 
doing  a  large  business,  by  reason  of  lacking  judgment,  were  straw  corporations,  and  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  when  the  National  Convention  of  Insurance  Compnnies  takes  place, 
stringent  State  action  will  be 'advised,  to  prohibit  the  reckless  and  careless  conduct  of 
insurance  bu"siness.  ■  • 


J^ew  Yoi'k  Companies. 

Name.  Capital. 

.Etna,  City $  300,000 

Adriatic,  City 200,000 

Agriculuirai,  Watertown 100,000 

Albany,  Albany 150,000 

Albany  City,  Albany 200,000 

American,  P.,  City 200,009 

American  Exchange,  City 200,000 

Arctic,    City 25^1,000 

Astor,  City 250,000 

Atlantic,  City 300,000 

Beekman,  Citv 200,00^) 

Brewers'  and  Malsters',  City 200,000 

Broadway,  City 200,000 

Brooklyn,  L.  1.,  City 153,OOo 

Buftalo  City,  Buffalo 200,000 

Butfalo  Fire  and  Marine 304,222 

Buffilo  German,  Butfalo 200,(;00 

Capita!  City,  Albany 200,000 

Citizens'   P.,  City 300,0:^0 

City,  City 210,u0P 

Clinton,  City :^50,0n0 

Columbia,  City 300,000 

•Commerce,  Albany 400,000 

Commerce  Fire,  City 200,000 

Commercial,  City 200,000 

Continental,  P.,  City o00,00-) 

Corn    Exchange,  City 300,000 

Eagle,  City 300,000 

Empire  City,  City 200,(i(;0 

Excelsior,  City. .  ^ 200,000 

Exchange,  City 150,000 

Farmers' Joint  Stock,  Meridan....a 100,000 

Firemen's,  City 204.000 

Firemen's  Fund,  Citv 1.50,000 

Firemen's  Trust '. 150,(i00 

Fulton,  City  (suspended) 200,000 

<Jebhard,  City 200,0ii0 

Oermania,  City ■ 500,000 

Olens  Falls,  Glens  Falls 200,000 

Globe,  Citv 200,000 

•Greenwich^  City 200,000 

<Tuardian,  City 200,000 

Hamilton,  City 159,' 00 

Hanover,  P.,  City 400,000 

Hoffman,  City 200,000 

Holland,  Purchase,  Batavia 100,000 

Home,  City 2,500,0C0 

Hope,  City 150,0uo 

Howard,  P.,  City 500,000 

Humboldt,  City 200,000 

Importers'  and  Traders',  City 200  Of'O 

International,  City 500,000  ' 

Irving,  Citv ". 2CO,0ro 

Jefferson,  City .' 200,010 

flings  County,  City 150,000 

Knickerbocker,  City 280,00  ' 

Lafayette,  L.  L,  City 150,000 

Lamar,  City 300,"M) 

Lenox,    City 150,  00 

Long  Island,  P.,  City 200,(iuo 

Lorillard,  P.,  City 1.50o'oon 

Manhattan,  City 51  0,C00 

Manulactuiars  and  Builders,  City 200,00/ 

Market,  P  ,  City '. 200,0f>0 

Mechanics'  L.  I.,  City 1£0,C0  i 


Gross  Assets 
Jan.  1,  1871. 
$   442,709 
246,120 

550,848 

264,973 

397,646 
741,405 
274,350 
290,433 

4')s,571 

556,179 
261,351 

220,000 

370,004 

304,444 

370.934 

473,577 

270,081 

293,766 

084,798 

466,069 

392,704 

451,332 

692,377 

249,372 

306,002 
2,538,038 

398,936 

505,440 

266,409 

335,724 

188,959 

19,5.673 

350,961 

173,377 

226,369 

363,002 

250,892 
1.077,849 

671,123 

315,738 

429.872 

279,688 

260,136 

700  335 

235,242 

171,496 
4,578,0l'S 

214,241 

783,851 

2.';  1,186 

302,589 
1,-529,476 

322,745 

411,155 

262,573 
394,079 

214,757 

551,402 

240,801 

384,9:!2 

1,716,909 

1,407,738 

206,409 

704,684 
218,047 


Losses. 

$250,000 

5,000 


Suspended 

25,000 

15,000 

Nothing 


250,0C0 

Suspended 

Nothing 

Nothing 

Nothing 


5,000 


25,000 

Nothing 

2,000 

3.000 

10,000 

16,000 

5,000 

1,000,000 

Nothing 

Nothing 

Nothing 

Suspended 


Nothins 
15,000 

"*  "5,600 

Ad'ts  700,iXX) 

Nothing 

250,000 

10,000 

Nothing 

Nothing 

40,000 

Nothing 

230,000 

10,000 


Over  2,000,000 

Nothing 

275,000 

10,000 

22,500 

400,0  iO 

Refuses  risks 

47,500 

.33,000 

Nothing 

7,500 

200,000 

30,000 


80ii,000 

Suspended 

Nothing 

Suspended 

22,500 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO. 


41 


Name.  Capital. 

Mechanics'  and  Traders'  City $200,000 

Mercantile,  (Jity.....v 200,000 

Merchants,  City 200,000 

Metropolitan,  City 300,000 

Montauk,  L.  I.,  City 150,000 

Nassau,  L.  I.,  City *. 200,000 

National,  City 200,000 

New  Amsterdam,  P.,  City 300,000 

N.  Y.  Bowery,  City 800,000 

N.  Y.  Central,  Union  Springs 100,000 

New  Yorli  Equitable 210,000 

New  York   Fire 200,000 

Niagara,  City 1,000,000 

North  American,  City 500,000 

North  River 350,000 

Pacific,  City 200,000 

Park,  City 200,000 

Peoples,  City 150,000 

Peter  Cooper,  City 150,000 

Phcenix,  L.  I,  City ■= 1,000,0)0 

Relief,  City 200,000 

Republic,  City 300,000 

Resolute,  City 20o.OOO 

Rutgers,  City 200,000 

Schenectady,  Schenectady 100,000 

Security,  City 1,100,000 

Standard,  City 200,000 

Star,  City 200,000 

Sterling,  City 200,000 

Stuvyesant,  City 200,000 

St.  Nicholas,  City. 150,000 

Tradesmen's  City 150,000 

United  States,  City 250,000 

Washington,  P.,  Citp 400,000 

Watertown,  Watertown 100,000 

Westchester,  New  Rcchelle 200,000 

Western,  of  Buffalo 3i"0,000 

Williamsburg  City,  City 250,000 

Yonkers  and  New  York,  City 600,000 

Massachusetts  Companies. 

American,  Boston $    300,000 

Bay  State,  Worcester 104,800 

Beverly,  Beverly 30,000 

Boston,  Boston 300,000 

Boylston,  Boston 309,000 

City,  Boston 200,000 

Eliot,  Boston 300,000 

Equitable,  ProvinstOwn 50,000 

>:xchange,  Boston 100,000 

Firemen's,  Boston 300,000 

First  National,  Worcester 100,000 

Franklin,  Boston 300,000 

Gloucester,  Gloucester 100,000 

Hide  and  Leather,  Boston 300,000 

Howartl,  Boston 200,000 

Independent,  Boston 300,000 

Lawrence,  Bosron : 250,0.0 

Manufacturers',  Boston 400,000 

Mercantile,  Bogton 300,000 

Merch  nt-s',  Boston 500,000 

Mutual  Benefit,  boston .' '.:00,000 

National  Boston 300,000 

Neptune,  Boston 3ii0,uoo 

New  England  Mutual  M,,  Boston :?no,000 

North  American,  Boston 200,000 

People's,  Worcester 400,000 

Prescott    Boston 200,ii00 

Salem,    Salem 100,' 000 

Shoe  and  Leather  Dealer',  Boston 20)', 000 

Springfield,  Springfield 500,000 

Suffolk,  Boston 150,000 

Trader's  and  Mechanics',  Lowell lOo'ooO 

Tremont,  Boston 200,000 

Washington,  Boston 30ji000 

Ohio  Gompanies. 

Alllemannia,  Cleveland $    250,000 

American,  Cincinnati 100,000 


Gross  Assets 

Jan.  1,  1871. 

1460,002 

273,.S99  ■ 

442,690 

369,434 

254,405 

391,518 

232,671 

432,638 

562,835 

201,864 

429,063 

392,273 
1,304,067 

770,305 

467,426 

443.257 

302,493 

231,670 

295,724 
1,890,010 

310,903 

633,478 

252,452 

343,034 
93,737 
1,880,333      Ad'ts 

372,707 

300,441 

247,027 

303,640 
"222,572 

423,181 

437,259 

774,411 
171,754 

485,314 

582,547 

539.692 

863,933 


$  344,481 
196,275 
41,831 
678,740 
933,256 
399,427 
672,212 
42,129 
111,092 

1,033,330 
157,356 
541,908 
118,751 
419,211 
358,642 
646,048 
262,50-2 

1,430,464 
.094,299 
958,559 
254,092 
821,840 
852,19.5 

1,030,973 
601,747 
887,756 
452.660 
,  197,940 
649,806 
930,101 
283,288 
192,401 
294,543 
935,875 


Losses. 

'  iob,o6ti 

15.000 

Nothing 

Nothing 

"is^ooo 

40,000 
Nothing 

Nothing 

15,000 

230,000 

240,000 

. "  12,560 
Nothing 
Nothing 

'§50,600 

10,000 

226,000 

80,000 

Nothing 

Insolvent 

1,000,000 

Nothing 

Nothing 

7,500 

Nothing 

Nothing 

25,000 

Nothing 

400,000 

Nothing 

Nothing 

Nothing 

70,000 

300,000 


Nothing 
"12,666 


Suspended 

12,000 

350,000 


10,000 
'566!  666 


700,000 
10,000 


$28g,5S5 
125,513 


$26,000 


42 


HISTORY    OF    THE 


Name            ■  Capital. 

Andes,  Cincinnati *^'^'?n'nnn 

Burnet,  Cincinnati ,  , 'nn 

Butler,  Humilton 14,000 

Capital   City,  Columbus 60,000 

Central,  Columbus 40,000 

Central,   Dayton ■,     '  nn 

Cincinnati,   Cincinnati 150,(00 

t  'itizens',  Cincinnati 52,500 

Cleveland,   Cleveland 414,400 

Commercial,  Cincinnati 100,000 

Cooiicr,  Dayton 23,800 

Eagle,   Cincinnati 100,000 

Eclipse,   Cincinnati 27,350 

Enterprise,  Cincinnati 193,4'i0 

Kui"ekii,  Cincinnati... 26.425 

Farmer',   Cincinnati 23,360 

Farmers',  .Telloway 100,<jOO 

Farmers'  and  Mercliant's,  Dayton 32,000 

Farmers',  Mer.  and  M'f  s.,  Hamilton 100,000 

Firemen's,  Cincinnati 100,000 

Firemen's,  Dayton 100,000 

Franklin,  Cincinnati 100,000 

Franklin,  Columbus 70,000 

German,  Cleveland 200,000 

German,  Dayton 22,500 

German,  Cincinnati 100,000 

German,  Toledo 45,001 

Globe,  Cincinnati 100,000 

Hamilton,  Hamilton 17,500 

Ilibernia,   Cleveland 200,000 

Home,  Columbus 500,000 

Home,  Toldedo 69,000 

Jefferson,  Steubenville 43,392 

Merchants' and  Manufaclureie'   Cincinnati 150,000 

Miami  Valley,  Cincinnati 100,000 

Miami  Valley,  Dayton 26,100 

Mutual,  Toledo 90,000 

National,  Cincinnati 100,0  0 

Ohio,  Chillicotlne 40.COO 

Ohio,  Dayton 35,282 

Ohio  Valley,  Cincinnati 50,760 

People's,  Cincinnati 25,000 

Sun,   Cleveland 200,000 

Teutonia,   Cleveland 200,000 

Teutonia,  Dayton 26,000 

Tobacco,  Cincinnati 100,000 

Toledo,   Toledo .' 75,000 

Union,  Cincinnati 100.000 

"Washington,  Cincinnati 129,100 

Western,  Cincinnati 100,000 

Mmouri  Companies. 

American  Central,  St.  Louis $    231,370 

Anchor,  St.  Louis 105,225 

Boatmen's,  St.   Louis 100,530 

Chouteau,  St.  Louis 19,319 

Citizen's,  it.  Louis 175,000 

Commercial,  St.  Louis 40,660 

Excelsior,  St.  Louis 73,037 

Franklin,  St.  Louis 100,900 

German,  fit.  Louis .55,500 

( Jlobe  Mutual,  St.  Louis 125,000 

Home.  St.  Joseph 63,850 

Jefferson,  St.  Louis 101,272 

Lafayette,  Ijexington 61,884 

Lumiiermen  &  ilechanics,  St..  Louis 160,000 

Marine,  St.  Louis 150,000 

Merchant's,  St.  Joseph 60,636 

National,  Hannibal 111,201 

North  Missouri,  Macon 133,050 

Pacific,  St.  Louis 25,000 

Phocenix,  St.  Louis 108,950 

St.  Joseph,  St.  Joseph 64,000 

St.  I>ouis,  St  Louis 249,000 

State,  ,  Hannibal 109,000 

Union,  St.  Louis 100,000 

United  States,  St.  Louis 170,000 


Gross  Assets 
Jan.  1,  1871. 
$1,203,425 
75,369 
22,322 
78,000 
55,541 
29,396 

2'..9,223 
67,690 

530,208 

153,987 
32,527 

123,694 
46.667 

302,922 
67,607 
24,142 

131,626 

55,770 

.      123.366 

225,600 

126,893 

132  465 
88,071 

281,260 
23,347 

127,858 
54,500 

173,143 
41,620 

225,<J00 

637,947 
76,335 
60,632 

266,780 

141,094 
51,133 
90.249 

120,514 

49,092 

54,.318 

79,921 

43,928 

301,340 

237,016 

46,572 

103,343 

105,837 

130,845 

143,747 

173,550 


$254,875. 
121,974 

51  786 

21,808 
271,373 

43,896 

19,815 
V  9,701 

70,673 
150,793 

66,061 
121,842 

56,439 
200,409 
21i',925 

79,682 
147,733 
154,166 

36,835 
126,654 
106,729 
307,342 
162,099 
107,-575 
184,279 


Losses- 
$400,000- 


175,000 


25,000 
iVOjOOO 


75,000 


$35P,00O' 
27,000. 
20,000 
25,000 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO. 


Illinois 


Name. 

American,  Chicago 

Aurora,  Aurora 

Chicago  Fire,  Chicago 

Chicago  Firemen's,  Chicago., 

Commercial,  Chicago 

Equitable,  Chicago 

Farmer's,  Freeport 

German,  Freeport 

German  Ins.  and  Sav's.  Co.,  Quinoy. 

German,  Chicago 

Great  "Western,  Chicago 

Home,  Chicago 

Illinois  Mutual,  Alton 

Knickej-boaker,  Chicago 

Merchant's,  Chicago 

Mutual  Security,  Chicago 

Republic    Chicago 

Rockf ord,  Rookl'ord 

Winnesheik,  Freeport 


Capital. 

150,000 
200,000 
101,800 
200,000 
180,000 
100,000 
100,000 
111,000 
132,90:) 
200,000 
222,;  31 
200,00U 
113,000 
160,000 
500,000 
118,325 
998, 2U0 
100,000 
100,000 


Gross  'Assets 
Jan.  1,  1871. 
$548,875 
220,471 
131,566 
372,544 
266,535 
120,191 
191,303 
119,824 
153,951 
257,821 
274,125 
245,338 
350,016 
180,129 
878,252 
145,534 
1,132,812 
235,442 
143,762 


Losses. 


These   companies  cannot  furnish  figures — but  most  of  them  Icse  heavilj^,  an(?. 
many  suspensions  will  follow. 

Pennsylvania. 


American,  Philadelphia 

Franklin,    Philadelphia  ■ 

Girard,  Philadelphia 

Ins.  Company  of  North  America,  Phil 

Ins.  Company  State  ot  PennsylTania,  Phil. 

Lancaster,  Lancaster ^ 

Pennsylvania,   Philadelphia 

Delaware  Mutual  Safety,  Phila 

Enterprise,  Philadelphia 

Lycoming,  jMoncy 

Aipa,  Erie 

Reading  Fire  Reading 

Williaaisport  Fire,  Williamsport 

Columbia,   Columbia 


$  400,000 
400,000 
200,000 
.500,000 
200,000 
200,000 
400,000 
360,000 
200,000 
Mutual 
250,000 
150,000 
100,000 


Connecticut. 


jEtna,  H.artford $  2,0r.0,000 

City,  Eartford 

Charter  Oak,   Hartford 

Connecticut,  Hartford  

Fairfield  County,  Xorwalk 

Earttord,  Hartford 

Merchants,  Hartiord 

North  American,  Hartford 

Norwich,  Norwich 

Phcenix,  Hartford 

Pu tman ,  Hartford 


250,000 
1.50,000 
200,001) 
200  000 
l.OvIO  000 
200,000 
300,000 
300,000 
600.000 
500.000 


Rhode  Island. 


American,  Providence 

Atlantic,  Providence 

City,    Providence 

Equitable,  Providence 

H«)pe,  Providence 

Mercliants',  Providence 

Narragansett-  Providence 

Providtnce  Washington,  Providence- 
Koger  Williams,  Providence 


'.00,000 
'.iOO.OflO 
50,000 
200,01  0 
150,000 
300,000 
500,000 
200  000 
200,000 


California. 


California,  San  Francisco $  300,000 

Firemen's  Fund,  San  Francisco 500,000 

Home  Mutual,  San  Francisco 603,600 

Occidental,  Smu  Francisco 300,00) 

Pacific,  San  Franci-co---, 1,000,000 

People's  San  Irancisco ^ 300.000 

Union,  San  Francisco 750,000 


Maine. 


Eastern,  Bangor $  150,000 

National,   Bangor 200,000 

Union,   Bangor 200,000 


$1,047,612 

3,037.452 

403,062 

3,050,538 

.542,908 

2.50.349 

1,094,004 

1,821,162 

611,654 

516,81)6 

365,534 

177,503 

110,500 

250,000 


$5,7.32.6.35 
554,287 
251,951 
405,069 
216,358- 
2,737,510 
540,096 
466  -503 
381,736 
1,717,947 
785,783 


$  374,069 
326,(il3 
72,150 
271,169 
211,673 
372,199 
792,947 
415,149 
278,946 


$  406,324 
739,627 
657,243 
474,095 
1,7.7,267 
500,000 
1,115,574 


$  237,648 
241,309 
421,205 


Nothing 
500,000 

Nothing 
600,000 


Nothing 
Nothing 


125,000 


S3,C00,0tO 

225,000 

2C 0,000 

Suspended 

39,(;00 

1,200,000 

350.0C0 


700,000- 
425.000 


400,00O 
275.000 


Nothing 

150,000 

]fcf,00O 

38,000 

550,000 

100,00^ 


tl.OOO  000' 


Nothing 

17.500. 

5,00P( 


44     .  HISTORY    OF    THE 

J£ichigan. 

Gross  Assets 

K'ame.                                                                       Capital.      Jan.  1, 1871.  Losges. 

Detroit  Fire  and  Marine,  Detroit $160,000       $273,06:3  $80,000 

Michigan  State,  Adrian 150,000  S66,123  

State,  Lansing 100,000  

Wisoonsin. 

Brewers'  Protective,  Milwaukee -  $  164,175      $  183,631  $  7.5.000 

North-western  National,  Milwaukee 150,000  191,':02  90,000 

Minnesota. 

St.  Paul  Fire  and  Marine,  St.  Paul »  120,030      $280,593  $60,000 

Kentucky. 

Aurora,  Covington -  $150,000       $'163,513  $35,000 

.New  Hampshire. 

New  Hampshire  Fire,  Manchester $100,000       $134,586  

Foreign  Oompardes. 

The  list  of  foreign  companies  doing  business  in  the  United  States  give.'  the  whole  assets 
of  the  companies.  All  of  them  except  the  Imperial  do  a  life  insurance  business,  and  the  lar- 
gest portion  of  their  assets  are  credited  ts  that  department. 

Commercial  Union $1.250,u00      $4,000,000  $     65,000 

Imperial 3,500,000         .5,438,665  150,000 

Liverpool  &  London  and  Globe 1,9.53,760      20,136,420  2,000,000 

North  British  and  Mercantile 1,350,000         4,104,593  C.OOO.OOO 

Queen 955,860        2,347,495  Nothing 

Royal  1,444,475         9,274,776  98,000 

The  Companies  whose  losses  are  designated  by  dots  or  "  leaders/'  have  not  been 
lieard  from,  though  in  the  case  of  the  Chicago  companies  it  is  feared  a  very  laage  ma- 
jority— ifiK)tall — are  bankrupt.  The  "  American,"  "Merchants',"  "Republic,"  and  a 
few  others,  however,  giving  promise  of  reasonable  adjustment.  However,  their  personal 
losses  have  been  immense — papers  have  disappeared  and  been  destroyed,  records 
burned,  and  matters  so  disturbed  and  disarraned  that  it  must  be  a  long  time  ere  satis- 
factory or  definite  evidence  will  be  forthcoming.  The  other  outside  Companies  not 
heard  from  have  not  been  very  great  sufferers,  though  many  will  be  liard  pressed. 
We  from  inquiry  and  close  investigation  are  convinced  that  many  stated  losses  are  from 
25  to  50  i^er  cent,  more  than  at  presented  asserted. 

At  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  the  wildest  excitement  was  manifested;  men  grew 
desperate  as  they  discussed  the  removal  of  the  Board  to  Jlich  ave.  on  the  South  Side 
— the  repudiation  of  former  transactions — the  losses  of  a  few  days  past — and  other 

.matters  of  grave  importance .  Within  a  few  hotirs  between  two  and  three  thousand 
acres  of  magnificent  buildings  had  been  destroyed — within  a  few  hours  over  15,000 — 
yes  16,000  edifices  had  been  swept  away — within  a  few  hours  80,000  or  90,000  people 
were  left  home!  ess,  houseless,  starving — and  within  a  few  hours  property  to  the  extent 
of  over  $300,000,000  had  been  stricken  down  before  the  march  of  the  destroyer ;  had 
acted  a  brilhant  part  in  the  Fire  Fiend's  Carnival — and  bade  the  proudest  head  droop 
and  coldest  liearts  yearn  for  the  miseries  of  the  Doomed  City.  Doomed  City  !  •  It  was 
indeed : — years  of  strife  against  misfortune,  years  of  strife  with  creditors,  and  years  of 
deep  anxiety — this  to  secure  prosperity — this  to  build  up  a  city  famed  throughout  the 
civilized  world; — and  now  for  miles  around, naught  save  Avrecked  fragments  of  masonry, 
ghastly  beds  of  ashes,  and  poverty's  gaunt  form  mocking,  the  millionaire  of  yesterday 
Fragments  of  masonry !  let  those  who  doubt  this  assertion  seek  the  sites  of  the  foUovr- 

■  ;jing  magnificent  structures  : — 

Academy  of  Design,  Adams,  between  State  and  Dearborn. 
A.  H.  Miller's  building,  corner  State  and  Madison. 
Andrew's  building.  La  Salle,  between  Madison  and  Monroe. 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  45 

Andrews  &  Otis's  building,  Clark,  between  Monroe  and  Adams. 

Arcade  buildings,  Clark,  betweeea  Madison  and  Monroe. 

Berlin  block,  corner  State  and  Monroe. 

Blake's  building,  Washington,  between  Fifth  avenue  and  Franklin. 

Boone  block.  La  Salle,  between  Washington  and  Madison. 

Bowen's  building,  RandolpE,  between  Michigan  and  Wabash  avenue. 

Bryan  block,  corner  La  Salle  and  Monroe. 

Burch's  block.  Lake,  between  Wabash  avenue  and  State  street. 

Calhoun  block,  Clark,  between  Washington  and  Madison. 

Chamber  of  Commerce  building,  corner  La  Salle  and  Washington. 

Chicago  Mutual  Life  Insurance  building.  Fifth  avenue,  between  Washington  and 

Randolph. 
The  Chicago  Times  building.  Dearborn,  between  Washington  and  Madison. 
City  Water  Works,  corner  Oliicago  avenue  and  Pine. 
Cobb's  block,  corner  Lake  and  Wabash  avenue. 
Cobb's  block,  Washington,  between  Clark  and  Dearborn. 
Cobb's  building.  Dearborn,  between  Washington  and,  Madison. 
Commercial  building,  corner  La  Salle  and  Lake. 
Commercial  Insurance  Company's  building,  Washington,  between  La  Salle  aad 

Fifth,  avenue. 
Court  House,  Randolph  and  Washington,  between  Clark  and  La  Salle. 
Crosby's  building,  State,  between  Randolph  and  Washington. 
Custom  House,  corner  Dearboin  and  Monroe. 
DeHaven  block,  Dearborn,  between  Quincy  and  Jackson. 
Depository  building,  Randolph,  between  Clark  and  La  Salle. 
Dickeys  building,  corner  Dearborn  and  Lake. 

Dole's  building,  corner  Clark  ajul  South  Water.  » 

Drake's  block,  corner  Wabash  avenue  and  Washington. 
Eagle  Work's  block,  corner  Madison  and  Clinton. 
Ewing  block.  North  Clark,  between  North  Water  and  Kinzie. 
Exchange  Bank  building,  corner  Lake  and  Clark. 
Flander's  block,  foot  South  Water. 

Fry's  building,  La  Salle,  between  Washington  and  Randolph. 
Fullerton's  block,  corner  Washington  and  Dearborn. 
Gallup  building,  corner  La  Salle  find  Madisou. 
Garrett  block,  corner  Randolph  and  Sta;e. 

Hartford  Fire  Insurance  building.  La  Salle,  between  Randolph  and  Lake. 
Holt's  building.  Washington,  between  La  Salle  and  Fifth  avenue. 
Honore  block,  DearSoin,  betweeen  Monroe  and  Adams. 
Illinois  Central  Land  Department  building,  Michigan  avenue,  between  Lake  and 

South  Water. 
Keep's  building,  Clark,  between  Madison  and  Monroe. 
Kehoe's  building,  corner  Twelfth  and  Blue  Island  avenue. 
Kent's  building.  No.  153  Monroe. 
King's  block,  corner  Washington  and  Dearborn. 
Lakeside  building,  corner  Adams  and  Clark. 
Larmon  Block,  corner  Clark  and  Washington. 
Lincoln  block,  co;ner  Lake  and  Franklin. 
Lind's  block,  corner  Randoli)h  and  Market. 
Link's  block,  coiner  La  Salle  and  Lake. 
Lloyd's  block,  corner  Randolph  and  Fifth  avenue. 
Lombard  block,  corner  Monroe  and  Custom  House    place,  between  Clark  and 

Dearborn. 
Loomis  Block,  corner  Clark  and  South  Water. 
Lumberman's  Exchange,  corner  South  Water  and  Franklin.. 
McCarthy's  Building,  corner  Dearborn  and  Washington. 
McCarthy's  Building,  corner  Clark  and  Randolph. 
McCormick's  Block,  corner  Dearborn  and  Randolph. 
McCormlck's  Building,  corner  Michigan  ave.  and  Lake. 
McKee's  Building,  corner  Wabasli  ave.  and  Randolph. 
Mackin's  Building,  State,  between  Madison  and  Monroe. 
JMagie's  Building,  corner  LaSalle  and  Randolph. 


46  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Major  Block,  coruer  I^aSalle  and  Madison. 

Marine  Bank  Building,  corner  Lake  and  LaSalle. 

Mechanics'  Building,  Washington,  between  LaSalle  and  Fifth  ave. 

Mercantile  Building,  LaSalle,  between  Madison  and  Washington. 

Merchant's  fesurance  Building,  corner  LaSalle  and  Washington. 

Methodist  Church  Block,  corner  Clark  and  Washington. 

Metropolitan  Block,  corner  Randolph  and  LaSalle. 

Monroe  Building,  corner  Clark  and  Monroe. 

Morrison  Block,  Clark,  between  Madison  and  Monroe. 

Morrison  Building,  Clark,  between  Madison  and  Wasliington. 

Newbury  Block,  corner  Wells  and  Kinzie. 

Nixon  Building,  corner  LaSalle  and  Monroe 

Norton  Block,  Nos.  136  and  138  South  Water. 

Old  Board  of  Trade  Buildings,  South  Water,  between  LaSalle  and  Fifth  ave. 

Open  Board  Building,  Madison,  between  Clark  and  LaSalle. 

Oriental  Building,  LaSalle,  between  Washington  and  Madison. 

Otis  Block,  corner  Madison  and  LaSalle. 

Otis  Buildins,  corner  State  and  Madison.     , 

Pacific  Hotel,  corner  Clark  and  Quincy. 

Pardee's  Building,  corner  South  Water  and  Fifth  ave. 

Phoenix  Building,  LaSalle,  between  Randolph  and  Washington. 

Pomeroy's  Building,  No   160  South  Water. 

Pope's  Block,  Madison,  between  Clark  and  LaSalle. 

Portland  Block,  corner  Dearborn  and  Washington. 

Post^Offlce,  corner  Dearborn  and  Monroe. 

Post-Offlce  Building,  Dearborn,  between  Madison  and  Monree. 

Prairie  Farmer  Building,  Monroe,  between  Dearborn  and  Clark. 

Purple's  Block,  corner  North  Clark  and  Ontario. 

Raymond  Block,  corner  State  and  Madison. 

Republic  Life  Insurance  Building,  LaSalle,  between  Madison  and  Monroe. 

Reynold's  Block,  corner  Dearborn  and  Madison. 

Rice's  Building,  74  to  81  Dearborn. 

Scammon's  Building,  corner  Randolph  and  Michigan  ave. 

Sbepard's  Building,  Dearborn,  between  Monroe  and  Adams. 

Sheiman  House  Block,  corner  Clark  and  Randolpli. 

Smith  &  Nixon's  Block,  corner  €lark  and  Washington. 

Speed's  Building,  125  Dearborn. 

StaaU  Zdtunf}  Building,  Madison,  between  Dearborn  and  Clark. 

Steam's  Building,  Washington,  between  LaSalle  and  Fifth  ave. 

Steel's  Block,  corner  LaSalle  and  South  Water. 

Stone's  Building,  Madison,  between  Clark  and  LaSalle. 

Taylor's  Block,  corner  Franklin  and  South  Water. 

Tribune  Building,  corner  Dearborn  and  Madison. 

Turner's  Building,  corner  North  State  and  Kinzie. 

Tyler  Block,  LaSalle.  between  Lake  and  South  Wat«r. 

UhUch  BlocW,  North  Clark,  between  Kinzie  and  Water. 

Union  Building,  corner  LaSalle  and  Washington. 

Volk's  Building,  197  Washingtcm. 

Walker's  Block,  Dearborn,  between  Lake  and  Randolph. 

Warner's  Block,  123  and  125  Randolph. 

Washington  Block,  Clark,  between  Washington  and  Madison. 

Wheeler's  Block,  corner  Clark  and  South  Water. 

Wicker's  Building,  corner  State  and  South  Water. 

Wright  Brother's  Building,  corner  North  State  and  Kinzie. 

Five  Public  Schools. 

HOTELS. 

Palmer  House.  Everett   House. 

Sherman  House.  Metropolitan  Hou.se. 

Tremont  House.  Central  House. 

Pacific  Howard  House. 

Adams  House.  *    City  Hotel. 

Briggs  House.  Clifton  House. 

Mattison  House.  Clarendon  House. 

Revere  House.  Orient  House  Bigelow  House.' 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  47 

CHURCkES. 

Episcopal 3     New  England 1 

Presbyterian 5     Congregational 1 ' 

Methodist 5     Catholic .' 5 

Unitarian 2     Jewish 3 

Swedenborgian f 2     Lutheran 2 

Besides  many  other  places  of  worship,  fully  seventy  being  destroyed. 

THEATRES. 
Crosby's  Opera  House.'  King's  Opera  House. 

McVicker'b.  Olympic. 

Hooley's.  German. 

Dearborn.  Turner  Hall. 

Wood's  Museum. 
The  following  buildings  escaped : 

BLOCKS  AND  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS. 

Barnaeur  building,  corner  of  West  Lake  and  Clinton  streets. 
Cole's  building,  corner  West  Madison  and  Halstead  streets. 
Edward's  Block,  Milwaukee  avenue,  between  Noble  and  Cleaver  streets. 
High  School,  West  Monroe  street,  between  Desplaines  and  Halstead  streets. 
Rice  &  Jackson  Block,  West  Randolph  street,  between  Jefferson  and  Desplaines 
streets. 

Sherman's  Block,  Wabash  avenue,  between  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth  streets. 

SAVINGS   BANKS.. 
Prairie  State  Loan  and  Trust  Company,  No.  95  West  Randolph  street. 
Savings  Bank  of  the  Mechanics'  Association,  No.  164  Twenty-second  street. 

RAILWAY  STATIONS. 

Pittsburgh,  Fort  Wayne  &  Chicago,  corner  Canal  and  Madison  streets. 
Pittsburg,  Cincinnati  &  St.  Louis,  corner  Canal  and  Kenzie  streets. 
Chicago,  Alton  &  St.  Louis,  corner  Canal  and  Madison  streets. 
Chicago  &  North-western  (Wisconsin  and  Milwaukee  division)  corner  West  Wa- 
ter and  Kenzie  streets. 

Chicago,  Dansville  and  Vincennes,  corner  Canal  and  Kenzie  streets. 

BANKS. 

Chicagb  Clearing  House  Association,  82  Dearborn  street. 

City  National  Bank,  156  Washington  street. 

Commercial  National  Bank,  55  Dearborn  street. 

Commercial  Loan  Company,  44  North  Clark  street. 

Cook  County  National  I3ank,  Honore  Block,  corner  Dearborn  and  Monroe  streets 

Corn  Exchange  National  Bank,  room  2  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Fifth  National  Bank,  north-east  corner  Clark  and  Dearborn  streets. 

First  National  Bank,  south-west  corner  State  and  Washington  streets. 

Fourth  National  Bank,  south-east  corner  Dearborn  and  Washington  streets. 

Germania  Bank,  40  South  Clark  street. 

Hibernian  Banking  Association,  south-west  corner  Clark  and  Lake  streets. 

Illinois  Mutual  Trust  Company,  147  and  149  Randolph  street. 

Manufacturers'  National  Bank,  north-west  corner  Dearborn  and  Washiogtou 
streets. 

Marine  Company  of  Chicago,  156  Lake,  north-east  corner  LaSalle  street. 

Mechanics'  National  Bank,  154  Lake  street. 

Merchants'  National  Bank,  108  LaSalle  street. 

National  Bank  of  Commerce,  87  Dearborn  street. 

National  Bank  of  Ilhnois,  95  Washington  street. 

North- ?Vestern  National  Bank,  1  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Prairie  State  Loan  and  Trust  Company,  north-west  corner  Randolph  and  Jeffer- 
son streets. 

Real  Estate  Loan  and  Trust  Company.  105  and  107  Monroe  street,  Lombard 
Block. 

Second  National  Bank,  north-west  corner  Lake  and  Clark  streets. 

Traders'  National  Bank,  44  Clark  street. 


48  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Third  National  Bank,  corner  Randolph  and  Dearborn  streets. 

Union  Insurance  and  Trust  Company,  No  133  Dearborn  street. 

Union  National  Bank,  soitth-west  corner  LaSalle  and  Washington  streets. 
■  Union  Stock  Yards  National  Bank.  Union  Stock  Yards. 

J.  R.  Valentine  &  Co, 

SAVINGS'  BANKS. 

Chicago  Savings  Institution  and  Trust  Campany,  basement  south-west  corner  State 
and  WasBington  streets. 

Com.  Loan  Company.  No.  60 North  Claik  street. 

Fourth  National  Bank,  south-east  coi'ner  Washington  and  Dearborn  streets. 

German  Savings  Bank,  Nos.  34  and  36  LaSalle  street. 

Hibernian  Bank  Association  Savings  Bank,  south-west  corner  Clark  and  Lake 
streets. 

International  Mutual  Trust  Company,  No.  135  LaSalle  street. 

Marine  Company  of  Chicago,  No  156  Lake  street. 

Merchants',  Farmers'  and  Mechanics'  Savings  Bank,  No.  13  Clark  street. 

Merchants'  Saving  Loan  and  Trust  Company,  south-west  corner  Lake  and  Dear- 
born streets. 

National  Loan  ind  Trust  Company,  92  LaSalle  street. 

Prairie  State  Loan  and  Trust  Company,  95  West  Randolph  street. 

Real  Estate,  Loan  and  Trust  Company,  next  west  of  the  Post  Office. 

Savings  Bank  of  the  Mechanics  Asssociation,  164  Twenty-second  street. 

State  Savings'  Institution,  82  and  84  LaSalle  street. 

Union  Insurance  and  Trust  Company,  133  Dearborn  street ;  Branch  at  316  Mil- 
waukee street, 

RAILWAY  STATIONS. 

Michigan  Central  and  Great  Western  of  Canada,  Union  Depot,  foot  of  Lake  street. 

Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern,  Van  Buren  street,  head  of  LaSalle. 

Illinois  Central,  foot  of  Lake  street. 

Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy,  foot  of  Lake  street. 

Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific,  corner  Van  Buren  and  Sherman  streets,  head  of 
LaSalle. 

Chicago  &  North-western  (Galena  division)  corner  of  North  Water  and  Wells 
streets.  North  Side. 

The  fdllowing  Elevators  were  burned:  Munger  &  Armour's,  Galena,  Illinois 
Central  A.,  Hiram  Wheeler's,  National,  Vincent  Nelson  &  Co.'s,  The  following  Eleva- 
tors were  reported  safe :  Illinois  Central  B,,  Flint  &  Thompson,  two  of  Munn  & 
Scott,  two  of  Armour,  Dale  &  Co.,  Burlington,  and  Old  Iowa  and  Illinois  River.  The 
total  amount  of  grain  remaining  in  the  Elevators  is  5,000,000  bushels.  It  is  estimated 
that  the  loss  in  grain  will  amount  to  nearly  2,000,000  of  bushels.  • 

Between  eighty  and  ninety  printing  offices  were  destroyed,  including  lithography 
and  stereotyping  establishments. 

Fkiday — and  the  work  of  building  up  Chicago  is  proceeded  with  ;  various  sections 
of  the  burned  district  are  dotted  with  wooden  structures  ;  men  are  busily  clearing 
away  bricks,  opening  safes,  making  contracts,  organizing  their  affairs.  Foolish  ru- 
mors were  abroad  that  the  millionaire  of  last  week.  Potter  Palmer,  had  committed  sui- 
cide. Wise  men  shook  their  heads  and  said,  "  He's  not  the  man  to  go  into  that  busi- 
ness— his  splendid  hotels  and  stores  may  have  been  flattened  to  the  ground,  but  he  has 
been  through  too  much  and  learned  too  much  to  be  afraid  of  the  world  ;  he  has  more 
blood,  and  will  yat  get  full  value  for  all  he  has  lost."  This  was  the  universal  verdict 
in  favor  of  the  moral  probity  of  a  man  who  has  done  more  for  Chicago  than  any  single 
individual  in  it  during  the  past  few  years.  It  was  talked  of,  too,  that  a  few  of  the  fire- 
men gloated  over  his  hotel  being  destroyed,  owing  to  Mr.  Palmer  having  advised  econ- 
omy in  the  Fire  Department,  but  we  received  no  authentic  evidence  of  such  unmanly 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO.  49* 

conduct.     If  Potter  Palmer  possesses  the  same   nerve  he  did  but  ten  years  ago,  he  can- 
not be  a  ruined  man.     A  story   is  also  circulating  that  Gen.   Sheridan,  hearing  that  a 
certain  hotel  keeper  on  the   South-east  Side   was  extortionate  in  his  prices,   disguised 
himself  and  visited  the  individual,  asking  him  what  he  "  charged  by  the  day  1" 
"  Ten  dollars,"  was  the  response. 
"  Could  you  not  run  it  at  $2.60  1" 
"  No,  we  charge  ten  dollars  per  day^"  w'as  the  reply. 

"  Welli"  answered  Sheridan,  "  if  yon  do  not  take   your  sign  down  and  replace  the- 
$10  with  |2.50,  toe  will  run  it  for  you  ! 

Whatever  followed  few  knew,  but  |2.50  per  day  was  the  charge  from  that  hour. 
A  further  rumor  that  Mr,  Ullhman,  of  the  firm  of  Wren,  Ullhman  &  Co.,  bankers, 
who  was  found  dead  near  his  place  of  business  on  the  night  of  the  fire,  had  been  mur- 
dered, and  not  burned  to  death  as  was  supposed  ;  this  story  was  fully  credited  by  good 
authorities.  Various  cases  of  shooting,  hanging,  killing  had  occurred  during  the  week, 
but  excited  leas  attention  than  a  runaway  team  on  an  ordinary  occasion ;  some  who  were 
special  pohcemen  took  advantage  of  their  position,  and  used  force  where  gentle  words 
would  have  answered.  Allan  Pinkerton  had  issued  notices  that  anyone  discovered 
stealing  would  be  put  to  death,  and  as  Gen.  Sheridan  behaved  most  humanely,  at  the 
same  time  enforcing  strict  discipline,  there  were  fewer  cases  of  crime  than  might  have 
been  reasonably  anticipated.  Some  who  were  given  water  by  those  in  a  position  to 
bestow,  sold  it  at  good  prices  until  they  were  discovered. 

The  German  population  were  really  in  great  distress,  and  as  they  had  ever  been  a 
liberal-minded,  industrious  and  peaceable  class,  it  was  hoped  that  a  fund  would  be  pro- 
vided for  them  ;  large  numbers  of  these  living  in  the  North  Division  were  totally  ruined. 
The  Oddfellows,  Masons  and  members  of  other  societies  are  issuing  circulars  to  their 
distant  brethren,  calling  for  aid.  A  meeting  of  the  Louisville,  Cincinnati,  Indianapolis 
and  St.  Louis  relief  committees  took  place,  at  which  representatives  from  other  cities 
were  present.  They  unanimously  resolved  upon  definite  arrangements,  so  that  sub- 
scriber and  receiver  might  be  protected  ;  this  was  to  see  that  the  contributions  here- 
after shouldfbe  properly  disposed  of.  To  meet  this  view  a  thorough  organization  was 
effected,  consisting  of  the  Chicago  Relief  and  Aid  Society,  assisted  by  prominent  citi- 
zens. All  bills  were  to  be  audited  by  the  Executive  Committee  of  that  Society,  consist- 
ing of  seven  well-known  citizens,  the  Controller  and  R.  B.  Mason,  Mayor. 
This  organization  made  the  following  suggestions  to  people  : 

"  So  far  as  practicable,  we  suggest  that  money  be  remitted,  as  with  that  we  can 
buy  articles,  which  from  time  to  time  we  most  need.  All  funds  collected  elsewhere 
should  be  remitted  direct  to,  or  held  subject  to  the  order  of  "  The  Chicago  Rehef  and 
Aid  Society."  Funds  already  deposited  in  other  cities  will  be  drawn  upon  by  orders  or 
drafts  of  '  The  Cliicago  Relief  and  Aid  Society,'  signed  by  R.  B.  Mason.  All  materials 
should  be  consigned  to  '  The  Chicago  Relief  and  Aid  Society,'  at  Chicago,  great  care 
being  taken  to  mark  contents  on  packages,  and  to  send  invoices  promptly  by  mail. 
Send  cooked  or  perishable  food  only  upon  sjiecial  order  from  our  Society. 

R.  B.  Mason,  Mayor. 

Henry  W.  King,  President  of  the  Chicago  Relief  and  Aid  Society. 

Wirt  Dexter,  Chairman  Executive  Committee." 

Allan  Pinkerton's  circular  occasions  considerable  interest:  — 

Office  of  Pinkerton's  Police. 
Orders  are  hereby  given  to  Captains,  Lieutenants,  Sergeants,  and  men  of  Pinker- 
ton's preventive  police,  that  they  are  in  charge  of  the  burning  district,  in  the  South  Divi- 


M  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

quarter.  But  Chicago  was  built  of  brick  and  stoue. 
Yet,  once  started,  the  flames  lapped  up  even  the  build- 
ings deemed  absolutely  fire-proof.  Chicago  had  grand 
waterworks,  and  an  abundant  supply  of  water;  she  had 
the  best  modern  appliances  for  fighting  fire  with  water 
and  steam.  But  when  the  fiend  got  way,  and  his  rage 
was  fanned  by  the  fierce  gale,  he  mocked  all  the  futile 
attempts  of  man  to  stay  his  course.  He  laid  Chicago — 
fresh,  grand,  beautiful  Chicago — all  in  ruins  ! 

What  can  we  say  more?  We  do  not  yet  know  the 
worst.  But  we  know  that  already  an  area  oi  jive  square 
miles  is  covered  with  blackened  walls — and  the  flames 
are  unqueuched !  We  know  that  the  Court  House — 
twenty  years  in  building,  half  the  life-time  of  the  city — 
was  swept  away  in  thirty  minutes ;  that  the  Sherman 
House,  and  the  new  Pacific  Hotel,  the  largest  in  the 
world,  have  perished;  that  those  monster  railroad 
depots,  and  those  grain  elevators,  which  Chicago  invented, 
and  which  were  just  then  filled  to  repletion  with  six  mil- 
lion bushels  of  wheat  and  corn,  are  all  destroyed;  that 
no  newspaper  will  this  (Tuesday)  morning  show  Chica- 
go's houseless  wanderers  the  callous  figures  that  indi- 
cate its  loss,  for  their  type  is  all  melted  by  the  flames; 
that  by  the  destruction  of  its  telegraph  stations  the 
doomed  city  has  once  again  been  cut  off"  from  communi- 
cation with  the  sympathizing  world ;  that  the  gasworks 
and  waterworks  are  gone,  and  that  when  the  flames  are 
extinguished  the  city  will  be  in  darkness,  and  its  chil- 
dren will  sufler  for  water ;  that,  in  short,  the  entire  busi- 
ness part  of  the  city  and  miles  in  extent  of  its  residences 
are  in  ashes.  The  great  fire  in  Kew  York  in  1835  de- 
stroyed 648  houses.  This  has  leveled  12,000.  The  great 
fire  in  London  in  1666  ravaged  436  acres.  This  covers 
over  three  thousand  acres  with  ruins.  That  fire — which, 
like  this,  burned  from  a  fatal  Sunday  through  three  days, 
consumed  the  infection  of  the  plague,  and  in  time  re- 
placed the  narrow  lanes  and  the  wooden  structures  with 


Food  for  Chicago.  %t 

«olid  masonry  and  with  broad  streets — destroyed  by  a 
liberal  computation  fifty  million  dollars  of  wealth.  A 
lik6  computation  will  count  the  losses  of  Chicago  by 
hundreds  of  millions,  and  will,  for  a  season,  cripple  the 
<;ommerce  of  the  continent ;  but  no  such  incidental,  last* 
ing  gain  will  follow  from  the  destruction  of  a  new  city, 
that  had  been  built  with  no  stint  of  money  and  skill. 

Last  week  a  public  spirited  citizen  of  Cincinnati  pre- 
sented to  that  city  the  most  beautiful  and  costly  fountain 
■ever  yet  set  up  in  any  plaza  in  the  world.  All  day, 
throughout  all  time,  was  it  stipulated,  that  its  sprays  and 
Jets  of  water  should  spirt  and  flirt  their  fairy  foam  to 
delight  the  children  and  nursery-maids  that  shall  play 
about  it  for  generations  after  Mr.  Probasco  is  dead.  It 
is  a  purely  modern  device,  with  not  a  suggestion  of  Am- 
phitrite,  nor  of  her  nymphs  and  dolphins,  and  yet  in 
severely  classic  taste.  Above  its  polished  granite  col- 
umns, its  basins  and  its  statuary,  rises  a  majestic  figure 
of  the  Genius  of  "Water,  distributing  her  flowing  treas- 
ures for  the  myriad  comforts  and  needs  of  man.  There 
is  nothing  more  striking  among  the  bronze  groups  below 
her  than  the  colossal  figure  of  a  man,  driven  to  the  roof 
of  his  burning  house,  holding  an  empty  bucket,  and  sup- 
plicating the  Genius  above  for  the  saving  element.  How 
«oon  we  have  its  counterpart !  The  Mayor  of  Chicago 
telegraphs  to  Milwaukee,  to  Cincinnati,  for  aid  to  quench 
the  devouring  flames  :  "  Send  us  all  the  steamers  you 
can  spare ! "  And  when  the  mad  fire  has  disabled  those 
monster  engines  that  supply  the  city  with  water,  hear 
the  despairing  note  which  sounds  across  the  prairies  and 
passes  down  the  Mississippi  to  her  old  rival,  St.  Louis : 
*' The  city  is  burned  up;  the  waterworks  are  gone;  send 
us  food  for  a  hundred  thousand  homeless  people!  " 

Food  for  Chicago  1  Food  for  the  granary  of  the  West ! 
This  is  the  cry  to-day.  And  for  weeks  to  coijie  there 
will  be  a  call  for  all  the  aid  that  the  benevolent  can  sup- 
ply.   Let  the  President  unrebuked  assume  war  powers 


52  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Sunday — The  day  of  rest  from  labor !  On  this  evening  a  meeting  of  the  officers 
of  the  National  Banks  of  Chicago  tool?  place,  in  order  that  a  conference  luighi  be  held  to 
confer  with  Mr.  Hulbu -d,  Controller  of  Currency.  The  Chair  was  occupied  by  J.  Irv- 
ing Pearce,  President  of  the  Third  National  Bank.  Henry  Greenbaum,  of  ihe  German 
National  Bank,  Secretarj'.  A  lengthy  discussion,  touching  the  condition  of  the  Chicago 
banks  as  atfajted  by  the  Are,  was  the  result.  It  was  ascertained  upon  ci;mpaiison  of 
liabilities  and  resources,  that  all  the  bunks  were  perfectly  solvent,  and  should  resume 
pusiness  at  once.  The  only  delay  asked  by  any  of  the  banks  was  for  sufficient  time  to 
convey  their  safes  from  the  ruins  to  new  place.-s  of  business,  and  to  arrange  tliei:-  books 
and  office  furniture.  A  resolution,  heretofore  passed,  to  pay  fifteen  per  cent.  ca.sh  im- 
mediately, was  unanimously  rescinded,  and  a  resolution  adopted  to  open  for  regular 
transaction  of  business  at  10  a.  m.  on  the  17th  inst. 

The  following  was  issued: 

To  ilif  Public : 

Having  ascertained  from  personal  investigation,  that  the  National  Banks  of  Chicago 
are  solvent,  institutions,  and  that,  notwithstanding  the  late  fire,  they  are  ■■■he  and  ie:idy 
to  paj^  all  Just  clnims  on  presentttion.  I  hereby  announce  that  the  Nati<  nal  Banks  of 
Chicago  will  open  their  doors  for  the  transaction  of  business,  as  usual  on  Tuesday 
the  17th  insL,  at  10  a.  m.,  and  I  hereby  express  my  belief  in  their  ability  to  meet  all 
their  legitimate  ensagements  on  demand. 

(Signed)  H.  R.  HURLBURD,  Controller  of  Currency.     ' 

Many  of  the  edifices  remaining  intact  were  converted  into  Houses  of  Refuge. 

There  were  a  few  churches  left,  but  these  clergymen — of  all  denominations — whose 

sacred  temples  had  been  destroyed,  preached  in  the  open  air  to  those  who  had  been 

"  thr(jugh  the  fire."     The  occasion  was  solemn  and  impressive.     Tears  fell  from  eyes 

unused  to  weeping,  and  their  Creator  lookeddown  on — and  let  us  hope  piiipd — those 

brought  to  his  foot-stool  and  subdued  by  adversity.     At  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  New 

Tork,  the  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Starrs,  Vicar  General,  read  the  following  circtilar: 

To  the  Rfverend  Pastors  of  Catholic  Churches  in  this  City  : 

Kii  -  The  cry  for  help  which  conies  to  us  in  such  piercing  tones  from  the  thousands  of 
•our  fellow  beings  in  Chicago,  se  ited  amid  the  ashes  of  their  doolaied  city,  without 
food  or  shelter,  appeals  so  forcilily  to  every  human  heart,  that  there  is  not  one.  I  am 
sure,  having  it  in  his  power  to  give  relief,  be  it  much  or  be  it  litt'e,  that  will  not 
promptly  do  so  with  williiisness  and  generous  hand.  In  order  that  the  greater  facili- 
ties may  be  oflered  to  all  the  members  of  our  flock  for  the  expression  of  a  i>reat  act  of 
Christian  Charity,  I  herebj'  recommend  that  a  collection  be  u  ade  in  all  the  churches 
of  the  city  on  the  Suuday  after  next,  22d.  inst .  due  announcement  to  be  mada  on  next 
Sunday.  The  sums  collected  should  be  sent  immediately  to  the  Chancery  office, 
that  they  may  be  remitted  without  delay  to  succor  the  distressed. 

tJOHN,  Archbishop  ot  New  York, 
Given  at  New  York,  this  10th  day  of  October,  1871. 

In  New  York  and  Brooklyn  the  Reverends  Dr.  Ewer,  Dr.  Richardson,  Dr.  Thomp- 
son, Dr.  Chapin,  Hepworth,  Dr.  Bellowes,  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Dr.  Houghton,  Tal- 
mage,  Dr.  Dimcan  and  others,  sj)oke  eloquently.  In  fact,  thi  oughcut  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land,  voices  were  raised  and  fervent  praj'ers  offered  up,  .and  the  great 
principle  vindicated,  that  nations — as  well  as  individuals — must  ever  !eTinit  together  in 
one  common,  but  God-like  bond  of  brotherhood. 

Throughout  the  continent  the  churches  were  doing  their  fart,  thousands  of  dol- 
lars being  subscribed,  and_it  was   found  that   New  York,  in  cash  and  suppfies,  had 


GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHrCAGO.  53 

already  raised  over  $2  000,000.  Detroit  also  had  raised  between  $30,000  and  $10,000, 
and  Mr.  G.  F.  Bagley,  in  response  to  a  re(iuest,  replied  that  he  would,  as  ch  liinian  of 
the  committee,  forward  $10,00:)  worth  of  limber  at  once,  this  beinjT  mucli  needed. 
Major  D.  C.  Houston  of  the  Eng'neer  Corps,  U.  S  ,  wrote  some  ailrairable  sugge-itions 
on  the  reconstruction  of  Chicago — a  few  extracts  being  interesting:  — 

"  Where  the  whole  c;ty  to  l)e  laid  out  anew  the  natural  features  of  the  founiry  and 
the  railroad  communicntions  «ould  point  to  the  south  side  as  the  centre.  T.ie  business 
operations  will  commence  here  and  radi  ite  as  heretofore  to  the  southwest  an  I  no;ih, 
but  more  to  the  south,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  communication  is  inte-iupied  by 
natural  obstacles.  Into  th  s  centre  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people  will  pour  daily, 
coming  from  the  residence  portion  of  the  city,  the  suburbs  and  the  who'e  country. 
*  *  *  *  *  Two  or  three  hours  of  tlie  day  a:e  consumed  in  tmveliiig 
to  and  fro,  and  owing  to  the  crowds  in  the  streets,  the  contracted  maikes,  an  1  ijlaces 
of  exchange,  the  time  required  to  transact  business  is  doubled  and  trebl(-d.  Now  the 
points  which  seem  to  me  to  be  considered  at  this  time  and  be  fully  provi'led  tor  are, 
first,  the  hiying  out  of  certain  lines  for  steam  communication  from  the  centre  of  busi- 
ness to  the  subutbs,  to  be  so  arranged  as  not  to  ob.struct  the  street  travr]  or  be  inter- 
rupted by  it.  *  *  *  *  *  Second,  the  arrangement  of  commodious 
and  central  depots  for  the  great  lines  of  railroads  centerring  in  the  city.  Third,  a 
commodious  levee  ah>ng  the  river  for  public  docks,  a  grand  market  and  a  grand  ])laza 
where  all  can  go  without  paying  tribute.  *****  Foui  ih  the 
great  leading  lines  of  business  should  be  consolidated  or  concentiated  on  <ertain 
streets  runnsng  north  and  >outh.  There  should  be  a  financial  centie,  adiygoods 
centre,  a  hardware  centre,  &c.  Fifth,  an  open  square  for  public  meet'ngs  and  out- 
door business;  The  Couit  House  Square  suggests  itself  at  once.  Let  the  Cou' t  House 
go  further  south,  and  leave  the  present  square  open.  Let  it  be  surrounded  by  banks, 
brokers'  offices,  &c.   and  there  will  be  room  for  everybody." 

Every  reader  as  a  general  thing  has  seen  some  map  of  what  purported  to  be  an 
exact  and  reliable  description  of  the  burned  district ;  some  of  these  were  good,  otheis 
vile  and  entiiely  inaccurate  ;  they  either  destroyed  the  entire  city  or  not  enough  of  it, 
slashing  a  streak  of  ruin  where  no  ruin  existed,  and  designating  pottions  saved  which 
Bmouldeied  in  ashes.  Chicago,  however,  is  so  well  known,  its  topogi aphy  havig  been 
carefully  studied  for  yeais  past  by  business  men,  that  it  is  unnecessaiy  to  enter  upon  a 
lengthy  description  of  the  favored  Prairie  City  of  the  West — which  occupies  a  level 
plain,  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  at  that  point,  running  nearly  noith  and  south. 
From  the  north-west  and  south-west,  and  becomiiig  nearly  parallel  to  the  lake  slioie, 
the  north  branch  and  the  south  branch  of  the  Chicago  River  come  at  right  angles  to  a 
junction,  forming  the  main  channel,  three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  shoe,  thence 
flowi?  y  east  to  the  lake.  By  this  impediment,  the  city  is  divided  into  three  sections, 
popularly  known  as  the  North  Division,  the  South  Division  and  the  Wf-st  Division. 
Edwards  in  his  compilation  states  the  popu'ation  to  be:  North  Division  75,000,  West 
Division  125,000,  South  Division  100,000,  making  up  the  total  of  300,000.  Settlement 
began  about  old  Fort  Dearl)orn,  on  the  lake  shore,  one  of  the  log  structures  of  which 
passed  away  in  the  great  conflagration.     Business  gradually  moved  westward  toward 


54  HISTORY  OF  THE  GREAT  FIRE  IN  CHICAGO. 

the  fork  of  the  river,  outside  the  Government  reservation  bounded  by  State  streen. 
The  North  Side  had,  in  1J^36,  its  early  stage  of  ambition  -which  had  left  the  Lake  House 
and  a  few  old-lime  biick  structures,  of  a  pretentious  class  in  their  day,  along  North 
"Water  and  Kinzie  streets,  parallel  to  the  river.  Twenty-five  years  ago,  however,  the 
question  was  settled  for  all  time,  originally  by  common  consent,  but  since  solidly  con- 
firmed by  the  location  of  the  railway  termini,  that  the  region  from  the  river  southward 
along  the  lake  shore,  constituting  the  up,  er'portion  of  the  South  Division,  should  be  the 
business  heart  of  Chicago,  its  southern  line  moving  southward  with  the  progress  of  im- 
provements. 

And  now  we  close  this  hurriedly  written  j^sketch  of  a  great  National  calamity. 
'Shall  theke  ee  a  new  ChicaooI"  Men  aheady  ask  this  significant  question;  we 
believe  there  will  be  a  new  Chicago-  new.  so  far  as  ststely  edifices,  carefully  planned 
residences,  massive  warehouses — erected  upon  siies  now  vast  wildernesses  of  ashes — 
can  make  it  new;  but  the  men  of  to-day  will  be  at  the  helm,  and  the  beautiful  Garden 
City  will  bloom  with  verdure  for  them  during  their  prime  aid  advancing  age  ;  they 
will  look  back  with  pride  and  say  to  those  springing  up — "This  was  once  a  ruin — naen 
scoffed  at  us  for  hoping  to  see  old  landmarks  of  business  and  enterprise  replaced,  but 
we  accomplished  the  work,  we  fu'filled  our  mission,  and  we  thank  our  God."  To-day 
the  ashes  may  sweep  over  desolated  distr'c's,  but  the  lake  is  rot  dry,  the  Railway  lines 
are  not  as  things  of  the  past ;  the  great  Northwest  is  a  friend  and  patron.  Commerce 
acknowledges  her  sway,  and  this  hour  Chicago's  credit  and  honor  are  unimpeachable. 
The  men  who  built  Chicago  will  buiid  it  again;  but  the  city  will  be  more  carefully 
planned.  When  Haussman  reconstrucled  Paris,  he  desiroyed  property  of  immense 
value;  but  now  Chicago  stands  as  a  virgin  soil  ready  for  Ihe  designer,  the  architect  and 
the  builder.  Let  commissioners — not  the  old  foay  description  of  commissioners, 
drawing  p?iy  and  doing  nothing — be*  appointed,  let  competent  men  be  entrusted  with 
the  work,  and  ere  the  tenth  annual  anniver.sary  of  the  awfu'  fire  rolls  around,  Chicago 
will  indeed  prove  to  all  nations  that  their  sympathies  were  deserved,  their  beneficence 
wisely  bestowed.  The  hearts,  the  will,  the  enegie.^are  there,  and  New  Chicago  shall  be 
again  built  r,p  by  those  who  planted  her  flvsfe  great  commercial  corner  stone,  in  reality 
not  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  centuiy  ago;  they  will  have  learned  a  lesson,  and  hand 
that  lesson  down  to  their  children— a  bitter  lesson  thoush  it  be;  they  will  emerge  from 
the  ordeal  purified,  and  with  marilj'  zeal,  endeavor  to  accomplish  the  labor  before 
them;  the  sons  of  these  men,  too,  will  work;  they  will  forget  the  club  and  gambling 
rooms,  and  haunt  the  busy  marts  of  commerce  and  the  counting-house;  the  pampered' 
petted — yet  tender  and  lovine — daughters  of  the  stricken,  will  forsake  the  fashionable 
milliner  and  the  fascinating  watering  place — one  and  all  joining  in  the  great  struggle 
which  assuredly  precedes  success — and  one  ami  all  remembering  that,  notwithstajnding 
worldly  prosperity  and  goodly  possessions,  the  words  of  the  poet  will  stand  i  ue  to 
the  end: — 

"  'Tis  only  noble  to  be  good ; 

Kind  hearts  are  more  than  coronets, 

And  simple  faith  than  Norman  blood." 


THE 


GEEAT  FIRE  OF  CHlCx\GO. 


A  FULL  ACCOU]^T 


OF 


ITS    ORIGIN   AND    PKOGRESS 


AS 


SEEiT    BY   EYE   WITNESSES, 


AND    COMPILED 


FROM   AUTHENTIC   REPOETS. 


THE  CITY  BEFORE  AND  AFTER  THE  FIRE. 


TELEGRAPHIC    DISPATCHES — HANGING    OF     INCENDIARIES — CRU- 
CIFIXION   OF    ONE     OF    THE    WRETCHES — THRILLING   INCI- 
•    DENTS    AND    HEART-RENDING   SCENES.       TO    WHICH 
18    ADDED    ACCOUNTS    OP    THE    FIRES     IN 
MICHIGAN    AND    MINNESOTA. 


INDIANAPOLIS : 
J.  G.  DOUGHTY,  PRINTER,  2d  FLOOR,  TILPORD'S  BUILDINa, 

1871. 


't  chJKS^53 


THE  GREAT  FIRE  OF  CHICAGO. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Chicago  Before  and  After  the  Fire — The  Unestimated  Dead — 
Hanging  -and  Crucifixion  of  Incendiaries — Scenes  at  the 
Improvised  Morgue. 

In  view  of  the  great  calamity  that  has  befallen  our 
sister  city  of  Chicago,  how  insignificant  and  trivial  seem 
all  our  petty  ills  and  afflictions — they  pale  their  ineffec- 
tual fires  in  the  presence  of  a  great  conflagration  by 
which  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  souls  have  been  ren*- 
dered  homeless,  and  a  great  metropolitan  city,  the  pride 
of  the  ITorthwest,  reduced  almost  to  ashes  in  two  or  three 
scores  of  hours.  In  order  to  fully  comprehend  the  loss 
it  will  be  necessary  to  resort  to  the  history  of  the  city  of 
Chicago,  which  so  suddenly  rose  to  grandeur  and  great- 
ness, until  it  rivaled  far  older  cities  and  was  looked  up 
to  as  a  marvel  of  enterprise,  and  in  many  respects  the 
wonder  of  the  world.  There  was  probably  no  greater 
grain  market  ever  known — certainly  none  that  ever  com- 
manded more  attention  throughout  this  and  other  civil- 
ized countries.  The  citizens  of  Chicago  were  always 
noted  for  their  enterprise  and  energy — insomuch,  indeed, 
was  this  the  case  that  many  supposed  Chicago's  growth 
was  of  that  mushroom  character  that  would  not  stand 
the  test  of  time,  but  was  of  an  evanescent  and  transitory' 
quality.  The  reverse  of  this  was  proven  before  the  fire 
fiend  laid  its  beautiful  temples  in  ruins,  and  scattered  the 


4  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

ashes  of  the  once  palatial  edifices  of  its  merchant  princes 
to  the  four  winds  of  heaven.  In  no  city  of  the  Union 
were  as  substantial  buildings  erected  with  greater  celer- 
ity, and  no  city  outside  of  the  great  metropolis  could 
boast  of  a  greater  number  of  magnificent  and  costly  piles 
of  architectural  beauty  and  finish.  Chicago  was  indeed 
going  on  prospering  and  to  prosper,  when  this  great  fire 
— like  a  besom  of  destruction — swept  over  the  plain  and 
left  ruin  and  desolation  in  its  wake. 

The  question  of  the  recovery  of  Chicago  is  no  uncer- 
am  problem.  It  is  only  one  of  time,  and  very  little 
time  at  that.  Those  who  are  willing  to  help  themselves 
will  always  be  helped.  Chicago's  set  back  is  only  one 
of  days — certainly  not  of  years.  It  will  only  be  a  little 
time  and  she  will  again  blossom  as  the  rose.  She  is 
endeavoring  to  help  herself,  and  her  sister  cities  are  com- 
ing up  nobly  to  her  relief.  Not  only  this,  but  way  across 
the  ocean  they  have  heard  the  cry  of  distress,  and  the 
great  cities  of  Europe  give  of  their  plenty  in  this  the 
great  time  of  her  need.  All  jealousy  is  cast  aside,  and 
those  who  looked  upon  Chicago  as  a  possible  rival  are 
now  the  first  to  extend  to  her  the  helping  hand. 

It  is  as  yet  uncertain  how  many  lives  were  destroyed 
in  this  great  calamity.  The  true  number  will  perhaps 
sever  be  known.  It  can  only  be  guessed  at  by  the 
remains  recovered  that  bear  the  least  resemblance  to 
humanity.  Some  eighty  odd  were  displayed  at  the 
Morgue  the  following  Thursday,  and  it  is  probable  that 
the  half  was  not  told. 

The  heart  of  man  would  hardly  conceive  that  amid 
such  general  devastation  and  ruin  there  would  be  those 
who  could  wilfully  add  by  dastardly  acts  to  the  univer- 
sal woe;  yet  such  was  known  to  be  the  case.  Fiends 
in  the  shape  of  men  were  discovered  setting  fire  to  build- 
ings and  thus  adding  to  the  flames.  They  were  imme- 
diately hung  when  discovered  by  the  excited  populace, 
or  a  speedy  termination  otherwise  put  to  their  miserable 


Before  and  After  the  Fire.  5 

existence.  One  wretcli,  it  is  stated,  being  caught  in  the 
act  of  firing  a  building,  was  actually  crucified  to  the 
blocks  of  the  wooden  pavement,  by  having  his  hands 
and  feet  pinioned  thereto. 

The  following  is  a  graphic  description  of  the  impro- 
vised Morgue,  by  a  correspondent  of  the  Cincinnati  Com- 
mercial : 

The  sickening  sensation  of  the  day  is  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Morgue  for  the  exhumed  remains  of  the  vic- 
tims of  the  mighty  fire. 

This  shocking  repository  is  the  hearse  and  carriage- 
room  of  a  lower  class  undertaker  on  Hubbard  street, 
near  Halstead,  three  or  four  squares  from  the  freight 
depot  of  the  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  Rail- 
way. It  is  little  better  than  a  barn,  and  yet  is  incorpor- 
ated with  the  dwelling  of  the  proprietor  and  the  stable 
for  his  horses.  The  place  to-day  was  strongly  guarded 
by  armed  policemen,  who  found  it  diflicult  to  keep  oft'  a 
constantly  renewed  crowd  of  people,  with  horror  and 
anxiety  strongly  depicted  in  every  pale  and  pitiful  lace. 

At  the  far  end  of  the  room  was  a  partitioned  space 
lighted  by  dirty  cob  webbed  windows,  and  on  the  floor, 
arranged  in  rows,  first  all  around  three  sides  and  then 
down  the  middle,  were  the  charred  remains  of  seventy 
human  beings. 

The  first  noticeable  object  in  this  dreadful  company 
was  the  form  of  a  Sister  of  some  Roman  Catholic  Order, 
completely  shrouded  in  her  brown  habit,  with  the  cross 
and  I.  H.  S.  in  white  letters  stitched  on  the  bosom.  The 
face  was  thickly  veiled  and  even  the  feet  carefully  cov- 
ered up.  "  She  was  smothered,  but  not  burned,"  observed 
the  grim  master  of  ceremonies. 

The  next  was  the  body  of  a  young  man  partially  clad 
in  common  workingmen's  attire.  The  hair  was  com- 
pletely burned  oft"  his  head  and  body.  The  features 
were  blackened  and  distorted  with  pain;  the  swollen 
lips  were  wide  apart,  disclosing  the  glistening  teeth  and 


6  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

imparting  a  horrid  grin,  such  only  as  agonizing  death 
can  stamp  upon  the  face.  The  flesh  was  bloated  to  an 
astonishing  size.  The  poor  wretch  was  roasted  alive. 
What  is  the  use  now  of  giving  utterance  to  the  passing 
thought  as  these  two  corpses — the  only  two  whose  faces 
could  be  recognized — met  the  gaze?     Let  it  pass. 

There  was  one  charred  form  in  the  attitude  of  prayer 
— the  form  of  a  woman,  but  every  feature  of  the  face, 
every  graceful  line  of  the  body,  was  gone.  The  head 
was  nothing  but  a  black  lump;  the  body  a  blackened, 
hideous  mass. 

Some  bodies  of  men  could  be  distinguished  by  the 
remnants  of  clothing  and  boots,  but  nearly  all  traces  of 
humanity  were  gone.  Then  there  were  remains  of  chil- 
dren and  young  people,  but  they,  with  the  majority, 
were  nothing  more  than  mere  blackened,  charred  torsos. 
Those  whose  limbs  or  arms  remained  exhibited  a  suppli- 
catory attitude  as  if  begging  mercy  of  the  Destroyer. 

To  this  ghastly,  hideous  and  melancholy  spectacle  were 
admitted  in  little  parties  of  four  or  five  at  a  time,  those 
who  had  friends  or  relatives  missing,  but  no  language 
can  describe  the  scenes  of  heart-rending  agony  which 
these  grim  visits  elicited. 

A  family  of  little  ones  led  by  an  elder  sister,  comes, 
and  after  the  first  sickening  shock  tries  to  distinguish 
the  lost  mother.  A  frantic  wife,  attended  by  a  friend, 
comes  in  search  of  her  unreturning  husband.  Brothers 
seek  sisters  lost,  and  sisters  their  brothers  gone,  but  who 
can  tell  in  that  uudistinguishable  charnel  what  home  the 
living  being  made  happy.  All  personal  identification  is 
gone  with  the  obliterating  fire,  and  nothing  is  left  but 
ashes.  But  perhaps  the  bitter  disappointment  at  not 
finding,  or  rather  recognizing  the  lost  one,  is  worse  than 
if  there  and  then  had  ended  the  fearful  search.  Heart- 
bursting  sobs,  hysterical  exclamations  and  unutterable 
wailings  rent  the  air  as  the  disappointed  sad  ones  turned 
away  from  the  sickening  scene. 


Before  and  After  the  Fire.  7, 

But  besides  the  bodies  burned  to  a  crisp,  the  impro- 
vised Morgue  had  other  horrors  to  reveal.  On  the  near 
side  of  the  partitioned  space  lay  half  a  dozen  tenanted 
coffins — paupers'  coflB.ns — of  painted  pine,  with  the  bod- 
ies laid  in  without  any  preparatory  equipment  for  the 
grave,  not  even  the  common  composure  of  the  arms  and 
limbs,  the  closing  of  the  eyes  and  the  washing  of  the 
features. 

In  one  the  visitor  was  shown  the  corpse  of  the  man 
shot  through  the  head  and  hung  to  the  lamp  post — a 
dreadful  warning  to  incendiaries.  In  another  lay  the 
body  of  a  man  with  a  bayonet  stab  through  the  body ; 
by  whom  stabbed  no  one  knew.  In  another  was  squeezed 
the  body  of  a  German  tailor,  well  known  in  the  neig?i- 
borhood,  who  had  lost  his  all  by  the  fire,  and  acting  on 
the  cowardly  principle  sentimentally  inculcated  by  Goethe 
in  The  Sorrows  of  Werther,  committed  suicide  rather 
than  bravely  live  out  his  allotted  time.  He  had  first 
opened  a  vein  in  his  arm  and  then  cut  his  throat  from 
ear  to  ear  with  a  razor.  His  hands,  face  and  clothes 
were  smeared  with  gore,  and  a  more  ghastly  and  sick- 
ening spectacle  than  that  coflSn  presented  could  hardly 
be  found.  There,  shut  it  up  forever  and  shut  out  the 
sight  from  our  eyes — if  we  can,  and  leave  the  horrid 
place,  never,  never  to  return. 

But  where  did  these  sad  remnants  of  mortality  come 
from  ?  "Who  brought  them  and  why  were  they  brought? 
Away  over  there  in  the  burned  district  they  were  gath- 
ered among  the  ruins  and  ashes  of  happy  homes,  and 
hither  brought  for  recognition  and  decent  burial.  And 
over  there  the  fearful  search  is  prosecuted  on  private  and 
public  account  by  squads  of  men  whose  calling  it  is  to 
prepare  corpses  for  the  grave  and  close  it  up  with  burial 
clods. 


The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago, 


CHAPTER  II. 

Origin  of  the  Fire — It  Crosses  the  Biver — A  Bearing,  Ba- 
ging  Hell  of  Fire — The  Burnt  District — J  he  Homeless. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  FIEE. 

On  Saturday  night,  the  7th  of  October,  1871,  a  fire 
hroke  out  in  Chicago,  Illinois,  consuming  four  blocks 
before  it  was  arrested  and  the  flames  subdued.  On  Sun- 
day night,  between  eight  and  nine  o'clock,  the  dread 
alarm  of  fire  was  again  given,  which  may  be  said  to 
have  been  the  real  commencement  of  the  Great  Fire  of 
Chicago,  before  which  most  every  other  fire,  of  which 
the  present  world  knows  aught,  sinks  into  comparative 
insignificance. 

The  following  we  believe  is  conceded  to  be  the  true 
story  of  the  origin  of  the  fire  which  commenced  on  Sun- 
day night : 

About  eight  o'clock  on  Sunday  evening,  a  German  wo- 
man who  resided  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Jefferson  and 
DeKoven  streets,  on  the  "West  Side,"  went  to  the  stable 
in  the  rear  of  her  house  to  milk  a  cow.  It  being  dark 
she  carried  with  her  a  lighted  kerosene  lamp,  which  she 
placed  on  a  stool.  The  cow  became  frightened  at  some- 
thing, and  being  blinded  by  the  light  ran  over  the  stool 
and  broke  the  lamp.  The  fire  at  once  caught  in  straw 
and  hay  in  the  stable,  and  in  five  minutes  the  stable  was 
a  sheet  of  flame.  The  houses  surrounding  the  stable 
were  all  frame,  as  were  nearly  all  between  that  place 
and  the  river  in  the  direction  which  the  flames  went. 
The  alarm  of  fire  was  promptly  given,  but  the  firemen 
being  exhausted  by  their  work  during  the  previous 
night  and  day,  at  the  "  Saturday  Night  Fire,"  did  not 
get  on  the  ground  until  the  flames  had  broken  out  in 
nearly  a  dozen  buildings.  The  wind  was  blowing  al- 
most a  gale  from  the  southwest  directly  toward  the  heart 


Origin  of  the  Fire.  9^ 

of  the  city.  By  the  time  the  engines  were  in  opera- 
tion there  were  three  houses  in  flames  for  every  stream 
of  water  which  could  he  thrown  upon  them.  The  Fire 
Marshal,  finding  that  it  was  heyond  the  power  of 
the  department  to  put  out  the  fire,  and  that  it 
was  going  hefore  the  wind,  but  making  a  wider  track  as 
it  progressed,  placed  several  engines  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  south  branch  of  the  river,  below  Madison  street 
bridge,  to  prevent  the  flames  crossing  by  the  bridges  or 
being  carried  over  by  the  wind,  in  catching  in  the  lum- 
ber yards  on  the  South  Side.  All  their  efibrts,  however, 
went  fori^iaught.  The  wind  drove  the  fire  faster,  as  it 
spread.  The  fire  surrounded  two  of  the  engines,  and 
cut  oft'  their  retreat,  and  the  firemen  only  saved  their 
lives  by  crossing  the  river,  leaving  the  engines  in  opera- 
tion, and  like  faithful  servants,  they  worked  until  they 
were  burned  out.  The  wind  blew  the  cinders  and 
sparks  two  squares,  and  often  more,  consequently  the 
fire  could  cross  the  river  at  any  point. 

Farther  and  farther  the  cinders  blew,  setting  fire  to 
new  blocks,  and  increasing  the  heat  and  fury  of  the 
flames  at  every  fresh  addition.  At  one  o'clock  a.  m.  the 
fire  had  already  swept  over  twenty  blocks,  and  was  in- 
creasing at  every  step,  the  engines,  though  doing  their 
utmost,  appearing  almost  powerless.  The  Fire  Marshal, 
Williams,  telegraphed  to  Milwaukee  for  all  the  steamers 
they  could  spare,  but  it  appeared  as  if  no  power  short 
of  the  Almighty's  could  prevent  the  city  from  total  de- 
struction. The  brands  and  sparks  kept  showering  over 
the  city,  and  additional  alarms  were  constantly  being 
struck.  The  tower  of  the  Court  House  caught,  but  was 
extinguished  by  the  watchman.  At  1 :15  a.  m.  the  fire 
had  traveled  a  mile  and  was  a  half-mile  in  width,  reach- 
ing from  the  river  to  Jeff"erson  street.  Within  this  area 
were  some  of  the  most  extensive  lumber  yards,  and  also 
the   frieght   depots  of  the  Chicago   and   St.  Louis,  and 


10  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

Pittsburgh,  Fort  "Wayne  and  Chicago  Raih^oads,  which 
melted  away  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time. 

IT   CROSSES   THE   RIVER. 

And  now  those  who  had  hopes  that  the  river  would 
stay  the  flames  abandoned  them,  for  brands  flying  fully 
two  hundred  feet  lodged  on  the  east  side  of  the  stream, 
and  set  fire  to  some^wooden  buildings  adjoining  the  gas 
house.  With  fresh  vigor  the  flames  swept  on,  devouring 
everything  in  their  course.  Hopes  of  saving  the  city 
seemed  almost  to  be  given  up.  The  flames  swept 
through  the  wooden  houses  as  though  they  were  of  pa- 
per; v^st  crowds  of  people  surged  through  the  streets 
fleeing  for  safety.  It  was  almost  useless  to  attempt  to 
save  property,  for  so  suddenly  would  the  flames  come 
upon  them,  that  the  inmates  of  dwellings  had  barely 
time  to  save  their  lives. 

The  Gas-works  were  soon  destroyed,  and  still  on 
swept  the  devouring  element, 

A  ROARING,  RAGING    HELL  OF  FIRE, 

Utterly  beyond  the  power  of  pen  to  describe.  It  was 
now  in  the  part  ot  the  city  where  the  most  wealth  and 
finest  buildings  were  located — the  South  Side.  Here 
was  to  be  found  the  heaviest  business  houses,  wholesale 
and  retail,  all  the  banks  and  insurance  offices,  and  all 
the  best  hotels — Lake  street  with  its  heavy  wholesale 
houses,  and  State  street  with  its  equally  large  general 
business  establishments,  while  the  Court  House,  Post 
office,  and  Union  Depot,  went  to  fill  up  the  list  of  costly 
buildings.  In  this  quarter  were  the,  so-called, ^re-proo/ 
buildings.  But  in  such  a  fire  as  was  this,  no  known 
material  could  be  called  fire-proof.  The  heaviest  stone 
walls  chipped  off  and  melted  down  like  cheese,  while 
iron  beams,  etc.,  writhed  and  twisted  like  wire.  The 
Tribune  building — a  noble  structure — withstood  the 
flames  so  long,  that  hopes  were  entertained  of  its  being 
-saved;  but  it  succumbed,  at  last,  and  was  soon  amass 


Water  Works  Destroyed.  11 

of  ruins.  By  moruing  all  this  space  on  the  South  Side, 
from  Harrison  street  to  the  river,  was  burned,  and  the 
main  part  of  Chicago's  wealth  lay  in  ashes.  At  Harri- 
son street  the  flames  were  stayed  from  sweeping  further 
south,  by  the  vigorous  exertions  of  the  people  led  by 
gallant  Phil  Sheridan,  who  blew  up  several  buildings  on 
Wabash  avenue  and  Congress  street.  But  northward  no 
power  on  earth  could  stay  the  fire  from  spreading.  In 
an  instant  they  had  leaped  the  river  and  rushed  on,  car- 
rying death  and  destruction  in  their  path,  sparing  neither 
the  rich  nor  the  poor.     They  soon  reached  and 

DESTROYED    THE    WATER-WORKS, 

Over  a  mile  from  the  river,  thus  shutting  off  all  hope  of 
aid  from  the  engines,  as  no  water  could  be  obtained. 
Still  northward  the  fire  fiend  flew,  to  Lincoln  Park,  and 
on,  and  on,  until  it  reached  the  very  outer  limits  of  the 
city,  and  finally  stopped  when  there  were  no  more  build- 
ings to  destroy.  Thus,  in  less  than  forty-eight  hours,  an 
area  of  two  thousand  acres  of  closely  built  ground  was 
consumed,  and  the  proud  city  of  the  west  mourned  for 
her  most  beautiful  and  costly  structures,  and  her  great 
wealth  had  mostly  disappeared  in  smoke.  Millionaires 
of  the  day  before  were  now  penniless  and  desolation 
stared  all  in  the  face. 

THE  BURNT  DISTRICT. 

To  describe  the  appearance  of  the  ruins  so  that  the 
reader  might  fully  comprehend  the  full  extent  of  the  de- 
vastation, is  simply  impossible.  The  reader  may  try  to 
imagine  himself  on  top  of  the  Court  House,  which  would 
give  a  view  of  the  whole  scene.  To  the  south  for  nearly 
a  mile,  he  would  see  nothing  but  the  blackened  and  smo- 
king ruins  of  what  was  once  the  finest  portion  of  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  built  cities  in  the  world.  Looking 
south  and  west  for  more  than  a  mile,  he  will  see  the  hor- 
rible scar  upon  the  ground,  reaching  back,  wedge  shaped, 
to  the  corner  of  DeKoven  and  Jefferson  streets.     To  the 


12  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

west  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  he  will  see  a  few  acres 
of  houses  still  standing,  what  is  left  of  the  "  West  Side." 
To  the  north  as  far  as  he  can  see  for  Lincoln  Park  and 
the  intervening  burnt  and  blackened  trees,  the  sight  will 
take  in  nothing  but  the  ruins  of  hundreds  of  palatial 
residences,  and  interspersed  throughout,  here  and  there, 
parts  of  walls  of  stately  churches,  convents  and  school 
houses.  In  this  north  outlook  the  eye  takes  in  the 
greater  part  of  the  city  in  which  the  finest  private  resi- 
dences were  located.  And  over  all  of  this  vast  space  is 
scattered  thousands  of  men,  women  and  children,  look- 
ing among  the  ruins  and  debris  of  their  late  homes  and 
business  places  for  some  article  which  might  have  es- 
caped the  devouring  element. 

The  business  portion  of  the  burnt  district  was  guarded 
by  extra  and  regular  policemen  under  the  charge  of  Al- 
len Pinkerton,  who  issued  a  proclamation  setting  forth 
that  the  officers,  special  and  regular,  were  patroling  the 
district  under  his  orders,  and  that  no  time  would  be 
wasted  in  taking  any  violator  of  the  law  to  any  place  of 
arrest,  but  that  the}^  would  be  shot  down  whenever  de- 
tected. 

THE    HOMELESS. 

In  the  portions  of  the  city  which  are  burned,  were 
the  residences  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
people.  As  the  fire  progressed  they  fled  from  their 
houses  toward  the  Lake,  the  parks  and  the  open  lots  of 
prairie  around  the  city.  Hundreds  of  men  became  sep- 
arated from  their  wives  and  children,  children  from  their 
parents,  and  thus  made  the  confusion  greater.  People 
who  owned  carriages  and  horses,  or  could  hire  a  vehicle 
of  any  kind,  put  what  few  articles  they  could  carry, 
upon  it,  and  fled  to  some  place  where  they  thought  they 
would  be  safe.  Thousands  of  people  fled  to  Lincoln 
Park,  expecting  to  be  safe  there,  with  what  little  furni- 
ture they  had,  but  the  sparks  soon  set  fire  to  the  dried 
grass,  and  burned  what  was  there.     The  Park  buildings, 


The  Homeless.  13 

save  one  or  two  at  the  extreme  north  end,  were  destroyed. 
Being  thus  scattered,  over  fifty  thousands  people  spent 
Monday  night  out  in  the  open  prairie,  in  Lincohi  Park, 
and  along  the  sandy  beach  of  the  lake.  Some  of  them 
had  a  few  pieces  of  bed  clothing,  and  some  a  piece  or 
two  of  carpet  for  shelter,  but  the  great  majority  of  them 
spent  the  night  exposed  to  the  bitter  wind  and  the  driv- 
ing rain  which  began  to  fall  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  Many  outrages  too  horrible  to  be  written 
were  committed  by  the  fiends  who  fattened  on  the  mis- 
eries of  their  fellow-creatures.  Old  men  and  women, 
the  sick  and  tender  women  with  still  tenderer  babes,  sat 
in  these  exposed  places  all  that  long,  long  night.  Un- 
doubtedly hundreds  of  little  children  and  babes  will  die 
from  the  dreadful  exposure.  On  Tuesday  night  the 
authorities  sated  that  there  would  still  be  from  twenty- 
five  to  thirty  thousand  out  Qf  doors. 


14  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Progress  of  the  Fire — A  Graphic  and  Heartrending  Account 
— Further  Details — Hoio  the  Fire  in  the  South  Division 
loas  stopped. 

In  order  that  the  reader  may  fully  comprehend  the 
extent  and  progress  of  the  fire,  it  will  be  as  well  to 
reproduce  the  following  graphic  account  condensed  from 
the  Cincinnati  Enquirer  of  October  10  : 

On  Sunday  night,  October  8th,  at  nine  o'clock,  a  sec- 
ond fire  broke  out  in  the  First  Division  (western)  of 
Chicago,  which  has  since  proved  one  of  the  most  disas- 
trous calamities  that  ever  visited  a  city  upon  this  hemis- 
phere. Our  edition  of  yesterday  contained  dispatches 
up  to  1 :45  A.  M.  At  that  time  twenty  blocks  were  en- 
veloped in  flames,  the  shipping  in  the  river  on  fire,  and 
the  fiend  was  rapidly  eating  its  way  into  the  business 
heart  of  the  city.  We  continue  the  history  of  the  heart- 
rending catastrophe  in  as  succinct  a  manner  as  the  na- 
ture of  the  dispatches  will  permit. 

210  a.m. — The  block  immediately  across  the  street 
from  the  telegraph  office,  one  of  the  finest — 

At  this  point  communication  was  broken,  the  fire  hav- 
ing reached  the  telegraph  office.  An  office  was  opened 
at  Calumet,  ten  miles  from  the  city,  and  the  dispatches 
of  the  Associated  Press  were  forwarded  by  Pony  Ex- 
press.    The  next  advices  were  as  follows : 

Chicago,  October  9-9 :45  a.  m. — The  Court-house,  Sher- 
man House,  Michigan  Central  and  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road Depots,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Western  Union 
Telegraph  office,  and  all  the  intervening  blocks  are 
burned.  In  order  to  stop  the  progress  of  the  fire  south- 
ward from  this  line,  powder  was  brought  from  the  Arse- 
nal and  a  number  of  whole  blocks  blown  up. 


Progress  of  the  Fire.  15 

The  following  dispatch  was  received  at  ten  o'clock 
A.  M.,  at  St.  Louis,  from  Mayor  Mason,  of  Chicago : 

"  Send  us  food  for  the  suffering.  Our  city  is  in  ashes, 
our  water-works  are  Burnt." 

Chicago,  October  9-10  a.  m. — The  entire  business  por- 
tion of  the  city  is  destroyed.  All  the  banks,  express 
and  telegraph  offices ;  all  the  newspaper  offices,  except 
the  Tribune,  six  elevators  and  the  water-works  are  gone. 
There  is  no  water  in  the  city.  Kot  less  than  ten  thou- 
sand buildings  have  already  been  destroyed.  The  fire 
has  burned  a  distance  of  five  miles,  and  is  still  raging. 
The  wind  is  blowing  a  gale. 

New  York,  October  9. — The  following  dispatch  has 
just  been  received  here  by  the  officers  of  the  Western 
Union  Telegraph  Company : 

Chicago,  October  9. 
"  Hon.  Wm.  Orton,  New  York  : 

"  We  are  trying  to  establish  a  Supply  Department, 
but  as  the  fire  is  now  coming  up  this  way,  on  Wabash 
avenue,  will  probably  be  driven  out  of  here  before  night. 
The  Water-works  are  burned,  as  is  also  every  banking 
house  and  railroad  depot  in  the  city. 

J.  J.  S.  Wilson,  Superintendent." 

Cincinnati,  October  9. — The  following  is  from  J.  J.  S. 
Wilson  : 

"  Chicago,  10  a.  m. — There  is  no  water.  The  fire  is 
now  coming  south  on  Wabash  avenue,  and  will  probably 
reach  us  before  night." 

One  third  of  the  city  is  in  ruins.  All  the  banks,  insu- 
rance offices,  warehouses  and  elevators  are  destroyed. 
There  have  been  fully  ten  thousand  buildings  burned, 
and  the  fire  is  still  raging. 

Chicago,  October  9-jlSroon. — The  whole  business  portion 
of  the  city  is  in  ashes  from  Harrison  street  north  to  Chi- 
cago and  east  of  the  river  to  the  lake.  The  burnt  dis- 
trict is  three  miles  in  length,  and  from  a  mile  to  a  mile 


16  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago, 

and  a  half  in  width.  Every  hotel,  bank,  express  office, 
telegraph  office,  theater  and  newspaper  office,  with  all 
the  wholesale  houses  in  the  city,  are  totally  destroyed, 
with  many  thousand  dwellings.  The  Water- works  were 
destroyed  early  this  morning.  The  wind  is  blowing  a 
perfect  gale  from  the  south-west,  with  a  sky  of  brass. 

No  one  can  tell  what  the  end  will  be.  The  only  sal- 
vation for  the  remainder  of  the  city  is  in  the  wind  keep- 
ing its  present  direction.  Fifty  thousand  people  are 
homeless,  the  most  of  them  in  a  destitute  condition.  The 
unburned  streets  for  miles  are  lined  with  household 
goods.  No  one  dares  to  think  what  the  loss  of  life  may 
be.  The  flames  swept  through  the  city  with  the  rapid- 
ity of  a  prairie-fire,  and  many  must  have  perished.  The 
Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  has  succeeded  in 
getting  up  a  few  wires  from  a  hastily  improvised  o^[^q 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  city,  and  establishing  com- 
munication in  nearly  all  directions.  Munificent  offers  of 
assistance  are  coming  from  every  quarter. 

Englewood,  Ten  Miles  from  Chicago,  October  9-11  a.  m. — 
The  work  of  destruction  continues.  More  than  one- 
half  of  the  city  is  already  destroyed,  and  the  flames  con- 
tinue their  ravages  almost  unopposed,  At  about  one 
o'clock  this  morning  the  fire  crossed  the  river  at  Adams 
street  bridge,  and  soon  destroyed  the  Gas-w*orks,  and 
then  spread  itself  in  every  direction,  and  at  this  hour 
almost  every  building  from  Harrison  street  north  to  Chi- 
cago River  is  destroyed,  including  all  the  insurance  offi- 
ces, banks,  hotels,  telegraph  offices  and  newspaper  es- 
tablishments, with  the  single  exception  of  the  Tribune 
office,  which  is  fire-proof. 

The  Court-house,  Sherman  House,  Tremont  House, 
Palmer  House,  new  Pacific  Hotel,  new  Bigelow  House, 
in  fact  every  hotel,  and  everything  else  is  swept  clean. 
This  district  embraces  all  the  heavy  business  houses  in 
the  city.  The  reign  of  fire  and  brimstone  on  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah  can  hardly  be  compared    to  the  devastating 


Graphic  and  Heant-r ending  Account.  17r 

reign  of  the  fire  fiend  in  Chicago.  More  than  one-half 
the  population  are  rushing  through  the  streets  in  ve- 
hicles which  are  obtained  at  enormous  prices,  on  foot 
and  in  every  other  way,  with  the  choicest  household 
treasures  in  their  arms  and  on  their  backs,  in  utter  con- 
fusion, not  knowing  whither  to  go.  Fearful  suffering 
must  follow,  and  almost  immediately.  Fully  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  people  are  at  this  moment  home- 
less and  houseless,  not  knowing  where  to  lay  their 
heads  or  get  anything  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  hunger. 

Over  ten  thousand  buildings  are  burned,  and  the  fire 
still  raging,  and  coming  south  on  "Wabash  avenue.  City 
Water- works  burned.     Wind  blowing  a  gale. 

The  awful  work  of  destruction  goes  on  with  relentless 
fury.  From  Harrison  south,  to  Division  street  north, 
and  from  the  river  to  Lake,  an  area  of  four  miles  long 
by  one  wide,  the  flames  have  swept  everything  before 
them.  It  is  estimated  that  at  least  one  hundred  thou- 
'^and  persons  are  homeless  and  in  a  suffering  condition. 
•The  streets  in  districts  still  unburned  are  lined  for  miles 
with  such  household  goods  as  have  been  saved  from  de- 
struction. Most  generous  offers  of  assistance  in  mon^y, 
food  or  anything  wanted  are  coming  from  every  city  and 
town  possible  by  telegraph.  The  Mayor  has  responded 
to  several  offers,*  asking  that  cooked  food  be  forwarded 
as  soon  as  possible.  Firemen  are  on  their  way  here  from 
Cincinnati,  St.  Louis  and  other  cities.  The  Water- 
works is  entirely  destroyed.  They  are  now  blowing  up 
l)uildings  on  the  line  of  the  fire,  with  an  attempt  to  ar- 
rest its  progress. 

A  GRAPHIC  AND  HEART-RENDING  ACCOUNT. 

Later. — x^ow  it  is  believed  the  spread  of  the  fire  soutli- 
ward  has  been  stayed  at  Harrison  street,  but  on  the 
north  side  there  is  no  diminution  in  its  fury,  and  that 
entire  division  of  the  city  is  certainly  doomed  to  utter 
destruction,  and  there  are  grave  fears  that  the  flames 

9 


18  2iie  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

may  spread  to  the  west  side  of  N'ortli  Brancli  River,  and 
the  inhabitants  of  the  streets  nearest  the  river  are  al- 
ready moving  to  places  of  greater  safety. 

The  "Western  Union  Telegraph  have  now  six  wires 
working  east  and  south,  and  are  moving  into  a  tempo- 
rary office  on  the  corner  of  State  and  Sixteenth  streets. 

The  Korth-western  Railroad  is  running  trains  on  both 
its  branches,  which  are  crowded  with  fleeing  citizens. 

It  is  now  positively  asserted  by  some  that  the  Water- 
works are  still  intact,  but  that  the  water  has  been  shut 
off  from  the  south  and  west  divisions  on  account  of  the 
quantity  being  used  on  the  north  side. 

A  reliable  gentleman,  just  returned  from  the  north  di- 
vision, brings  the  joyful  intelligence  that  the  Water- 
works are  uninjured.     God  grant  it  may  prove  true.     It 
is  impossible  now  to  give  even  an  approximately  correct 
statement  of  the  losses,  but  a  faint  idea  may  be  formed 
when  it  is  stated  that  every  bank  in  the  city,  except  two 
small  savings  institutions,  one  on  Twenty-second  street, 
in  the  South  Division,  and  one  on  Randolph  street,  on 
the  West,  are  destroyed.     All  the  wholesale  stores  and 
all  the  large  retail  establishments,  the  Post-office,*Court- 
house,  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  every  hotel  in  the 
South   Division,  except  the   Michigan  Avenue   Hotel, 
(which,  standing  on  the  extreme  southern  limit  of  the 
fire,  escaped,  though  badly  scorched) ;  every  newspaper 
office,  the  Tribune  having  finally  succumbed ;  every  the- 
ater, six  of  the  largest  elevators,  the  immense  depots  of 
the  Michigan  Southern  and  Illinois  Central  Railroads, 
both  passenger  and  freight  depots  of  the  latter,  and  more 
than  a  score  of  churches,  and  much  of  the  shipping  in 
the  river.     Men  who  were  millionaires  yesterday  morn- 
ing are  nearly  penniless  to-day.     But  more  terrible  than 
all  is  the  awful  certainty  that  many  human  beings  have 
found  a  fiery  grave ;  how  many,  no  one  can  now  tell. 
Perhaps  no  one  can  ever  tell ;  but  some  are  known  to 
have  perished,  and  there  is  the  most  sickening  fear  that 


How  the  Fire  in  South  Division  was  Stopped'.        19. 

the  victims  of  the  fiery  monster  may  be  counted  by 
scores.  Hundreds  of  horses  and  cows  have  been  burned 
in  stables,  and  on  the  North  Side  numbers,  though  re- 
leased from  confinement,  were  so  bewildered  and  con- 
fused by  the  sea  of  fire  which  surrounded  them  that  they 
rushed  wildly  to  and  fro,  uttering  cries  of  fright  and 
pain  until  scorched  and  killed.  Any  attempt  at  a  de- 
«cription  of  the  scenes  of  this  appalling  calamity  would 
be  idle.  The  simple  facts  that  the  once  great  city  of 
Chicago  is  destroyed,  that  hundreds  of  millions  of  her 
active  capital  has  vanished,  and  that  nearly  one-third  of 
her  inhabitants  are  homeless  dependents,  are  enough. 
Any  attempt  to  embellish  would  be  but  mockery.  As 
this  awful  day  draws  to  a  close, 'thousands  of  anxious 
€ye3  watch  the  dense  clouds  of  smoke  w^hich  still  roll 
over  the  burnt  district,  with  evident  dread  that  a  sudden 
•change  of  the  wind  may  change  the  flames  upon  the 
portion  of  the  city  yet  spared.  There  seems,  however, 
little  cause  for  apprehension,  as  reinforcements  of  fire- 
men from  other  cities  are*constantly  arriving.  Colonel 
■J.  J.  S.  "Wilson,  Superintendent  of  the  Telegraph,  is  in 
receipt  of  dispatches  from  leading  cities,  announcing 
that  aid  is  being  provided  for  the  sufi'erers.  Colonel 
Clowry,  of  St.  Louis,  telegraphs  that  seventy  thousand 
dollars  has  been  subscribed  by  the  merchants.  Cincin- 
nati promises  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  Cleve- 
land is  proportionately*generous.  All  this  and  a  great 
■deal  more  will  be  needed  to  relieve  the  immediate  press- 
ing wants,  and  everything  is  being  done  by  General 
Stager  and  his  assistants  to  keep  up  communication  for 
the  citizens  and  press  with  the  world  outside.  Colonel 
George  T.  "Williams,  Superintendent  of  Cincinnati,  re- 
ported promptly  for  duty  this  morning.  About  three 
fourths  of  the  United  States  mail  was  saved  and  taken 
possession  of  by  ColoneljWood  of  the  Post-office  service. 

HOW    THE   FIRE    IN   SOUTH    DIVISION    WAS    STOPPED. 

Chicago,  October  9-6  p.  m. — The  progress  of  the  flames 


20         •  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

in  Soutli  Division  was  finally  arrested  about  one  o'clock 
p.  M.  This  was  accomplished  by  the  blowing  np  and 
demolishing  of  several  buildings  on  Wabash  avenue  and 
Congress  street,  by  Lieutenant-General  Sheridan.  The 
district  burnt  over  in  South  Division  embraces  every- 
thing from  the  main  branch  of  the  Chicago  river  to  the 
lake,  embracing  about  one  hundred  blocks,  and  this 
district  contained  all  the  leading  business  houses,  the 
banks,  insurance  offices,  hotels,  etc.,  and  a  large  number 
of  churches,  including  St.  Mary's  (Catholic),  St.  Trinity^ 
First  Presbyterian,  Second  Presbyterian,  St.  Paul's, 
Swedenborgian,  etc.  The  Methodist  Church  on  the  cor- 
ner of  Wabash  avenue  and  Congress  street  is  saved.  The- 
Michigan  Avenue  Hotel,  on  the  corner  of  Michgan 
and  Congress  street,  and  Congress  Hall,  directly  adjoin- 
ing on  Congress  street,  are  saved.  Michigan  Terrace, 
on  Michigan  avenue,  embracing  the  residences  of  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Bross,  Hon.  John  Scammor,  S.  C.  Griggs, 
Peter  L.  Poss  and  other  leading  citizens,  is  completly 
destroyed,  with  the  furniture  and  nearly  all  the  other 
contents.  All  the  newspaper  establishments  are  totally 
wiped  out.  The  Tribune  building  resisted  the  fire  for 
several  hours,  but  finally  yielded;  when  McYicker's 
Theater,  immediately  adjoining,  also  withstood  the  rag- 
ing elements,  but  finally  succumbed.  In  fact,  all  the 
buildings  in  the  District  which  claimed  to  be  fire-proof 
shared  the  fate  of  those  which  could  make  no  such 
claim.  The  great  Central  Depot,  at  the  foot  of  Lake 
street,  became -a  heap  of  ruins  about  nine  o'clock.  Most 
of  the  passenger  cars  of  the  Michigan  Central,  Burling- 
ton and  Quincy,  and  Illinois  Central  Kailroad  were 
moved  on  the  breakwater  and  saved.  West  of  Clark 
street,  in  the  South  Division,  the  fire  extended  south  as 
far  as  Polk  street,  sweeping  everything  before  it.  The 
distance  burned  over  here  is  some  three  blocks  wide  and 
over  half  a  mile  in  length,  numbering  about  twenty  blocks. 
The  buildings  were  generally  of  the  cheaper  character — 


A  Pitiful  Sight.  21 

embracing  saloons,  small  shops,  poor  residences,  etc. 
The  district  burned  over  on  the  west  side  commences  at 
Taylor  street,  running  from  DeKoven  to  Jefferson, Tan 
thence  four  or  five  blocks  north  and  then  moved  diagon- 
ally toward  the  river,  and  finally  the  west  line  was  es- 
tablished on  Clinton  street,  and  reaching  thence  to  the 
river.  It  moved  in  this  line  northward  until  it  reached 
IlTorth -western  "West  Side  depots,  where  it  stopped.  A 
distance  of  nearly  two  miles  from  where  it  started.  The 
P.,  Ft.  W,  and  C.  and  C.  and  St.  Louis  depots  were  in 
this  territory.  Both  passenger  and  freight  were  in  this 
district,  and  are  wiped  out.  Almost  the  entire  northern 
division,  from  the  main  branch  of  Chicago  River  to 
Lincoln  Park,  nearly  two  miles  in  length  and  one  mile 
wide,  is  completely  destroyed,  including  the  Water- 
works, a  large  number  of  elegant  churches,  etc.  This 
statement  embraces  the  district  devastated,  and  comprises 
almost  the  entire  business  portion  of  the  city.  South  of 
Harmon  street,  in  South  Division  street,  and  reaching 
out  many  miles,  and  covered  almost  entirely  with  dwell- 
ings composed  largely  of  the  more  elegant  class,  is  un- 
touched, and  may  now  be  regarded  as  safe  from  injury. 
For  miles  and  miles  in  every  direction  the  sidewalks, 
lawns,  vacant  lots  and  front  yards  of  dwellings  are  filled 
with  people  who  have  escaped  from  these  burning  dwell- 
ings, taking  with  them  only  a  scanty  amount  of  furni- 
ture and  clothing.  The  sight  is  truly  pitiful  and  har- 
rowing. Unless  they  receive  immediate  relief,  many, 
from  exposure  and  starvation,  will  perish,  of  course.  As 
stated  in  my  previous  dispatch,  it  is  utterly  impossible 
to  make  an  approximate  estimate  of  the  entire  loss,  but 
it  can  scarcely  fall  below  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions 
of  dollars.  Of  course  but  a  fraction  of  this  amount  can 
be  realized  from  the  insurance. 

General  Sheridan  has  to-day  telegraphed  to  St.  Louis, 
to  the  Missouri  Department  there,  to  send  at  once  to 
Chicago  one  hundred  thousand  rations.    He  has  tele- 


22    /  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

graphed  to  Omaha  for  two  companies  of  soldiers  and 
one  hundred  tents.  They  will  be  all  here  as  soon  as 
they  can  reach  us  by  rail.  He  will  also  order  another 
one  hundred  thousand  rations.  Mayor  Mason  has 
issued  a  proclamation  calling  a  meeting  to-night  in  the 
"West  Division  to  see  what  the  citizens  can  do  for  the 
relief  of  the  sufferers.  There  are  at  least  100,000  people 
who  know  not  where  they  can  get  enough  provisions  to 
satisfy  the  cravings  of  hunger.  A  later  rumor  from  the 
North  Division  says  the  devastation  is  less  widespread 
than  heretofore  reported.  I  hear  of  no  deaths  reported 
■  by  the  disaster  yet,  but,  undoubtedly,  many  have  perished. 

Chicago,  October  10,  3-10  p.  m. — Word  is  just  brought 
.that  a  fierce  fire  is  raging  on  Thirty-first  street.  This 
street  is  two  miles  south  of  the  southern  fire  limit  on 
the  South  Side,  and  a  little  less  than  that  from  the  limit 
on  the  West  Side.  This  has  been  set  on  fire  for  the 
purpose  evidently  of  destroying  the  remaining  part  of 
the  city,  largely  occupied  by  wealthy  residents.  It  is 
also  known  that  two  men,  caught  in  the  act  of  firing 
buildings,  have  been  shot,  and  two  others  led  off  with 
ropes  round  their  necks.  As  the  wind  is  blowing  a  per- 
fect gale  the  end  can  not  be  foretold. 

Chicago,  4  p.  m.,  October  10. — Another  fire  has. broken 
out  on  the  south  side  of  Thirty-first  street,  which  it 
is  feared  will  take  the  ballance  of  the  southern  part  of 
the  city. 

Still  Later. — A  dispatch  from  Chicago  dated  at  3  p. 
M.,  says  the  reported  new  attack  of  fire  was  greatly 
overdrawn.  Only  two  or  three  houses  had  caught  when 
the  flames  were  promptly  suppressed. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  that  during  the  process 
of  the  fire  all  sorts  of  sensational  rumors  were  spread 
abroad,  some  of  them  having  little  if  any  foundation 
in  truth.  There  were  those  in  one  city  at  least,  who 
taking  advantage  of  the  distress  of  others,  sought  to 
make  money  by  the  issuing  of  sensational  extras,  por- 


A  Vivid  Picture.  ^ 

portiug  to  give  an  account  of  the  demolition  of  the 
entire  city,  and  of  the  shooting  of  citizens  by  Govern- 
ment troops.  It  is  almost  needless  to  add  that  these 
dispatches  were  manufactured  pretty  much  out  of  whole 
cloth,  and  when  this  fact  became  fully  known,  the  perpe- 
trators were  visited  by  the  bitter  condemnation  of  all 
good  men. 

A  VIVID  PICTURE. 

The  following  graphic  account  of  the  terrible  work  of 
the  fire  fiend,  as  it  raged  in  its  irresistible  fury,  is  given 
by  an  eye  witness  in  the  Chicago  Tribune : 

At  times  it  seemed  but  the  work  of  a  moment  for  the 
fire  to  enter  the  south  end  of  buildings  fronting  on  Ran- 
dolph, Lake  and  "Water  streets,  and  reappear  at  the 
north  doors  and  windows,  belching  forth  in  fierce  flames, 
which  often  licked  the  opposite  buildings,  and  then  the 
flames  belching  from  buildings  on  both,  sides  of  the 
street,  would  unite  and  present  a  solid  mass  of  fire, 
completely  filling  the  street  from  side  to  side,  and 
shooting  up  an  hundred  feet  into  the  air  above  the 
housetops  in  their  mad  career.  Thus  was  street  after 
street  filled  with  flame  and  fire,  and  the  exultation  of  the 
fire  fiend  was  given  vent  to  in  a  roar  which  can  only  be 
equaled  by  combining  the  noise  of  the  ocean  when  its 
waters  are  driven  during  a  tempest  upon  a  rocky  beach 
with  the  howl  of  the  blast.  Huge  walls  would  topple 
and  fall  into  the  sea  of  fire,  without  apparently  giving  a 
sound,  as  the  roar  of  the  fierce  element  was  so  great 
that  all  the  minor  sounds  were  swallowed  up,  and  the 
fall  of  walls  was  only  perceptible  to  the  eye  and  not  to 
ear.  If  our  readers  will  call  to  their  mind  the  fiercest 
snow  storm  in  their  experience,  and  imagine  the  snow 
to  be  fire,  as  it  surged  hither  and  thither  before  the  fury 
of  the  wind,  they  will  be  able  to  form  a  faint  conception 
of  the  flames,  as  they  raged  through  the  streets  of  our 
doomed  city.  Many  of  the  buildings  situated  along 
South  Water  street  buried  their  red-hot  rear  walls  in  the 


24  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

water  of  the  river,  into  which  they  phinged  with  a  hiss 
like  nnto  nothing  earthly,  throwing  up  a  billow  of  water, 
which  would  gradually  subside,  until  other  walls  would 
follow.  The  heat  was  so  intense  at  times  from  some  of 
the  burning  buildings,  that  they  could  not  be  approached 
within  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  which  accounts  for 
the  manner  in  which  the  fire  worked  back,  and  often 
against  the  wind.  The  fire,  after  reaching  the  business 
portion  of  Randolph  and  South  "Water  street,  leaped  the 
river  on  to  the  !N^orth  side  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of 
time,  and  thence  among  the  wooden  buildings  on  that 
side,  reached  the  lake  shore  after  touching  block  after 
block,  happy  dwelling  after  happy  dwelling,  with  its  fierce 
blast.  A  scene  of  more  powerless  eflorts  to  fight  an  enemy 
was  never  presented  than  that  of  this,  the  people  trying 
to  baffle  the  fire  fiend ;  and  the  combat  was  not  of  long 
duration,  for  .the  people  bowed  their  heads  in  anguish  of 
spirit,  and  suff'ered  the  fiend  to  have  untrammeled  sway; 
and  well  and  thoroughly  has  he  done  his  work,  and 
nothing  of  the  past  history  of  civilized  nations  chroni- 
cles any  efforts  of  his  to  which  this  present  can  be  com- 
pared; so  in  all  future  time  "The  great  Chicago  fire" 
when  mentioned  will  bring  to  the  heart  of  its  partici- 
pants a  pang  of  anguish,  to  future  generations  a  simile 
of  everything  that  is  frightful  and  terrible.  While 
there  are  a  great  many  instances  of  generous  devotion 
on  the  part  of  rich  and  poor  individuals  to  the  desti- 
tute, there  are  painful  instances  of  meanness  and  selfish- 
ness. One  was  trying  to  remove  valuable  papers  from 
an  office,  and  asked  two  firemen  to  help  him,  which  they 
refused  to  do  unless  he  paid  them  fifty  dollars.  The 
papers  were  destroyed.  Drivers  of  express-wagons  have 
taken  one  hundred,  and  even  five  hundred  dollars,  for 
an  hour's  use  of  their  vehicles  in  getting  distressed 
people  away. 

Among  the  sad  accompaniments  of  the  calamity  was 
to  see  hundreds  of  men  and   boys  beastly  intoxicated 


The  Suffering  Heart-rending.  25 

around  the  streets  of  the  ^orth  Division,  where  the 
saloon-keepers'  stock,  turned  into  the  street,  furnished  a 
convenient  opportunity  for  the  gratification  of  slavish 
propensities,  and  there  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that  many 
of  these  poor  wretches  found  their  death  in  the  flames, 
from  which  they  were  too  helpless  to  escape. 

One  poor  man  had  crawled  for  refuge  into  a  water 
main  lying  in  the  street  near  the  "Water-works,  but  the 
fire  fiend  found  him  even  there  before  he  could  get  his 
body  wholly  in  safety,  and  robbed  him  of  his  life. 

The  Herald  reporter  furnishes  the  following :  Women 
and  children  are  going  around  the  burnt  districts  vainly 
seeking  something  to  satisfy  their  hunger.  They  ask 
for  relief,  but  there  is  none  to  give  them.  ISTo  one  has 
provisions  or  money.  What  provisions  there  were  in 
the  city  is  burned  or  eaten,  and  some  few  people  have 
enough  to  last  them  a  day  and  not  longer.  Provisions 
have  arrived  from  Detroit,  Cincinnati,  Milwaukee  and 
St.  Louis,  and  are  being  distributed  as  fast  as  possible. 
Twenty-three  dead  bodies  have  been  taken  to  a  station 
on  the  North  Side.  At  the  present  time  it  is  impossible 
to  know  where' they  are.  As  night  comes  on,  the  want 
of  gas  is  keenly  felt,  as  there  are  but  few  candles  in  the 
city.  ITo  water,  except  what  is  gotten  from  the  lake. 
Very  grave  fears  of  outrages  by  thieves  on  the  West 
Side  are  felt  on  every  hand. 

Gen.  Sheridan  who  has  been  a  hard  worker  all  through 
the  fire  is  still  calling  for  troops  from  difterent  points 
to  keep  order.  All  business  and  work  is  suspended,  and 
every  one  is  intent  on  securing  first  something  to  eat, 
and  next  shelter.  The  suffering  on  the  North  Side  is 
heartrending.  Men,  women  and  children — 50,000  of 
them — are  huddled  together  like  so  many  wild  animals, 
and  in  another  place  17,000  Germans  and  Irish  are  pray- 
ing for  relief;  helpless  children  asking  for  bread ;  heart- 
broken parents  who  do  not  know  which  way  to  turn  or 
what  to  say,  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  await  the  distri- 


26  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

bution  of  supplies,  which  at  best  must  be  a  slow  pro- 
ceeding, as  there  are  parts  of  the  burnt  districts  over 
which  it  is  almost  impossible  to  travel.  Women  in  the 
pains  of  child-birth,  and  patients  who  have  been  moved 
from  beds  of  sickness  to  save  their  lives  that  at  best  were 
nearly  spent,  were  all  exposed  to  the  rains  of  last  night 
and  the  cold,  raw  winds  of  to-day.  Several  deaths 
have  occurred  in  Lincoln  Park,  and  three  women  have 
brought  children  into  the  world  only  to  die.  There  are 
people  who,  in  the  bitterness  of  their  souls,  ascribe  the 
calamity  to  God's  judgment.  A  German  said  to  me : 
"  This  is  a  second  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and  the  curse  is 
on  it."  Another  night  must  be  spent  in  Lincoln  Park 
and  the  brick-fields  at  Division  street,  and  yet  another 
and  another.  Each  train,  and  extras,  are  loaded  to  their 
fullest  capacity,  taking  people  away  who,  in  many  in- 
stances, have  no  place  to  go,  yet  can't  stay  here,  and 
ever}''  train  is  obliged  to  leave  five  times  as  many  as  they 
take.  Every  precaution  is  being  taken  by  the  authori- 
ties to  guard  the  people  to-night,  and  if  morning  comes 
without  robberies,  murders  or  a  renewal  of  fires,  then 
all  will  thank  God  and  go  forward  with  courage. 

The  Indianapolis  Fire  Department  are  here,  and  doing 
good  service.  Springfield  and  Peoria  have  done  nobly, 
contributing  liberally.  The  expression  of  sympathy  on 
all  hands  is  most  gratifying,  but  help  must  come.  The 
Evening  Journal  got  out  a  half  sheet  to-night.  Other 
papers  will  follow  to-morrow,  some  of  the  presses  having 
been  found. 

The  private  residence  of  Horace  "White  and  "Wm. 
Brown,  of  the  Tribune,  were  consumed. 

Messrs.  Medill  and  Cowles,  of  the  Times,  and  Mr. 
"Wilson,  of  the  Journal,  and  also  Mr.  Storey,  were  more 
fortunate. 


The  Fire  Compared  with  Those  of  Other  Cities.       27 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Fire  Compared  with  Those  of  Other  Cities — What  is  Left 
— South  Side — The  Prominent  Buildings  Destroyed — In 
the  North  Division — Heal  Estate  Titles  Destroyed — Banks 
— In  the  Suburbs. 

The  following  pen-pictures  are  taken  from  the  Chicago 
Evening  Journal  of  the  10th,  that  paper  having  been  able 
to  issue  an  extra  upon  the  morning  of  the  day  named: 

THE  FIRE  COMPARED  WITH  THOSE  OF  OTHER  CITIES. 

The  awful  intelligence  of  the  destruction  by  fire  of 
the  noble,  magnificent,  wonderful  city  of  Chicago,  will 
be  received  all  over  the  world  with  dismay  and  feelings 
of  the  deepest  sorrow.  Never  before  in  the  annals  of 
history  can  such  a  parallel  of  destruction  be  found.  The 
burning  of  Eome,  London,  Moscow,  New  York,  Port- 
land and  Paris  were  undoubtedly  appalling,  disastrous 
events;  but  pale  into  insignificance  before  the  awful 
work  of  devastation  which  has  resulted  in  the  reduction 
to  ashes  of  Chicago,  the  city  of  the  world — the  spot  on 
which  the  eyes  of  all  nations  of  the  earth  have  been  fixed 
with  mixed  envy  and  admiration  ever  since  she  started 
into  existence.  That  the  great  works  of  destruction 
alluded  to  were  attended  with  dire  loss  there  is  no  ques- 
tion, but  neither  of  them  spread  over  such  a  vast  terri- 
tory and  destroyed  so  much  valuable  property,  and  in  so 
awfully  short  a  time  as  has  that  which  has  just  laid  waste 
the  pride  not  only  of  America  but  of  the  world.  JSTo 
one  but  those  who  witnessed  the  scene  can  realize  the 
sad,  appalling  character  of  the  conflagration.  .Fancy  one 
vast  ocean  of  flame,  five  to  seven  miles  in  length  and 
over  an  average  of  a  mile  in  width,  those  huge  billows 
swept  onward,  upward,  forward,  roaring,  hissing,  crack- 
ing, dashing  a  spray  of  lurid,  livid  sparks  and  flashes  of 


28  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

fire  in  every  direction,  aided  by  a  terrific  gale  whicli  had 
enlisted  itself  under  the  flaming  banner  of  the  merciless 
and  cruel  Fire  Fiend,  to  assist  in  the  work  of  demolition. 
Steadily  and  relentlessly  did  the  fearful  scourge  sweep 
forward,  causing  thousands  of  suddenly  impoverished,  ^) 
terror-stricken  human  beings  to  flee  before  it  for  safety.  ' 
The  four  elements  all  combined  in  the  work  of  havoc — 
in  the  leveling  to  the  ground,  and  reducing  to  humility 
the  proudest,  wealthiest  city  of  the  universe.  The  wind 
aided  and  encouraged  the  fire,  the  latter  kept  the  water 
under  control  while  the  wind  again,  as  if  to  add  torture 
to  the  thousands  of  fleeing,  weeping  men,  women  and 
children,  and  to  baflle  the  efforts  of  citizens,  firemen  and 
policemen  in  the  encounter,  hurled  almost  impenetrable 
clouds  of  stinging,  blinding  sand  and  dust  in  their  eyes, 
ears  and  nostrils.  The  spectacle  was  appallingly  grand, 
yet  such  as  to  make  great  strong  men  weep  like  children 
— not  altogether  at  the  losses  they  had  and  were  sustain- 
ing, the  dark  prospects  which  shrouded  their  future,  but 
at  witnessing  the  ruin  and  demolishing  of  the  city  which 
they  had  regarded  with  pride,  and  over  whose  progress 
and  welfare  they  had  watched  with  the  tender  care,  sim- 
ilar to  that  with  which  anxious,  loving  parents  regard 
the  career  of  their  offspring.  Hundreds  of  millions  of 
dollars'  worth  of  property  have  been  laid  in  ashes. 
Thousands  of  magnificent  buildings  which  reared  their 
proud  heads  above  their  more  humble  frame  neighbors, 
have  been  laid  low,  all  suffering  the  same  fate,  in  the 
crushing  embrace  of  the  great  leveller — fire.  Thousands 
of  families  have  lost — some  part  of  their  goods  and 
homes — more,  homes  and  everything  they  possessed  in 
the  world ;  many  even  their  friends  and  relatives,  who 
were  crushed,  burned  or  suffocated  during  the  awful  vis- 
itation. It  is  feared  that  a  great  number  of  lives  have 
l)een  lost.  Thus,  even  dread  Death  lent  a  helping  hand 
in  the  work  of  havoc. 

The  glare  on  the  sky  occasioned  by  the  flames  could 


The  Fire  Compared  with  Those  of  Other  Cities.      29 

be  seen  at  nights  at  a  distance  of  many  miles,  and  the 
heavens  appeared  in  many  directions  to  be  in  a  state  of 
calidity,  and  seemed  as  if  they  would  melt  and  pour 
down  on  each  in  a  great  mass  of  liquid  fire.  The  dense, 
black  clouds  of  suffocating  smoke,  which,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  gale  w^hich  swept  lakeward,  rendered  nav- 
igation on  that  "sheet"  of  water  almost  impossible 
numbers  of  miles  distant  from  shore,  day  and  night; 
while  on  the  shore,  miles  from  the  scene  of  devastation, 
the  night  was  so  far  turned  into  day  by  the  brightness 
of  the  flames,  that  the  reading  of  the  smallest  print  was 
an  easy  matter  of  accomplishment.  All  these  attending 
circumstances  of  what  in  history  will  be  handed  down 
to  future  generations  as  the  '•  Great  Fire  of  Chicago,"  - 
will  remain  vividly  in  the  memory  of  all  who  were  pres- 
ent in  Chicago  on  the  7th,  8th  and  9th  of  October,  A. 
D.  1871. 

Some  idea  of  the  fearful  ravages  during  the  Great  Fire 
of  Chicago,  may  be  entertained  by  comparing  it  with 
the  other  two  greatest  of  flery  visitations  in  the  history 
of  the  world — those  of  Loudon  and  Moscow.  The 
Great  Fire  of  London  covered  500  acres  of  ground,  ren- 
dered homeless  200,000  inhabitants,  and  destroyed  13,- 
000  houses.  That  of  Moscow  burned  over  a  space  of 
400  acres,  and  destroyed  12,000  houses.  The  Great  Fire 
of  Chicago  laid  waste  over  1,800  acres,  upward  of  18,- 
000  buildings,  and  rendered  about  185,000  persons  home- 
less. 

As  to  pecuniary  loss,  no  fire  which  ever  occurred  in 
the  world  has  been  attended  with  that  suflered  by  Chi- 
cago, as  in  no  city  was  there  such  an  amount  of  valua- 
ble merchandize  or  so  many  expensive  buildings  des- 
troyed. Most  of  our  merchants  had  received  their  win- 
ter stocks  of  goods,  none  of  which  they  were  able  to 
save.  The  loss  in  merchandize  alone  at  this  last  great 
conflagration  will  be  double  that  suflered  by  London  and 
Moscow  combined. 


30  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

The  great  calamity  which  has  fallen  upon  our  city,  as 
overwhelming  as  it  is,  has  not  broken  the  spirit  of  our 
citizens.  She  will  arise  from  her  ashes,  with  an  energy 
that  will  eclipse  all  her  former  efforts,  and  speedily  regain 
her  former  position. 

One  thing  particularly  strikes  the  passengers  through, 
the  streets — the  absence  of  everything  of  a  combustible 
nature.  Brick,  stone  and  iron  abound,  and  make  up 
whatever  is  left  of  the  most  magnificent  and  costly  struc- 
tures. Dirt,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term,  has  van- 
ished; all  is  clean,  but  oh,  how  desolate.  Another  thing 
is  the  uniformity  of  the  destruction.  The  marble  palace 
and  the  cheaper  brick  and  mortar  blocks  lie  in  common 
disorder.  There  is  no  distinction,  except  in  the  presence 
of  iron  pillars  and  marble  door  and  window  ornaments. 

WHAT   IS   LEFT. 

The  only  buildings  left  intact  between  the  river  and  the 
lake  and  the  river  and  Madison  street  are  Hath  away 's 
coal  office,  one  of  the  Buckingham  elevators,  on  the  lake 
shore,  and  the  Lind  block,  at  the  corner  of  Randolph 
and  Market.  ISTot  a  vestige  of  any  wooden  structure  is 
left  in  sight,  and  the  walls  in  the  majority  of  the  build- 
ings described  are  leveled  with  the  ground.  In  some 
instances,  partition  walls  have  not  altogether  fallen,  but 
rear  their  pointed  heads  high  above  the  surrounding 
ruins. 

The  pavements  are  burnt,  broken  and  strewn  with 
debris — not  impassable,  but  dusty  and  smoky. 

Crowds  of  people,  men,  women  and  children,  rich  and 
poor,  thronged  the  streets  this  forenoon,  satisfying  the 
general  curiosity,  and  wondering  at  the  fearful  power 
which  had  wrought  so  great  and  sudden  a  calamity. 
Here  and  there  parties  were  examining  and  breaking 
portions  of  such  articles  as  lay  near  the  surface  in  search 
ot  valuables.  The  general  expression  is  one  of  sadness, 
but  nowhere  was  despair  visible. 


What  is  Left.  ^         31'- 

The  building  recently  erected  at  the  corner  of  Madi- 
son street,  and  not  finished,  is  a  pile  of  brick  and  mortar. 
The  old  Transportation  Company's  wooden  shed  no 
longer  distresses  the  sight  on  the  dock — it  is  all  burned 
up. 

On  the  opposite  corner  lies  in  ruins  the  old  Garden 
City  House,  which  the  writer  saw  erected  twenty  years 
ago.  Thousands  will  remember  the  old  hotel  with  pleas- 
ure, mingled  with  regret  at  its  loss. 

From  Madison  to  Washington  street  all  buildings  are 
leveled  on  both  sides  of  Market.  Between  Washington 
and  Randolph  streets,  Hathaway's  coal  pile  is  still  burn- 
ing bright.  All  the  business  blocks  north  to  the  river, 
on  the  east  side  of  Market,  are  destroyed.  Among  these 
were  the  new  buildings  owned  by  the  Garrett  Biblical 
Institute,  the  walls  of  which  are  nearly  all  down. 

Eddy's  horse  market,  near  Market  street,  is  leveled, 
and  the  debris  emits  the  smell  of  burning  horseflesh. 
Farther  east  the  great  six-story  wagon  manufactory  of 
Peter  Schuttler,  extending  along  Franklin  street,  was 
brought  to  the  ground.  IN'ot  a  vestige  of  Peacock's  jew- 
elry store  remains. 

The  great  iron  block  of  the  northwest  corner  of  Wells 
and  Randolph  is  a  mass  of  broken  columns,  brick  and 
mortar.  This  Duilding  made  a  wreck  of  the  man  who 
erected  it,  and  is  now  itself  a  dismal  wreck. 

Opposite  lays  that  which  was  once  the  Metropolitan 
Hotel,  around  the  memory  of  which  lingers  a  history  of 
unusual  interest — the  means  which  built  it  having  been 
stolen  from  the  jewelry  store  of  Isaac  Speer  some  eigh- 
teen years  ago. 

On  the  other  corner,  where  stood  the  favorite  old  Briggs 
House,  is  an  unshaped  mass  of  material,  little  consonant 
with  the  comfort,  hospitality  and  mirth  for  which  that 
old  hostelry  was  ever^famous. 

Again,  on  the  southeast  corner,  lie  the  remains  of 
Schick  &  Ibach's  Hotel  Garni,  a  stately  block. 


32  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

Farther  down,  bricks  and  mortar  point  to  the  location 
of  many  well-known  business  houses;  John  Alston's, 
Heath  &  Milligan's,  Ducat's  Insurance  Agency,  the 
IS'orthwestern  Engraving  Company's  rooms,  etc.,  and  on 
the  other  corner,  low  in  the  dust,  what  was  once  Metro- 
politan Hall,  redolent  of  its  charitable  dinners  and  the 
gas  of  George  Francis  Train. 

Bleak,  smoked,  hollow  and  desolate,  upon  the  scene, 
rear  the  walls  of  the  Court  House — scene  of  so  many  a 
distressing  and  exciting  trial,  of  local  legislation  and 
public  business.  ISTot  only  have  the  roofs  "  buckled," 
but  the  entire  structure  looms  up  from  where  we  write,  a 
ruined  monument  of  departed  greatness.  The  old  fence 
remains,  with  the  tessellated  pavements,  but  the  glory 
of  the  tribunals  and  the  Council  Chamber  are  things  of 
the  past. 

Across  the  street,  a  heap  of  brick,  iron  rods  and  shat- 
tered ornaments  of  stone,  mark  the  grave  of  the  Fidelity 
Safe  Company's  magnificent  structure  and  the  stately 
Sherman  House.  "Words  are  weak  to  express  the  air 
of  desolation  that  hovers  around  this  corner,  so  recently 
brilliant  with  business  and  pleasure.  The  skull  on  the 
banquet  table  could  scarcely  be  more  saddening  to  a  re- 
flective mind. 

Last  week,  high  in  air,  on  the  southeast  corner,  stood 
Miller's  jewelry  store.  AYood's  Museum,  with  its  half  a 
million  curiosities,  and  nights  of  tragedy  and, comedy, 
graced  the  vicinity  with  its  fair  front,  beneath  the  Col- 
onel's benign  portrait ;  clothing  for  the  million  enticed 
the  wayfarer  to  stop  and  buy,  and  whisky  and  stationery, 
printing  and  engraving,  made  this  section  of  Eandolph 
street  a  popular  resort.     This  morning  it  is  a  desert. 

And  so  we  could  go  on,  down  to  the  lake,  calling  up 
a  hundred  reminiscences  of  old  and  cherished  times  and 
places.  What  memories  cluster  around  the  Matteson 
House,  the   old    Garrett  block,  the   auction   house   of 


South  Side.  33 

shrill- voiced  Butters,  etc.  Now  the  heart  sickens  as  it 
sees  the  bitter  end  of  all  these  things. 

From  the  bridge  to  La  Salle  street,  Lake  street  was 
built  up  on  both  sides  with  business  blocks  of  brick  and 
stone,  remarkable  more  for  their  commodiousness  and 
convenience  than  beauty.     All  are  gone. 

The  Board  of  Education  rooms;  brokers'  offices;  the 
Northwestern  railway  ticket  offices ;  the  United  States 
and  American  Express  offices;  the  jewelry  stores  of 
Rodin  &  Hamlin,  A.  Van  Cott  &  Co.,  and  others,  and 
the  dry  goods  stores  of  J.  B.  Shay  &  Co.,  all  well  known 
places  of  business,  are  as  unsightly  as  a  neglected  grave. 

No  building  in  Chicago  claims  a  kinder  remembrance 
than  the  old  Tremont  House.  Its  broken  walls  and 
towering  chimney-stack  speak  nothing  of  the  elegance, 
sociability  and  comfort  that  always  met  the  traveler  at 
the  threshold,  and  made  him  a  friend  for  life. 

Erom  the  Tremont  to  the  great  Union  Depot  is  not  far, 
but  its  wealth  of  merchandise  and  stately  edifices  were 
known  far  and  near  throughout  the  West,  but  the  eye 
dims  and  the  pulse  goes  slow  when  the  ruin  of  this  no- 
ble mart  meets  the  sight.  Names  of  firms  who  did  busi- 
ness here  might  be  given,  but  they  stand  engraven  in  the 
heart  of  many  a  country  merchant,  who  has  profited  by 
the  courtesies  of*  the  Lake  street  jobbers. 

*  SOUTH    SIDE. 

The  scene  in  this  section  of  the  city  is  too  appalling 
to  be  dwelt  upon  with  other  words  than  those  which 
will  in  the  most  adequate  manner  convey  an  idea  of  the 
reality,  which  seems  beyond  the  power  of  tongue  or  pen 
to  relate.  The  streets  that  are  burned  over  are  Madison, 
Monroe,  Adams,  Jackson,  Van  Buren,  Congress  and 
Michigan  avenue,  where  it  was  checked,  the  Michigan 
avenue  hotel  being  saved.  On  Wabash  it  burned 
through  to  Harrison  street.  The  last  house  burned 
on  the  east  side  of  Wabash  avenue.     On  the  west  side, 

Dr.    McChesney's    (the    Wabash    Avenue    Methodist) 
3 

7  /  /i^l  \  , -'-.J-iTV 

-^  L fz  I  41 


34  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

Churcli  was  not  burned,  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Har- 
rison and  Wabash  avenue.  On  State  street,  356  was 
the  last  number  burned.  This  was  the  south  limit  so 
far  west  as  the  line  of  the  Michigan  Southern  Railroad 
track.  The  long  freight  houses  (in  and  out  freight) 
were  burned  with  all  their  contents;  cars  and  every- 
thing as  far  south  as  Taylor,  and  west  of  the  east  track. 
Taylor  street,  the  north  limit  of  a  great  lumber  district, 
was  not  crossed  to  the  south.  Thus,  in  short,  there  is 
only  one  building  within  the  limits  above  described 
which  is  not  burned  to  ashes,  and  this  seems  to  have 
escaped  through  a  miracle — it  is  numbered  91  to  99  Har- 
rison street,  corner  of  i!^orth  avenue.  The  streets  which 
run  north  and  south  are  Michigan  avenue,  Wabash  ave- 
nue, State,  Dearborn,  Clark,  La  Salle,  Wells,  Sherman, 
Griswold  and  Market.  This  section  of  the  city 
contained  the  glory  of  our  architecture,  and  the  palatial 
residences  of  some  of  our  most  wealthy  citizens.  The 
names  of  individual  owners  can  not  be  given,  but  the 
prominent  business  structures  were  the  depot  of  the 
Lake  Shore,  and  Chicago  and  Eock  Island  and  Pacific 
Railroad,  on  Van  Buren,  from  Sherman  to  Griswold, 
and  south  to  Harrison;  the  Pacific  Hotel,  which  w.a^ 
ready  for  the  roof,  and  occupied  a  block.  The  Custom 
House,  which  is  gutted,  the  whitened  walls  alone  stand- 
ing, Honore's  blocks,  finished  and  unfinished,  on  Dear- 
born, from  Monroe  to  Adams,  the  Tribune  building,  the 
Times  oflace,  the  Post  building,  the  office  of  the  Staats 
Zeitung,  and  numerous  publications.  The  elegant  struct- 
ure known  as  the  Lake  Side  Press  building,  on  Clark, 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  library,  the  Re- 
public Insurance  building,  Farwell  Hall,  McVicker's 
Theater,  the  Clifton  House,  the  Academy  of  Design, 
Coan  &  Ten  Broeck's  Manufacturing  Company's  build- 
ing on  Adams  street,  the  Palmer  House,  St.  Mary's  St. 
Paul's  Catholic  Church,  Universalist,  Second  Presbyte- 
rian,   Trinity    Episcopal    Church,    First    Presbyterian 


West  Side.  §5 

Church,  Michigan  avenue,  Terrace  Row,  the  Chicago 
Club,  Potter  Palmer's  new  hotel,  (unfinished)  Robert 
Law's  coal  yard,  Rogers  &  Co.'s  coal  yard,  the  largest 
firms  in  the  city,  the  Jewish  Synagogue,  northeast  cor- 
ner of  Fourth  avenue  and  Harrison  street,  the  New 
Club  on  Harrison  and  State,  the  Bigelow  House  on 
Dearborn  and  Adams,  which  would  have  been  opened 
this  week.  All  the  bridges  over  the  river,  from  Madi- 
son to  Twelfth  street,  are  burned.  On  the  West  Side 
the  ravages  were  dire,  sweeping  away  the  great  manu- 
factories, and  mills,  and  the  elevators  of  that  section 
were  burned,  together  with  two  large  ice  houses,  section 
"  C  "  of  the  warehouses  alone  being  saved.  The  apex  of 
the  field  of  desolation,which  is  an  horizontal  cone,  is  at  the 
corner  of  De  Koven  and  Jefiferson  streets,  and  from  there 
the  burnt  track  sweeps  northeast,  widening  and  widen- 
ing for  the  distance  of  some  five  miles,  while  the  dis- 
tance to  the  lake  is  almost  between  Jefierson  and  the 
river  east  and  west,  and  Van  Buren  and  De  Koven,  the 
first  street  north  of  Twelfth,  north  and  south,  and  from 
any  point  can  be  seen  a  dozen  or  more  tall  chimneys 
marking  the  sites  of  as  many  enormous  manufacturing 
buildings.  None  of  them  can  be  named  accurately. 
The  Chicago  Dock  Company's  warehouse,  on  Taylor 
street,  and  the  Pittsburgh  and  Fort  Wayne  Railroad. 

The  thoroughfares  are  crowded  with  a  constantly  flow- 
ing stream  of  people  which  seems  to  take  its  rise  at  Mad- 
ison street  bridge  and  move  sluggishly  along  through 
the  streets  and  avenues,  gazing  at  the  burnt  and  burning 
ruins. 

With  but  one  or  two  exceptions,  the  walls  of  buildings 
on  Lake  street  have  fallen  in. 

The  ruins  of  the  jewelry,  grocery  and  other  stores  on 
Lake  and  South  Water  streets,  are  being  ransacked  by 
hundreds  of  people. 

The  Eastern  Illinois  Elevator  stands  uninjured. 

The  walls  of  the  Marine  Hospital  are  mostly  standing. 


"^  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

All  the  bridges  over  the  river,  from  the  South  to  the 
North  Divisions  are  gone. 

A  gentleman  we  saw  this  morning,  who  had  been  in 
Paris  during  the  past  year,  says  the  devastation  there 
did  not  compare  with  Chicago  this  morning. 

Among  the  hundreds  of  buildings  on  Lake  street  that 
in  themselves  would  have  made  an  extensive  conflagra- 
tion, not  even  the  walls  of  one  is  standing. 

m   THE   NORTH    DIVISION. 

The  scene  in  the  North  Division,  from  the  time  the 
flames  showed  their  terrible  presence  there,  beggars 
description  approaching  anything  like  what  really  oc- 
curred. Those  who  had  time  caused  their  furniture  and 
other  effects  to  be  placed  on  the  sidewalk  in  front  of  the 
various  buildings  in  which  they  resided,  ready  to  be 
carted  ofi^.  Before,  however,  vehicles  of  any  kind  could 
be  procured,  the  flames  had  devoured  the  interposing 
structures,  and  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  write  it  had 
seized  upon  the  piles  of  furniture  and  driven  the  owners 
away  to  seek  security.  This  occurred  in  thousands  of 
instances.  Many  succeeded  in  reaching  what  they  con- 
sidered a  safe  distance  from  the  fire,  but  in  half  an  hour 
were  forced  to  flee  again  and  again,  many  families  mov- 
ing half  a  dozen  times,  in  face  of  the  fearful  element 
each  time,  leaving  behind  the  portion  of  goods  they  had 
saved,  until  flnally  they  found  that  they  had  lost  all. 
Toward  the  lake,  northward,  northeastward,  flocked  the 
thousands  of  pallid  featured  citizens,  in  all  conditions  of 
health  and  distress.  It  would  take  too  much  time  and 
space  to-day  to  describe  the  heart-rending  spectacles 
which  were  presented  and  witnessed.  All  means  of 
communication  were  cut  ofl',  which  fact  tended  to  ren- 
der the  general  horror,  dismay  and  confusion  the  more 
general  as  the  flames  pressed  onward,  and  no  one  knew 
where  to  go  or  where  the  dreadful  conflagration  would 
end.  Expressmen  and  others  demanded  from  $25  to 
$100  a  load,  to  even  take  sufferers  and  their  baggage  out 


Real  Estate  Titles  Destroyed.  37 

of  reacli  of  the  flames,  and  in  mauy  instances  such  sums 
were  paid  by  persons  who  soon  found  the  flames  close  at 
hand  and  then  being  unable  to  obtain  more  aid  had  to 
leave  all  their  goods  to  the  fury  of  the  greedy  element. 

All  that  portion  of  the  city  lying  between  the  river, 
east  of  Clark  street  and  west  of  the  lake,  and  as  far  north 
as  Fullerton  avenue,  is  entirely  destroyed,  except  the 
residence  of  W.  B.  Ogden,  corner  Clark  and  Oak  streets, 
and  nearly  all  the  glass  observatory,  and  also  three  or  four 
buildings  west  of  Lincoln  Park.  These  few  land-marks 
are  all  that  remain  of  that  once  beautiful  part  of  the 
city.  Even  the  "  City  of  the  Dead," — the  old  burying- 
ground — was  not  exempt  from  the  ravages  of  the  fire,  it 
being  burned  over,  leaving  tomb-stones  looking  most 
sad. 

There  are  only  four  buildings  left  standing  on  the 
South  Side  below  Van  Buren  street.  Those  four  are  the 
Custom  House,  the  Court  House,  the  First  National  Bank 
building,  and  the  Tribune  building.  They  were  all  com- 
pletely burned  out,  nothing  remaining  except  the  walls 
and  parts  of  partitions.  We  doubt  if  any  of  them  can 
ever  be  used  again  except  the  Custom  House.  Those 
immense  walls  seem  to  have  stood  the  fire  test  without 
flinching.  The  masonry  of  the  other  three  has  been 
very  seriously  impaired. 

REAL   ESTATE   TITLES   DESTROYED, 

All  the  records  of  deeds  and  mortgages  are  destroyed. 
This  includes  all  the  real  estate  not  only  in  Chicago,  but 
in  Cook  county,  with  its  numerous  suburban  towns. 
Fortunately  the  abstracts  of  titles  in  the  ofiice  of  Shortall 
&  Hoard,  conveyancers,  are  known  to  be  safe.  There  is 
great  hope  that  when  the  vaults  are  opened  at  the  other 
abstract  offices,  the  record  books  which  are  intended  to 
be  perfect  copies  of  every  real  estate  tj^ansfer  in  the  coun- 
ty, are  safe.  There  are  several  of  them,  and  it  would  be 
strange  if  some  of  them  besides  the  one  already  examined 


38  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

are  not  safe.  A  leading  member  of  the  Chicago  bar 
gives. it  as  his  opinion  that  the  title  to  all  the  property 
in  the  county  can  be  re-established  by  means  of  these 
abstracts.  The  Legislature  will  probably  pass  some 
enabling  act  to  cover  the  case.  As  to  the  value  of  real 
estate,  it  is  now  entirely  indeterminate,  because  it  is  im- 
possible to  divine  where  the  future  business  center  will 
be.  The  latter  will  depend  upon  the  location  selected 
by  the  leading  business  houses,  which  are  already  in  con- 
sultation. 

BANKS. 

There  is  not  a  bank  left  in  all  Chicago,  unless  it  be 
some  little  house  remote  from  what  was  the  center  of 
business.  The  actual  losses  of  the  bankers  can  not  be 
computed,  even  approximately,  in  any  one  case.  One 
thing  we  are  authorized  to  state  positively.  The  banks 
will  resume  regular  business  in  a  few  days.  It  should 
be  added  that  the  Union  Stock  Yards  National  Bank  is 
the  only  National  Bank  now  in  working  order  in  Cook 
county.  The  Cook  County  National  Bank  suffered  less 
than  any  other,  because  the  farthest  south  of  any.  It 
was  located  in  the  northern  corner  of  the  Honore  block. 
The  Union  National  was  the  first  to  go,  although  the 
Northwestern  and  Corn  Exchange,  located  in  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce,  went  about  the  same  time.  Indeed, 
it  was  not  an  hour  after  those  on  the  ground  thought 
any  bank  in  danger,  before  all,  unless  it  were  the  First 
National  and  the  Cook  County  National,  were  in  flames. 

The  Directors  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  held  a 
m.eeting  this  morning,  and  resolved  to  commence  the 
erection  of  a  new  building  to-morrow. 

The  building  now  occupied  by  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce is  already  furnished  with  a  telegraph  office,  mak- 
ing communication  with  the  principal  points  East  and 
West. 

The  burned  district  embraces  all  of  the  South  Division 
of  the  city  lying  north  of  Harrison  street — more  than  a 


In  the  Suburbs.  39 

square  mile  of  the  business  heart  of  the  city.  lu  all  that 
area,  covered  two  days  ago  with  marble  business  places 
filled  with  merchandize  and  the  fabrics  of  all  the  world, 
there  remains  standing  but  a  single  building  untouched 
by  fire.  Elevator  A,  with  its  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
bushels  of  grain,  escaped  even  a  touch  of  the  demon  of 
destruction.  Perched  upon  the  extreme  northwest  point 
of  the  South  Division  where  the  river  and  the  lake  min- 
gle their  waters,  this  great  granary,  partly  because  of 
its  somewhat  isolated  position,  and  more  because  of  its 
rare  good  fortune,  escaped  destruction. 

The  ]^orth  Division  has  been  terribly  scourged. 
Stretching  from  the  Lake  to  the  North  Branch,  and  from 
the  main  river  to  beyond  Lincoln  Park,  everything  is 
swept  away  except  a  little  group  of  dwellings  near  Divis- 
ion street.  Fully  three  square  miles  of  buildings,  busi- 
ness houses  and  residences,  including  many  of  the 
costliest  dwellings  in  Chicago,  were  devastated  over 
there. 

In  the  West  Division  the  fire  started  between  Twelfth 
and  DeKoven,  running  northeasterly  to  Van  Buren  and 
Jefierson  streets,  burning  a  narrow  strip  through  the  en- 
tire distance,  it  at  once  laid  out  its  plans  for  a  big  job.  In 
a  few  hours  nothing  was  left  standing  between  Van 
Buren  and  Adams  to  the  South  Branch.  More  than  half 
a  mile  square  of  densely  built-up  territory  was  converted 
-into  a  mass  of  smouldering  ruins.  Founderies,  machine 
shops,  manufactories  of  various  kinds,  elevators  filled 
with  grain,  coal  yards  filled  with  coal,  railroad  freight 
houses,  etc.,  were  carried  down  in  common  ruin. 

IN  THE  SUBURBS. 

Around  about  Hyde  Park,  south  of  the  city,  the  ex- 
citement and  anxiety  was  intense.  The  straggling  and 
unconnected  accounts  of  the  fire  and  its  progress,  the 
dift'erent  buildings  which  were  already  reported  in  flames, 
and  those  the  hungry  element  was  commencing  to  de- 
vour ;  the  bridges  all  gone ;   the  railroad  depots  gone 


40  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

and  going — were  rehearsed  to  eager  listeners,  and  by 
them  told  again  to  others.  The  early  train  brought  out 
the  news  as  far  south  as  the  crossing,  but  the  stories  told 
were  apparently  so  incredible,  and  seemingly  so  impossi- 
ble, that  even  the  most  credulous  believed  they  were 
exaggerated. 

The  major  portion  of  the  people  in  Hyde  Park  town- 
ship do,  or  rather  did,  business  in  Chicago,  and  as  is  the 
case  in  all  country  villages,  everybody  knew  everybody 
else,  and  as  one  familiar  name  after  another  was  an- 
nounced as  overwhelmed  in  the  general  ruin,  the  strong' 
feeling  of  sympathy  was  manifested  in  the  most  pathetic 
and  condoling  ejaculations. 

At  "Woodlawn,  Messrs.  T.  S.  and  John  Fitch,  extensive 
real  estate  men,  and  owning  the  Post  Office  Block; 
James  Wadsworth,  on  Lake  street ;  J.  M.  Harvey,  cloth- 
ier on  Lake  near  Dearborn  ;  Dr.  Trine  and  others  of 
that  suburb  ;  Farrington,  Kelson,  Cady,  Waters,  Barrett, 
Root,  Favor,  Van  Higgins,  Jameson,  Bogues,  and  a  host 
of  others,  all  suffered  to  a  greater  or  lesser  degree. 

The  train  that  bore  the  victims  to  the  scene  of  their 
great  loss  was  delayed  by  the  passing  out  of  freight  and 
passenger  cars  from  the  sweep  of  the  fire,  and  the  feel- 
ing was  heightened  and  intensified  as  the  waiting  con- 
tinued, for  the  air  was  filled  with  the  wildest  rumors, 
and  the  knowledge  of  the  worst  would  be  far  preferable 
and  less  painful  than  the  state  of  uncertainty  which 
seemed  to  shroud  the  minds  of  all.  So  eager  were  the 
people  to  get  to  the  city  that  at  every  stoppage  many 
jumped  off,  and  either  walked  or  procured  other  convey- 
ance to  the  place  upon  which  all  thought  centered.  But 
the  half  had  not  been  told,  and  the  most  fearful  accounts 
of  the  wreck  and  ruin  were  but  a  faint  glimmer  of  th« 
fearful  and  wide-spread  desolation.  Seemingly  their 
cup  of  misery  was  not  yet  full,  for  as  darkness  began  to 
gather  over  the  city,  the  rumor  gained  ground  that  the 
woods  around  Woodlawn  were  afire,  and  that  the  resi- 


In  the  Suburbs.  41 

dences  were  in  great  danger.  Horror  pervaded  the 
minds  of  all — their  places  of  business  had  been  swept 
away,  and  now  their  homes  were  to  be  sacrificed.  Hap- 
pily the  rumor  was  found  to  be  false,  and  a  weight  was 
lifted  from  many  a  despondent  heart.  The  foundation 
for  the  report  was  the  fact  that  the  prairie  round  about 
was  on  fire,  but  it  was  controlled,  and  although  it  was 
reported  that  the  glue  factory  and  the  Casgrain  Hotel, 
at  Ainsworth  were  burned,  the  report  could  not  be  traced 
to  a  reliable  source. 


42  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 


CHAPTER  V. 

A  Graphic  Story — Statem.ent  of  Ex-Lieutenant  Governor 
Br  OSS,  of  The  Chicago  Tribune  —  Scenes  During  and 
After   the  Fire — Theodore    Tilton   on   the  Fire — George 

'     Alfred  Townsend's  Poem. 

From  the  New  York  Tribune  of  October  16th. 

Ex-Lieuteuant  Governor  Bross,  of  Illinois,  arrived  in 
this  city  from  Chicago  yesterday  morning.  A  Tribune 
reporter  called  upon  him  at  the  St.  Nicholas  Hotel,  im- 
mediately after  his  arrival,  and,  although  Governor 
Bross  was  suffering  greatly  from  fatigue  and  the  reaction 
consequent  on  the  excitement  of  the  last  few  days,  he 
kindly  and  cheerfully  dictated  the  following  statement 
of  his  experiences  during  the  conflagration.  Governor 
Bross  is  well  known  as  one  of  the  principal  proprietors 
of  the  Chicago  Tribune,  and  his  stat3ment  will  be  read 
with  the  greatest  interest. 

As  to  what  I  saw  of  the  fire.  About  two  o'clock  on 
Monday  morning  my  family  and  I  were  aroused  by  Mrs, 
Samuel  Bowles,  the  wife  of  the  proprietor  of  the  Spring- 
field Republican,  who  happened  to  be  a  guest  in  our 
house.  We  had  all  gone  to  bed  very  tired  the  night  be- 
fore, and  had  slept  so  soundly  that  we  were  unaware  of 
the  conflagration  till  it  had  assumed  terrible  force. 

My  family  were  all  very  much  alarmed  at  the  glare 
which  illuminated  the  sky  and  lake.  I  saw  at  once  that 
a  fearful  disaster  was  impending  over  Chicago,  and  im- 
mediately left  the  house  to  determine  the  locality  and 
extent  of  the  fire.  I  found  that  it  was  then  a  good  deal 
south  of  my  house  and  west  of  the  Michigan  Southern 
and  Rock  Island  Railroad  depots.  I  went  home  consid- 
erably reassured  in  half  an  hour,  and,  finding  my  family 
packing  things  up,  told  them  that  I  did  not  anticipate 


Statement  of  Ex-Lieutenant  Governor  Bross.  43 

danger  and  requested  them  to  leave  off  packing.  But,  I 
said :  "  The  result  of  this  night's  wbrk  will  be  awful. 
At  least  ten  thousand  people  will  want  breakfast  in  the 
morning;  you  prepare  breakfast  for  one  hundred?" 
This  they  proceeded  to  do,  but  soon  became  again  alarmed 
and  recommenced  packing.  Soon  after  half-past  two 
o'clock  I  started  for  the  Tribune  office  to  see  if  it  was  in 
any  danger.  By  this  time  the  fire  had  crossed  the  river, 
and  that  portion  of  the  city  south  of  Harrison  street, 
and  between  Third  avenue  and  the  river,  seemed  in  a 
blaze  of  fire,  as  well  as  on  the  west  side.  I  reached  the 
Tribune  office,  and,  seeing  no  cause  for  any  apprehension 
as  to  its  safety,  I  did  not  remain  there  more  than  twenty 
minutes.  On  leaving  the  office  I  proceeded  to  the  Ne- 
vada Hotel  (which  is  my  property,)  at  Washington  and 
Franklin  streets.  I  remained  there  for  an  hour  watching 
the  progress  of  the  flames  and  contemplating  the  ruin- 
ous destruction  ot  property  going  on  around.  The  fire 
had  passed  east  of  the  hotel,  and  I  hoped  that  the  build- 
ing was  safe  ;  but  it  soon  began  to  extend  in  a  westerly 
direction,  and  the  hotel  was  quickly  enveloped  in  flames. 
I  became  seriously  alarmed,  and  ran  round  IlTorth  street 
to  Randolph  street,  so  as  to  head  off  the  flames  and  get 
back  to  my  house,  which  was  on  Michigan  avenue,  on 
th«  shore  of  the  Lake.  My  house  was  a  part  of  almost 
the  last  block  burned. 

MAGNIFICENT  APPEARANCE  OF  THE  FIRE  WHEN  AT  ITS  HEIGHT. 

At  this  time  the  fire  was  the  most  grandly-magnifi- 
cent scene  that  one  can  conceive.  The  Court  House, 
Post  office,  Farwell  Hall,  the  Tremont  House,  Sherman 
House,  and  all  the  splendid  buildings  on  La  Salle  and 
Wells  streets,  were  burning  with  a  sublimity  of  effect 
which  astounded  me.  All  the  adjectives  in  the  language 
would  fail  to  convey  the  intensity  of  its  wonders. 
Crowds  of  men,  women  and  children,  were  huddling 
away,  running  first  in  one  direction,  then  in  another, 
shouting  and  crying  in  their  terror,  and  trying  to  save 


44  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

anything  they  could  lay  their  hands  on,  no  matter  how 
trivial  in  value ;  while  every  now  and  then  explosions, 
which  seemed  to  shake  the  solid  earth,  reverberated 
through  the  air  and  added  to  the  terrors  of  the  poor  peo- 
ple. I  crossed  Lake  street  bridge  to  the  west,  ran  north  ■ 
to  Kinsey  street  bridge,  and  crossed  over  east  to  the  north 
side,  hoping  to  head  off  the  fire.  It  had,  however,  al- 
ready swept  north  of  me,  and  was  traveling  faster  than 
I  could  go,  and  I  soon  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
would  be  impossible  for  me  to  get  east  in  that  direction. 
I  accordingly  recrossed  Kinsey  street  bridge,  and  went 
west  as  far  as  Desplaines  street,  where  I  fortunately  met 
a  gentleman  in  a  buggy,  who  very  kindly  drove  me  over 
Twelfth  street  bridge  to  my  house  on  Michigan  avenue. 
It  was  by  this  time  getting  on  toward  5  o'clock,  and  the 
day  was  beginning  to  break.  On  my  arrival  home  I 
found  my  horses  already  harnessed  and  my  riding-horse 
saddled  for  me.  My  family  and  some  friends  were  all 
busily  engaged  in  packing  up  and  in  distributing  sand- 
wiches and  coffee  to  all  who  wanted  them  or  could  spare 
a  minute  to  partake  of  them. 

BURNING  OF  THE  TRIBUNE  BUILDING,  AND  THE   DWELLINGS  ON 
MICHIGAN   AVENUE. 

I  immediately  jumped  on  my  horse,  and  rode  as  fast 
as  I  could  to  the  Tribune  office.  I  found  everything 
safe ;  the  men  were  all  there,  and  we  fondly  hoped  that 
all  danger  was  passed  as  far  as  we  were  concerned,  and 
for  this  reason  :  the  blocks  in  front  of  the  Tribune  build- 
ing on  Dearborn  street,  and  north  on  Madison  street, 
had  both  been  burned ;  the  only  damage  accruing  to  us 
being  confined  to  a  cracking  of  some  of  the  plate  glass 
windows  from  the  heat.  But  a  somewhat  curious  inci- 
dent soon  set  us  all  in  a  state  of  excitement.  The  fire 
had  unknown  to  us  crawled  under  the  sidewalk  from  the 
wooden  pavement,  and  had  caught  the  wood-work  of 
the  barber's  shop  which  comprises  a  portion  of  our  base- 


Burning  of  the  Tribune  Building,  &c.  45 

ment.  As  soon  as  we  ascertained  the  extent  of  the  mis- 
chief we  no  longer  apprehended  any  special  danger,  be- 
lieving, as  we  did,  that  the  building  was  fire-proof.  My 
associates,  Mr.  Medill  and  Mr.  White,  were  present;  and 
with  the  help  of  some  of  our  employes,  we  went  to  work 
with  water  and  one  of  Babcock's  Fire  Extinguishers. 
The  fire  was  soon  put  out,  and  we  once  more  returned  to 
business.  The  forms  had  been  sent  down  stairs,  and  I  or- 
dered our  foreman,  Mr.  Keller,  to  get  all  the  pressmen 
together,  in  order  to  issue  the  papers  as  soon  as  a  para- 
graph showing  how  far  the  fire  had  then  extended  could 
be  prepared  and  inserted.  Many  kind  friends  gathered 
around  the  ofiSce  and  warmly  expressed  their  gratifica- 
tion at  the  preservation  of  our  building.  Believing  all 
things  safe,  I  again  mounted  my  horse  and  rode  south 
on  State  street,  to  see  what  progress  the  fire  was  mak- 
ing, and  if  it  was  moving  eastward  on  Dearborn  street. 
To  my  great  surprise  and  horror,  I  found  that  its  cur- 
rent had  taken  an  easterly  direction,  nearly  as  far  as 
State  street,  and  that  it  was  also  advancing  in  a  north- 
erly direction  with  terrible  swiftness  and  power.  I  at 
once  saw  the  danger  so  imminently  threatening  us,  and 
with  some  friends  endeavored  to  obtain  some  powder  for 
the  purpose  of  blowing  up  some  buildings  south  of  the 
Palmer  House.  Failing  in  finding  any  powder,  I  pro- 
posed to  tear  them  down.  I  proceeded  to  Church's 
•hardware  store  and  succeeded  in  procuring  a  dozen 
heavy  axes,  and,  handing  them  to  my  friends,  requested 
them  to  mount  the  buildings  with  me  and  literally 
"  chop  them  down."  All  but  two  or  three  seemed  ut- 
terly paralyzed  at  this  unexpected  change  in  the  course 
of  the  fire ;  and  even  these,  seeing  the  others  stand  back, 
were  unwilling  to  make  the  eftbrt  alone.  At  this  mo- 
ment I  saw  that  some  wooden  buildings  and  a  new  brick 
house,  west  of  the  Palmer  House,  had  already  caught, 
fire.  I  saw  at  a  glance  that  the  Tribune  building  was 
doomed,  and  I  rode  back  to  the  oflice  and  told  them  that 


46  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

notliiug  more  could  be  done  to  save  the  building,  Mc- 
Yicker's  Theater,  or  anything  else  in  that  vicinity. 

In  this  hopeless  frame  of  mind  I  rode  home  to  look 
after  my  residence  and  family,  intently  watching  the 
ominous  eastward  movement  of  the  flames.  I  at  once 
set  to  work  with  my  family  and  friends  to  move  as  much 
.  of  my  furniture  as  possible  across  the  narrow  park  east 
of  Michigan  avenue,  on  to  the  shore  of  the  lake,  a  dis- 
tance of  about  three  hundred  feet.  At  the  same  time  I 
sent  my  family  to  the  house  of  some  friends  in  the  south 
part  of  the  city  for  safety ;  My  daughter.  Miss  Jessie 
Bross,  was  the  last  to  leave  us.  The  work  of  carrying 
our  furniture  across  the  avenue  to  the  shore  was  most 
diflicult  and  even  dangerous.  For  six  or  eight  hours 
Michigan  avenue  was  jammed  with  every  description  of 
vehicles  containing  families  escaping  from  the  city,  or 
baggage  wagons  laden  "vyith  goods  or  furniture.  The 
sidewalks  were  crowded  with  men,  women  and  children, 
all  carrying  something.  Some  of  the  things  saved  and 
carried  away  were  valueless.  One  woman  carried  an 
empty  bird-cage ;  another  an  old  work-box  ;  another 
some  dirty,  empty  baskets,  old,  useless  bedding,  any- 
thing that  could  be  hurriedly  snatched  up,  seemed  to 
have  been  carried  away  without  judgment  or  forethought. 
In  the  meantime  the  fire  had  lapped  up  the  Palmer 
House,  the  theaters,  and  the  Tribune  building ;  and,  con- 
trary to  our  expectations,  for  we  thought  the  current  of 
the  fire  would  pass  my  residence,  judging  by  the  direc- 
tion of  the  wind,  we  saw  by  the  advancing  clouds  of 
smoke  and  the  rapidly  approaching  flames  that  we  were 
in  imminent  peril.  The  fire  had  already  worked  so  far 
south  and  east  as  to  attack  the  stables  in  the  rear  of 
Terrace  Uloek,  between  Van  Buren  and  Congress  streets. 
Many  friends  rushed  into  the  houses  in  the  block  and 
helped  to  carry  out  heavy  furniture,  such  as  pianos  and 
bookcases.  We  succeeded  in  carrying  the  bulk  of  it  to 
the  shore,  where  it  now  lies  stored ;  much  of  it,  however, 


The  Appearance  of  the  City  After  the  Fire.  47 

i8  seriously  damaged.  There  I  and  a  few  others  sat  by 
our  household  goods,  calmly  awaiting  the  contemplated 
coming  destruction  of  our  property — one  of  the  most 
splendid  blocks  in  Chicago.  The  eleven  fine  houses 
which  composed  the  block  were  occupied  by  Denton 
Gurney,  Peter  L.  Yeo,  Mrs.  Humphreys,  (owned  by  Mrs. 
Walker,)  William  Bross,  P.  F.  W.  Peck,  S.  C.  Griggs, 
Tutnill  King,  Judge  U.  T.  Dickey,  General  Cook,  John 
L.  Clarke,  and  the  Hon.  J.  Y.  Scammon. 

THE  APPEARANCE  OF  THE    CITY  AFTER  THE   FIRE ENTERPRISE 

OF  THE  TRIBUNE. 

The  next  morning  I  was,  of  course,  out  early,  and 
found  the  streets  thronged  with  crowds  of  people  mov- 
ing in  all  directions.  To  me  the  sight  of  the  ruin,  though 
so  sad,  was  wonderful  to  a  degree,  and  especially  being 
wrought  in  so  short  a  time.  It  was  the  destruction  of 
the  entire  business  portion  of  one  of  the  greatest  cities 
in  the  world !  Every  bank  and  insurance  office,  law 
offices,  hotels,  theaters,  railroad  depots,  most  of  the 
churches,  and  many  of  the  principal  residences  of  the  city 
a  charred  mass,  and  property  without  estimate  gone  ! 

Mr.  White,  my  associate,  like  myself,  had  been  burned 
out  of  house  and  home.  He  had  removed  his  family  to 
a  place  of  safety,  and  I  had  no  idea  where  he  or  any  one 
else  connected  with  the  Tribune  office  might  be  found. 
My  first  point  to  make  was  naturally  the  site  of  our  late 
office ;  but  before  I  reached  it  I  met  two  former  tenants 
of  our  building  who  told  me  that  there  was  a  job  print- 
ing office  on  Randolph  street  that  could  probably  be 
bought. 

I  immediately  started  for  Randolph  street.  While 
making  my  way  west  through  the  crowds  of  people, 
over  the  Madison  street  bridge,  desolation  stared  me  in 
the  face  at  every  step.  And  yet  I  was  much  struck  with 
the  tone  and  temper  of  the  people.  On  all  sides  men 
said  to  one  another :  "  Cheer  up ;  we'll  be  all  right  again 
before  long;"  and  many  other  plucky  things.      Their 


4^  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

pluck  and  courage  was  wonderful.  Every  one  was 
bright,  cheerful,  pleasant,  hopeful,  and  even  inclined  to 
be  jolly  in  spite  of  the  misery  and  destitution  which 
surrounded  them  and  which  they  shared.  One  and  all 
said  Chicago  must  and  should  be  rebuilt  at  once.  On 
reaching  Canal  street,  on  my  way  to  purchase  the  print- 
ing office  I  had  heard  of,  I  was  informed  that  while  Mr. 
"White  and  I  were  saving  our  families  and  as  much  of 
our  furniture  as  we  could  on  Monday  afternoon,  Mr. 
Medill,  seeing  that  the  Tribune  office  must  inevitably  be 
burned,  sought  for  and  purchased  Edwards'  job  printing 
office,  IS"o.  15  Canal  street,  had  got  out  a  small  paper  in 
the  morning,  and  was  then  busy  organizing  things.  One 
after  another,  all  hands  turned  up,  and  by  the  afternoon 
we  had  improvised  the  back  part  of  the  room  into  our 
editorial  department,  while  an  old  wooden  box  did  duty 
as  a  business  counter  in  the  front  window.  We  were 
soon  as  busy  as  bees,  writing  editoi'ials  and  paragraphs, 
and  taking  in  any  number  of  advertisements.  By  eve- 
ning several  orders  for  type  and  fixtures  were  made  out, 
and  things  were  generally  so  far  advanced  that  I  left  for 
the  depot  at  Twenty-second  street,  with  the  intention 
of  coming  on  to  New  York.  Unfortunately  I  missed 
the  train,  and  had  to  wait  till  Wednesday  morning.  We 
shall  get  along  as  best  we  can  till  the  rebuilding  of  our 
office  is  finished.  Going  down  to  the  ruins  I  found  a 
large  section  thrown  out  of  the  north  wall  on  Madison 
street.  The  other  three  walls  are  standing;  but  the  east 
and  west  walls  are  so  seriously  injured  that  they  must 
be  pulled  down.  The  south  wall  is  in  good  condition. 
More  of  our  office  and  the  Post  office  remains  standing 
than  any  other  buildings  that  I  saw.  Our  building  was 
put  up  to  stand  a  thousand  years,  and  it  would  have 
done  so  but  for  that  awful  furnace  of  fire,  fanned  by  an 
intense  gale  on  the  windward  side,  literally  melting  it 
up  where  it  stood. 


The  Loss  Three  Hundred  Million  t>ollars.  49 

THE   LOSS   $300,000,000 — GRATITUDE    OP    THE    CHICAGO 
PEOPLE. 

With  regard  to  the  probable  loss  from  the  fire  it  is  im- 
possible to  say  anything  certain.  I  saw  an  estimate  the 
other  day  which  was  based  on  the  tax  list  of  the  city, 
which  is  over  $500,000,000;  and  the  writer  inferred  from 
that  list  that  the  loss  can  not  exceed  $125,000,000.  IsTow, 
according  to  our  system  of  taxation  in  Illinois,  this  city 
tax  list  never  shows  anything  like  the  proper  amount  of 
property  in  the  city.  To  my  knowledge,  houses  having 
from  $20,000  to  $30,000  worth  of  furniture  in  them  are 
not  rated  at  more  than  $2,000  to  $4,000.  Stocks  of 
goods  were  never  valued  among  us  at  more  than  one- 
fifth  or  one-tenth  of  their  real  value  on  the  tax  list.  All 
our  merchants  had  just  filled  up  their  stores  with  fall 
and  winter  trade  stocks.  From  these  and  other  facts  I 
estimate  the  loss  by  the  fire  at  considerably  over  $200,- 
000,000,  and,  if  damage,  depreciation  of  real  estate  and 
property,  and  loss  of  business  are  considered,  the  losa 
would,  in  my  judgment,  exceed  $300,000,000. 
From  the  Independent. 

Chicago — incomparable  in  her  magic  industry,  enter- 
prise, and  growth;  unapproachable  in  her  calamity! 

Pen  cannot  express  the  horror  of  that  fearful  Sunday 
night,  that  more' fearful  Monday;  and  even  as  we  write 
on  Tuesday  the  destruction  is  unstayed.  Sunday  morn- 
ing Chicago  was  the  fairest,  as  she  was  the  most  auda- 
cious city  on  the  continent.  Built  up  from  creamy 
quarries,  lifted  like  a  sudden  exhalation,  as  if  from  the 
magic  nest  of  some  mighty  Mulciber,  and  solid,  it 
seemed,  and  secure,  except  from  the  visitation  of  God, 
it  has  sunk  down  into  the  earth — wood,  brick,  stone  and 
iron — under  His  visitation  in  the  most  terrible  fiery  ruin 
that  history  recounts ! 

It  had  not  seemed  possible.  Human  skill,  we  had 
thought,  in  years  of  conflict  against  the  demon  of  flame, 
had  secured  the  advantage.    The  fire  started  in  a  wooden 


■60  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

quarter.  But  Chicago  was  built  of  brick  and  stone. 
Yet,  once  started,  the  flames  lapped  up  even  the  build- 
ings deemed  absolutely  fire -proof.  Chicago  had  grand 
waterworks,  and  an  abundant  supply  of  water ;  she  had 
the  best  modern  appliances  for  fighting  fire  with  water 
and  steam.  But  when  the  fiend  got  way,  and  his  rage 
was  fanned  by  the  fierce  gale,  he  mocked  all  the  futile 
attempts  of  man  to  stay  his  course.  He  laid  Chicago — 
fresh,  grand,  beautiful  Chicago — all  in  ruins  ! 

What  can  we  say  more?  We  do  not  yet  know  the 
worst.  But  we  know  that  already  an  area  oi  five  square 
miles  is  covered  with  blackened  walls — and  the  flames 
are  unquenched !  We  know  that  the  Court  House — 
twenty  years  in  building,  half  the  life-time  of  the  city — 
was  swept  away  in  thirty  minutes ;  that  the  Sherman 
House,  and  the  new  Pacific  Hotel,  the  largest  in  the 
world,  have  perished ;  that  those  monster  railroad 
depots,  and  those  grain  elevators,  which  Chicago  invented, 
and  which  were  just  then  filled  to  repletion  with  six  mil- 
lion bushels  of  wheat  and  corn,  are  all  destroyed;  that 
no  newspaper  will  this  (Tuesday)  morning  show  Chica- 
go's houseless  wanderers  the  callous  figures  that  indi- 
cate its  loss,  for  their  type  is  all  melted  by  the  flames ; 
that  by  the  destruction  of  its  telegraph  stations  the 
doomed  city  has  once  again  been  cut  off"  from  communi- 
cation with  the  sympathizing  world ;  that  the  gasworks 
and  waterworks  are  gone,  and  that  when  the  flames  are 
extinguished  the  city  will  be  in  darkness,  and  its  chil- 
dren will  suffer  for  water ;  that,  in  short,  the  entire  busi- 
ness part  of  the  city  and  miles  in  extent  of  its  residences 
are  in  ashes.  The  great  fire  in  'Eqw  York  in  1835  de- 
stroyed 648  houses.  This  has  leveled  12,000.  The  great 
fire  in  London  in  1666  ravaged  436  acres.  This  covers 
over  three  thousand  acres  with  ruins.  That  fire — which, 
like  this,  burned  from  a  fatal  Sunday  through  three  days, 
consumed  the  infection  of  the  plague,  and  in  time  re- 
placed the  narrow  lanes  and  the  wooden  structures  with 


Food  for  Chicago.  1^ 

solid  masonry  and  with  broad  streets — destroyed  by  a 
liberal  computation  fifty  million  dollars  of  wealth.  A 
lik6  computation  will  count  the  losses  of  Chicago  by 
hundreds  of  millions,  and  will,  for  a  season,  cripple  the 
<;ommerce  of  the  continent ;  but  no  such  incidental,  last^ 
ing  gain  will  follow  from  the  destruction  of  a  new  city, 
that  had  been  built  with  no  stint  of  money  and  skill. 

Last  week  a  public  spirited  citizen  of  Cincinnati  pre- 
sented to  that  city  the  most  beautiful  and  costly  fountain 
-ever  yet  set  up  in  any  plaza  in  the  world.     All  day, 
throughout  all  time,  was  it  stipulated,  that  its  sprays  and 
jets  of  water  should  spirt  and  flirt  their  fairy  foam  to 
delight  the  children  and  nursery-maids  that  shall  play 
about  it  for  generations  after  Mr.  Probasco  is  dead.    It 
is  a  purely  modern  device,  with  not  a  suggestion  of  Am- 
phitrite,  nor  of  her  nymphs  and  dolphins,  and  yet  in 
severely  classic  taste.     Above  its  polished  granite  col- 
umns, its  basins  and  its  statuary,  rises  a  majestic  figure 
of  the  Genius  of  Water,  distributing  her  flowing  treas- 
ures for  the  myriad  comforts  and  needs  of  man.     There 
is  nothing  more  striking  among  the  bronze  groups  below 
her  than  the  colossal  figure  of  a  man,  driven  to  the  roof 
of  his  burning  house,  holding  an  empty  bucket,  and  sup- 
plicating the  Genius  above  for  the  saving  element.    How 
soon  we  have  its  counterpart !     The  Mayor  of  Chicago 
telegraphs  to  Milwaukee,  to  Cincinnati,  for  aid  to  quench 
the  devouring  flames  :     "  Send  us  all  the  steamers  you 
can  spare  ! "     And  when  the  mad  fire  has  disabled  those 
monster  engines  that  supply  th^  city  with  water,  hear 
the  despairing  note  which  sounds  across  the  prairies  and 
passes  down  the  Mississippi  to  her  old  rival,  St.  Louis : 
** The  city  is  burned  up;  the  waterworks  are  gone;  send 
us  food  for  a  hundred  thousand  homeless  people ! " 

Food  for  Chicago !  Food  for  the  granary  of  the  West ! 
This  is  the  cry  to-day.  And  for  weeks  to  come  there 
will  be  a  call  for  all  the  aid  that  the  benevolent  can  sup- 
ply.   Let  the  President  unrebuked  assume  war  powers 


52  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

to  answer  the  call.  Let  Cincinuati  rival  St.  Louis  in  the 
lahor  of  mercy.  Let  pluDdered  i^ew  York  pour  forth 
her  yet  unsquandered  wealth.  Let  church  vie  with 
church,  and  man  with  man ;  and  let  no  Christian  and  no 
citizen  withhold  his  bounty. 

And  to  the  God  of  mercy — whose  overmastering  pow- 
ers of  fire  or  of  flood  man  thus  learns  that  he  can  not 
curb — let  the  prayer  go  up  for  the  homeless  and  the 
suffering. 


[From  the  Cincinnati  Commercial. 
THE  SMITTEN  CITY. 


BY  GEORGE  ALFRED  TOWNSEND. 


I  heard  a  parson  of  the  school  of  Baalam 
Lift  up  the  lesson  of  the  flaming  town, 

And,  like  a  peddler  in  the  will  of  Heaven, 

Show  how  its  sins  invoked  the  Sovereign  frown. 

Thus  the  dead  lion  ever  is  insulted 
By  asses'  colts,  whose  pity  is  a  blow. 

And  fallen  empires  find  their  last  misfortune 
In  shallow  platitudes  from  fool  and  foe. 

Bright,  Christian  capital  of  lakes  and  prairie. 
Heaven  had  no  interest  in  thy  scourge  and  scath 

Thou  wert  the  newest  shrine  of  our  religion. 
The  youngest  witness  of  our  hope  and  faith. 

Not  in  thy  embers  do  we  rake  for  folly. 
But  like  a  martyr's  ashes  gather  thee. 

With  chastened  pride  and  tender  melancholy, — 
The  miracle  thou  wast,  and  yet  will  be  I 

Not  merely  in  the  homages  of  churches, 

Or  bells  of  praise  tolled  o'er  the  inland  seas, — 

Thou  glorified  our  God  and  human  nature 
With  meeter  works  and  grander  melodies. 

Of  cheerful  toil  and  willing  eterprises. 
Of  hearty  faith  in  freedom  and  in  man ; 

The  hoar  old  capitals  looked  on  in  wonder 

To  see  the  swift,  strong  race  this  stripling  ran. 


The  Smitten  City.  53 

How  like  the  sun  he  rose  above  the  marshes, 
And  built  the  world  beneath  his  airy  feet, 

And  changed  the  course  of  immemorial  rivers, 
And  tapped  the  lakes  for  water  cool  and  sweet. 

How  skillfully  the  golden  grain  transmuted 

To  birds  of  sail  and  meteors  of  spark, 
And,  like  another  Noah,  bade  creation 

March  in  the  teeming  mazes  of  his  ark. 

Yet  in  his  power,  most  frank  and  democratic, 
He  roused  no  envious  witness  of  his  joy; 

And  in  the  stature  of  the  Prince  and  hero, 
We  saw  the  laughing  dimples  of  a  boy. 

Still  wise  and  apt  among  the  oldest  merchants, 
His  young  example  steered  the  wary  mart, 

And  amplest  credit  poured  its  gold  ai-ound  him 
And  trade  imperial  gave  scope  for  art. 

His  architectures  passed  all  heathen  splendor. 
The  immigrating  G-oth  drew  wondering  near  ; 

To  see  his  shafts  and  arches  tall  and  slender 
Branch  o'er  the  new  homes  of  this  pioneer. 

The  Greek  and  Eoman  there  might  see  rebuilded, 

In  vastness  equal  and  in  stj'le  as  pure. 
The  merchants'  markets  like  a  palace  gilded, 

With  marble  walls  and  deep  entablature. 

His  two  score  bridges  swinging  on  their  pivots. 
The  long  and  laden  line  of  vessels  speed. 

While  he,  impatient,  marched  beneath  the  sluices 
His  hosts,  like  Cyrus,  in  the  river's  bed. 

Then,  when  all  weak  predictions  proved  but  scandal^ 
And  the  wild  marshes  grew  a  sovereign's  home, 

A  dozing  cow  o'erset  an  urchin's  candle, — 
Once  more  a  fool  fired  the  Ephesian  dome. 

The  artless  winds  that  blew  o'er  plains  of  cattle, 
And  cooled  the  corn  through  all  the  summer  days, 

Plunged  like  wild  steeds  in  pastime  or  in  battle. 
Straight  in  the  blinding  brightness  of  the  blaze. 

And  down  fell  bridge,  and  parapet,  and  lintle. 
The  blazing  barques  went  drifting,  one  by  one, 

The  mighty  city  wrapped  its  head  in  splendor, 
And  sank  into  the  waters  like  a  sun ! 


54  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

Oh !  thou,  my  master,  champion  of  the  people. 
Tribune  august,  who  e'er  kept  righteous  court, 

Long  after  fire  had  toppled  church  and  steeple, 
Thou  stoodst  amid  the  ruins  like  a  fort. 

High  and  serene  thy  cornices  extended, 

Though  scorched  by  smoke  and  of  the  flame  the  prey^ 
Above  the  vault  where,  grim,  and  calm,  and  splendid, 

The  sleeping  lions  of  thy  presses  lay. 

Till  looking  round  thee  on  the  wondrous  pity, 

Thyself  alone  erect,  intact,  upreared. 
Disdaining  to  outlive  the  glorious  city. 

With  innate  heat  transfigured,  disappeared. 

Yet,  from  the  grave  Chicago's  wonderous  spirit 

Comes  forth  all  brightness,  o'er  the  darkened  town 

To  say  again:  "Lo  !  I  am  with  yon  brethren : 
With  all  my  thorns,  I  wear  my  civic  crown. 

•'  To  die  is  sweet  embalmed  in  your  compassion 
Your  oil  and  wine  make  life  in  every  rent, 
Oh  !  let  me  lean  a  little  while  upon  you. 

And  walk  to  strength  in  your  encouragemeii 
Cincinnati,  October  13,  1871. 


The  Rehuilding  of  Chicago.  55 


OHAPTEE  VI. 

The  Rebuilding  of  Chicago — Energetic  Action  Looking  Thereto 
— The  Great  Fires  of  Other  Cities — A  Hopeful  Picture — 
Chicago  Must  Rise  Again. 

The  following  telegraphic  dispatch  passed  over  the  wires 
from  Chicago  on  the  13th  of  October,  but  two  or  three  days 
after  the  conflagration  had  laid  the  business  portion  of  the 
city  in  ruins.  This  will  serve  to  show  the  indomitable  char- 
acter of  the  merchants  and  others  of  the  Lake  city : 

THE   REBUILDING   OP   CHICAGO. 

Chicago,  October  13. — The  dawn  of  each  succeding  day 
brings  brighter  prospects  for  the  smitten  city,  and  the  feel- 
ing of  hope  and  faith  which  springs  up  within  the  breasts  of 
the  energetic  men  who  have  made  Chicago  what  it  was,  is 
strengthened  and  extended  every  hour.  Twenty-one  of  the 
twenty-four  columns  of  this  morning's  Tribune  are  filled 
with  advertisements  of  business  firms  who  have  already  se- 
cured new  locations,  and  are  either  now  ready,  or  will  be  in 
a  few  days,  for  business.  Stocks  of  new  goods  are  already 
on  the  way  here.  Builders  are  overwhelmed  with  applica- 
tions to  put  up  new  buildings  for  business  purposes.  One 
contractor  had,  last  night,  sixteen  contracts  for  substantial 
structures,  to  be  erected  at  once.  The  Tribune's  commercial 
article  says  there  is  still  but  little  doing  in  produce  circles, 
but  our  commission  merchants  and  grain  dealers  are  hard  at 
work  preparing  to  open  out  again  on  a  full  scale,  just  as  soon 
as  the  pecuniary  arrangements  will  permit,  which  will  be  in 
a  day  or  two,  probably  by  the  first  of  next  week.  Many  of 
them  are  busy  helping  distribute  food  and  clothing  to  the 
destitute.  The  remainder  are  fitting  up  oflSces  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  the  temporary  Trade  Eooms,  at  Nos.  51  and  53  Canal 
street,  where  the  Board  will  do  business  till  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  can  be  rebuilt. 

Some  grain  is  moving  out.     Four  charters  were  reported 
to-day.     It  is  expected  the  grain  will  be  moved  out  much 


56  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

more  rapidly  towards  Monday,  as  the  banks  will  be  able  to 
make  advances  by  that  time. 

BANK    VAULTS    ALL    SAFE, 

So  far  none  of  the  bank  vaults  have  been  found  at  all  in- 
jured. The  Union  Nationals,  which  were  at  first  reported 
blown  up,  are  in  a  correct  condition  so  far  as  the  contents 
are  concerned.  The  safes  of  the  Fidelity  were  found,  when 
opened,  to  have  no  hurt,  and  every  dollar  of  the  millions  on 
deposit  there  was  safe.  C.  Wilson  took  out  $30,000  in  fresh, 
clean  greenbacks.  The  Company  have  established  an  office 
in  the  ruins,  and  invite  all  to  bring  their  money  and  other 
valuables  there,  and  deposit  them,  free  of  charge,  until  they 
can  get  better  accommodations.  The  savings  banks  of  the 
city  announce  that  they  will  at  once  pay  in  full  all  deposit- 
ors whose  deposits  do  not  exceed  $20,  and  not  less  than  $20, 
and  $20  to  every  depositor  whose  balance  is  more  than  that 
sum. 

The  agents  of  the  ^tna  Insurance  Company  commenced 
at  once  to  adjust  and  pa}'  their  losses,  which  they  say  will 
not  exceed  two  and  a  half  or  three  million  dollars. 

CONDITION    OF   THE    WOODEN   PAVEMENT. 

It  was  at  first  thought  that  most  all  the  Nicholson  pave- 
ments of  the  city  had  been  consumed,  but  this  is  found  no* 
to  be  the  case.     In  this  connection  a  dispatch  says: 

A  noticeable  fact,  and  one  of  immense  importance  in  the 
rebuilding  of  the  city  is  the  almost  perfect  condition  in 
which  the  fire  has  left  the  Nicholson  pavement.  The  dam- 
age is  so  trifling  as  not  to  be  worthy  of  mention.  Miles  of 
pavement  on  the  North  Side  are  almost  unscorched,  and  per- 
fectly free  of  debris ;  and  even  in  the  South  Division,  where 
both  sides  of  the  streets  were  lined  with  lofty  brick  and 
stone  buildings,  there  is  scarcely  a  point  where  a  carriage 
may  not  be  safely  driven  through  the  streets.  Indeed,  ex- 
cept where  buildings  were  blown  up,  or  partially  blown  up, 
in  the  endeavor  to  stop  the  progress  of  the  flames,  the  ruins 
have  almost  invariably  fallen  upon  their  own  sites.  At 
points  where  the  pavements  were  burned  at  all,  the  fire  only 
charred  the  outside ;  and  it  is  a  question  whether  the  pro- 
cess to  which  they  were  subjected  will  not  add  to  their  dur- 
ability. 


Preparations  for  Rebuilding.  57 

PREPARATIONS   FOR   REBUILDING. 

The  Commercial  and  National  Banks  will  recommence 
building  on  their  old  sites  at  once.  Meanwhile,  they  reopened 
for  business  on  West  Washington  street.  They  opened  their 
vaults  and  found  all  their  books,  papers  and  securities  in  per- 
fect order.  There  is  a  rumor  that  in  a  burnt  blacksmith 
shop  on  Eush  street  the  bodies  of  fifteen  men  were  found 
burned  to  a  crisp,  they  having  rushed  into  the  shop  to  escape 
from  the  flames,  which  had  surrounded  them  before  they  dis- 
covered their  peril.  Immense  numbers  of  people  were  miss- 
ing, and  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  discovery  of  the 
missing  ones,  a  Central  Intelligence  Office  was  established 
where  the  names  of  all  missing  could  be  left  and  given  to 
the  police. 

The  large  hotel  in  the  West  Division,  just  completed,  has 
been  taken  by  Gage  Bros.  &  Eice,  late  of  the  Sherman 
House,  and  they  will  open  it  in  ten  days.  It  will  be  known 
as  the  Sherman  House.  The  entire  North  Division  is  swept 
clear  from  the  Chicago  Eiver  to  Wright's  Grove,  a  distance 
of  more  than  three  miles.  But  one  house,  that  of  Mahlon 
D.  Ogden,  formerly  Hon.  William  B.  Ogden's,  remains  stand- 
ing in  the  entire  district.  A  large  portion  of  the  population 
driven  from  this  desolated  ground  are  encamped  on  the  prai- 
rie to  the  north,  where  they  have  nothing  but  the  canopy  of 
Heaven  to  cover  them,  and  scarcely  sufficient  food  to  satisfy 
their  hunger. 

A  meeting  of  citizens  of  this  State  was  held,  at  which  res- 
olutions were  passed  recommending  Governor  Palmer  to  call 
an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature  at  once.  Ex-Goveinor 
Oglesby  was  appointed  to  proceed  to  Springfield  to  lay  the 
matter  before  Governor  Palmer. 

All  the  packing  houses  in  Chicago,  and  many  of  the  eleva- 
tors remain  uninjured,  and  these  two  branches  of  Chicago's 
best  property  will  be  but  slightly  interrupted.  The  Direc- 
tor's of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  met  and  resolved  to  pro- 
ceed at  once  to  the  re-erection  of  their  elegant  edifice.  Two 
companies  of  United  States  Infantry  arrived  and  was  at  once 
put  on  patrol  duty. 


58  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

THE   GREAT   FIRES   OP   OTHER   CITIES. 

The  Chicago  Tribune  draws  the  following  comparison  be- 
tween this  and  the  great  fires  of  other  cities,  hopefully  clos- 
ing with  the  assertion  that  Chicago  must  rise  again. 

And  will  Chicago  recover  from  this  terrible  blow?  The 
energy,  the  enterprise,  the  progress  of  Chicago  has  been  a 
marvel,  and  we  expect  that  wonderful  energy  will  be  still 
further  exhibited  in  the  rapid  rebuilding  of  the  waste  places 
and  on  more  durable  foundations.  The  tinder-boxes  that 
have  been  food  for  the  flames  should  not  be  replaced  to  make 
fuel  for  another  conflagration.  The  calamity  at  Chicago 
should  be  a  lesson  to  all  cities,  and  our  own  should  profit  by 
it,  and  to  this  point  the  attention  of  the  authorities  can  not 
be  too  urgently  directed.  The  waste  places  that  conflagra- 
tions have  made  in  other  cities,  have  been  speedily  rebuilt, 
and  why  not  those  of  Chicago,  the  gate  to  the  "Western 
World  ? 

The  conflagration  in  Chicago,  if  the  reports  are  not  greatly 
exaggerated,  is  the  most  extensive  not  only  in  area,  but  in 
the  value  of  property  destroyed,  that  has  ever  occurred. 
Other  cities  have  sufi'ered  similar  calamities,  and  from  the 
efi'ects  of  which  it  was  thought  at  the  time  that  they  could 
not  recover,  or  that  the  restoration  would  require  many 
years.  But  in  nearly  every  instance  the  recovery  from  the 
terrible  devastations  occasioned  by  the  devouring  element 
has  been  so  rapid  as  to  appear  more  like  the  work  of  genii 
than  of  energy  and  the  toil  of  patient  industry.  A  brief  re- 
cital of  some  of  the  great  fires  that  have  occurred  in  other 
cities  will  not  be  uninteresting  in  connection  with  the  ruin 
occasioned  by  the  Fire  King  in  devoted  Chicago. 

A  terrible  conflagration  took  place  in  London  over  two 
centuries  ago.  The  summer  had  been  the  hottest  and  driest 
that  had  been  known  for  many  years,  and  London,  being 
then  for  the  most  part  built  of  timber,  filled  up  with  plaster, 
"was  as  dry  and  combustible  as  firewood ;  and  in  the  middle 
of  the  night,  between  the  2d  and  3d  of  September,  1666,  a 
fire  broke  out  "that  raged  for  three  days  as  if  it  had  a  com- 
mission to  devour  everything  that  was  in  its  way.  It  began 
at  a  baker's  house,  near  London  Bridge,  on  the  spot  where 
the  obelisk  called  the  monument  now  stands,  and  it  was  not 


The  Great  Fires  of  Other  Cities.  59 

stopped  until  it  had  reduced  nearly  the  whole  of  the  city, 
from  the  Tower  to  Temple  Bar,  to  a  sightless  heap  of  cinders 
and  ashes." 

For  days  and  nights  did  the  fire  advance,  and  it  was  only 
by  the  blowing  up  of  houses  that  it  was  at  last  extinguished. 
About  four  hundred  streets  and  thirteen  thousand  houses 
were  reduced  to  ashes.  A  violent  east  wind  blew  through- 
out the  conflagration.  Clarendon  says  :  "  The  fire  and  the 
wind  continued  in  the  same  excess  all  Monday,  Tuesday  and 
Wednesday,  till  afternoon,  and  flung  and  scattered  brands 
burning  into  all  quarters;  the  nights  more  terrible  than 
the  days,  and  the  light  the  same,  the  light  of  the  fire  sup- 
plying that  of  the  sun.  Let  the  cause  be  what  it  would 
the  effect  was  terrible ;  for  above  two  parts  of  three  of  that 
great  city  were  burned  to  ashes,  and  those  the  most  rich  and 
wealthy  parts  of  the  city,  where  the  greatest  warehouses- 
and  the  best  shops  stood.  The  Eoyal  Exchange,  with  all  the 
streets  about  it — Lombard  street,  Cheapside,  Paternostre — 
now  St.  Paul's  Church,  and  almost  all  the  churches  in  the 
city,  with  the  old  Bailej'-,  Ludgate,  and  all  Paul's  churchyard^ 
even  to  the  Thames,  and  the  greatest  part  of  Fleet  street,  all 
of  which  were  places  the  best  inhabited,  were  all  burned 
without  one  house  remaining.  The  value,  or  estimate  of 
what  that  devouring  fire  consumed,  could  never  be  computed 
in  any  degree.  The  city  was  rebuilt  in  four  years,  the 
streets  being  much  wider  and  the  buildings  being  of  a  supe- 
rior character  to  those  which  were  burnt. 

Moscow  was  nearly  consumed  by  fire  1536,  in  1547,  and 
again  in  1571,  when  the  Tartars  set  fire  to  the  suburbs,  a 
large  part  of  the  population  perishing  on  that  occasion. 
During  the  insurrection  caused  by  the  pseudo  Demetrius 
(1605-'12,)  when  the  Poles  and  Cossacks  took  the  city,  it 
was  again  partly  destroyed.  In  1812  it  was  entered  by  the 
French  under  Murat,  on  September  14th,  and  on  the  25th  by 
Napoleon,  who  took  up  his  residence  in  the  Terema  palace, 
in  the  Kremlin.  The  city,  deserted  by  its  inhabitants,  was 
set  on  fire  by  order  of  the  Governor,  Count  Rostopschin, 
compelling  Napoleon  to  leave  October  19th,  and  to  take  his 
final  departure  on  the  23d,  and  resulting  in  the  disatrous  de- 


60  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

feat  of  the  French  army.  The  greater  part  of  the  city  was 
then  destroyed,  notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  the  French  to 
stay  the  progress  of  the  flames.  It  was  rebuilt  within  a  few 
years,  and  has  long  since  recovered  from  the  calamity. 

^  New  York  has  suffered  greatly  from  fires.  The  most  dis- 
astrous occurred  on  December  16th,  1835,  which  swept  the 
First  Ward  east  of  Broadway,  and  below  Wall  street,  de- 
stroying six  hundred  and  forty-eight  of  the  most  valuable 
stores,  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  and  the  South  Dutch 
Church  and  property,  valued  at  more  than  $18,000,000.  On 
July  19th,  1845,  another  great  fire  occurred  between  Broad- 
way, Exchange  Place,  Broad  and  Stone  streets,  destroying 
over  $5,000,000  worth  of  property.  The  damage  done  by 
both  these  fires  was  speedily  repaired. 

Pittsburgh  has  also  suffered  severely  from  fire.  On  the 
10th  of  April,  1845,  a  conflagration  destroyed  the  entire 
business  portion  of  the  city,  consuming  $5,000,000  worth  of 
property.  The  fire  raged  about  twelve  hours.  To  illustrate 
how  rapidly  the  burnt  district  was  rebuilt,  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  state  that  while  buildings  were  burning  the  owners 
were  making  contracts  for  rebuilding. 

Large  fires  have  not  been  an  uncommon  occurrence  in  Con- 
stantinople. In  1831  it  suffered  severely  from  a  conflagra- 
tion which  destroyed  ten  thousand  houses,  among  which 
were  the  palaces  of  nearly  all  the  ambassadors,  and  property 
estimated  at  $8,000,000. 

In  the  recent  conflict  between  the  Commune  and  the 
Thiers  Government,  Paris  suffered  terribly  from  fires  ignited 
by  the  incendiaries,  which  at  one  time  threatened  the  exist- 
ence of  the  city ;  but  she  will  overcome  the  calamity,  and, 
perhaps,  phoenix-like,  rise  from  the  ashes  more  beautiful 
than  ever,  maintaining  the  position  of  the  most  attractive 
<;ity  in  the  world. 

A    HOPEFUL   PICTURE. 

And  with  all  her  commanding  advantages  of  location, 
what  is  to  prevent  the  restoration. 

Already  contracts  have  been  made  for  rebuilding  some  of 
the  burned  blocks,  and  the  clearing  away  of  the  debris  will 
begin  to-day,  if  the  heat  is  so  far  subdued  that  the  charred 


A  Hopeful  Picture.  .6^ 

material  can  be  handled.  Field,  Leiter  &  Co.,  and  John  Y. 
Farwell  &  Co.,  and  many  other  of  oar  leading  firms,  will  re- 
commence business  to-day.  The  money  and  the  seenrities 
in  all  the  banks  are  safe.  The  railroads  are  working  with 
all  their  energies  to  brJtig  us  out  of  our  affliction.  The  three 
hundred  millions  of  capital  invested  in  these  roads,  is  bound 
to  see  us  through.  They  have  been  built  with  special  refer- 
ence to  a  great  commercial  mart  at  this  place,  and  they  can 
not  fail  to  sustain  ua.     CHICAGO  MUST  EISB  AGAIN. 

"We  do  not  underrate  the  calamity  that  has  befallen  us. 
The  world  has  probably  never  seen  the  like  of  it.  But  the 
forces  of  nature,  no  less  than  the  forces  of  reason,  require 
that  the  exchanges  of  a  great  region  should  be  conducted 
here.  Ten,  twenty  years  may  be  required  to  reconstruct  our 
fair  city,  but  the  capital  to  rebuild  it  fire-proof  will  be  forth- 
coming. The  losses  we  have  suffered  must  be  borne ;  but 
the  place,  the  time  and  the  men  are  here,  to  commence  at  the 
bottom  and  work  up  again ;  not  at  the  bottom  neither,  for  we 
have  credit  in  every  land,  and  the  experience  of  one  up- 
building of  Chicago  to  help  us.  Let  us  all  cheer  up,  save 
what  is  left,  and  we  shall  come  out  right.  The  Christian 
world  is  coming  to  our  relief.  The  worst  is  already  over. 
In  a  few  days  more  all  the  dangers  will  be  past,  and  we  can 
resume  the  battle  of  life  with  Christian  faith  and  Western 
grit.     Let  us  all  cheer  up? 


C2  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Incendiaries  at  their  Hellish  Work — They  Meet  a  Speedy  and 
-  Deserved  Punishment — Many  are  Shot  and  Hung  to  Lamp- 
posts— A  short  Shrift  and  Swift  Retribution — Interesting  Inci- 
dents during  and  subsequent  to  the  Fire. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  incendiaries  helped  on  the 
fearful  destruction  to  both  life  and  property,  by  setting  fire 
to  houses,  stables,  etc.,  thus  adding  to  the  flames  that  might 
possibly  have  sooner  been  stayed.  In  many  cases  their 
own  lives  paid  the  forfeit  of  their  dastardly  work — the 
people  in  these  cases  being  the  judges  and  jurors.  The  en- 
graving on  the  cover  represents  a  scene  which  is  said  to 
have  transpired.  A  man  was  caught  in  the  act  of  setting 
a  house  on  fire,  was  seized  after  a  desperate  struggle,  cruci- 
fied to  the  wooden  pavements  of  one  of  the  thoroughfares 
by  the  excited  multitude.  Crucifixion  was  certainly  not 
too  terrible  a  death  for  the  wretch  who  would  thus  add  to 
the  general  destruction  of  life  and  property. 

The  citizens  had  a  terrible  seige  of  watching,  terror  and 
excitement  during  the  fire,  as  many  attempts  had  been 
made  to  burn  the  remainder  of  the  town.  The  law  was  a 
"short  shrift  and  a  strong  rope."  The  authorities  had  in- 
structions to  shoot  down  every  one  found  using  the  incendi- 
ary's torch,  and,  this,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following, 
was  done  in  a  number  of  instances.  The  rufiians  and 
thieves  from  other  cities  poured  in  to  secure  their  share  of 
plunder,  and  did  not  scruple  by  the  torch  to  gain  new 
ground  for  their  nefarious  purposes.  Some  of  them  paid  a 
sure  and  speedy  penalty ;  and  none  condemn  the  citizen- 
patrols  who,  when  a  villain  was  taken  red-handed  in  such  a 
crime,  "  sped  him  to  a  land  where  his  taste  for  fire  might  be 
indulged  solely  at  his  own  cost." 

A  boy  attempted  to  help  on  the  conflagration  by  igniting  a 
clothes  line  saturated  with  kerosene,  and  throwing  it  into  a 
building  on  Thirty-second  street.  He  received  his  deserts 
at  the  hands  of  the  firemen  who  saw  the  act. 


Incendiaries  at  their  Hellish  Work.  ©3 

A  man,  name  unknown,  was  shot  by  a  negro  at  the  corner 
of  ^tate  and  Thirty-second  streets.  His  offense  was  that  he 
set  fire  to  a  building  to  obtain  better  opportunities  for  pillage, 

Bridget  Hieky  was  arrested  for  setting  fire  to  a  barn  in 
the  rear  of  a  house  on  Burnside  street.  By  some  mistaken 
idea  of  clemency,  she  was  not  hanged. 

Two  men,  who  were  caught  trying  to  set  fire  to  a  Jesuit 
Church,  on  the  West  Side,  were  disposed  of  without  cere- 
mony, and  the  lookers-on  were  pleased  to  say,  Served  'em 
right. 

A  barn  on  the  corner  of  Burnside  and  Twentieth  streets 
was  observed  to  be  on  fire.  Knowing  that  it  must  have 
been  the  work  of  an  incendiary,  the  neighbors  united  to  ex- 
tinguish it,  filling  their  coats  and  hats  and  everything  they 
could  get  hold  of  with  sand.  The  fire  was  extinguished  in 
good  time,  and  a  man  found  in  there  captured.  It  is  stated 
that  he  was  shot.  "Whether  the  report  is  or  is  not  correct  is 
not  known. 

A  man  also  residing  on  Fourth  avenue,  caught  a  man  in 
the  basement  of  his  house,  number  unknown,  armed  with 
hay  and  matches.  He  gave  the  alarm,  and  the  incendiary 
"was  caught  and  stoned  and  battered  to  death.  This  was  on 
the  avenue,  near  Fourteenth  street. 

A  colored  man,  name  unknown,  observed  a  white  man 
sneaking  round  his  house  on  Fourth  avenue.  He  fired  the 
barn  in  the  rear  of  his  house,  and  was  instantly  shot  dead. 

Among  the  special  policemen  eworn  in  on  the  South  Side 
was  a  negro  named  "  Dick  "  Costello,  who  was  .assigned  to  a 
beat  on  Wabash  avenue,  near  Hubbard  court.  About  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  a  white  man,  whose  name  is  un- 
known, was  looking  upon  the  ruins,  when  Costello  warned 
him  off.  He  answered  that  he  was  only  a  spectator  and 
was  doing  no  harm,  when  the  negro  raised  a  piece  of  lead 
pipe,  with  which  he  was  armed,  and  smashed  in  the  man's 
akull,  killing  him  on  the  spot.  The  crowd  followed  the 
negro  and  would  have  hanged  him,  but  for  the  intervention 
of  a  couple  of  policemen  who  rescued  him  and  locked  him 
up  in  the  Cottage  Grove  Station. 

Eesidents  on  the  South  Side  were  alarmed  by  the  cry  of 
fire,  which  increased  when  they  saw  smoke  ascending  from 


64  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

Mr.  Schaffer's  store,  corner  State  and  Thirty-first  streets.  It 
was  evidently  the  work  of  an  incendiary,  and,  owing  to  the 
devilish  ingenuity  used  by  the  scoundrel  who  did  the  work, 
much  difficulty  was  found  in  extinguishing  the  fire.  Com- 
missioner Sheridan  happened  near  the  place,  and  assisted  to 
put  out  the  blaze.  A  meeting  of  over  200  citizens  was  held 
immediately,  and  Sheridan  empowered  the  Chairman  to 
swear  in  all  he  thought  fit  as  special  policemen.  There  was 
indignation  enough  to  have  put  a  summary  end  to  the  devil 
had  he  been  caught,  and  a  determination  to  treat  all  such  as 
dogs  unworthy  of  life. 

A  man  was  shot  by  a  police  officer,  who  detected  him  in 
the  act  of  attempting  to  fire  the  Jesuit  Church  on  Twelfth 
fitreet. 

An  excited  crowd  gathered  round  the  West  Division  Police 
Station,  intent  upon  making  an  application  of  lynch  law  to 
a  man  who  was  alleged  to  have  tried  to  set  fire  to  a  house  on 
Milwaukee  avenue.  Three  or  four  ropes  were  flourished  vig- 
orously in  the  crowd,  and  several  speeches  were  made  by 
parties,  urging  them  to  rescue  the  incendiary  from  the  hands 
of  the  police,  but  the  latter  were  firm,  and  at  the  last  ac- 
counts the  man  was  still  a  prisoner,  in  the  cell. 

A  white  man  detected  a  negro  attempting  to  set  fire  to  the 
rear  of  a  stable  between  State  street  and  Third  avenue,  near 
Harrison  street.  He  gave  the  alarm  and  attempted  to  arrest 
the  negro,  when  the  scoundrel  stabbed  him,  inflicting  a 
wound  from  which  he  died  in  a  few  minutes.  The  negro 
was  arrested. 

The  body  of  a  man,  apparently  only  about  twenty  years 
old,  was  hanging  on  Belden  avenue.  He  had  been  lynched, 
and  a  placard  warned  all  persons  from  touching  him,  as  he 
would  be  "taken  down  at  the  proper  time  by  the  committee 
of  safety." 

A  man  was  seen  hanging  to  a  lamp  post  on  one  of  the  av- 
enues, dead  but  not  cold. 

In  the  alley  between  Taylor  and  Twelfth  streets,  running 
from  Halstead  to  Newberry  street,  a  man  attired  in  a  black 
cloak  was  found  crouching  at  the  rear  of  a  barn,  and  in  the 
act  of  applying  a  lighted  match  to  dry  combustible  material. 


A  New  Leader — Gen.  Sheridan.  65 

The  party  who  saw  the  attempt,  in  the  impulse  of  the  mo- 
ment, raised  an  alarm,  instead  of  firing  at  the  incendiary, 
and  the  wretch  escaped. 

At  11  o'clock  on  Tuesday  forenoon,  Charles  Coy,  employed 
at  the  city  elevator,  was  on  Mitchell  street,  near  Canal  street, 
when  he  heard  the  cry  of  fire  raised  by  some  women.  Eush- 
ing  into  a  shed  he  discovered  a  quantity  of  brimstone  on  the 
floor,  burning.     In  this  instance,  too,  the  incendiary  escaped. 

At  the  drug  store  of  Mead  Brothers,  on  Canal  street,  be- 
tween Judd  and  Wilson  streets,  there  was  found  under  the 
barn,  on  Tuesday  afternoon,  a  piece  of  Manilla  rope,  six  feet 
Ions:,  saturated  with  tar  and  other  combustible  substances 
The  ends  were  frayed,  so  that  it  would  readily  ignite,  and  on 
one  end  a  loose  knot  was  tied  and  soaked  in  tar.  An  ex- 
periment was  subsequently  tried  with  the  rope,  and  it  was 
found  to  burn  slow.  The  guilty  man  in  this  case  was  un- 
seen. 

Hannah,  Lay  &  Co.,  who  own  a  lumber  pile  near  the  City 
Elevator,  found  a  bundle  of  hay  and  straw  deposited  in  a 
risky  place,  and  saturated  with  kerosene.  This  was  also  on 
Tuesday. 

A  silk  dress  saturated  with  kerosene  was  flung  over  a  gar- 
den fence  on  Wabash  avenue,  into  a  back  yard,  and  was 
picked  up  dripping  with  oil. 

Three  women  detected  a  man  setting  fire  to  a  house,  and 
without  other  aid,  seized  him,  and  with  a  piece  of  thick 
wire,  strung  him  up  to  the  nearest  thing  they  could  extem- 
porize into  a  gallows. 

The  following  scenes  and  incidents  are  among  the  many 
which,  no  doubt,  actually  transpired  during  and  subsequent 
to  the  great  fire.  Some  have  seen  the  light  through  the  col- 
umns of  the  daily  papers,  others  first  make  their  appearance 
here : 

When  fire  was  rushing  southward  along  Michigan  and 
Wabash  avenues  like  a  race  horse,  and  firemen  and  people 
were  paralyzed,  a  new  leader  suddenly  appeared  upon  the 
scene.  General  Sheridan,  "fighting  Phil."  who  can  fight 
rebels  or  flames,  sprang  upon  a  fire  engine  and  made  one  of 
those  sharp,  stirring  speeches  for  which  he  is  noted.  He 
5 


66  TJie  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

told  the  people  that  if  they  would  save  the  city  the  fire  line 
mu3t  be  broken  by  gunpowder ;  the  biiildings  must  be  blown 
up,  and  if  they  would  go  to  work  systematically  he  would 
assist  them.  The  effect  was  electrical.  The  crowd  recog- 
nizing the  hero  of  so  many  battle  fields,  and  having  faith  in 
his  leadership,  replied  with  long  huiTahs,  and  acting  under 
the  Generars  orders,  in  a  few  minutes  so  many  buildings  had 
been  blown  up  that  the  fire  line  was  broken  and  the  south- 
ern portion  of  the  city  was  saved  from  destruction. 

Eight  miles  and  a  quarter  from  the  Court  House,  twenty- 
four  hours  after  the  fire,  such  was  the  lurid  brightness,  that 
"  a  quarter  to  nine"  was  read  on  the  dial  face  of  a  watch  in 
the  open  street,  and  not  a  star  shining  in  the  heavens. 

A  gentleman  well  known,  who  has  been  afllicted  for  a  long 
time  with  a  cancer,  resided  in  rooms  in  Lombard  Block,  at- 
tended by  two  lady  relatives,  a  sister  and  niece.  In  the  dire 
extremity  in  which  the  party  were  placed,  and  notwith- 
standing the  invalid  pleaded  that  the  ladies  would  save  them- 
selves and  what  valuables  they  could,  and  leave  him  to  be 
burned,  and  thus  an  end  be  put  to  his  misery,  they  seized 
and  carried  him  bodily  down  three  flights  of  stairs,  and 
finally  placed  him  in  a  position  of  safety.  .And  here  it  maj* 
be  mentioned  as  an  instance  of  the  extortion  practiced  on 
suffering  humanity,  that  an  expressman  was  offered  850  to 
take  them  to  Twelfth  street,  but  refused,  asking  §100.  Other 
instances  of  heroic  self-sacrifice  and  abnegation,  on  the  part 
of  women,  could  be  mentioned,  the  above  being  only  one  of 
many. 

When  the  destruction  of  the  contents  of  some  stores  was 
inevitable,  the  people  were  told  to  help  themselves.  In  a 
boot  and  shoe  establishment,  a  man  was  noted  leisurely  try- 
ing on  a  pair  of  boots  to  get  a  perfect  fit  while  the  rear  of 
the  store  was  in  flames. 

The  only  leading  editors  in  the  cit}"  whose  residences  were 
not  destroyed,  were  Messrs.  C.  L.  Wilson,  of  the  Journal,  J- 
Medill,  of  the  Tribune,  and  W.  F.  Storey,  of  the  Times. 

Rothermel's  great  historical  painting,  "The  Battle  of 
Grettysburg,"  was  destroyed  in  the  Academy  of  Design,  to- 
gether with  other  valuable  paintings  and  works  of  sculpture. 

Bierstadt's  great  painting,  the  Yosemite  Valley,  was  in  the 


Interesting  Incidents.  67 

Art  Gallery,  Crosby's  Opera  House,  and  was,  so  far  as 
we  can  learn,  saved  in  a  romantic  condition. 

As  a  specimen  of  what  the  legal  profession  of  Chicago  has 
lost,  we  may  state  that  General  H.  N.  Eldridge,  of  the  firm 
of  Eldridge  &  Tourfelotte,  the  attorneys  of  Field,  Leiter  & 
Co.,  lost  all  his  papers,  iiot  a  scrap  left,  after  having  practiced 
for  fourteen  years  in  Chicago,  and  in  the  same  office.  There 
is  not  a  law  office,  nor  a  library  left  in  Chicago,  ex- 
cept the  few  small  duplicate  libraries  at  the  residen- 
ces of  the  leading  lawyers.  There  is  not  a  paper  showing 
that  there  is  a  suit  pending  in  any  of  the  six  courts  of  rec- 
ord in  Cook  county,  including  the  Federal  Court.  There 
is  not  an  indictment  in  existence  in  the  county  against  any 
one,  not  a  judgment,  not  a  petition  in  bankruptcy  in  the 
Federal  Courts.  Even  the  duplicate  files  that  the  lawyers 
kept  in  their  offices  of  important  cases  are  all  gone.  A  few 
may  have  escaped  by  being  taken  to  the  houses  for  Sunday 
or  night  work.  We  vnsij  add  that  there  are  in  Chicago  about 
five  hundred  lawyers. 

Mr.  Ferd  S.  Winslow,  the  well-known  banker,  owns  a  beau- 
tiful residence  and  grounds  nearlj'' ojjposite  to  Wright's  grove 
— a  little  paradise,  in  which  he  had  taken  peculiar  pride. 
At  the  near  apjiroach  of  the  fire  one  of  the  neighbors  urged 
Mr.  Winslow's  family  to  betake  themselves  to  their  carriage 
and  flee.  They  fled  for  their  lives,  and,  along  with  thou- 
sands of  others,  sought  the  bleak  j)rairie8,  where  they  camped 
out  for  the  night.  Yesterday  morning  Mr.  Winslow  wan- 
dered back  to  gaze  upon  the  ruins  of  his  happy  home,  when 
lo  !  there  burst  upon  his  astonished  vision,  a  green  oasis  in 
the  desert.  It  was  his  own  home,  unscathed.  The  fire  had 
swept  clean  round  it,  missing  it  miraculously.  The  happy 
family  returned,  taking  many  sufferers  along  with  them. 

The  little  one-story  frame  shanty,  in  the  rear  of  which  was 
the  barn  in  which  the  fire  originated,  on  De  Koven  street, 
stands  to-day  alone  and  uninjured.  The  flames  swept  round 
it  on  every  side,  igniting  everything  else,  while  that  miser- 
able structure  stands — a  monument  of  the  place  where  the 
fire  commenced.  Will  some  enterprising  museum  please 
purchase  it  at  a  fictitious  price,  and  so  relieve  the  disaster 
with  a  round  sum  ? 


68  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

John  E.  "Walsh,  President  of  the  "Western  I^ews  Company, 
received  the  following  dispatch  from  Eobert  Bonner,  Esq.? 
the  proprietor  of  the  New  York  Ledger : 

New  York,  October  11. 
To  John  E.  "Walsh,  Esq.,  President  "Western  ISTews  Com- 
pany: All  New  York  sympathizes  with  Chicago.  Millions 
will  be  collected  in  this  city  alone  for  the  general  relief  fund. 
Draw  on  me  at  sight  for  ten  thousand  dollars  towards  reliev- 
ing sufferers  who  are  in  any  way  connected  with  the  news- 
paper or  news  business.  Egbert  Bonner. 

The  Tribune  was,  by  several  hours,  the  last  paper  in  Chi- 
cago to  survive  the  general  destruction,  and  its  magnificent 
fire-proof  building  was  the  last  to  succumb,  although  it  had 
been  surrounded  by  fire  on  two  sides  for  about  four  hours. 
The  building  was  a  perfect  model  of  architectural  elegance, 
and  had  been  constructed  throughout  with  reference  to 
safety  and  durability  in  case  of  fii-e.  The  ceilings  were  of 
corrugated  iron,  resting  on  wrought  iron  "  I  "  beams,  while 
every  partition  in  the  structure  was  of  brick.  It  was,  in  all 
respects,  one  of  the  most  absolutely  "fire-proof"  buildings 
ever  erected.  That  is,  was  fire-proof  up  to  the  date  of  its 
destruction.  It  was  completed  in  April,  1869,  at  a  cost  of 
about  §225,000,  and  its  contents  were  fully  §100,000  more. 
Eelying  upon  the  integrity  of  their  edifice,  the  Tribune 
Company  had  taken  no  insurance,  although  they  have  little 
cause  to  regret  this  neglect. 

The  Navarino,  a  new  vessel  belonging  to  Capt.  Goodrich, 
was  lying  off  Goodrich's  docks,  and  tried  to  run  out,  but 
stuck  just  beyond  and  behind  Eathbone's  stove  manufactory 
on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  and  sunk  there,  her  boilers 
now  being  just  visible.  Eight  or  nine  schooners  and  brigs 
were  also  caught  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  and  burned  to 
the  water's  edge.  From  Eush  street  bridge  east,  on  the 
north  branch,  the  coal  heaps  are  in  a  blaze.  Eathbone's 
place,  and  all  immediately  east  of  that  are  safe.  Eush  street 
bridge  itself  is  a  hopeless  and  utter  wreck,  as  also  is  the 
State  street  one. 

In  front  of  each  ruin  is  to  be  tound  a  board  placard,  usu- 
ally giving  the  place  where  each  concern  is  to  be  found,  but 
some  of  which  are  amusing  and  chai'acteristic  of  Chicago. 


The  Loss  of  Life.  69 

For  instance,  "Moore  &  Son,  house  and  sign  painters,  re- 
moved to  115  West  Eandolph  street.  Capital,  $000  00." 
"  This  store  to  be  rebuilt  immediatelj^;  we  still  live  :  Hurl- 
but  &  Edsall."'  Another:  "Slightly  scorched;  Yan  Schaack, 
Stevenson  &  Reid;  ready  for  business  in  two  days." 
^  A  German  grocer  of  Clark  street  left  his  store  with  goods 
in  a  M^agon  on  Monday  morning,  directing  his  wife  and  hired 
man  to  remain  til  he  came  back.  He  never  saw  his  wife 
'  after,  biit  found  her  bones  and  a  portion  of  her  hoop  skirt 
in  the  ruins  on  Thursday.  The  hired  man's  bones  were  also 
found. 
'P  The  vault  of  the  Custom  House  was  opened.  It  contained 
one  million  dollars  gold  and  two  millions  greenbacks.  The 
gold  was  melted  into  an  almost  solid  mass  and  of  course  is 
safe  in  the  shape  of  bullion.  The  greenbacks  were  entirely 
consumed  beyond  recognition.  Of  course  the  greenbacks 
belonged  to  the  Government  and  there  is  no  loss. 

A  man  named  Patrick  Foley,  who  lived  at  250  Burnside 
street,  while  passing  along  Purple  near  Grove,  was  shot 
down  and  killed,  having  refused  to  halt  when  commanded 
to  do  so  by  two  citizens.  A  man  named  Joseph  Reardon, 
residing  on  Fourteenth  street,  appeared  at  the  Twenty-sec- 
ond Street  Police  Court,  and  stated  that  the  deceased,  just 
prior  to  being  shot,  fired  a  shot  gun  at  him  which  he  had 
seized  from  another  man. 

Henry  J.  TJliman,  of  the  firm  of  Wrenn,  TTllman  &  Co., 
perished  in  the  flames.  His  body  was  found  on  the  corner 
of  Madison  and  Clark  streets. 

Dead  bodies  not  identified  were  taken  to  64  Milwaukee 
avenue.  Forty  corpses  were  displayed  at  one  time.  With 
one  or  two  exceptions,  the  deaths  occurred  from  burning — 
nothing  but  a  skull  and  a  blackened  mass  remaining  of  some 
of  them,  while  a  few  were  suffocated.  The  large  proportion, 
however,  were  disfigured,  and  their  limbs  nearly  burned 
from  their  bodies.  The  scene  of  forty  corpses,  all  but  two 
without  a  vestige  of  clothing,,  with  the  exception  of  an  oc- 
casional boot,  was  sickening  beyond  description,  and  one 
never  to  be  forgotten  by  those  who  beheld  it. 

Six  men  were  working  on  the  corner  of  Clark  and  Mad- 
ison streets,  top  of  J.  B.  Chambers'  store,  and  when  the  fire 


70  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

caught  the  lower  part  of  the  building  were  unable  to  get 
down,  an'^  equally  unable  to  escape  to  adjoining  buildings. 

Chet  Morehead  was  last  seen  struggling  manfully  with  a 
large  box  containing  the  books  of  Reyburn,  Hunter  &  Co. 
The  flames  and  smoke  overpowered  him,  and  he  is  certainly 
lost. 

A  drunken  man  tried  to  run  south  from  the  base  ball 
grounds  on  Michigan  avenue,  and  was  caught  and  killed  by 
the  flames. 

Jacob  Wolf  was  roasted  to  death  in  his  house,  l^o.  95  West 
Harrison  street. 

A  Tribune  reporter,  wandering  among  the  ruins  on  On- 
tario street,  discovered,  in  the  rear  cellar  of  the  dwelling 
next  east  of  the  Historical  Society's  building,  the  charred 
trunk  of  a  human  body,  lying  amid  the  ruins  of  many  wine 
bottles  and  the  apparatus  of  a  water-closet. 

A  man  jumped  from  a  fourth  story  window  of  Speed's 
block,  during  the  progress  of  the  fire,  and  was  instantly 
killed. 

So  little  idea  had  the  people  living  near  the  Historical  So- 
ciety building  on  Ontario  street,  between  Dearborn  and 
Clark,  of  the  terrible  and  utter  ruin  which  the  fire  would 
work,  that,  snatching  up  what  valuables  they  could,  they 
sought  shelter  in  its  cellar,  which  was  unfortunately  filled  to 
a  great  extent  with  inflammable  material.  According  to  the 
statement  of  the  librarian  of  the  Historical  Society,  William 
Corkran,  who  was  there  at  the  time,  the  following  persons 
certainly  sought  refuge  there  :  Old  Col.  Stone  and  his  wife, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Able  and  their  daughters,  Mrs.  De  Pelgrom, 
teacher  of  French,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  CarjDenter,  musical  people, 
Dr.  Freer  and  family,  the  former  having  with  him  $4,000 
worth  of  personal  property  belonging  to  Eush  Medical  Col- 
lege, two  patients  from  the  hospital  in  Mr.  Richards'  place, 
and  John  B.  Grirard  and  family.  Mr.  Corkran  had  hold  of 
one  end  of  a  trunk  and  Mrs.  Gebler  of  the  other.  Her  dress 
took^fire,  and  he  left  her  and  ran  for  the  stairs  leading  from 
the  cellar  up  stairs.  He  is  certain  that  old  Col.  Stone  sufto- 
cated,  and,  from  the  sudden  inrush  of  dense  smoke,  there  is 
cause  to  fear  that  nearly  all  the  others  who  were  in  there 
shared  the  same  fate,  bewildered  by  the  fumes,  and  unable 


Pitiful  Sights.  71 

to  find  tlieir  way  out  of  a  building  with  which  they  were 
unacquainted. 

As  early  as  three  o'clock  Monday  morning,  the  people 
on  the  ISTor-th  Side,  ov  many  of  them,  began  to  get  a  little 
nervous.  Still  they  did  not,  at  that  early  hour,  entertain 
any  serious  apprehensions,  feeling  confident  that  the  river 
would  be  an  impassible  barrier,  amply  sufficient  to  prevent 
any  spreading  of  the  conflagration.  By  daj'light,  however, 
things  were  in  a  somewhat  diiferent  position.  The  fire, 
moving  northeastward,  had  gotten  to  Eush  street  bridge, 
which  was  crowded  with  people.  In  order  to  prevent  this 
aiding  the  fire  in  crossing,  it  was  turned,  but  the  only  result 
was  the  destruction  of  the  people  who  were  upon  it. 

Encouraged  by  the  absence  of  policemen,  the  roughs  along 
on  Kinzie  street  broke  into  the  saloons  there,  and  began 
seizing  and  drinking  the  liquor.  Many  others,  at  the  very 
moment  they  most  needed  all  the  self-i)OSsession  they  had, 
fuddled  themselves,  and  in  many  cases  were  surrounded  by 
the  flames  and  stiflfled  by  the  smoke.  Some  were  found  lying 
on  the  sidewalk,  and,  since  no  one  paid  any  attention  to 
them,  they  met  there  fate  there.  Some  women  and  their 
children  who  lingered  too  long,  were  either  lost  in  the 
houses  or  compelled  to  jump  out  of  the  windows,  and  re- 
ceived injuries  and  remained  wheie  they  fell. 

It  is  reported,  but  not  on  the  best  authority,  that  fifteen 
men  were  lost  ^t  a  blacksmith-shop  on  Eush  street. 

One  of  the  most  pitiful  sights  was  that  of  a  middle-aged 
woman,  on  State  street,  loaded  with  bundles,  struggling 
through  the  crowd,  singing  the  Mother  Goose  melody — 

"  Chickery,  chickery,  craney  crow, 
I  went  to  the  well  to  wash  my  toe."  etc. 

There  were  hundreds  of  others  likewise  distracted,  and 
many  rendered  desperate  by  whisky  or  beer,  which,  from 
the  excess  of  thirst,  in  the  absence  of  water,  they  drank  m 
great  quantities;  and  spread  themselves  in  every  direction — 
a  terror  to  all  they  met. 

It  is  feared  that  a  large  number  of  children,  inmates  of 
the  Catholic  Orphan  School,  on  State  street,  were  also 
burned,  as  many  of  them,  are  missing.     On  Chicago  avenue 


72  The  Great  Fire  of  Chicago. 

a  father  rushed  np  stairs  to  carry  three  children  away,  when 
he  was  overtaken  by  the  flames,  and  perished  with  them. 
The  mother  was  afterward  seen  on  the  street,  on  the  North 
Side,  a  raving  maniac.  In  the  same  neighborhood  a  family 
of  five  persons  perished.  The  list  of  such  fatalities  is  very 
long,  and  can  only  be  fully  verified  after  the  smoke  shall 
have  cleared  away.  There  are  hundreds  of  families  on  that 
side  who  saved  no  clothing,  but  barely  their  lives.  Among 
these  is  the  family  of  Perry  Smith,  formerly  President  of 
the  Northwestern  Eailroad  Company. 

"After  the  flames  had  consumed  the  store  of  J.  H.  Eoss, 
State,  near  the  corner  of  Washington,  the  walls  were  left 
partially  standing.  An  express  wagon  was  passing  a  short 
time  after  the  conflagration,  and  reached  the  front  of  the 
building  iust  in  time  to  receive  the  falling  wall.  Five  men 
were  in  the  wagon  at  the  time,  and  all  were  crushed  and 
killed. 

A  couple  of  families,  the  heads  of  which  were  teamsters, 
living  iiear  the  lake  shore,  not  far  from  the  Water  Works, 
stuck  to  their  homes  till  the  last  moment,  in  the  hope  of 
saving  a  portion  of  their  effects.  They  were  cut  off  by  the 
flames,  however,  and  compelled  to  flee  as  they  could  ;  but 
the  only  direction  in  which  they  could  go  was  into  the  lake. 
The  men  succeeded  in  getting  their  teams  hitched  up,  and 
hastily  putting  themselves  and  families  on  the  truck  wagons, 
they  drove  into  the  lake  as  far  as  possible  without  drowning. 
This  was  at  7  o'clock  on  Monday  morning.  There  they 
were  obliged  to  remain  through  the  live-long  day,  scorched 
by  the  heat  almost  beyond  the  power  of  endurance,  and 
obliged  to  dive  into  the  water  at  frequent  intervals,  to  keep 
from  being  consumed.  At  6  o'clock  in  the  evening,  a  small 
tug  approached  the  group  of  sufferers  and  took  away  the 
women  and  children,  but  could  not  take  the  men.  The 
husbands  and  fathers  were  left  there  for  twelve  hours  longer, 
and  finally,  on  Tuesday  morning,  were  rescued  by  another 
boat.  All  of  the  party  found  each  other  at  last  at  the  houses 
of  friends  on  the  West  Side,  but  the  suffering  and  exposure 
of  the  weaker  ones  may  yet  terminate  fatally. 


th:e  fires  IS" 

MICHIGAN  AND  WISCONSIN. 


OHAPTEE  yill. 

Burning  of  Peshtigo,  Menimonee.  Manistee^  and  Saginaw  City. 

While  the  Fire  Fiend  was  raging  in  Chicago,  on  the  night 
of  the  day  consecrated  to  rest,  Sunday,  Octoher  the  8th,  it 
was  also  supping  full  of  hoiTors  in  several  of  the  towns  of 
Michigan  and  Wisconsin.  The  result  was  a  far  greater  loss 
of  life  than  occurred  in  Chicago,  the  number  of  men,  women 
and  children  burned  to  death,  and  otherwise  killed  outright 
being  estimated  at  from  twelve  to  fifteen  hundred.  We  be- 
lieve no  account  places  it  below  one  thousand. 

Fires  had  been  raging  in  the  woods  around  the  towns  for 
some  days,  without  creating  any  very  serious  apprehension 
— great  endeavors  being  made,  however,  to  stay  the  flames. 
The  extreme  drouth  had  paved  the  way  for  the  pitiless  fire 
fiend.  We  have  endeavored  to  secure  as  correct  an  account 
from  eye  witnesses,  telegraphic  dispatches,  and  the  papers, 
as  possible,  of  tl\e  great  fires  in  the  north,  which  we  have 
deemed  proper  should  accompany  the  more  complete  recital 
of  the  Chicago  horror. 
From  the  Marinette  and  Menominee  Eagle  Extra. 

Marinette,  Wis.,  October  9. — The  fires  which  have  been 
lurking  in  this  vicinity  for  weeks  have  at  last  culminated  in 
the  holocaust  of  destruction.  Last  night  the  wind  raised 
and  blew  fearfully  from  the  south.  The  Swamp  lying  back 
of  Dr.  Hall's  became  ignited,  and  the  flames  spread  through 
it  with  an  inconceivable  rapidity. 

The  fire  was  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  distant  from 
Marinette,  and  shooting  above  the  tallest  tree-tops,  lit  up 
the  whole  country,  with  a  fierce,  lurid  glare.  The  fire  fiend 
was  holding  high  carnival,  having  selected  the  towns  of 
Peshtigo,   Marinette   and  Menekaune   as   its  prey.      Every 


74  Tlie  Fires  in  Michigan  and  Wisconsin. 

available  force  that  could  be  brought  to  bear  to  stay  the  force 
of  the  fire  was  brought  into  requisition. 

Standing  out  on  the  Peshtigo  road,  we  were  a  witness  to 
the  awful  scene.  The  fire  swept  through  the  swamp,  and 
destroyed  several  outbuildings  in  the  rear  of  the  Boom  Com- 
pany's place,  and  Dr.  Hall's,  together  with  a  large  barn,  con- 
taining nearly  one  hundred  tons  of  hay.  The  hay  was  the 
property  of  Mr.  Bentley,  of  Marinette.  At  this  time  the  di- 
rection of  the  wind  changed  rapidly,  blowing  from  several 
points  of  the  compass  alternately;  first  from  the  southwest, 
then  from  the  west,  then  from  the  northwest,  then  back 
again  to  the  south,  during  which  time  we  were  visited  by  a 
series  of  whirlwinds,  which  showered  cinders  and  sparks  in 
every  conceivable  direction.  The  fire  having  partly  spent 
its  fury  here,  cries  of  distress  were  heard  down  the  river  in 
the  direction  of  the  mouth.  Steam  whistles  of  the  mills  and 
tugs  in  the  harbor  blew  the  first  alarm,  and  every  man  that 
could  be  spared  went  to  the  scene  of  disaster.  From  the 
rear  of  J.  S.  Dickey's  store,  in  the  direction  of  the  bay,  all 
was  a  broad  lurid  sheet  of  flame  as  far  as  the  qjq  could  reach. 

At  this  time  no  hoj)es  was  entertained  of  saving  anything. 
Men  worked  with  the  energy  of  despair. 

Sickening  rumors  came  up  from  the  scene  of  the  devasta- 
tions of  the  fire  fiend.  Eumors  that  Menekaune  was  de- 
stroyed—the Catholic  Church,  Union  School  House,  McCart- 
ney &  Hamilton's  mill,  Bagley  &  Curry's  sash,  door  and  blind 
factory,  a  new  and  splendid  building  just  completed  and  in 
operation,  and  the  whole  lower  part  of  Marinette  were  in 
flames.  In  company  with  A.  M.  Fairchild,  we  were  driven 
to  the  forks  of  the  road  leading  to  Menekaune. 

Just  below  the  Marinette  Iron  Works  the  fire  was  raging 
BO  fearfully  that  it  was  impossible  to  go  any  farther.  It  was 
evident  that  the  rumors  which  we  had  heard  were,  alas,  too 
true,  with  the  exception  that  the  buildings  in  the  lower  por- 
tion of  Marinette  were  not  yet  in  flames.  The  fire  had 
burned  clear  up  to  the  fences,  and  here,  by  the  hardest  work, 
its  progress  was  stayed. 

The  streets  were  lined  with  men,  women  and  children, 
fleeing  for  their  lives.  Many  of  the  families  were  engaged 
in  making  excavations  in  the  saud  and  burying  their  house- 


Menekaune  Destroyed — Peshtigo.  75 

hold  goods.  Any  quantity  of  goods  was  hauled  over  on  to 
the  island.  The  sick  were  being  removed  to  places  of  safet}^, 
and  thus,  with  alternate  hope  and  despair,  the  long,  weary 
hours  of  the  night  wore  away. 

Tlie  wind  had  at  last  settled  to  blowing  steadily  from  the 
southwest,  but  still  it  blew  with  tremendous  fury,  and  the 
flames  in  the  swamp  immediately  in  the  rear  of  the  town, 
raged  with  corresiDonding  fearfulness. 

MENEKAUNE    DESTROYED. 

At  day- light  we  received  more  definite  information  from 
the  scene  of  devastation  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  Every- 
thing of  any  particular  value  was  destroyed.  Spalding, 
Houghtelling  &  Johnson's  mill,  valued  at  $80,000  (known  as 
the  New  York  mill,)  the  Exchange  House,  Mill  Company's 
store  and  boarding  house,  Dr.  Sherman's  drug  store,  John 
Lindquist's  store,  Doyle's  shoe  shop,  and  many  other  jDlaces 
of  business  we  are  not  now  able  to  call  to  memory,  together 
with  all  the  dwellings  of  any  note,  were  in  ashes.  The 
luckless  inhabitants  are  houseless  and  homeless. 

PESnilGO. 

From  Mr.  Place,  who  has  just  returned  from  the  scene  of 
the  disaster,  we  learn  that  the  town  is  destroyed;  the  Peshtigo 
Company's  wooden  ware  factory,  valued  at  several  hundred 
thousand  dollars;  their  water  saw-mill,  grist  mill,  machine 
shop,  sash  factory,  stave  and  boarding-house,  warehouses — 
everything  is  gone.  Stores,  houses,  churches,  school-houses, 
dwellings,  and  everything  were  destroyed.  The  fire  came 
upon  them  so  suddenly  that  it  was  not  in  the  reach  of  mor- 
tal power  to  stay  its  fury. 

THE  DESTRUCTION  OP  LIFE 

was  awful — awful  to  contemplate.  Mr.  Place  informs  us  that 
he  counted  ten  bodies  in  the  streets  as  he  passed.  The  loss 
of  life  at  the  present  time  is  unknown,  but  it  is  estimated 
that  over  100  have  either  perished  or  were  rendered  cripples 
for  life.  We  have  not  yet  been  able  to  ascertain  the  names 
of  the  dead. 

DREADFUL  DESTRUCTION  OF  LIFE  AND  PROPERTY. 

Milwaukee,  October  15. — Later  accounts  from  northern 
Wisconsin  confirm  all  previous  reports  and  rumors.     The 


76  TJie  Great  Fires  in  Michigan  and  Wisconsin. 

loss  of  life  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  burned  village  of 
Pesthigo,  will  reach  over  twelve  hundred,  or  fifteen  per  cent, 
of  those  injured  can  not  recover.  The  fire  tornado  was 
heard  at  a  distance  like  the  roaring  of  the  sea.  Balls  of  fire 
were  observed  to  fall  like  meteors  in  diff'ereut  parts  of  the 
town,  igniting  whatever  they  touched. 

People  rushed  with  their  children  in  their  arms  for  a  place 
of  safety,  but  the  storm  of  fire  was  upon  them  and  enveloped 
them  in  the  flames,  smoke,  burning  sand  and  cinders,  and 
those  that  were  not  able  to  reach  the  river  were  suff'ocated, 
and  roasted  alive.  This  terrible  scene  happened  on  Sunday 
night,  the  8th  of  October,  already  made  famous  by  the 
Chicago  horror.  A  member  of  the  Eelief  Committee  sent 
from  Milwaukee  with  supplies,  saj-s  the  only  survivors  were 
those  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  reach  water,  many 
throwing  themselvs  into  mill  ponds  and  clinging  to  floating 
logs.  A  number  of  these  were  drowned  by  being  thrown 
from  the  logs  by  maddened  horses  and  cattle  that  rushed 
into  the  water.  The  flrey  cyclone  swept  over  a  tract  of 
country  eight  or  ten  miles  wide.  Every  building,  fence  and 
all  the  timber  were  licked  up  clean  by  the  tongue  of  fire. 
The  town  of  Peshtigo,  numbered  two  thousand  inhabitants, 
one-third  of  whom  pei'ished  on  that  fearful  night. 

Reports  from  the  east  shore  of  Creen-  Bay  placed  the  loss 
of  life  full  as  high  as  at  Peshtigo. 

The  same  account  states  that  the  immediate  wants  of  the 
people  are  supplied,  but  large  amounts  of  provisions  and 
clothing  will  be  required  for  the  winter. 

Mayor  Ludington,  of  Milwaukee,  publishes  the  following 
appeal  for  aid  : 

"  Mihcaukee,  October  14. — The  calamities  that  have  be- 
fallen our  State  and  some  of  our  neighboring  States  is  truly 
appalling.  Over  fifteen  hundred  men,  women  and  children 
have  been  burned  to  death  in  Wisconsin  alone,  their  business 
houses  and  farms  to  a  large  extent  entirely  destroyed,  the 
very  soil  having  been  burned,  and  destroyed  all  their  aut- 
umn and  root  crops.  They  are  utterly  destitute,  and  will 
require  full  support  at  least  another  season.  Seven  counties 
in  our  own  State  are  thus  in  great  part  utterly  desolated. 
Whole  regions  of  country  in  Western  Michigan  are  in  the 
same  condition,  and  these  fires  are  still  raging  and  destroy- 
ing.    Milwaukee  is  doing  all  she  can,  as  by  her  close  neigh- 


Menominee.  77 

borhood  to  Chicago  she  was  enabled  to  send  large  quantities 
of  supplies  into  that  city  during  the  progress  of  the  fire, 
feeding  her  exhausted  citizens.  Vast  numbers  of  Chicago 
sufferers  are  now  tilling  our  houses  and  public  buildings, 
and  we  have  ministered  to  their  necessities.  We  have  sup- 
plied hundreds  of  tons  of  provisions,  and  clothing,  stoves, 
and  other  useful  articles,  to  Chicago,  to  Northern  Wisconsin 
and  Western  Michigan.  We  are  doing  our  best,  but  the 
amount  of  suffering  in  our  own  State  is  beyond  our  power 
alone  to  assuage,  we  appeal  to  the  public  for  aid.  We  will 
be  the  dispensers  of  supplies  in  Wisconsin  and  Western 
Michigan.  We  have  made  every  kind  of  necessary  arrange- 
ment to  accomplish  these  purposes  with  economy  and  effect. 
All  contributions  in  money  may  be  sent  to  Alexander 
Mitchell,  banker.  All  contributions  in  clotning,  bedding 
and  other  necessary  supplies  may  be  directed  to  Harrison 
Ludington,  Mayor. 

[Signed,]  Harrison  Ludington,  Mayor. 

MENOMINEE 

Has  suffered  to  some  extent,  how  much  we  are  unable  to  tell. 
It  is  conceded  some  of  the  mills  and  manj'  of  the  dwellings 
have  been  burned.  The  mill  on  the  Point,  known  as  the 
Gilmore  mill,  the  property  of  R.  Stephenson  &  Co.,  has  been 
destroyed.  We  will  try  and  give  the  public  the  particulars 
from  all  these  points  as  soon  as  we  can  ascertain  them. 
Some  errors,  both  in  expression  and  fact,  may  have  crept 
into  the  foregoing,  for  we  write  this  with  our  eyes  nearly 
blinded  from  the  smoke  and  flames  of  last  night. 

Four  children,  were  burned  up  the  river  State  road,  on  the 
Menominee  side. 

McCartney  has  $8,000  insurance;  loss,  at  least  §20,000. 
Bagley  &  Curry  have  no  insurance;  loss,  $1,000. 

The  mill  and  buildings  at  Menominee  known  as  the  Spaf- 
ford  &  Gilmore  mill,  are  all  burned.  Loss,  $50,000 ;  sup- 
posed to  be  insured  for  $25,000.  It  was  sold  last  week  by 
R.  Stephenson  &  Co.  to  a  company,  of  which  Andrew  Kirby, 
of  Menominee,  owns  a  third  interest. 

LATER. 

Peshtigo  is  burnt  clean  as  a  pi*airie.  The  survivors  are 
flocking  into  Marinette.  The  Dunlap  House  and  several 
private  families  are  already  well  filled  up  with  the  victims, 
many  of  them  terribly  burned.     The  people  here,  and  the 


78  The  Great  Fires  in  Michigan  and  Wisconsin. 

resident  physicians  both  here  and  at  Menominee,  are  nobly 
rendering  all  the  aid  in  their  power. 

MANISTEE. 

The  following  is  another  account  of  the  burning  of  Man- 
istee, dated  October  11th: 

The  fire  which  broke  out  in  the  pineries  northeast  of  here 
last  week  was  almost  subdued,  when  a  heavy  gale  sprung  up 
from  the  southward,  driving  the  flames  and  cinders  toward 
Oifford  &  Ruddock's  mills.  This  the  fire  company  checked  ; 
but  on  Sunday  evening  a  fire  broke  out  near  Canfield's  mill, 
which  is  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  so  intense 
was  the  heat  that  men  could  not  get  within  a  thousand  yards 
of  it.  In  less  than  half  an  hour  the  mill,  together  with 
about  twenty  dwelling  houses  and  boarding  houses,  were 
totally  consumed.  A  hill  intervening  between  this  and  the 
town,  the  fire  could  run  no  further,  and  people  were  already 
congratulating  themselves  upon  the  narrow  escape  of  Man- 
istee, when  a  bright  light  was  noticed  northeast  from  the 
scene,  and,  repairing  to  the  spot,  we  found  a  number  of 
dwellings  wrapped  in  flames,  and  a  regular  equinoctial  gale 
blowing— thus  making  it  beyond  human  control  to  stay  the 
conflagration.  The  damage  at  jn-esent  is  inestimable,  but 
the  largest  part  of  the  town,  which  is  on  the  South  Side,  is 
destroyed,  while  so  far  twenty-seven  buildings  are  totally 
gone  on  the  North  Side. 

The  loss,  as  near  as  I  can  learn,  amounts  to  one  million 
three  hundred  thousand  dollars,  with  only  about  one-fifth 
insurance. 

The  swing  bridge  is  entirelj^  destroyed;  the  schooner  Sen- 
eca Chief  is  burned  to  the  water's  edge.  Every  building  on 
the  North  Side  (excepting  the  Fourth  Ward  School  house, 
the  residence  of  George  Thorji  and  the  Catholic  Church)  is 
completely  consumed. 

Several  serious  accidents  occurred  and  some  lives  have 
been  lost,  but  there  is  such  tumult  and  excitement  that  no 
one  can  give  a  fair  answer  to  a  question. 

Where  six  mills  stood  yesterday,  not  a  vestige  remains  ex- 
cept bungled-up  machinery — the  woodwork  and  logs  having 
burned  out  entirely.     Blackbird  Island  is  no  more.     The  dis- 


Pesthigo.  79 

tress  is  great,  and  if  food  does  not  come  forthwith  there  will 
be  starvation. 

Nothing  can  he  heard  from  the  north  or  northeastern  vil- 
lages, as  the  heat  prevents  communication.  The  roads  are 
so  dry  that  sawdust  Burns  like  powder.  The  Manistee  is 
leaving,  and  I  cannot  give  further  particulars. 

The  following  is  also  additional  in  regard  to  Pesthigo  : 
*  Direct  accounts  from  Pesthigo  inform  us  that  the  great 
number  of  lives  lost  there,  occurred  thus  :  Fire  had  been 
raging  around  the  village  some  days  before;  had  become 
subdued,  and  the  people  felt  secure;  when  on  Sunday  night, 
all  of  sudden,  when  the  wind  was  blowing  a  tornado,  itagain 
broke  out  from  the  fires  of  the  camps  of  the  hands  at  work 
on  the  railroad,  and  immediately  overwhelmed  the  village, 
inmates  of  houses  having  only  time  to  escape  as  they  arose 
from  their  beds.  The  village  could  not  have  contained  more 
thon  five  or  six  hundred,  or  a  thousand  at  the  most,  of  resi- 
dents ;  but  it  is  estimated  that  one  thousand  transient  men 
were  in  the  j)lace — lumbermen  mainly.  The  river  runs  di- 
reotly  througli  the  village  and  there  was  but  one  bridde. 
The  people  living  in  the  main  portion  of  the  village  were 
driven  by  the  rushing  flames  directly  towards  the  river, 
and,  horrible  to  contemplate,  cattle  had  preceded  them  and 
blockaded  the  passage  to  the  bridge;  consequently  hu- 
man beings  had  to  take  to  the  water,  when  a  large  portion 
were  either  burned  to  death  or  drowned. 

One  man  who  escaped  reports  that  he  sank  his  entire  body 
into  the  water,  occasionally  raising  his  head  to  get  breath, 
and  that  he  saw  sevei'al  women  perish  right  alongside  of 
him.  When  rescued  his  eyes  were  completely  blinded,  but 
are  now  partially  restored. 

He,  as  Avell  as  a  boat  load  who  escaped,  came  down  to 
Green  Bay  on  the  steamer  yesterday,  while  there  was  an- 
other boat  load  left  behind  awaiting  a  coming  boat. 

Some  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  finding  escape  cut  off 
took  to  a  large  barn  belonging  to  the  Pesthigo  Company, 
and  they  were  burned  up  in  it. 

A  lady  who  came  through  here  has  her  hair  and  one  side  of 
her  face  burnt  to  a  crisp.      She    says    there  was  no  smoke 


80  The  Great  Fires  in  Michigan  and  Wisconsin, 

from  the  burning  buildings,  but  it  was  one  complete  glare  of 
glowing  blaze,  awful  to  behold.  Not  a  vestige  of  anything 
wooden  is  left  of  the  place.  Those  that  came  through  have 
scattered  throughout  the  State  wherever  they  have  friends. 
The  wounded  have  been  moved  to  Oconto  mainly  as  being 
the  nearest  village,  which  is  south  of  Peshtigo.  The  villages 
of  Marinette  and  Menominee,  six  miles  north,  being  them- 
selves partly  on  fire,  offered  no  chance  for  help  or  pro- 
tection to  the  sufferers  from  that  quarter. 

FIRES    IN    EAST    SAGINAW   AND    SAGINAW    CITY. 

On  Sunday,  the  8th,  Saginaw  City  also  suffered  from  the 
ravages  of  the  Fire  Fiend.  The  Saginaw  Enterprise  of  the 
9th  reported  as  follows  : 

The  whole  of  yesterday  the  city  was  enveloped  in  a  dense 
smoke.  On  all  sides  of  Saginaw — indeed,  throughout  the 
whole  valley — the  woods  were  burning  fiercely,  and  the 
flames  were  continually  sweeping  onward,  carrying  destruc- 
tion to  all  kinds  of  property.  A  heavy  wind  prevailed 
throughout  the  entire  day,  which  added  to  the  fury  of  the 
flames,  and  people  were  greatly  alarmed  for  the  safety  of  the 
city.  About  12  o'clock  last  night  the  bell  sounded  the  alarm. 
An  immense  column  of  flame  was  seen  bursting  from  a  house 
on  Washington  street.  As  our  rejiorter  reached  the  spot  a 
cry  arose  that  the  occupants  of  the  house  had  not  escaped. 
A  desperate  effort  was  made  to  rescue  them,  and  sleeping 
children  were  torn  from  their  beds  and  carried  safely  out, 
while  men  and  women  jumj^ed  from  the  windows,  burned 
and  bleeding,  just  in  time  to  save  their  lives.  The  flames 
spread  to  three  other  buildings,  which  were  destroyed. 

While  this  fire  was  in  progress,  property  to  the  amount  of 
over  $75,000  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  Saginaw  City. 

We  have  thus,  in  as  brief  a  manner  as  possible,  consistent 
with  the  awful  incidents  with  which  we  have  had  to  deal, 
told  the  story  of  the  Great  Fire  of  Chicago  and  the  simul- 
taneous horrors  of  Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  which  will  be 
remembered  long  after  those  of  the  present  age  shall  have 
passed  away  to  the  land  of  the  hereafter. 


^t^fgnatios  College,  j 


CHICAGO'S  Holocaust. 


THE  GEEAT  EIKE 

Jts  15'^storg  anlr  Jnciticnts, 

LOSSES  AND    SUFFERINGS, 

BENEyOLENGE  OF  THE  NATIONS.  &c 

By    a     OHIOAG-O     O  L  E  R  O.Y  M  A  N 


WITH  MAPS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PUBLISHED    BY 


J.  W.  GOODSPEED,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  and  New  Orleans. 
H.  S.  GOODSPEED  &  CO.,  New  York. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1871, 

By  H.  a  GOODSPfiKD, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Cqpgress,  at  Washington. 


THE  NEW  TOBE  PBINTUfG  COMPANY, 

81,  83  and  85  Centre  St, 


SHOWma  THE 


Burnt  District 


"  Hear  the  loud  alarum  bells — 

Brazen  bells ! 
What  a  tale  of  terror,  now,  their  turbulency  tells  ! 
In  the  startled  ear  of  night 
How  they  scream  out  their  affright ! 
Too  much  horrified  to  speak, 
They  can  only  shriek,  shriek. 
Out  of  tune, 
In  a  clamorous  appealing  to  the  mercy  of  the  fire, 
In  a  mad  expostulation  with  the  deaf  and  frantic  fire, 
Leaping  higher,  higher,  higher, 
With  a  desperate  desire 
And  a  resolute  endeavor, 
Now — now  to  sit  or  never. 
By  the  side  of  the  pale-faced  moon. 
Oh,  the  bells,  bells,  bells. 
What  a  tale  their  terror  tells 
Of  despair ! 
How  they  clang,  and  clash,  and  roar, 
What  a  horror  they  outpour 
On  the  bosom  of  the  palpitating  air!  " 


BUENING  OF  THE,  CHAMBEE  OF  COMMEECE. 


HISTORY 


GEEAT  FIEE  IN  CHICAGO. 


Among  the  saddest  events  of  history  will  rank  the  conflagra- 
tion which  began  in  Chicago  on  the  night  of  October  7th,  1871, 
was  renewed  on  the  night  of  the  8th,  and  raged  with  unchecked 
violence,  consuming  more  than  one-half  of  the  area  of  the  city, 
destroying  several  hundred  millions  of  property,  occasioning 
large  loss  of  life,  and  making  homeless  nearly  one  hundred 
thousand  persons. 

The  whole  business  portion  of  the  South  and  North  sides  of 
the  city  were  laid  in  ruins,  and  nothing  resisted  the  appalling 
fury  of  the  wasting  element.  The  engines  were  totally  help- 
less, and  many  of  them  scarcely  escaped  burning;  fire-proofs 
were  consumed  as  in  a  moment  the  flames  lapped  over  whole 
blocks  and  across  the  river  ;  the  miracle  of  Mount  Carmel  was 
reproduced.  When  everything  was  licked  up  and  devoured  by 
the  fire -fiend,  people  were  caught  in  their  dwellings  and  burned, 
or  were  overtaken  on  the  streets  and  destroyed  ;  and  only  when 
the  city  was  consumed  in  the  track  of  the  hurricane  did  the 
elemental  war  cease,  and  the  assaulting  foe  rest  from  his  deadly 
work.  For  days  the  fire  smouldered,  and  night  after  night  the 
heavens  glowed  like  the  canopy  of  hell,  and  threatened  univer- 


8  HISTOET   OF   THE 

sal  ruin.  But,  thanks  to  a  merciful  Providence,  the  track  of 
desolation  covered  not  the  whole  of  the  great  city,  and  a  portion 
was  left  to  furnish  shelter  for  the  homeless,  and  as  a  nucleus  for 
rebuilding  the  Metropolis  of  the  North-west. 

Here  we  may  briefly  notice  the  origin  and  growth  of  Chicago, 
to  enable  the  reader  to  form  some  idea  of  the  nature  and  ma^ni- 
tude  of  the  calamity  which  has  befallen  a  lately  prosperous  com- 
munity. Such  a  sketch  ma}'  also  serve  to  exhibit  the  causes  of 
the  almost  world-wide  and  unexampled  sympathy  manifested 
toward  her  suffering  people.  The  original  prairie  bordering 
Lake  Michigan  was  intersected  by  a  lagoon  or  bayou  extending 
half  a  mile  west,  and  then  forking  north  and  south  for  a  long 
distance.  This  gave  room  for  a  harbor,  and  was  the  suggestion 
of  a  city.  Here,  at  the  shore  and  near  the  mouth  of  the  river,  in 
1804  a  fort  was  built  to  cover  a  trading  post  with  Indians  and 
the  incoming  emigrants.  It  was  rebuilt  in  1816,  and  abandoned 
in  1837,  when  the  entire  population  was  4,470.  In  twenty 
years  the  city  had  multiplied  its  numbers  so  that  in  1857  there 
were  gathered  on  this  level  plain  130,000  persons.  In  1871 
there  were,  by  census  returns,  carefully  made  out,  334,000  people 
in  Chicago.  When  was  there  such  a  growth  in  so  short  a  time, 
and  a  progress  so  real  and  substantial  ?  Evidently  Nature 
designed  the  location  to  be  the  site  of  a  great  city,  and  a  gather- 
ing-place of  the  nations.  Here  is  one  of  the  best^harbors,  and 
thirty  miles  of  wharves  and  docks ;  here  centre  several  thousand 
miles  of  railways ;  here  are  accommodations  for  receiving  and 
shipping  grain  unsurpassed  in  the  world ;  here  is  the  natural 
commercial  depot  of  the  immense  mineral  resources  of  the  vast 
northwestern  regions,  and  the  fruit-market  is  unequalled  any- 
where. To  many  all  this  seems  exaggeration.  But  hear  the 
words  of  Hon.  Benjamin  F.  Wade : — 

"  Again  I  say  to  you  that  the  importance  of  this  location 
transcends  what  most  now  think  of  it.     It  will  never  have  but 


GREAT   FIRE   m   CHICAGO.  V 

two  rivals.  San  Francisco,  on  the  Pacific,  may  contest  the 
palm  of  greatness  with  it,  and  New  York  has  got  to  run  fast 
to  get  out  of  its  way.  You  may  deem  that  an  extravagant 
expression,  but  recollect  that  New  York  had  to  struggle  for 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  she  had  the  population  and 
wealth  Chicago  has  to-day.  No  people  of  this  country  have 
more  of  intelligence,  more  of  enterprise,  more  of  the  American 
Yankee  go-aheadativeness  than  the  people  of  Chicago.  I  say 
again,  that  there  are  but  two  cities  on  this  continent  that  can 
compete  with  it  for  the  palm  of  greatness.  Thirty-two  years 
ago  it  had  a  few  rude  buildings,  and  I  have  been  amazed  to-day, 
as  I  passed  through  and  viewed  the  wonderful  progress  that  has 
been  made ;  I  am  sure  I  have  had  no  conception  of  the  impor- 
tance of  this  point,  and,  what  is  still  more  important,  of  the 
vastness  and  richness  of  the  great  country  that  lies  west,  and 
which  is  bound  to  contribute  in  the  future  so  much  to  build  up 
the  second,  if  not  the  first  city  on  this  continent."  Such  was  the 
language  of  the  great  statesman  of  Ohio  in  1866.  Five  years 
succeeding  this,  and  the  horrible  conflagration  finds  the  city 
almost  transformed,  so  that  the  orator  would  scarcely  have  re- 
cognized many  of  the  principal  localities  in  the  heart  of  the  city, 
where  magnificent  edifices  had  risen  upon  the  sites  of  former 
buildings,  or  sprung  up  on  vacant  land.  Potter  Palmer,  a 
merchant  prince,  had  expended  immense  sums  upon  buildings 
for  stores  and  hotels  which  hardly  had  any  rivals  in  expensive- 
ness  and  beauty  in  the  old  world.  He  had  also  commenced  a 
new  hotel,  which  was  to  have  cost  upwards  of  a  million  dollars, 
for  which  he  had  arranged  in  Europe  at  a  low  rate  of  interest. 
The  Pacific  Hotel  was  also  about  completed  by  a  company  having 
a  capital  of  one  million.  In  giving  their  grounds  of  confidence 
in  entering  upon  their  gigantic  enterprise,  they  said,  there  are 
426  trains  moving  daily  each  way  on  our  railways,  and  some  of 
our  solid  statistics  are  as  follows  : — 


10  mSTOEY   OF   THE 

Wheat  received,  bushels 17,394,409 

Corn        "                "      20,189,775 

Total  all  grain  received,  bushels 61,315,593 

Flour  manufactured,  bbls 443,976 

Grain  shipments  (equal  to),  bushels 54,745,903 

High-wines  manufactured,  gallons 7,063,364 

Hogs  packed 900,000 

"    received 1,693,158 

Cattle  received 532,964 

Lumber  received,  feet 1,019,000,000 

Yalue  of  manufactures $88,848,120 

Incomes  (estimated) $74,000,000 

Internal  Kevenue  collected $7,984,000 

Clearing  Honse  returns $10,676,036 

National  Banks 17 

Private  Banks 10 

I^ational  Banks'  capital $6,800,000 

"              undivided  surplus • $2,715,000 

Total  bank  capital $12,250,000 

Sales  of  Real  Estate  (transfers) 8,418 

Value  of  Real  Estate,  total $37,558,455 

Chicago  Post-Office,  letters  and  papers  delivered. .  22,928,343 

Right  upon  the  heels  of  these  grand  enterprises  followed  others 
of  equal  extent  and  boldness,  projected  and  sustained  bj  men  of 
brains  and  energy,  integrity  and  courage,  all  of  which  exhibited 
the  importance  of  this  harbor  and  centre  of  commerce,  and  serve 
to  help  us  to  realize  what  devastation  the  enemy  has  wrought  in 
sweeping  all  these  monuments  level  with  the  ground.  Not 
that  all  Chicago's  buildings  are  down,  but  the  central  portion  of 
business  blocks  is  entirely  gone,  and  what  remains  constitutes 
but  a  specimen  of  the  splendor  and  glory  reduced  to  ashes. 
Some  3,000  acres  are  wasted  by  fire,  and  so  utterly  ruined  that 


GEEAT  FIBE   US  CHICAGO.  11 

almost  nothing  but  debris  remains.  The  city  and  county  had 
built  and  just  entered  two  wings,  each  owning  one,  to  the  court 
house  in  a  great  square,  and  these  stand  partly  erect,  witli  the 
old  building  in  the  middle,  gloomy  and  desolate  in  their  destruc- 
tion. The  Honore  block,  probably  as  beautiful  a  structure  as 
can  be  found  for  business  purposes  on  the  globe,  built  of  Athens 
stone  highly  wrought,  having  six  stories  with  mansard  roofs 
extending  190  feet  on  Dearborn  street,  and  114  on  Adams,  was 
in  the  heat  of  the  battle  and  is  a  heap  of  dust.  Farwell  Hall, 
one  of  the  great  halls  for  concerts  and  lectures,  and  the  seat  of 
operations  for  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  home 
of  the  Daily  Prayer  Meeting,  is  ashes  and  rubbish.  And  so  the 
Board  of  Trade  building  perished,  along  with  factories,  distilleries, 
breweries,  bridges,  churches,  colleges,  theatres,  depots,  water- 
works, warehouses,  and  private  dwellings,  all  involved  in  one  total 
wreck.  When  a  glance  is  thus  taken  at  the  ruin  accomplished,  one 
can  be  prepared  in  some  measure  to  estimate  the  appalling  nature 
of  this  calamity.  But  the  effect  becomes  greatly  intensified  when 
it  is  remembered  that  many  lost  their  lives  in  the  flames,  and 
tens  of  thousands  lost  all — homes,  property,  and  hopes  of  success, 
and  were  driven  out  destitute,  to  become  objects  of  charity.  A 
particular  account  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  fire,  with 
reminiscences  and  actual  incidents,  will  give  the  reader  a  better 
idea  of  the  horrors  and  marvels  of  what  must  be  pronounced 
one  of  the  memorable  catastrophes  of  Time. 

It  was  a  period  of  peculiar  drought  in  the  whole  western 
country,  and  the  dryness  of  the  atmosphere  was  so  remarkable 
that  an  intelligent  physician,  observing  that  his  plants  became 
desiccated  in  a  few  hours  after  the  most  profuse  watering  from 
the  hydrant,  trembled  all  day  Sunday  lest  a  spark  of  fire  should 
drop  near  his  dwelling.  There  was  a  strange  lack  of  moisture 
in  the  air,  which  condition  did  not  change  until  Monday  after- 
noon.    On  Saturday  evening,  October  8,  about  11  o'(;lock,  a 


12  HISTORY   OF  THE 

fire  caught  in  a  planing  mill,  west  of  the  river,  and  within  a 
block  of  it,  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  wooden  district  fall  ot 
frame  houses,  lumber  and  coal-yards,  and  every  kind  of  com- 
bustible material.  Some  contend  that  it  originated  in  a  beer 
saloon,  and  thence  was  communicated  to  the  planing-mill. 

In  the  almost  inflammable  state  of  the  atmosphere,  and  under 
the  propulsion  of  a  strong  wind,  the  tinder-boxes  on  every  side 
ignited,  and  ruin  rioted  for  hours  over  a  space  of  twenty  acres, 
and  destroyed  a  million  dollars  worth  of  property.  Grand  and 
awful  as  this  conflagration  seemed  to  the  thronging  thousands, 
who  crowded  every  approach  and  standpoint  where  a  view  could 
be  obtained,  it  paled  and  faded  away  in  comparison  with  that 
of  the  following  night;  but,  as  the  event  proved,  this  first  fire 
saved  the  remainder  of  the  west  division  of  the  city,  for  when 
the  raging  element  came  leaping  and  roaring  onward  it  found 
nothing  to  burn,  and  then  paused,  and  was  stayed,  while  it 
rushed  across  the  river,  and  satiated  itself  upon  the  noblest  and 
best  portion  of  the  town,  east  and  north. 

This  renewal  of  the  fire,  or,  as  it  really  was  an  independent 
conflagration,  began  at  9  on  Sunday  night  in  a  barn,  where  an 
old  woman  was  milking  by  the  light  of  a  kerosene  lamp,  which 
was  thrown  over  and  emptied  upon  the  combustible  stuff  that 
lay  around. 

The  starting-point  was  southwest  of  that  of  Saturday  night. 
The  wind  was  blowing  a  gale  from  the  southwest,  and  hurled  the 
blazing  brands  and  showers  of  glittering  sparks  aloft  and 
plunged  them  down  upon  the  dry  masses  beyond.  There  was  a 
hope  that  the  river  running  north  and  south  would  interpose  a 
barrier  to  the  foe. 

The  fire  still  lapped  along  the  edge  of  the  river,  and  still,  as  in 
a  savage  hate  of  man,  over  whom  it  had  for  once  triumphed, 
flung  its  sparks  and  brands  further,  further  into  the  water,  trying 
to  plant  some  messenger  of  destruction  where  it  longed  to  be  it- 


GEEAT   FIEE  IN   CHICAGO.  13 

self.  By  the  glare  of  its  burning  the  night  became  a  mockery  ol 
day  in  its  abnormal,  shifting  light.  Was  there  no  foothold  on 
which  it  could  cross  ?  This  was  the  question  asked  by  the  fire. 
"  The  bridges !  the  bridges !  "  shouted  the  multitude,  and  one  by 
one  their  ponderous  ligneous  lengths  were  swung  around  and  left 
heading  up  and  down  the  stream.  At  length  the  fire  answered 
its  question  by  flinging  a  shower  of  burning  brands  upon  the 
Adams  street  bridge,  and  the  wind,  the  friend  of  the  fire,  fanned 
them  until  the  bridge  was  all  aflame.  J^ow  it  had  a  shorter  dis- 
tance to  leap,  and  with  a  savage  bound  the  fire  was  in  the  heart 
of  the  city — in  its  fat,  rich  heart,  where  active  wealth  had  piled 
its  palaces  of  commerce  and  housed  its  treasures  in  with  iron  and 
stone,  and  thought  it  was  free  from  the  sweep  of  flood  or  flame. 
Eastward  the  fire  journeyed  with  its  fevered  stride,  eating  like  a 
withering  canker  through  the  vitals  of  the  city.  It  was  not  long 
before  the  Michigan  Southern  depot  had  risen  up  in  smoke 
and  blaze  and  fell  in  ruins,  scattering  a  deeper  volume  of  destruc- 
tion around  than  ever  before.  !Now  northward  the  hell  angel 
strode  to  the  emporium  of  rich  produce  it  was  longing  for.  Now 
it  hung  around  a  bank,  burst  open  its  doors,  shivered  its  windows, 
scorched  through  its  roof  and  toiled  and  burned  its  fiercest  till 
the  great  safe — ah,  the  safe !  had  succumbed  to  its  blasting,  melt- 
ing breath.  The  fire-bells  all  over  the  city  were  ringing  con- 
tinuall}^ — a  terrible  tocsin,  with  the  one  word  fire  in  its  scorching 
throat.  The  people  had  but  to  wake  to  know  what  was  the  mat- 
ter. The  danger  seemed  everywhere.  Out  in  the  street,  halt 
clad,  dragging  what  could  be  snatched  in  the  hurry  of  fiight,  the 
strong  man,  the  half-fainting  women,  the  children  with  terror 
pictured  in  their  wide-open  eyes,  all  hurrying,  with  "  nowhere  to 
go."  All  the  fire  force  in  the  city  was  combating  the  flames  as 
fearlessly  as  brave  men  with  their  hearths  and  homes  at  stake 
well  might.  "Without  regard  to  whom  it  reached  the  panting  fire 
flicked  and  consumed  hotels  and  stores.     Now  the  Court  House, 


14  HISTOKY   OF  THE 

now  the  Sherman  House,  anon  the  "Western  Union  Telegraph 
Company's  office,  then  the  Tremont  House,  next  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  far-famed  Farwell  Hall — whatever  lay  in  its  fated 
path — until  it  flung  itself  upon  the  great  Union  depot  with  its 
spread  of  buildings,  and  had  sacked  with  its  cremating  arms  the 
corn-stored  grain  elevators  by  the  lake  and  river  side.  Again  it 
met  the  waters,  and  again  it  leaped  them,  landing  on  the  north  side 
of  the  town.  Here  it  had  nothing  to  stay  its  steps.  Wooden 
houses  were  but  fuel  in  its  way,  and  greedily  it  enveloped  and 
devoured  them.  Onward  for  a  mile  it  stretched  as  the  day  broke, 
fear  before  and  ruin  and  ashes  behind.  Animals  burst  forth  from 
keeping  and  rushed  blind  among  the  flames,  adding  to  the  terror 
of  the  scene  as  they  gave  forth  their  cries  of  dread.  The  home- 
less began  to  multiply  in  number  through  the  blackened  light  of 
morning  that  paled  but  did  not  subdue  the  flames.  A  horrid 
thought  flashed  to  the  mind  of  all.  "  The  water-works  are  in 
danger  if  the  wind  lives." 

Up  to  Chicago  avenue  the  fire  raged  unabated  in  its  fury. 
The  rumor  that  human  beings  were  perishing  in  the  flames  be- 
came a  certainty,  and  what  made  the  agony  deeper  was  that  none 
could  tell  how  many.  Can  it  ever  be  told?  Eastward  from 
Chicago  avenue,  with  the  whole  portion  of  the  city  to  the  south, 
one  seething,  reeking  sea  of  fire,  it  went  and  suddenly  the  water 
supply  failed.  It  was  said  that  the  water  works  were  burned. 
It  was  denied,  reaffirmed,  and  again  denied.  The  men  in  power, 
with  the  Mayor  at  their  head,  were  acting  with  the  greatest 
energy.  To  the  otlier  cities  of  the  West  went  fortli  a  cry  for  fire- 
men, and  one  and  all  the  cities  responded.  To  the  world  went 
out  the  simple  tragic  demand,  which,  in  its  brevity  and  pith  alone 
tells  its  harrowing  story  : — "Send  us  food  for  the  sufiering.  Our 
city  is  in  ashes."  Houses  were  blown  down  that  the  fire  might 
be  arrested,  but  it  seized  on  the  debris  and  burned  that  too. 
Would  the  wilting  wind  never  die?    It  did  not  fall,  it  only 


GEEAT   FIRE   IN   CHICAGO.  15 

chano-ed,  as  if  it  had  exhausted  all  the  demons  whence  it  came, 
and  then  had  called  u^on  the  North  to  send  out  its  vandal  breeze. 

And  yet  it  was  salvation  to  the  West  and  South  Divisions,  so 
much  of  which  survived,  that  the  wind  blew  from  the  same 
quarter  Sanda_y,  Monday,  Tuesday,  and  continually  until  the  fire 
had  burned  itself  out.  On  Monday  night  there  was  a  gentle 
rain,  which  seemed  to  many  a  God-send,  and  yet  added  to  the 
forlorn  condition  of  thousands  who  crowded  out  to  the  prairies 
and  the  groves  north  and  west  of  the  fire.  Here  many  died  from 
terror  and  exposure,  and  it  is  estimated  that  five  hundred  births 
occurred  during  these  two  days  and  nights.  Some  were  con- 
fined in  the  streets  and  vehicles,  and  others  found  a  temporary 
shelter  until  more  permanent  means  were  devised  for  their  com- 
fort. 

The  greater  part  of  the  fire  in  the  l^orth  Division  occurred 
after  daylight  on  Monday,  and  the  spectacle  presented  in  that 
quarter  was  such  as  would  be  presented  by  a  community  fleeing 
before  an  invading  army.  Every  vehicle  that  could  be  got  was 
hurrying  from  the  burning  district  loaded  with  people  and  their 
goods.  Light  buggies,  barouches,  carts,  and  express-wagons 
were  mingled  indiscriminately,  and  laden  with  an  indescribable 
variety  of  articles.  Others  were  hurrying  to  the  scene  from 
curiosity,  or  to  complete  the  work  of  rescuing  friends  and  prop- 
erty before  the  monster  could  destroy  them. 

People  crowded  the  walks,  leading  children  or  pet  dogs,  carry- 
ing plants  in  pots,  iron-kettles  not  worth  ten  cents,  or  some 
valueless  article  seized  in  the  excitement ;  many  looked  dolefully 
upon  the  lurid  clouds,  still  far  away,  and  wondered  whether 
they  and  their  homes  were  in  danger ;  and  others  looked  as 
though  they  had  spent  the  night  in  a  coal-pit  or  a  fiery  furnace. 
There  was  such  "  hurrying  to  and  fro  "  as  the  world  seldom  see, 
with  universal  agony  and  distress. 

Families  became  separated  and  were  looking  for  one  another 


16  HISTOET   OF   THE 

and  often  in  vain  was  the  search — they  would  meet  only  at  the 
great  Judgment  Day,  which  seemed  to  some  ahnost  at  hand. 

A  locomotive  engineer  was  on  his  freight-train,  forty  miles 
from  the  city,  when  he  heard  the  fire  was  raging  on  Michigan 
Avenue.  He  said,  "  I  asked  permission  to  go  on  witli  my  train 
and  was  forbidden  ;  I  put  on  steam,  and  they  put  down  the  brakes, 
but  I  pulled  my  train  as  near  to  the  depot  as  I  could,  and  left  it 
in  charge  of  the  fireman.  I  hurt  nobody  and  did  no  harm  to 
anything  ;  I  went  straight  to  the  place  where  I  left  my  family,  and 
dragged  out  their  bones.  When  1  came  back  to  my  situation 
they  told  me  I  was  discharged,  and  I  am  now  homeless  and 
helpless." 

Men  were  desperate,  and  deemed  almost  anything  justifiable. 
One  who  saw  that  he  could  not  escape,  opened  his  veins  that 
he  might  not  know  the  horrors  of  death  by  fire.  Another,  prob- 
ably rendered  insane  by  losses  and  terror,  was  found  with  his 
throat  cut  from  ear  to  ear.  Men  who  were  laboring  to  rescue 
their  books  and  papers  from  the  peril,  were  so  involved  in  the 
mazes  of  the  fire,  that  they  tried  several  streets  before  they  were 
able  to  escape,  and  then  siifi*ered  serious  inconveniences  or  injury 
in  the  final  struggle  that  saved  them.  One,  in  trying  to  gather 
a  few  things  from  his  room,  fell  suffocated,  and,  recovering  pres- 
ence of  mind,  crawled  to  the  window,  and  calling  on  men  to 
catch  him,  leaped  from  the  second  story,  and  was  able  to  rejoin 
his  family.  A  fireman  brought  a  two-year  old  child  to  a  lady, 
whicli  was  snatched  out  of  the  upper  story  of  a  lofty  building  in 
the  heart  of  the  fire.  The  little  thing  was  scorched  and  singed,  and 
when  asked,  "  Where  is  papa  ?  "  he  answered,  "  Gone  to  church." 
"  Where  is  mamma  ?  "  "  Gone  to  church."  So  unexpected 
was  the  fire,  that  the  parents  had  not  time  to  find  their  darling 
after  church.  Some  300  were  caged  up  near  the  river,  and  taken 
off  by  the  steamer  that  lay  close  at  hand.  Others,  hurried  out 
of  their  home  and  cut  off  from  egress  by  any  street,  fled  to  the 


GKEAT  FERE   IN   CHICAGO.  17 

lake  shore,  and  as  the  furious  element  closed  around.them  they 
were  pressed  into  the  water,  and  kept  themselves  for  hours  by 
dipping  their  heads  into  the  cool  element.  Children  were  im- 
mersed repeatedly,  in  order  to  keep  them  from  being  scorched, 
and  many  came  from  their  wet  refuges  more  dead  than  alive. 
A  family  who  had  spent  several  years  abroad,  and  collected 
many  valuable  works  of  art  and  souvenirs  of  their  journeys, 
were  driven  from  one  place  to  another,  and  finally  took  refuge 
in  a  stable.  The  proprietor  begged  them  to  take  his  carriage 
and  drive  it  off  to  save  it.  In  this  they  escaped  several  miles  to 
a  place  of  safety,  having  nothing  left  but  what  they  wore  upon 
their  persons. 

A  man  at  the  corner  of  Division  and  Brandt  streets  had  appa- 
rently secured  his  household  goods  in  an  open  lot ;  but  the  flames 
mercilessly  attacked  his  effects,  and  seeing  there  was  no  further 
chance  of  saving  them,  he  knelt  down  and  offered  a  brief  prayer, 
after  which  he  arose,  clasped  his  hands  in  wild  despair,  and  looking 
to  heaven  exclaimed,  "  God  help  me  now,"  and  was  soon  lost  to 
view  in  the  dense  smoke  through  which  he  endeavored  to  make 
his  escape. 

Mr.  Kerfoot  gives  the  following  graphic  account  of  his  escape 
from  the  fire  with  his  wife  and  children  :  "  Being  the  owner  of 
a  horse  and  carriage  which  I  used  to  go  to  and  fro  from  my  busi- 
ness, when  I  became  satisfied  that  my  house  would  soon  be  en- 
veloped, I  brought  my  horse  and  carriage  before  the  house,  and 
placed  my  wife  and  children  in  it.  There  was  then  no  room  for 
me,  so  I  mounted  the  back  of  the  animal  and  acted  as  postilion. 
While  driving  through  the  flame  and  smoke  which  enveloped  us 
on  all  hands,  I  came  across  a  gentleman  who  had  his  wife  in  a 
buggy,  and  was  between  the  thills  hauling  it  himself.  I  shouted 
to  him  to  hitch  his  carriage  on  behind  mine,  which  he  did,  and 
then  got  in  beside  his  wife.  I  then  drove  forward  as  fast  as  I 
could,  for  the  flames  were  raging  around  us.     After  proceeding 


18  HISTORY    OF   THE 

a  short  distance,  another  gentleman  was  found  standing  beside 
the  street,  with  a  carriage,  waiting  for  a  horse,  which  was  not 
likely  to  come.  I  directed  him  to  fasten  on  behind  the  second 
carriage,  which  he  did,  and  in  this  way  we  whipped  np  and  got 
out  of  the  way  of  the  flames  with  our  wives  and  children,  thank 
God." 

A  remarkable  instance  of  courage  and  presence  of  mind  is  told 
of  Mr.  E.  I.  Tinkham,  of  the  Second  National  Bank.  On  Mon- 
day morning,  before  the  fire  had  reached  that  building,  Mr. 
Tinkham  went  to  the  safe  and  succeeded  in  getting  out  $600,000. 
This  pile  of  greenbacks  he  packed  into  a  common  trunk,  and 
hired  a  colored  man  for  $1,000  to  convey  it  to  the  Milwaukee 
depot.  Fearing  to  be  recognized  in  connection  with  the  precious 
load,  Mr.  Tinkham  followed  the  man  for  a  time  at  some  distance, 
but  soon  lost  flight  of  him.  He  was  then  overtaken  by  the  fire- 
storm, and  was  driven  toward  the  lake  on  the  south  side.  Here, 
after  passing  through  several  narrow  escapes  from  suffocation,  he 
succeeded  in  working  his  way,  by  some  means,  to  a  tug-boat,  and 
got  round  to  the  Milwaukee  depot,  where  he  found  the  colored 
man  waiting  for  him,  with  the  trunk,  according  to  promise.  Mr. 
Tinkham  paid  the  man  the  $1,0C0,  and  started  with  tlie  trunk 
for  Milwaukee.  The  money  was  safely  deposited  in  Marshall  & 
Hlsley's  bank,  of  that  city. 

Mr.  Nathaniel  Bacon,  of  Niles,  Michigan,  student-at-law  with 
Messrs.  Tenney,  McClellan  &  Tenney,  at  No.  120  Wasliington 
street,  slept  in  their  ofiice.  On  waking,  at  about  1  o'clock,  and 
seeing  tlie  Court-House  on  fire,  he  saw  that  the  ofiice,  which  was 
immediately  opposite,  would  surely  go.  Judging  that  one  of  the 
safes  in  the  office  would  not  prove  fire-proof,  he  promptly  emp- 
tied the  contents  of  his  trunk  on  the  fioor  of  the  doomed  build- 
ing, and,  filling  it  with  the  interior  contents  of  the  safe — books, 
valuable  papers,  money,  &c. — shouldered  the  trunk  and  carried  it 
to  a  place  of  safety  on  Twenty-Second  street,  losing  thereby  all 


GKEAT   FIKE   IN  CHICAGO.  19 

his  own  clothing  and  effects  except  what  he  had  on.     That  young 
man  is  a  hero. 

In  the  midst  of  all  that  was  sad  and  terrible  there  was  an 
occasional  gleam  of  the  humorous. 

— One  merchant,  who  found  his  safe  and  its  contents  destroyed, 
quietly  remarked  that  there  was  no  blame  attached  to  the  safe  ; 
that  it  was  of  chilled  iron,  and  would  have  stood,  but  that  the  fire 
had  taken  the  chill  all  out. 

— A  firm  of  painters  on  Madison  street  bulletin  their  removal 
as  follows,  on  a  sign-board  erected  like  a  guide-board  upon  the 
ruins  of  their  old  establishment : — 

:  MOORE  &  GOE,  \ 

•  House  and  Sign  Painters, 

•  Removed  to  111  Desplaines  st.,         • 
:  Capital,  $000,000.30.  \ 

■ — An  editor  of  a  daily  paper  has  received  several  poetical 
effusions  suggested  by  the  late  disaster ;  but  he  declines  them  all, 
on  the  ground. that  it  is  wasteful  to  print  anything  which  requires 
every  line  with  a  capital,  when  capital  is  as  scarce  as  it  is  now  in 
Chicago. 

— A  bride  who  entered  the  holy  married  state  on  Tuesday 
evening,  determined  to  do  so  in  a  calico  dress,  in  deference  both 
to  the  proprieties  and  the  necessities  of  the  occasion.  But  she 
desired  that  her  toilette  de  charribre  should  be,  if  possible,  on  a 
more  gorgeous  scale.  Being  destitute  of  a  rohe  de  nuit  of  suit- 
able elegance,  she  sent  out  to  several  neighbors  of  her  temporary 
hostess  to  borrow  such  a  garment,  stipulating  that  it  must  be  a 
Jine  one.  So  peculiar  is  the  feminine  nature,  however,  that  her 
modest  request  excited  no  enthusiasm  in  her  behalf  among  the 
ladies  to  whom  it  came.     This  is  not  a  joke. 


20  HISTORY   OF   THE 

— A  sign-board,  stuck  in  the  ruins  of  a  building  on  MadisoE 
street,  reads  :  "  Owing  to  circumstances  over  which  we  had  no 
control,  we  have  removed,"  etc. 

Chicago,  October  12,  1871. 
To  the  Editor  of  the  Chicago  Evening  Journal : — 

The  attention  of  Chicagoans  is  called  to  the  8th  chapter  of 
Deuteronomy,  and  the  clergy  of  the  city  are  respectfully  re- 
quested to  take  the  same  for  a  text  on  Sunday  morning  next. 

Meechajstt. 

— One  of  our  merchants,  reported  insane,  was  heard  from  at 
New  York — where  he  had  gone  to  bury  a  sister — in  the  follow- 
ing noble  manner : — 
Mrs.  Potter  Palmer : 

I  have  particulars  of  fire.  Am  perfectly  reconciled  to  our 
losses.  We  shall  not  be  embarrassed.  Have  an  abundance  left. 
Be  cheerful  and  do  all  possible  for  sufferers.  Will  return  by  first 
train  after  funeral.  Potter  Palmer. 

The  scene  presented  on  Wabash  avenue  on  Monday,  for  a 
period  extending  from  4  o'clock  a.m.  till  late  in  the  day,  was  a 
most  extraordinary  one,  calling  to  mind  most  vividly  the  retreat 
of  a  routed  army.  The  lower  part  of  the  avenue  had,  at  an 
early  hour,  been  occupied  by  residents  of  burning  quarters,  who 
sought  safety  for  themselves  and  their  chattels  by  depositing 
them  on  the  grass-plats  skirting  the  sidewalks.  For  a  long  dis- 
tance these  plats  were  occupied  by  families,  mostly  of  the  lower 
classes,  with  their  household  goods.  They  supposed  that  they 
had  discovered  a  place  of  security,  but  their  confidence  in  this 
regard  proved  unfounded.  As  the  fire  commenced  spreading  up 
the  avenue  a  wild  scene  of  confusion  ensued.  The  street  was 
crowded  with  vehicles  of  all  descriptions,  many  drawn  by  men, 
who  fonnd  it  impossible  to  procure  draught  animals.  The  sidewalks 
were  filled  with  a  hurrying  crowd,  bearing  in  their  arms  and 


GREAT  FIRE   IN   CHICAGO.  21 

upon  tlieir  backs  and  heads  clothing,  furniture,  etc.  Ladies 
dressed  in  elegant  costumes,  put  on  with  the  view  of  preserving 
them,  and  with  costly  apparel  of  all  kinds  thrown  over  their 
arms  and  shoulders,  staggered  along  under  the  unwonted  burden. 
Poor  women,  with  mattresses  upon  their  heads,  or  weighted 
down  with  furniture,  tottered  with  weary  steps  up  the  crowded 
street.  Nearly  every  one  wore  a  stern  expression,  and  moved  on 
without  a  word,  as  if  they  had  braced  up  their  minds  to  endure 
the  worst  without  manifesting  any  emotion.  Occasionally,  how- 
ever, the  wail  of  women  and  children  rent  the  air,  bringing  tears 
to  the  eyes  of  those  who  witnessed  the  manifestations.  Poor 
little  children  shivered  in  the  cold  night  air,  and  looked  with 
wildly  opened  eyes  upon  the  scenes  they  could  not  comprehend. 
Ludicrous  incidents  were  of  occasional  occurrence,  lighting  up 
with  a  sort  of  horrible  humor  the  terrible  realities  of  the  situ- 
ation. "Women  would  go  by  with  dogs  in  their  arms — their  pets 
being  all  they  had  saved  from  the  ruins  of  their  homes.  An  oc- 
togenarian ran  into  a  yard  with  a  large  cat  enfolded  in  his  feeble 
embrace.  Men  dragging  wagons  wore  green  veils  over  their 
faces  to  protect  their  eyes  from  the  blinding  dust.  Drunken 
men  staggered  among  the  crowds,  apparently  possessed  of  the 
idea  that  the  whole  aifair  was  a  grand  municipal  spree,  in  which 
they  were  taking  part  as  a  duty  that  should  be  discharged  by 
all  good  citizens.  Trucks  passed  up  street  loaded  with  trunks, 
on  which  sat  ladies  in  costly  garb,  and  with  diamonds  in  their 
ears  and  on  their  fingers.  But  one  day  before  they  would  have 
scorned  the  idea  of  riding  in  anything  less  imposing  than  a  lux- 
urious landau  or  coupe ;  but  their  pride  was  levelled  in  the 
presence  of  .the  universally  imminent  danger,  and  they  were 
thoroughly  glad  to  get  the  humblest  cart  in  which  to  place 
themselves  and  their  valuables. 

The  greater  portion  of  the  people  knew  not  whither  they  were 
going.     All  they  knew  was  that  the  horrible  fire   was  behind 


22  mSTOET   OF   THE 

them  and  they  must  move  on.  The  stream  poured  southward 
for  hours,  the  broad  avenue  being  filled  from  house  to  house 
with  men,  women,  children,  horses,  mules,  veliicles,  wheelbar- 
rows— everything  that  could  move  or  be  moved.  Trackmen 
and  express  drivers  were  hailed  from  the  steps  of  houses,  or 
eagerly  pursued  by  the  occupants,  with  the  view  of  securing 
their  aid  in  removing  household  goods  to  places  of  safety.  In 
many  instances  the  appeals  were  unsuccessful,  their  services  hav- 
ing been  previously  engaged  by  other  parties ;  but  when  they 
were  disengaged  they  charged  the  most  exorbitant  prices,  ranging 
from  $5  to  $100  for  a  load,  and  turning  up  their  noses  at  offers 
of  amounts  less  than  they  asked.  This  class  of  people  made 
great  profit  out  of  tlie  calamities  of  their  fellow-citizens.  Their 
pockets  may  be  heavy  to-day,  but  their  consciences,  if  they  have 
any,  should  be  still  heavier.  The  instances  of  generosity  were, 
however,  far  in  excess  of  those  of  greed  and  selfishness.  People 
from  districts  which  had  not  already  been  burned,  or  who  had 
secured  their  own  goods,  turned  in  with  a  will  and  woi'ked  to 
assist  their  friends,  and  frequently  rendered  aid  to  persons  whom 
they  did  not  know.  Grood  angels,  in  the  shape  of  women,  dis- 
tributed food  among  the  sufierers,  and  spoke  kind  words  to  those 
who  seemed  to  labor  under  the  severest  affliction.  Human 
nature,  God  be  thanked,  has  its  bright  as  well  as  its  dark  side. 

Some  of  the  scenes  that  transpired  about  and  in  the  fire  were 
disgraceful  beyond  measure.  The  saloons  were,  man}'-  of  them 
thrown  open,  and  men  exhorted  to  free  drinking  needed  but 
one  invitation.  Hundreds  were  soon  dead  drunk,  or  fighting 
and  screaming  ;  many  thus  fell  victims  to  the  flames,  and'  some 
were  dragged  away  by  main  force  and  rescued  from  roasting. 
Even  respectable  men,  seeing  that  all  was  lost,  sought  to  drown 
their  misery  by  intoxication. 

But  worse  than  this  were  the  instances  of  theft  and  cold- 
blooded avarice  which  occurred  and  have  come  to  lig-lit.     A 


GREAT  FIEE  IN  CHICAGO.  23 

book-keeper  engaged  in  conveying  away  the  firm's  records  fell 
fainting  in  the  alle^  behind  the  store,  overcome  by  exertion 
and  suffocated  by  the  smoke  and  dust.  The  shock  restored  him 
to  consciousness,  and  upon  attempting  to  rise  he  found  himself 
unable  to  stand.  Just  then  a  man  was  passing,  and  he  hailed 
him  with  a  request  for  help.  The  wretch  offered  to  assist  for  a 
hundred  dollars.  The  fallen  man  said,  "  I  have  but  ten,  and  I 
will  give  you  that."  For  this  amount  he  gave  his  arm  to  the 
poor  sufferer,  and  saved  his  life.  A  girl  carried  her  sewing-ma- 
chine to  four  different  points,  and  was  forced  from  each  by  the 
advancing  fiend.  At  last  an  expressman  seized  her  treasure, 
and  in  spite  of  all  her  efi'orts  drove  away  with  it.  Said  the  im- 
poverished girl,  "  Do  you  wonder  Chicago  burned  ? "  In  front 
of  a  wholesale  house  the  sidewalk  was  bloody  from  the  punish- 
ment inflicted  by  the  police  upon  sneak-thieves.  Trunks  were 
rifled  after  their  owners  had  placed  them  out  of  reach  of  fire. 
They  were  broken  open  by  dozens  on  the  lake  shore,  and  the 
ejmpty  trunks  tossed  into  the  water.  Pieces  of  broadcloth  were 
torn  into  strips  three  yards  long  and  distributed  among  a  party 
who  said,  "  These  will  make  us  each  a  good  suit."  Persons  who 
saw  and  heard  these  things  were  powerless,  and  the  confusion 
was  so  terrible  that  no  one  could  look  out  for  any  one  but  him- 
self, or  interfere  for  the  protection  of  others'  property.  It  was  a 
time  when  the  worst  forces  of  society  were  jubilant,  and  all  the 
villains  had  free  course.  The  Court-House  jail  had  one  hundred 
and  sixty  prisoners,  and  these  were  let  loose  to  prey  upon  the 
people  in  the  time  of  their  helplessness  and  extremity.  Such 
an  event  was  a  public  calamity ;  but  humanity  would  not  permit 
the  poor  wretches  to  perish  there,  and  no  means  were  at  hand  to 
convey  them  to  any  other  place  of  confinement. 

Speedily  upon  the  appearance  of  daylight  and  the  resumption 
of  courage,  the  Mayor  and  a  few  citizens,  like  Hon.  C.  C.  P. 
Holden,  Alonzo  Snider,  and  others,  began  to  organize  measures 


24  HISTORY   OF   THE 

for  public  safety  and  order.  The  following  proclamation  was 
issued,  and  gave  confidence : — 

"  Wheeeas,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  to  whose  will  we 
humbly  submit,  a  terrible  calamity  has  befallen  our  city,  which 
demands  of  us  our  best  efforts  for  the  preservation  of  order  and 
the  relief  of  the  suffering. 

"  Be  it  e:nown  that  the  faith  and  credit  of  the  city  of  Chi- 
cago is  hereby  pledged  for  the  necessary  expenses  for  the  relief 
of  the  suffering.  Public  order  will  be  preserved.  The  Police, 
and  Special  Police  now  being  appointed,  will  be  responsible  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  peace  and  the  protection  of  propert3^ 
All  officers  and  men  of  the  Fire  Department  and  Health  De- 
partment will  act  as  Special  Policemen  without  further  notice. 
The  Mayor  and  Comptroller  will  give  vouchers  for  all  supplies 
furnished  by  the  different  Relief  Committees.  The  head-quar- 
ters of  the  City  Government  will  be  at  the  Congregational 
Church,  corner  of  "West  Washington  and  Ann  streets.  All  per- 
sons are  warned  against  any  acts  tending  to  endanger  property. 
All  persons  caught  in  any  depredation  will  be  immediately 
arrested. 

"  With  the  help  of  God,  order  and  peace  and  private  property 
shall  be  preserved.  The  City  Government  and  committees  of 
citizens  pledge  themselves  to  the  community  to  protect  them, 
and  prepare  the  way  for  a  restoration  of  public  and  private 
welfare. 

"  It  is  believed  the  fire  has  spent  its  force,  and  all  will  soon 

be  well. 

E.  B.  Mason,  Mayor. 

Geokge  Taylor,  Comptroller. 

(By  R.  B.  Mason.) 

Charles  C.  P.  Holden, 

President  Common  Council. 

T.  B.  Brown, 

President  Board  of  Police, 
"  Chicago,  October  9,  1871." 


GREAT   FIEE   m    CHICAGO.  25 

The  citizens  were  organized  into  a  police  force,  and  thousands 
patrolled  the  city  with  a  desperate  determination  to  preserve 
their  property  and  to  punish  with  sudden  vengeance  the  incen- 
diaries who  were  prowling  about  the  city.  The  demoniac  piu'- 
poses  of  these  villains  who  were  attempting  incendiarism  were 
favored  by  the  high  winds  and  the  dryness  of  everything  com- 
bustible. The  people  were  dreadfully  excited  in  all  parts  of 
the  city,  and  every  rumor  was  caught  up  and  magnified.  But 
additional  assurance  was  given  by  the  presence  of  Gen.  Phil. 
Sheridan,  with  the  regulars  and  militia,  to  whom  the  burnt  dis- 
trict was  given  up  for  protection.  There  lay  hundreds  of  safes, 
either  exposed  or  buried  in  the  debris.  When  these  were 
opened,  ruffians  would  be  on  the  watch  to  see  whither  the  con- 
tents were  convej'^ed.  Cracksmen  came  in  from  other  cities  to 
take  advantage  of  the  disaster.  But  the  gallant  General  was 
able  to  announce  as  follows  :— 

"  IIead-quakteks  Military  Division  or  the  Missoukt, 

Chicago,  Oct.  12. 
"  To  His  Honor  the  Mayor : — 

"  The  preservation  of  peace  and  good  order  of  the  city  having 
been  entrusted  to  me  by  your  Honor,  I  am  happy  to  state  that 
no  case  of  outbreak  or  disorder  has  been  reported.  No  authen- 
ticated attempt  at  incendiarism  has  reached  me,  and  the  people 
of  the  city  are  calm,  quiet,  and  well-disposed. 

"  The  force  at  my  disposal  is  ample  to  maintain  order,  should 
it  be  necessary,  and  protect  the  district  devastated  by  fire.     Still, 
I  would  suggest  to  citizens  not  to  relax  in  their  watchfulness  un- 
til the  smouldering  fires  of  the  burnt  buildings  are  entirely  ex- 
-tinguished.  "  P.  H.  Sheridajst, 

"  Lieutenant-General." 

There  were  hideous  instances  of  cruelty  and  wickedness 
during  the  conflagration,  which  no  provision  could  have  prevent- 


26  HISTORY   OF   THE 

ed.  The  inmates  of  the  jail  were  only  released  after  the  cupola 
of  the  building  fell  in,  and  while  they  were  howling,  praying,  and 
fighting  for  escape.  Immense  battering-rams  had  no  effect  on 
the  fastenings  from  without,  and  only  at  the  last  moment  did  the 
turnkey  let  them  loose  into  the  heart  of  the  burning  city.  That 
which  greatly  facilitated  the  progress  of  the  fire,  and  kept  all 
the  people  in  terror,  was  the  burning  of  the  famous  water-works 
on  the  north  side  at  an  early  hour  on  the  morning  of  Monday. 
The  query  may  arise,  Why  any  lack  of  this  fluid  when  a  mighty 
lake  rolled  at  the  city's  feet  and  a  river  flowed  through  its  heart  ? 
"  Water,  water  everywhere  !  "  Probably  no  city  has  better  sup- 
plies of  water,  now  that  from  the  bosom  of  an  inland  sea  we 
draw  fresh  draughts  in  boundless  abundance.  The  tunnel  tliat 
connects  tlie  lake-shaft  with  the  shore  is  far  below  the  bottom 
and  is  safe,  but  the  engines  which  lift  the  water  and  force  it  into 
reservoirs  for  distribution  were  esposed  to  the  iiTesistible  ele- 
ment, and  by  some  strange  fatality,  whether  accidental  or  other- 
wise, they  early  fell  a  prey  to  destruction.  The  grand  tower 
stands  unharmed,  and  all  the  connections  underground  remain 
intact. 

But  massive  stone  walls  and  slate  roof  afforded  no  protection, 
for  the  city  was  doomed.  And  now,  when  all  was  dust  and  smoke 
and  fire,  suddenly  the  hydrants  ceased  to  flow,  and  a  pang  (  f 
alarm  and  consternation  shot  through  the  breasts  of  the  popula- 
tion. 

The  public  parks  had  water  in  their  fountains  and  pools,  and 
to  these  the  multitudes  resorted  day  and  night,  with  every  sort  of 
vessel  that  could  hold  water.  It  was  almost  a  ludicrous,  but 
particularly  a  pitiable  sight.  The  Artesian  wells  also  sent  out 
their  supplies,  in  carts  and  wagons,  all  through  the  west  division, 
and  the  horrors  of  thirst  were  averted.  Tlie  first  copious  rain  which 
fell  was  on  Saturday,  October  14:th,  and  every  householder  made 
the  most  of  this  heavenly  bounty.     But  the  next  question  after 


GEEAT   FIRE   IN   CHICAGO.  27 

water  was  food.  Our  resources  are  all  cut  off;  there  is  no  busi- 
ness, and  our  hundred  thousand  people  must  have  bread,  and  not 
for  one  day,  but  for  many  days. 

The  lurid  flames  shot  up  in  masses  that  overwhelmed  the  city, 
and  no  one  could  tell  when  there  would  be  a  cessation  of  the 
work  of  ruin,  or  how  sustenance  could  be  provided.  Fears  of  a 
bread-riot  arose  in  many  minds,  because  of  the  imminent  ap- 
proach of  deadly  want. 

At  this  hour  of  our  extremity,  when  all  seemed  toppling  to  de- 
struction, a  cry  was  heard  like  that  of  which  we  read  in  tales  of 
shipwreck,  when  the  lost  discern  a  sail  upon  the  waters.  The  tid- 
ings reached  other  towns  and  cities,  and  were  flashed  across  the 
Atlantic,  and  instantly,  spontaneously,  nobly,  munificently  the 
responses  came  back,  not  only  in  words  of  cheer,  but  in  substan- 
tial forms — car-loads  of  cooked  food  and  provisions  of  every  kind, 
good  wholesome  supplies,  better  than  many  of  the  poor  had  been 
wont  to  enjoy — clothing  in  bountiful  abundance,  and  money  to 
be  nsed  at  the  discretion  of  the  authorities.  Men  who  had  not 
shed  a  tear  till  then,  shook  with  uncontrollable  emotion  and 
wept  for  joy.  .  The  gratitude  was  equal  to  the  charity,  if  such 
an  equalization  were  possible. 

We  began  to  realize  how  intimately  the  interests  of  Chicago 
were  bound  up  wdth  those  of  the  whole  country  and  the  world. 
Its  losses  were  not  local,  but  almost  universal,  so  that  the  words 
of  Schiller  scarcely  seemed  inapplicable  here  : — 

"  This  kingly  Wallenstein,  whene'er  he  falls 
Will  drag  a  world  to  ruin  down  with  him  ; 
And  as  a  ship  that  in  the  midst  of  ocean 
Catches  fire,  and  shivering  springs  into  the  air, 
And  in  a  moment  scatters  between  sea  and  sky 
The  crew  it  bore,  so  will  he  hurry  to  destruction 
Ev'ry  one  whose  fate  was  joined  with  his." 

The  representatives  of  all  nations  were  here,  and  of  all  States, 


28  ^  HISTOET   OF   THE 

and  communities  in  I^ortli  America — the  business  world  were 
here  by  their  money  or  agencies,  and  the  fall  of  Chicago  sent  a 
tremor  throughout  the  whole  fabric  of  society.  This  may  ac- 
count, in  part,  for  the  uprising  of  all  Christendom  to  assist  in 
the  terrific  exigency,  and  roll  away  the  burden  that  was  crush- 
ing her  into  the  dust. 

"We  give  several  proclamations  by  the  Governors  of  the  States 
adjacent,  whose  people  were  fully  roused  to  comprehend  the 
calamity  and  meet  the  extreme  demands  of  the  sufiering  multi- 
tude : — ■ 

BY  THE  GOYERKOR  OF  ILLINOIS. 

State  of  Illinois,      ) 
Executive  Department,  ) 

John  M.  PalTuer,   Governor  of  Illinois^   To  all  wJtotn  these 

jpresents  shall  come^  greeting  : 

Whereas,  in  my  judgment,  the  great  calamity  that  has 
overtaken  Chicago,  the  largest  city  of  the  State ;  that  has  de- 
prived many  thousands  of  our  citizens  of  homes  and  rendered 
them  destitute;  that  has  destroyed  many  millions  in  value  of 
property,  and  thereby  disturbing  the  business  of  the  people  and 
deranging  the  finances  of  the  State,  and  interrupting  the  execu- 
tion of  the'laws,  is  and  constitutes  "  an  extraordinary  occasion  " 
within  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  eighth  section  of  the 
fifth  article  of  the  Constitution. 

ISTow,  therefore,  I,  John  M.  Palmer,  Governor  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  do  by  this,  my  proclamation,  convene  and  invite  the  two 
Houses  of  the  General  Assembly  in  session  in  the  city  of  Spring- 
field, on  Friday,  the  13th  day  of  the  month  of  October,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  1871,  at  12  o'clock  noon  of  said  day,  to  take 
into  consideration  the  following  subjects  : — 

1.  To  appropriate  such  sum  or  sums  of  money,  or  adopt  such 
other  legislative  measures  as  may  be  thought  judicious,  neces- 


GEEAT   FIEE   IN   CHICAGO.  29 

sary,  or  proper,  for  the  relief  of  the  people  of  the  city  of  Chi- 
cago. , 

2.  To  make  provision,  by  amending  the  revenue  laws  or  other- 
wise, for  the  proper  and  just  assessment  and  collection  of  taxes 
within  the  city  of  Chicago. 

3.  To  enact  such  other  laws  and  to  adopt  such  other  measures 
as  may  be  necessary  for  the  relief  of  the  city  of  Chicago  and  the 
people  of  said  city,  and  for  the  execution  and  enforcement  of 
the  laws  of  the  State. 

4.  To  make  appropriations  for  the  expenses  of  the  General 
Assembly,  and  such  other  appropriations  as  may  be  necessary  to 
carry  on  the  State  Government. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand 
and  caused  the   great   seal  of    State  to   be   affixed. 
[seal.]     Done  at  the  city  of  Springfield,  this  10th  day  of 
October,  a.d.  1871. 

John  M.  Palmee. 
By  the  Governor, 

Edward  Rummell,  Secretary  of  State. 

BY  THE  GOYERNOR  OF  WISCONSIN. 

To  the  Peojple  of  Wisconsin  : 

Throughout  the  northern  part  of  this  State  fires  have  been 
raging  in  the  woods  for  many  days,  spreading  desolation  on  every 
side.  It  is  reported  that  hundreds  of  families  have  been  ren- 
dered homeless  by  this  devouring  element,  and  reduced  to  utter 
destitution,  their  entire  crops  having  been  consumed.  Their 
stock  has  been  destroyed,  and  their  farms  are  but  a  blackened 
desert.  Unless  they  receive  instant  aid  from  portions  not  visited 
by  this  dreadful  calamity,  they  must  perish. 

The  telegraph  also  brings  the  terrible  news  that  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  city  of  Chicago  is  destroyed  by  a  conflagration, 
which  is  still  raging.     Many  thousands  of  people  are  thus  re- 


30  ,  HISTOET   OF   TKE 

duced  to  penury,  stripped  of  their  all,  and  are  now  destitute  of 
shelter  and  food.  Their  sufferings  will  be  intense,  and  many 
may  perish  unless  provisions  are  at  once  sent  to  them  from  the 
surrounding  country.     They  must  be  assisted  now. 

In  the  awful  presence  of  such  calamities  the  people  of  Wis- 
consin will  not  be  backward  in  giving  assistance  to  their  afflicted 
fellow-men, 

I,  therefore,  recommend  that  immediate  organized  effort  be 
made  in  every  locality  to  forward  provisions  and  money  to  the 
sufi'erers  by  this  visitation,  and  suggest  to  mayors  of  cities, 
presidents  of  villages,  town  supervisors,  pastors  of  churches, 
and  to  the  various  benevolent  societies,  that  they  devote  them- 
selves immediately  to  the  work  of  organizing  effort,  collecting 
contributions,  and  sending  forward  supplies  for  distribution. 

And  I  entreat  all  to  give  of  their  abundance  to  help  those  in 
such  sore  distress. 

Given  under  my  hand,  at  the  Capitol,  at  Madison,  this  9th  day 
of  October,  a.  d.  1871.  Lucnis  Faikchild. 

BY  THE  GOYERITOR  OF  MICHIGAK 

State  of  Michigan^,  Executive  Office, 
Lansing,  Oct.  9. 
The  city  of  Chicago,  in  the  neighboring  State  of  Illinois,  has 
been  visited,  in  the  providence  of  Almighty  God,  with  a  calamity 
almost  unequalled  in  the  annals  of  history.  A  large  portion  of 
that  beautiful  and  most  prosperous  city  has  been  reduced  to  ashes 
and  is  now  in  ruins.  Many  millions  of  dollars  in  property,  the 
accumulation  of  years  of  industry  and  toil,  have  been  swept  away 
in  a  moment.  The  rich  have  been  reduced  to  penury,  the  poor 
have  lost  the  little  they  possessed,  and  many  thousands  of  people 
rendered  homeless  and  houseless,  and  are  now  without  the  abso- 
lute necessaries  of  life.  I,  therefore,  earnestly  call  upon  the  citi- 
zens of  every  portion  of  Michigan  to  take  immediate  measures 


GREAT   FIRE   EST   CHICAGO.  31 

for  alleviating  the  pressing  wants  of  that  fearfully  afflicted  city 
by  collecting  and  forwarding  to  the  Mayor  or  proper  authorities 
of  Chicago  supplies  of  food  as  well  as  liberal  collections  of  money. 
Let  this  sore  calamity  of  our  neighbors  remind  us  of  the  uncer- 
tainty of  earthly  possessions,  and  that  when  one  member  suffers 
all  the  members  should  suffer  with  it.  I  cannot  doubt  that  the 
whole  people  of  the  State  will  most  gladly,  and  most  promptly, 
and  most  liberally  respond  to  this  urgent  demand  upon  their 
sympathy;  but  no  words  of  mine  can  plead  so  strongly  as  the 
calamity  itself. 

Henkt  p.  Baldwin, 
Governor  of  Michigan. 

BY  THE  GOYEENOE  OF  IOWA. 

To  the  People  of  Iowa  : 

An  appalling  calamity  has  befallen  our  sister  State.  Her 
metropolis — the  great  city  of  Chicago — is  in  ruins.  Over  100,000 
people  are  without  shelter  or  food,  except  as  supplied  by  others. 
A  helping  hand  let  us  now  promptly  give.  Let  the  liberality  of 
our  people,  so  lavishly  displayed  during  the  long  period  of  na- 
tional peril,  come  again  to  the  front,  to  lend  succor  in  this  hour 
of  distress.  I  would  urge  the  appointment  at  once  of  relief  com- 
mittees in  every  city,  town,  and  township,  and  I  respectfully  ask 
the  local  authorities  to  call  meetings  of  the  citizens  to  devise 
ways  and  means  to  render  efficient  aid.  I  would  also  ask  the 
pastors  of  the  various  churches  througliout  the  State  to  take  up 
collections  on  Sunday  morning  next,  or  at  such  other  time  as 
they  may  deem  proper,  for  the  relief  of  the  sufferers.  Let  us  not 
be  satisfied  with  any  spasmodic  effort.  There  will  be  need  of 
relief  of  a  substantial  character  to  aid  the  many  thousands  to 
prepare  for  the  rigors  of  the  coming  winter.  The  magnificent 
public  charities  of  that  city,  now  paralyzed,  can  do  little  to  this 
end.     Those  who  live  in  homes  of  comfort  and  plenty  must  fur- 


32  HISTOEY   OF  THE 

nisli  this  help,  or  misery  and  suffering  will  be  the  fate  of  many 
thousands  of  our  neighbors. 

Samuel  Mekrill,  Governor. 
Des  Moines,  Oct.  10,  1871. 

BY  THE  GOYERNOR  OF  OHIO. 

-    Chicago,  Oct.  12. 
To  the  People  of  Ohio: 

It  is  believed  by  the  best  informed  citizens  here  that  many 
thousands  of  the  sufferers  must  be  provided  with  the  necessaries 
of  life  during  the  cold  winter.  Let  the  efforts  to  raise  contribu- 
tions be  energeticall}^  pushed.  Money,  fuel,  ffour,  poik,  cloth- 
ing, and  other  articles  not  perishable  should  be  collected  as 
rapidly  as  possible — especially  money,  fuel,  and  flour.  Mr. 
Joseph  Medill,  of  The  Tribune^  estimates  the  number  of  those 
who  will  need  assistance  at  .about  70,000. 

R.  B.  Hates,  Governor  of  Ohio. 

As  great  exigencies  develop  great  men,  and  peculiar  sorrows 
call  forth  the  best  elements  of  human  nature,  thus  compensating 
men  for  labors  and  loss  in  some  measure,  glorifjang  mankind  and 
bringing  down  God's  richest  blessings,  so  on  the  bosom  of  this 
mighty  sea  of  trouble  rose  a  light  that  brightened  into  perfect 
day,  and  the  people  of  this  and  other  countries  put  forth  their 
energies  to  relieve  distress  and  provide  for  the  army  of  sufferers, 
]^o  sooner  was  the  melancholy  news  sent  forth,  than  women  be- 
gan to  cook,  and  night  and  day  they  filled  their  ovens  with  the 
best  they  could  prepare,  and  sent  it  hot  to  the  depots  from  whence 
it  was  conveyed  to  the  desolate  city.  One  man  superintended 
the  unloading  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  cars  in  four  days,  and 
this  was  but  a  moiety  of  the  bounty.  Everything  that  came 
seemed  to  be  of  the  best  quality,  and  the  poor  were  never  treated 
to  such  a  feast.  In  the  midst  of  all  the  terror,  confusion,  dust, 
and  smoke,  arrangements  were  extemporized  for  receiving  and 


GEEAT   FIRE   DT   CHICAGO.  33 

disbursing  supplies.  The  school  buildings  and  saved  church  edifi- 
ces were  thrown  Q,pen,and  the  citizens  received  the  provisions 
and  gave  them  out.  Cushions  were  freely  used  for  beds,  and  the 
poor  homeless  wanderers  rested  in  God's  sanctuaries.  In  the 
Second  Baptist  basement  hundreds  found  good  sleeping  accom- 
modations, and  thousands  were  fed.  While  the  outside  public 
were  so  grandly  generous,  the  sufferers  found  their  more  fortu- 
nate citizens  absolutely  unselfish  and  noble  in  their  devotion  and 
care.  The  loftier  traits  of  Christian  character  shone  forth  con- 
spicuous through  the  gloom.  This  was  all  the  more  marked,  in- 
asmuch as  their  own  spared  homes  were  exposed  to  fire  every 
moment,  or  to  pillage,  until  Sunday  a  week  after  the  fire.  Sat- 
urday the  rain  fell  in  copious  showers,  but  even  on  that  night 
the  alarm  was  great,  as  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  de- 
scription in  one  of  the  papers  : 

"  The  storm  which  swept  over  this  city  on  Saturday  night  was 
the  severest  visitation  of  that  character  which  we  have  encoun- 
tered this  season.  Early  in  the  evening  a  pretty  stiff  breeze  blew 
from  south-south-west.  As  the  hours  wore  on,  the  wind  veered 
around  to  the  westward  and  gradually  increased  in  strengtli. 
Toward  midnight  a  perfect  hurricane  from  the  north-west  pre- 
vailed. The  reflection  on  the  drifting  storm-clouds  of  the  burning 
coal  along  the  docks  struck  terror  to  the  hearts  of  the  dwellers  in 
the  far-western  portion  of  the  city,  who  imagined  that  the  glare 
was  due  to  another  outburst  of  the  fire.  Each  house  had  its 
anxious  watchers,  who  kept  a  steady  look-out  towards  the  east 
lest  the  fiery  destroyer  should  stealthily  approach  and  devour  the 
dry  remnant  of  the  city.  The  solidity  of  those  blocks  which 
front  bleak  stretches  of  prairie  was  put  to  a  severe  test  all 
through  the  night.  No  sleep  came  to  quiet  the  unstrung  nerves 
of  the  excited  inmates,  for  the  houses  and  everything  about  them 
rocked  and  rattled  as  if  from  the  action  of  an  earthquake.     As 

morning  approached  the  storm  began  to  abate  in  violence,  and 
3 


34  HISTORY   OF   THE 

the  terrible  light  of  the  sky  gradually  faded  away.  "When  day 
broke  full  and  clear,  the  wind  had  almost  entirely  subsided,  to 
the  intense  gratification  of  weary  sentinels. 

"  It  was  most  fortunate  that  no  incipient  fires  made  their  ap- 
pearance in  any  distant  portion  of  the  West  Division.  It  is  ter- 
rible even  to  imagine  the  result  of  such  a  calamity,  with  water 
so  scarce  and  a  frightful  storm  raging.  No  power  on  earth 
could  have  saved  us  from  utter  annihilation.  Happily  but 
slight  damage  was  done  on  land  by  the  wind,  though  what  dis- 
asters followed  on  the  lake  is  not  yet  definitely  known.  It  is 
feared  that  marine  casualties  have  been  numerous.  Several 
dangerous  walls  among  the  south-side  ruins  were  blown  down 
during  the  night.  Beyond  the  demolition  of  the  frail  steeple  of 
the  San  Francisco  church,  on  the  corner  of  Twelfth  street  and 
Xewberry  avenue,  which  fell  with  a  loud  crash  about  midnight, 
nothing  serious  occurred  on  the  west  side." 

Sunday  was  a  day  of  perfect  loveliness,  and  the  people  gath- 
ered in  multitudes 

TmDEK   THE    SHADOW   OF   THE   SANCTUAKY. 

"  Those  places  of  worship  in  the  South  Division  which  escaped 
the  sad  fate  of  so  many  of  the  finest  monuments  to  architectural 
skill  in  the  city,  were  crowded  to  overflowing  during  the  ser- 
vices yesterday  morning.  A  hundred  uncovered  heads  could 
have  been  seen  on  the  sidewalks  fronting  the  few  remaining 
churches  which  rear  their  spires  heavenward  in  that  blighted 
section.  At  the  hour  for  the>/services  to  commence  it  was  impos- 
sible to  gain  entrance  to  the  auditoriums,  and  late-comers  had  to 
content  themselves  with  what  they  could  see  and  hear  through 
open  doors  and  windows. 

"  Those  long  lines  of  fashionably-attired  Christians  who  were 
wont  to  exhibit  themselves  on  the  avenues   on  other  Sabbath 


GEEAT  FIEE  IN  CHICAGO.  35 

mornings  were  not  visible  yesterday.  The  raiment  of  the 
church-goers  was  as  subdued  as  their  feehngs.  Earnest,  thank- 
ful prayer  substituted  itself  for  ostentatious  display,  and  reveren- 
tial attention  for  the  thoughtless  demeanor  of  other  times.  The 
services  at  the  churches  were  of  a  dual  character-— sorrowful  and 
ioyful — sorrow  for  the  unparalleled  disasters  of  the  past  eventful 
week,  and  joy  that  so  much  of  this  great  city  has  been  spared 
from  the  fury  of  the  flames.  The  sermons  were  based  on  the 
most  appropriate  texts,  and  in  the  great  majority  of  instances 
were  brimful  of  sound  wisdom  and  practical  suggestions  to  the 
troubled  people. 

"The  congregations  of  some  of  the  devastated  churches  assem- 
bled on  the  still  smoking  bricks,  and  offered  up  fervent  thanks 
for  the  preservation  of  their  lives  and  homes. 

"Many  an  eye  was  dimmed  with  tears  as  little  incidents' in  for- 
mer Sabbath  meetings  were  recalled  to  point  out  more  forcibly 
the  vast  differences  between  now  and  then.  The  most  impres- 
sive of  those  gatherings  was  that  held  on  the  ruins  of  Dr.  Kyder's 
church.     A  large  number  were  present,  and  were  visibly  affected. 

"Mr.  Cheney  preached  at  Grace  Church  to  a  large  congregation, 
composed  of  his  own  parishioners  and  outsiders  unchurched  by 
the  fire.  His  topic  was  of  course  the  lesson  of  the  great  calamity. 
He  inculcated  patience,  hope,  and  charity,  but  most  especially, 
economy.  "We  must,  for  a  long  time  to  come,  dress  plainly,  live 
coarsely,  and  be  generous  to  the  very  extreme  of  our  means. 

"  The  discourse  was  eloquent  and  abounded  in  practical  sug-. 
gestions. 

"  The  goodly  number  of  the  Church  of  the  Unity,  Rev.  Robert; 
Collyer,  met  on  the  ruins  of  their  late  beautiful  temple.  The^ 
ladies  and  gentlemen  were  not  fashionably  dressed,  and  some  of 
them  not  even  comfortably,  considering  the  fresh  wind  that  blew 
in  from  the  prairies  upon  them.  The  pastor  stood  in  front  of 
the  arch  of  entrance,  upon  an  ornamental  stone  fallen  from  the 


36  HISTOET   OF   THE 

) 

cornice.  His  congregation  gathered  in  a  semicircle  in  front  of 
him.  The  scene  was  like  a  convention  of  early  Christians  in  the 
Catacombs.  Words  of  significance  were  read  from  Isaiah  54th 
and  65th.  Then  the  congregation  sang  the  100th  psalm,  '  Be- 
fore Jehovah's  awfnl  throne,'  the  pastor  lining  it.  The  hymn 
sting  was,  'Awake  our  sonls,  away  our  fears.'  The  sermon  was 
a  tearful  effort  to  be  courageous  under  overshadowing  discour- 
agements. He  only  hovered  on  the  edges  of  the  great  subject 
uppermost  in  everybody's  mind.  The  speaker  said  that  he  had 
been  trying  to  find  some  altitude  of  soul,  some  height  of  sentiment 
from  which  he  could  look  down  and  thank  God  for  what  had 
occurred.  At  some  future  time  he  might  be  able  to  accomplish 
it.  Pie  could  not  thank  God  now.  The  sorrow  was  too  near. 
After  this  expression,  the  speaker  enumerated  the  few  things 
which  were  left  to  be  thankful  for,  and  expressed  the  opinion 
that  a  more  glorious  future  for  the  church  and  the  congregation 
might  arise  from  this  dreadful  past.  He  said  that  he  should 
stay  with  his  people  through  their  bitter  trial,  and  consider  any 
ofl^er  of  a  position  elsewhere  not  exactly  as  an  insult,  but  as 
something  resembling  it, 

"  A  list  of  tlie  insurances  on  the  edifice  was  read.  It  amount- 
ed to  $105,000,  of  which  at  least  $75,000  will  be  recovered.  A 
place  of  meeting  will  be  at  once  obtained,  and  regular.  Sabbath 
services  will  be  held  in  the  future. 

"  St,  James's  Church  is  one  of  the  historical  edifices  of  the  city. 
It  has  also  been  noted  for  benevolence,  as  much  as  twenty  or 
thirty  thousand  dollars  having  in  single  instances  been  collected 
at  its  Sunday  services.  Services  were  held  yesterday  at  the  ruins, 
the  pastor,  Mr.  Thompson,  officiating,  and  the  attendance  being 
good.  The  excellent  choir  furnished  the  music  without  organ  ac- 
companiment. The  sermon  was  brief  and  delivered  in  a  faltering 
voice  to  weeping,  broken-hearted  auditors.  At  a  meeting  of  the 
vestry,  immediately  succeeding  the  service,  Hon.  I.  N.  Arnold 


GREAT   FIEE   m   CHICAGO.  37 

made  a  brief  address,  speaking  of  what  the  church  had  done  for 
others,  and  saying  tHat  outside  aid  in  rebuilding  would  be  grate- 
fully received.  A  committee  of  five  were  appointed  to  attend  to 
immediate  and  necessary  business." 

E..  L.  CoLLiEE  said : — 

"  I  have  been  busy  in  a  more  sacred  ministry  than  that  of  ar- 
ranging precise  and  careful  thoughts  for  this  occasion.  I  have 
thrown  together  this  morning  such  reflections  as  have  come  to 
me.  I  thank  God  that  our  church  still  stands,  and  hope  it  will 
morally  stand  far  more  than  ever  before. 

"  I  have  heard  not  a  little  speculation  about  the  moral  signifi- 
cance of  our  great  calamity,  and  men  who  meant  better  havo  un- 
wittingly accused  God  of  a  great  wickedness  when  they  have  in- 
timated that  it  was  a  judgment  of  Heaven  because  of  the  ungodli- 
ness of  our  city. 

"  1.  First  of  all,  judgments  of  Heaven  are  never  retrospec- 
tive, but  always  prospective — that  is,  they  are  never  of  the  back- 
ward glance,  but  always  of  the  forward.  This  calamity,  as  all 
calamities,  has  a  meaning,  and  its  purpose  is  to  work  out  God's 
unchanging  will  and  beneficent  design.  The  individual  and 
temporary  good  or  ill  that  may  come  of  it  will  depend  wholly 
upon  the  spirit  with  which  we  receive  it. 

"  The  chief  element  visible  to  our  eyes  by  which  the  fire  was 
brought  about  was  the  great  drought.  There  has  not  occurred  a 
great  fall  of  rain  for  more  than  two  years,  and  the  whole  region 
is  a  tinder-box.  Our  city  of  shanties  and  sheds  was  in  a  fit  con- 
dition for  the  mingled  furies  of  flame  and  wind. 

"  As  to  the  fire  being  a  judgment,  in  the  sense  of  a  punish- 
ment from  Heaven  because  of  the  sinfulness  of  the  people,  I 
remark  : 

"  God's  way  is  otherwise.  He  disciplines  without  destroying, 
and  builds  up  without  pulling  down.  ISTo  such  punishment  could 


38  HISTOET   OF   THE 

t 

possibly  do  any  good  if  it  were  only  received  as  a  wilful  inflic- 
tion of  the  rod  of  Heaven. 

"2.  Then  there  was  no  reason  why  Chicago  shonld  have  been 
made  an  example  for  the  rest  of  the  world.  Of  course,  we  were 
a  people  of  great  worldliness  and  selfishness,  of  great  boasting 
and  parade  ;  but  certainly  no  city  of  the  Christian  world  has 
ever  done  more,  according  to  its  means,  for  schools,  churches, 
and  charities. 

"  The  poor  have  been  systematically  provided  for,  and  freely 
educated  in  school  and  church.  There  have  been  from  the  first 
saintly  men  and  women  whose  cry  has  gone  up  to  God,  and  he 
has  heard  them. 

"  3.  The  judgment  is  meant  to  look  forioard,  not  hacTcward. 

"  We  have  chiefly  magnified  the  rights  of  individuals  rather 
than  of  society.  We  have  been  shockingly  short-sighted,  in  the 
boundaries  of  our  fire  limits,  in  permitting  so  many  or  any 
wooden  buildings  within  the  limits  of  the  city,  and  to-day  the 
fire  limits  should  be  the  city  limits. 

"  We  have  given  full  sway  to  drinking,  gambling,  and  licentious 
houses,' and  have  by  our  moral  laxity  invited  to  the  city,  and 
harbored  in  it  a  criminal  population  almost  equal  to  tliat  of 
London,  which  is  the  worst  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

"  We  have  thus  done  less  to  reform  this  very  population,  when 
in  our  power,  than  almost  any  other  city.  Our  Bridewell  and 
jail  have  cried  aloud  to  heaven  for  help  and  redress. 

"  We  have  had  the  experience  of  the  whole  world  back  of  us, 
and  yet,  in  building  a  great  city  and  centre  of  civilization,  we 
have  given  the  work  into  the  hands  of  greedy  real  estate  specu- 
lators, and  have  selfishly  taken  care  of  our  own  concerns. 

"  We  have  drifted,  too,  into  the  hands  of  a  set  of  tricky  politi- 
cians, the  spirit  of  which  is  illustrated  by  our  present  City 
Council,  and  the  only  recognized  aristocracy  of  the  city  is  a  set 
of  ignorant  and  recently  enriched  social  swells  and  snobs. 


BURNING   OF   THE   CROSBY  OPERA-HOUSE. 


GEEAT   FIRE   IN   CHICAGO.  39 

"  Now,  I  say  the  judgment  of  our  calamity  is  to  teach  us  to 
cure  these  evils.  W^  must  learn,  shortly,  economy  in  our  homes 
and  business  management.  I  am  not  hoping  to  see  again  such 
elegant  residences  and  business  blocks — I  certainly  never  desire 
to.  Europe  knows  better  than  we  in  these  matters.  Let  our 
civic  buildings  and  monuments,  our  school  buildings  and  churches^ 
our  public  libraries  in  each  section  of  the  city,  our  colleges  of 
the  learned  professions,  be  grand  and  impressive  as  may  be.  In 
these  we  can  illustrate  our  genius  for  beauty  and  sacrifice. 
"When  our  business  and  domestic  expenses  are  less,  we  can  have 
more  to  give  to  public  uses. 

"  What  is  lost  ? 

"  1.  Our  houses.  Thousands  of  families  are  houseless  and 
penniless. 

"  2.  Our  business.     This  is  temporary. 

"  3.  Our  money.  This  is  a  great  misfortune,  but  one  which 
we  can  repair. 

"  We  have  not  lost — 

"  1.  Our  geography.  Nature  called  the  lakes,  the  forest,  the 
prairies  together  in  convention  long  before  we  were  born,  and 
they  decided  that  on  this  spot  a  great  city  should  be  built — the 
railroads  and  energetic  men  have  aided  to  fulfill  the  prophecy. 

"  2.  We  have  not  lost  our  men — noble,  generous,  and  of 
genius. 

"  3.  We  have  not  lost  our  hope.  This  city  is  to  be  at  once 
rebuilt,  and  the  glory  of  the  latter  house  shall  be  greater  than 
that  of  the  former. 

"  Our  duty. — We  are  in  the  poetry  of  the  fire  as  yet.  There 
is  a  dreamy,  hazy  romance  about  it.  Stern  reality  will  come  to 
us  more  and  more  all  winter.  The  temptation  will  be  to 
greater  selfishness  on  the  part  of  those  who  have  anything  left. 
We  must  share  to  the  last  cent  with  the  needy.     Keep  courage 


4:0  HISTOKY    OF   THE 

up,  and  give  to  others.  Our  churches  must  go  on,  and  in  them 
we  must  work  as  never  before. 

"  God  is  on  our  side,  and  has  left  us  sometliing  to  do,  some- 
thing to  hope  for,  something  to  love." 

'  Here  we  may  introduce  the  magnificent  appeal  made  in  Bos- 
ton by  Rev.  E.  E.  Hale,  at  a  meeting  of  citizens  held  to  consider 
•our  calamity. 

Eev.  E.  E.  Hale  being  introduced  by  the  Mayor,  spoke  sub- 
stantially as  follows  : 

"  Mk.  Mayor  and  Gentlemen  : — It  is  but  a  single  word  that  I 
have  to  say  here.  I  have  simply  to  remind  you  that  this  is  no 
imere  matter  of  votino;  in  which  we  are  eno-ao-ed.  I  have  to 
remind  you  that  these  people,  our  people  in  Chicago,  by  their 
munificence,  by  their  generosity,  by  their  strength,  by  their  pub- 
lic spirit,  have  made  us  debtors  to  them  all.  [Applause].  There 
is  not  a  man  here  the  beef  upon  whose  table  yesterday  was  not 
the  cheaper  to  him  because  these  people  laid  out  that  world- 
renowned  and  wonderful  system  of  stock-yards.  [Applause]. 
There  is  not  a  man  here  the  bread  upon  whose  table  to-day  is 
not  cheaper  because  these  people,  in  the  very  beginning  of  their 
national  existence,  invented  and  created  that  mavellous  system 
for  the  delivery  of  grain  which  is  the  model  and  pattern  of  the 
world.  [Applause].  And  remember  that  tlie}'^  were  in  a  position 
where  they  miglit  have  said  they  held  a  monopoly.  They  com- 
manded the  only  harbor  for  the  shipping  of  the  five  greatest 
States  of  America  and  the  world,  and  in  that  position  they  have 
devoted  themselves  now  for  a  generation  to  the  steady  improve- 
ment, by  every  method  in  their  power,  of  the  means  by  which 
they  were  going  to  answer  the  daily  prayer  of  every  child  to  God 
when  praj'ing  that  He  will  give  us  our  daily  bread,  through  their 
enterprise  and  their  struggles.  We  call  it  their  misfortune.  It 
is  our  misfortune.  We  are  all,  as  it  has  been  said,  linked  together 


GKEAT  FIEE   IN   CHICAGO.  41 

in  a  solidarity  of  the  nation.  Their  loss  is  no  more  theirs  than  it 
is  ours  in  this  great  x;ampaign  of  peace  in  which  we  are  engaged. 
There  has  fallen  by  this  calamity  one  of  our  noblest  fortresses. 
Its  garrison  is  without  munitions.  It  is  for  us  at  this  instant  to 
reconstruct  that  fortress,  and  to  see  that  its  garrison  are  as  well 
placed  as  they  were  before  in  our  service.  Undoubtedly  it  is  a 
great  enterprise ;  but  we  can  trust  them  for  that.  We  are  all 
fond  of  speaking  of  the  miracle  by  which  there  in  the  desert 
there  was  created  this  great  city.  The  rod  of  some  prophet, 
you  say,  struck  it,  and  this  city  flowed  from  the  rock.  Who 
was  the  prophet  ?  what  was  the  rock  ?  It  was  the  American 
people  who  determined  that  that  city  should  be  there,  and  that  it 
should  rightly  and  wisely,  and  in  the  best  way,  distribute  the  food 
to  a  world.  [Applause].  The  American  people  has  that  duty  to 
discharge  again.  I  know  that  these  numbers  are  large  numbers. 
I  know  that  when  we  read  in  the  newspapers  of  the  destruction 
of  a  hundred  millions  of  property  those  figures  are  so  large  that 
we  can  hardly  comprehend  them.  But  the  providence  of  God  has 
taught  us  to  deal  with  larger  figures  than  these,  and  when,  not  many 
years  ago,  it  became  necessary  for  this  country  in  every  year  to 
spend  not  a  hundred  millions,  not  a  thousand  millions,  but  more 
than  a  thousand  millions  of  dollars  in  a  great  enterprise  which 
God  gave  this  country  in  the  duty  of  war,  this  country  met  its 
obligation.  And  now  that  in  a  single  year  we  have  to  recon- 
struct one  of  the  fortresses  of  peace,  I  do  not  fear  that  this  coun- 
try will  be  backward  in  its  duty.  It  has  been  truly  said  that  the 
first  duty  of  all  of  us  is,  that  the  noble  pioneers  in  the  duty  that 
God  has  placed  in  their  hands,  who  are  burned  and  sufiering, 
shall  have  food  ;  that  by  telegraph  and  railroad  they  shall  know 
that  we  are  rushing  to  their  relief;  that  their  homeless  shall  be  un- 
der shelter,  and  their  naked  clothed  ;  that  those  who  for  these  for- 
ty-eight hours  have  felt  as  if  they  were  deserted,  should  know  that 
they  have  friends  everywhere  in  God's  world.    [Applause].   Mr. 


42  HISTOEY   OF   THE 

t*resident,  as  God  is  pleased  to  order  this  world  there  is  no  partial 
evil  but  from  that  partial  evil  is  reached  the  universal  good.  The 
fires  which  our  friends  have  seen  sweeping  in  their  western 
horizon  over  the  plains  in  the  desolate  autumn,  only  bring 
forth  the  blossoms  and  richness  of  the  next  spring  and  next 
summer. 

"  1  can  well  believe  that  on  that  terrible  night  of  Sunday,  and 
all  through  the  horrors  of  Monday,  as  those  noble  people,  as 
those  gallant  workmen,  threw  upon  the  flames  the  water  that 
their  noble  works — the  noblest  that  America  has  seen — enabled 
them  to  hurl  upon  the  enemy,  that  they  must  have  imagined 
that  their  work  was  fruitless,  that  it  was  lost  toil,  to  see  those 
streams  of  water  playing  into  the  molten  mass,  and  melt  into  steam 
and  rise  innocuous  to  the  heavens.  It  may  well  have  seemed  that 
their  work  was  wasted  ;  but  it  is  sure  that  evil  shall  work  out  its 
own  end,  and  the  mists  that  rose  from  the' conflagration  were 
gathered  together  for  the  magnificent  tempest  of  last  night,  which, 
falling  upon  those  burning  streets,  has  made  Chicago  a  habitable 
city  to-day.  [Applause].  See  that  the  lesson  for  this  community, 
see  that  the  lesson  for  us  who  are  here,  that  the  horror  and  tears 
with  which  we  read  the  despatches  of  yesterday,  shall  send  us  out 
to  do  ministries  of  truth  and  bounty  and  benevolence  to-day. 
[Applause]." 

It  was  in  this  spirit  that  men  everywhere  looked  upon  the 
woful  disaster  and  its  relation  to  other  communities,  and  a  more 
appreciative  people  never  lived  than  the  Chicagoans,  who  poured 
out  their  thankfulness  to  God  and  implored  His  divinest  bless- 
ings on  the  benevolent  self-sacrificing  public.  All  jealousies 
seemed  buried  and  forgotten,  and  our  great  rivals — Milwaukee, 
St.  Louis,  and  Cincinnati — were  profuse  and  generous  beyond 
precedent  in  their  donations  for  our  benefit.  Engines  were  de- 
spatched, provisions  and  money  flowed  forth  from  their  noble 
marts,  and  thus  our  sorrow  and  burden  became  theirs,  and  we 


GREAT   FIKE   IN   CHICAGO.  43 

were  brothers  in  distress.     The  feelings  of  her  citizens  were  well 
expressed  in  the  Tribune,  which  said  : 

"  Amid  the  general  gloom,  the  public  distress,  and  the  wide- 
spread wreck  of  private  property,  the  heart  of  the  most  impover- 
ished man  is  warmed  and  lightened  by  the  universal  sympathy 
and  aid  of  his  fellow-countrymen.  There  were  cities  that  looked 
upon  Chicago  as  a  rival.  Her  unexampled  success  had  provoked 
hostility, — amounting  at  times  to  bitterness.  In  the  ranks  of 
municipalities  Chicago  stood  pre-eminent,  and  that  eminence  had 
drawn  upon  her  the  prejudices,  and  often  the  ill-natured  jea- 
lousies of  her  supposed  rivals.  But  the  fire  ended  all  this. 
Hardly  had  the  news  reached  those  cities  before  our  sorrows  were 
made  theirs.  The  noble-hearted  people  did  not  wait  for  details ; 
they  suspended  all  other  business,  each  man  giving  of  his  money 
and  his  property  to  be  sent  to  Chicago.  Beibre  the  fire  had 
ceased  its  ravages,  trains  laden  with  supplies  of  food  and  clothing 
had  actually  reached  the  city,  St.  Louis  and  Cincinnati,  Mil 
waukee,  Detroit,  Pittsburgli,  and  Louisville  were  active,  even 
while  the  fire  was  burning,  in  providing  for  the  relief  of  devas- 
tated Chicago.  Every  semblance  of  rivalry  had  disappeared. 
Not  an  ungenerous  or  selfish  thought  was  uttered — everywhere 
the  great  brotherhood  of  man  was  vindicated,  and  our  loss  was 
made  the  loss  of  the  nation.  I 

"  In  the  light  of  this  experience,  how  absurd  are  the  crimina- 
tions and  controversies  of  men.  The  hospitality  and  humanity 
of  those  in  our  city  who  have  retained  their  homes,  toward  their 
less  fortunate  neighbors,  though  marked  by  every  feature  of  un- 
selfish charity,  has  failed  even  to  equal  the  zealous  efforts  and 
generous  actions  of  the  people  of  the  country,  who  have  laid 
aside  all  other  business  to  feed  the  hungry,  clothe  the  naked,  and 
give  shelter  to  the  roofiess  of  Chicago. 

)     "  The  national  sympathy  for  us  in  our  distress  has  shown  that 
in  the  presence  of  human   suffering  there  are  no  geographical 


44  mSTOET   OF   THE 

lines,  no  sectional  boundaries,  no  distinction  of  politics  or  creeds. 
The  Samaritans  have  outlived  the  Levites,  and  there  has  been  no 
such  thing  as  passing  by  on  the  other  side.  The  wine  and  oil 
have  been  distributed  with  a  lavish  hand,  and  the  moneys  have 
been  deposited  to  pay  for  the  lodging  of  the  bruised  and  home- 
less. 

"Words  fail  to  express  the  grateful  feelings  of  our  people. 
Men  who  braved  the  perils  of  the  dreadful  Monday,  who  wit- 
nessed the  destruction  of  all  their  worldly  goods,  and  who  with 
their  families  struggled  for  life  upon  the  prairies  during  the  awful 
destruction,  and  bravely  endured  it  all,  could  not  restrain  the 
swelling  heart  or  grateful  tears  when  they  read  what  the  noble 
people  of  the  country  had  done  for  Chicago  ;  how  the  rich  and 
the  poor,  whites  and  blacks,  all — men,  women,  and  children — had 
done  something  to  alleviate  the  distress  and  mitigate  the  suffer- 
ing of  fellow-beings  in  far-off  Chicago.  How  true  it  is  that  '  one 
touch  of  pity  makes  the  whole  world  kin.'  In  some  cities  the 
contributions  have  exceeded  an  average  of  a  dollar  for  each  mem- 
ber of  the  population,  and  in  the  abundance  that  has  been  given 
unto  us  the  aggregate  is  largely  made  up  from  the  prompt  offer- 
ings of  the  humble  and  the  poor  as  well  as  of  the  rich.  Future 
statisticians  may  compute  in  tabular  array  the  commercial  value  of 
the  donations  to  Chicago  ;  but  only  in  the  volume  of  the  record- 
ing angel  will  be  known  the  inestimable  blessings  of  that  merci- 
ful, generous,  humane  charity  which  this  calamity  has  kindled  in 
the  hearts  of  the  whole  American  people. 

"  In  due  time  there  will  be  a  formal  and  complete  acknowledg- 
ment of  donations,  public  and  private  ;  but  in  the  meantime  let 
the  nation  rejoice  that  underneath  all  the  conflicts  in  which  men 
are  forever  engrossed  there  is  a  latent  spark  of  universal  brother- 
hood, which  needs  but  the  occasion  to  develop  into  the  most 
genial  warmth.  Property  may  be  lost,  wealth  may  be  obliter- 
ated, but  that  people  must  be  great  who  have  hearts  in  which 


GREAT   FERE  IN   CHICAGO.  45 

charity  for  human  sufferiDg  cannot  be  stifled  under  any  possible 
event." 

Early  in  the  period  of  want  the  more  notable  contributions 
were  as  follows  : — 

A.  T.  Stewart,  of  New  York,  $50,000 ;  City  of  Brooklyn, 
$100,000;  New  York  Board  of  Trade,  $13,000;  Gold  Room, 
$7,000  ;  Corn  Exchange,  $28,000  ;  Produce  Exchange  $5,000  ; 
Stock  Board,  $50,000 ;  A.  Belmont,  Brown  Brothers,  Jessup  & 
Co.,  and  Duncan,  Sherman  &  Co.,  of  New  York,  $5,000  each; 
Fisk  &  Hall,  $10,000 ;  District  of  Columbia,  $100,000  ;  W.  W. 
Corcoran,  Washington,  $3,000 ;  President  Grant,  $1,000 ;  Phila- 
delphia Commercial  Exchange,  $10,000 ;  Rochester,  N.  Y., 
$70,000 ;  Troy  (K  Y.)  Board  of  Trade,  $10,000 ;  London, 
Canada,  $5,000;  Hamilton,  Canada,  $5,000;  Montreal,  $20,000; 
Springfield,  Mass.,  $15,000;  Pittsfield,  $5,000;  Holyoke, 
$2,000;  Albany  (N.  Y.)  Board  of  Lumber  Dealers,  $6,000; 
Buftalo,  N.  Y.,  $100,000 ;  Elmira,  $10,000 ;  Syracuse,  $31,- 
000;  Niagara  Falls,  $10,000;  City  of  Baltimore,  $100,000, 
besides  private  subscriptions  of  $10,000 ;  Robert  Bonner,  New 
York,  $50,000 ;  Spragues,  of  Providence,  R,  I.,  $10,000  ;  Cin- 
cinnati Elastic  Sponge  Co.,  of  Cincinnati,  100  sponge  mattresses  ; 
the  newsboys  and  bootblacks  of  Cincinnati,  the  proceeds  of  two 
days'  labor ;  the  Jane  Coombs'  Comedy  Company,  the  proceeds 
of  entertainment ;  Carl  Pretzel,  the  proceeds  of  a  lecture ;  every 
one  in  the  Literior  Department,  one  day's  wages ;  Washington 
hackmen,  one  day's  fares ;  Stone,  of  the  New  York  Journal  of 
Commerce^  $5,000 ;  Peoria,  $75,000,  and  much  food ;  Utica, 
$20,000;  Worcester,  $50,000;  Toronto,  $10,000;  St.  Joseph, 
Mo.,  $8,000;  New  York  City,  in  all  up  to  October  11,  $450,000, 
and  immense  quantities  of  provisions,  clothing,  etc. ;  Liverpool, 
cargoes  of  provisions;  J.  S.  Morgan  &  Co.,  London,  $5,000 ; 
Dayton,  $20,000;  Lawrence,  Kan.,  $13,000  ;  New  York  dry  goods 
houses,  $20,000;   Indianapolis,  $75,000,  and  much  provisions; 


46  HISTORY   OF   THE 

Louisville,  $70,000  in  public  aud  private  subscriptious,  and  much 
besides  ;  St.  Louis,  $300,000,  and  unlimited  quantities  of  provi- 
sions, etc. ;  Cincinnati,  $200,000,  and  much  of  every  needful 
thing- ;  Milwaukee  the  first  to  help  us ;  Berkeley  street,  Boston, 
$10,000 ;  Baltimore  Episcopal  Convention,  $2,000 ;  Baltimore 
Corn  Exchange,  $7,000;  Albany  City,  $12,000;  Memphis, 
$40,000;  Mr.  Shaw,  of  Pittsburgh,  $5,000;  other  private  sub- 
scriptions at  Pittsburgh,  $40,000  ;  Kansas  City,  $26,000  ;  Ten- 
nessee Legislature,  $5,000  ;  Evansville,  $16,000 ;  Boston  Hide 
and  Leather  Exchange,  $10,000. 

Herewith  come  the  munificent  ofierings  of  foreign  countries: 

The  Common  Council  of  London  unanimously  agreed  to  for- 
ward 1,000  guineas  immediately  to  the  Mayor  of  Chicago.  Ap- 
propriate resolutions  of  sympathy  were  passed. 

The  Lord  Mayor  received  contributions  from  private  indivi- 
duals of  upward  of  £7,000  sterling. 

Baring,  Morgan,  Rothschild,  Brown,  Shipley  &  Co.,  of  London, 
the  Great  Western  Pailroad  of  Canada,  and  the  Grand  Trunk 
Railroad,  subscribed  £1,000  each.  The  Liverpool  Chamber  of 
Commerce  voted  £5,000.  The  American  Chamber  contributed 
$13,000.  Mass  meetings  to  secure  further  aid  were  held  all  over 
England. 

The  Edinburgh  Chamber  of  Commerce  unanimously  re- 
quested the  calling  of  a  meeting  to  organize  relief. 

A  committee  of  the  chief  merchants  of  Southampton  have 
opened  subscriptions,  and  called  upon  the  citizens  generally  to 
contribute. 

At  Berlin,  the  President  of  the  Police  heads  the  lists  for  the 
relief  fund. 

At  Erankfort-on-the-Main,  the  leading  banks  and  merchants 
took  active  interest  in  the  relief  movement  in  securing  subscrip- 
tions. 

In  the  world's  history  there  was  never  such  an  outpouring,  so 


GKEAT   FIEE   EST   CHICAGO.  47 

\ 

spontaneous  and  immense — not  one  more  sincerely  appreciated. 
All  these  actual  gifts  were  heaped  upon  us  in  the  day  of  adver- 
sity, and  at  the  same  time  banks  and  insurance  companies  prof- 
fered sympathy  and  cheering  words.  So  vast  were  tlie  losses  that 
nobody  thought  securities  of  any  value,  and  were  ready  to  sell 
out  their  policies  for  five  or  ten  cents  on  a  dollar.  Gradually 
the  mists  rolled  away,  and  better  tidings  came,  which  served 
to  brace  up  and  sustain  the  flagging  spirits  of  men  who  had  lost 
great  sums  or  little.  Men  spoke  bravely  to  each  other  and  gave 
assuring  views  of  the  future  of  Chicago.  Thousands  fled  from 
the  doomed  city  to  towns  in  the  vicinity,  giving  up  all,  and  re- 
moved to  their  former  homes.  Indeed  they  could  do  nothing 
else,  as  they  were  little  better  than  beggars.  The  majority  began 
to  look  about  them  for  new  business  places,  or  for  sites  for 
homes,  for  work,  and  opportunities  of  recovering  their  losses. 
It  was  felt  that  the  importance  of  the  city  in  a  commercial 
view  had  not  been  over-estimated,  and  that  business  must  seek 
this  centre,  and  men  live  here.  If  the  men  wdio  are  here,  and 
have  lost,  do  not  seize  the  opportunity,  others  will  pluck  the 
golden  fruit,  for  a  great  city  must  rise  on  these  ruins.  Slowly 
but  steadily  the  tide  of  hope  rose,  till  the  volume  bore  all 
upon  its  bosom,  and  every  one  set  to  work  to  remove  the  debris 
and  rebuild  their  fortunes.  In  their  confidence  they  began  to 
suggest  preparations  against  a  recurrence  of  another  similar  dis- 
aster. Gross  errors  were  brought  to  light  by  the  searching  ele- 
ment, which  tried  every  man's  work  of  what  sort  it  was.  The 
architecture  of  the  Post-Ofiice  and  Custom-House  building, 
which,  proving  to  be  a  sham  and  a  fraud  of  the  worst  kind,  has 
involved  the  loss  of  an  immense  sum  of  money. 

The  vault  in  the  Sub-Treasury  office,  in  which  Collector  Mc- 
Clean  had  deposited  all  the  funds  pertaining  to  his  department, 
was  built  upon  the  second  story.  It  rested  upon  two  iron  pil- 
lars built  from  the  basement,  with  two  iron  girders  of  great 


4:8  mSTOEY   OF   THE 

strength  and  weight  connected  with  the  walL  A  third  girder 
connected  the  two  pillars,  forming  a  framework.  A  heavy  fire- 
proof vault  was  built  upon  this  foundation,  and  proved  to  be 
about  the  weakest  in  the  city  to  resist  the  fierceness  of  the  fire. 
There  were  in  the  vault  at  the  time  of  the  fire  $1,500,000  in 
greenbacks,  $300,000  in  National  Bank  notes,  $225,000  in  gold, 
and  $5,000  in  silver ;  making  a  total  of  $2,030,000,  of  which 
$230,000  was  in  specie. 

In  an  old  iron  safe  which  was  left  outside  the  vault  was  de- 
posited $35,000,  consisting  of  mutilated  bills  and  fractional  cur- 
rency. This  safe  was  regarded  with  scorn  and  deemed  unworthy 
a  place  in  the  vault.  But  like  the  little  fishes  in  the  net,  its  in- 
significance saved  it.  When  the  building  caught  fire,  and  blazed 
with  fervent  heat,  the  miserable  iron  pillars  melted,  and  the  im- 
mense vault,  with  its  fabulous  treasures,  fell  to  the  basement, 
burying  the  insignificant  safe  and  its  mutilated  contents.  The 
consequence  was  that  the  contents  of  the  latter  were  saved,  while 
$1,800,000  in  currency  was  burned  to  ashes  and  hopelessly  lost. 

The  specie  was  scattered  over  the  basement  floor  and  fused 
with  the  heat.  There  are  lumps  of  fused  eagles  valued  at  from 
$500  to  $1,000,  blackened  and  burned,  but  nevertheless  good  as 
refined  gold.  The  employes  have  been  compelled  to  rake  the 
ruins  of  the  whole  building,  and  have  recovered  altogether  about 
five-sixths  of  the  whole  amount.  It  is  probable  that  many  days 
will  pass  before  they  will  be  able  to  find  the  remainder. 

It  is  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  only  a  week  ago  $500,000 
in  gold,  and  $25,000  in  silver,  had  been  shipped  from  the  city. 

The  building  was,  as  before  stated,  a  fraud  of  the  most  bare- 
faced description,  and  consequently  an  everlasting  disgrace  to 
the  country.  That  a  vault  containing  treasure  to  the  amount 
actually  lost  should  be  supported  only  on  two  iron  pillars,  which 
gave  way  and  let  it  fall  in  ruins,  and  should  yet  make  a  boast  of 
being  fire-proof,  is  a  piece  of  irony  the  most  acute. 


GREAT   FIEE   EST   CHICAGO.  49 

But  this  vault  was  only  one  of  the  frauds.  The  fire-proof 
doors  of  the  Post-Office  vault,  in  which  were  stored  the  records, 
proved  frailer  still.  The  hinges  of  the  massive  portals  which 
were  to  protect  the  government  records  were  only  affixed  to  a 
single  brick.  When,  therefore,  the  walls  expanded  with  the  heat, 
the  sturdy  doors  fell  out  of  their  own  weight,  each  hinge  carry- 
ing with  it  the  single  brick  to  which  it  held,  while  the  remainder 
of  the  wall  was  as  firm  as  possible. 

Of  course  all  the  records  were  hopelessly  ruined. 

This  vault  was  fire  and  burglar  proof.  Experts  are  not  the 
only  persons  who  can  judge  of  the  value  of  a  vault  whose  doors 
had  such  a  feeble  hold. 

The  building  is  one  of  a  large  number  built  in  the  same  way ; 
and  the  condition  of  the  lower  vault  suggests  great  weakness  in 
those  erected  in  other  cities.  It  is  probable  that  the  Govern- 
ment will  order  an  inspection  of  all  existing  vaults.  The  accom- 
panying views  upon  the  events  of  the  time  and  the  future  Chi- 
cago were  published,  and  deserve  consideration  and  preservation. 
The  unexpected  fury  of  this  fire  must  put  in  suspicion  all  pre- 
cautions commonly  used, 

"  The  spirit  displayed  by  the  business  men  of  this  city  in  re- 
building is  astonishing,  and  deserving  of  the  highest  praise  after 
a  calamity  so  terrible  as  the  recent  conflagration.  That  Chicago 
will  rise  again,  and  not  only  resume  her  old  position,  but  become 
in  time  the  first  city  on  this  continent,  seems  to  me  to  be  as  cer- 
tain as  the  perpetuation  of  our  government  and  the  increase  of 
our  population. 

"  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  at  this  time  that  there  were 
certain  defects  in  the  plan  of  Chicago,  arising  from  the  rapidity 
of  its  construction,  which. seemed  beyond  remedy,  except  at 
enormous  cost;  but  now  it  is  possible,  by  considering  the  sub- 
ject in  time,  and  taking  advantage  of  the  experience  of  other 
cities,  to   make  such   rearrangements  as  will   make    tlie   plan 


50  HISTORY   OF   THE 

and  accommodations  of  this  city  suitable  for  the  metropolis  of 
America. 

"  Tlie  present  burnt  district,  on  the  south  side,  is,  by  universal 
consent,  to  become  the  centre  of  the  city,  and  every  considera- 
tion indicates  that  it  should  be  so.  Were  the  whole  city  to  be 
laid  out  anew,  the  natural  features  of  the  country'  and  the  railroad 
communications  would  point  to  the  south  side  as  the  centre. 
The  business  operations  will  commence  here,  and  radiate,  as 
heretofore,  to  the  south,  west,  and  north,  but  more  to  the  south, 
owing  to  tlie  fact  that  the  comnninication  is  uninterrupted  by 
natural  obstacles.  Into  this  centre  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
people  will  pour  daily,  coming  from  the  residence  portion  of  the 
city,  the  suburbs,  and  the  whole  country. 

"  There  is  always,  in  great  cities,  an  immense  amount  of  time 
lost  in  going  to  and  from  business,  and  in  the  absence  of  proper 
accommodations  for  doing  business  after  the  business  centre  is 
reached.  Persons  familiar  with  the  city  of  New  York  under- 
stand this  fully.  Two  or  three  hours  of  the  day  are  consumed 
in  travelling  to  and  fro,  and,  owing  to  the  crowds  in  the  streets, 
the  contracted  markets  and  places  of  exchange,  the  time  requir- 
ed to  transact  business  is  doubled  and  trebled. 

"  Now,  the  points  which  seem  to  me  to  be  considered  at  this 
time  and  be  fully  provided  for,  are  : 

"  1.  The  laying  out  of  certain  lines  for  steam  communication 
from  the  centre  of  business  to  the  suburbs,  to  be  so  arranged  as 
not  to  obstruct  the  street  travel,  or  be  interrupted  by  it.  This 
most  essential  element  of  a  modern  metropolis  can  never  be  se- 
cured or  arranged  for  so  well  as  at  present. 

"  2.  The  arrangement  of  commodious  and  central  depots  for  the 
great  lines  of  railroads  centering  in  the  city. 

"  3.  A  commodious  levee  along  the  river  for  public  docks,  a 
grand  market,  and  a  grand  plaza,  where  all  can  go  without  pay- 
ing tribute.     Instead  of  having  buildings  built  close  down  to  the 


GKEAT   FIKE   IN   CHICAGO. 


river  bank,  let  there  be  an  open  sjoace  on  each.^ide  pfrtlife  river 


devoted  to  the  abov^  purposes.  ,.  i'*-  ^'^T^r 

"4.  The  great  leading  lines  of  business  should  be  consolidated 
or  concentrated  on  certain  streets  running  north  and  south. 
There  should  be  a  financial  centre,  a  drj^  goods  centre,  a  hard- 
ware centre,  etc. 

"  5.  An  open  square  for  public  meetings  and  out-door  business. 
The  Court-House  square  suggests  itself  at  once.  Let  the  Court- 
House  go  farther  south  and  leave  the  present  square  open. 

"Let  it  be  surrounded  by  banks, brokers'  offices,  etc.,  and  there 
will  be  room  for  everybody.  These  suggestions  are  hurriedly 
thrown  out,  but  they  should  be  considered,  and  a  committee 
representing  all  interests  should  be  appointed  to  draw  up  a 
scheme  by  which  these  desirable  results  can  be  secured.  In  the 
rebuilding  of  the  city  these  matters  can  all  be  arranged  for  the 
benefit  of  all. 

"  The  business  portion  of  Chicago  had  already  become  over- 
crowded with  the  street  cars,  omnibuses,  other  vehicles,  and  foot- 
passengers.     The  limit  of  capacity  had  almost  been  reached. 

"  You  believe  in  Chicago's  future,  and  a  few  minutes'  reflection 
will  convince  any  one  that  more  space  is  needed  for  the  future, 
and  that  concentration  and  co-operation  on  the  part  of  business 
men  is  necessary  to  make  the  best  use  of  the  ground  now  avail- 
able. Yery  truly  yours, 

"  D.  C.  Houston-, 
"  Major  U.  S.  Engineers,  Brevet  Colonel,  IT.  S.  Army. 

"Chicago,  October  13,  1871." 

The  general  prevailing  opinion  became  so  favorable  to  this 
view  that  temporary  places  were  provided  on  city  land  for  pres- 
ent use,  in  order  that  where  permanent  buildings  should  be 
erected  they  might  be  of  the  most  substantial  nature  and  endur- 
ing quality.  This  was  strongly  contended  for  in  a  leading  edi- 
torial of  the  Tribune : 


52  HIBTOET    OF   THE  . 

"  The  futility  of  locking  the  stable-door  after  the  horse  is 
stolen  is  proverbial.  Equally  futile  would  any  suggestions  as  to 
the  best  preventive  of  fires  seem  after  the  city  is  burnt  up.  Any 
hints,  therefore,  which  may  be  made  on  this  subject,  in  these 
columns,  must  be  taken  as  referring  to  the  new  Chicago  which 
has  already  commenced  to  grow  up  from  the  ruins  of  the  old 
Chicago.  The  cause  which  operated  most  fatally  to  render  the 
catastrophe  of  Sunday  night  complete  is  a  matter  of  no  question 
among  tliose  who  are  acquainted  with  our  city.  It  was  the  large 
area  of  inflammable  buildings,  lumber-yards,  and  other  tinder- 
boxes  with  which  the  multitude  of  really  noble  buildings  of  cen- 
tral Chicago  were  surrounded.  The  magnificent  piles  of  marble 
which  lined  our  business  streets,  and  of  which  we  had  begun  to 
be  so  justly  proud,  had  been  seen  and  admired  by  so  many  vis- 
itors from  abroad  that  the  complete  destruction  with  which  these 
palaces  of  art  met  on  that  fatal  night  has  excited,  even  outside 
of  Chicago,  no  less  astonishment  than  sorrow.  Chicago  had,  up 
to  within  a  very  few  years,  the  reputation  of  being  the  most 
wretchedly-built  city  of  its  size  in  America.  The  miles  of  mar- 
ble stores  and  churches,  and  public  buildings,  through  which  the 
visitor  of  the  last  year  or  two  has  been  driven  in  "doing" 
Chicago,  have  dissipated  this  unfavorable  opinion  of  the  outside 
world,  and  drawn  to  our  city  a  great  measure  of  credit  for  its 
business  architecture.  But  this  architecture  had  its  weak  points, 
and  these  have  now  been  made  painfully  and  vividly  apparent. 

"  The  fault  of  the  fire,  however,  lies  more  with  the  public 
itself  than  with  the  architects.  We  have  been  too  good-natured 
toward  those  who  have,  to  save  a  few  hundred  dollars  of  their 
expenses,  persistently  kept  in  jeopardy  the  safety  of  the  whole 
community  by  maintaining  in  the  heart  of  the  city  great  num- 
bers of  the  most  inflammable  structures.  It  was  the  thousand 
or  so  of  dr}^  pine  shanties  and  rookeries  between  the  lake  and 
the  liver  and  south  of  Monroe  street  which  did  the  business  for 


GREAT   FIEE   IN   CHICAGO.  53 

Chicago  on  that  terrible  night.  With  these  huddled  around  them, 
and  emitting  vast  clouds  of  burning  brands,  which  the  hurricane 
forced  into  every  cranny  and  through  every  window,  the  fine 
stone  rows  of  the  avenues  and  of  the  principal  streets  could  no 
more  resist  the  raging  element  than  the  chaff  can  resist  the 
whirlwind.  There  may  have  been,  and  doubtless  were,  occa- 
sional weaknesses  in  the  construction  of  the  later-built  stores  and 
public  edifices — a  too, fragile  cornice,  or  windows  too  much  ex- 
posed— but  the  fact  that  buildings,  for  which  everything  possible 
to  architecture  had  been  done  to  make  them  fire-proof,  went 
with  the  rest,  tells  plainly  that  the  only  fault — the  grand  fault  to 
which  the  general  destrucfciveness  is  traceable — was  in  allowins: 
the  fire  so  much  material  on  which  to  feed  until  it  became  too 
great  for  human  power  to  resist.  We  had  spent  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars  in  spasmodic  efforts  to  exorcise  the  fire-fiend 
from  our  limits,  and  yet  we  were  all  the  while  furnishing  him 
-  with  the  material  and  the  space  with  which  to  organize  for  his 
deadly  M'ork.  We  had  been  industriously  feeding  him  on  the 
only  rations  whereon  he  could  thrive. 

"  Let  these  rations  be  cut  off  from  this  time  forward.  One  of 
the  first  duties  which  the  Mayor  and  Common  Council  should 
attend  to  is  the  enactment  and  strict  enforcement  of  a  compre- 
hensive ordinance  for  the  protection  of  the  city  against  all  future 
general  conflagrations.  In  the  business  quarter  now  devastated 
there  must,  of  course,  be  some  temporary  structures  thrown 
together  for  the  accommodation  of  business  until  better  quarters 
can  be  provided.  But  the  permits  for  these  should  be  strictly 
confined  to  a  certain  limit  of  time — say  six  months  from  this 
date.  It  should  then  be  ordained  by  the  Council  that  the  fire 
limits,  within  which  no  frame  building,  lumber  stack,  or  other 
inflammable  structure  shall  be  erected,  shall  be  extended  very 
considerably,  so  as  to  embrace  all  sections  of  the  city  which  are 
noWj  or  are  likely  to  become,  central.     And  the  ordinance  should 


54  HISTORY   OF   THE 

contain  a  rigid  prohibition  against  roofs,  facings,  or  cornices  of 
wood,  or  of  such  flimsj  material  as  to  be  easily  penetrated  oi 
displaced. 

''  It  should  be  ordained,  further,  for  the  encouragement  of  thor- 
ough building  in  all  parts  of  the  city,  that  no  frame  building 
or  out-building,  of  no  matter  what  dimensions,  shall  be  erected 
within  fifty  feet  of  any  brick,  stone,  or  iron  structure,  and  that 
all  livery-stables,  planing-mills,  factories,  foundries,  shops,  or 
other  buildings,  wherein  furnaces,  steam-boilers,  or  other  ma- 
chinery or  apparatus  requiring  much  fire,  or  endangering  explo- 
sions, shall  be  built  of  brick,  stone,  or  iron,  and  that  no  division 
walls  therein  shall  be  of  wood. 

"  To  these  precautions  should  be  added  a  system  of  water- 
basins,  or  low  reservoirs,  to  be  supplied  with  water,  independent 
of  the  general  pumping  works — perhaps  by  direct  inflow  from 
the  lake  or  river — perhaps  from  artesian  wells.  It  will  not  take 
any  extravagant  outlay  to  obviate,  by  such  means,  the  possibility 
of  any  such  calamity  in  the  future  as  the  failure  of  the  water  sup- 
ply while  a  conflagration  is  yet  raging. 

"  Other  precautions  will  doubtless  suggest  themselves  to 
practical  men  on  a  careful  examination  of  the  subject.  None 
should  be  omitted  which  are  necessary  to  make  Chicago  the 
most  indestructible  city  in  the  world.  Our  fire  record  has  been 
hitherto — even  before  the  late  calamity — the  worst  in  America. 
Let  it  be  henceforth  the  best.  We  must  not,  while  suffering 
the  manifold  curses  of  the  great  fire,  lose  any  of  the  blessings, 
of  which  the  greatest'  are  unquestionably  the  lessons  and  the 
opportunity  which  it  afi'ords  us  for  fortifying  against  future 
calamities  of  the  kind.  We  cannot  expect  that  we  will  not 
have  our  dail}^  quota  of  half  a  dozen  or  more  incipient  fires. 
We  cannot  be  sure  that  severe  droughts  will  not  come,  followed 
by  gales  like  that  of  last  Sunday  night.  But  we  can  take  care 
that  those  exigencies,  over  which  the  city  as  a  community  has 


GEEAT  riEE   EST  CHICAGO.  55 

no  control,  are  guarded  against  by  all  the  measures  M^liicli  are 
within  our  control.  .  San  Francisco  has  suflfered  grievously  by 
fires,  which  raked  lier  from  west  to  east,  leaving  nothing  but 
ruin  in  their  track.  She  is  subject,  during  a  considerable  pe- 
riod of  every  3'ear,  to  both  droughts  and  gales  quite  as  severe  as 
those  which  contributed  to  our  present  misfortune ;  but  she  is 
now  able  to  defy  them  all,  having,  by  the  means  similar  to  those 
which  we  have  now  suggested,  secured  a  system  of  fire-proof 
buildings — fire-proof  streets,  we  might  say — which  are  not  only 
the  pride  and  trust  of  all  her  citizens,  but  the  admiration  of  all 
visitors.  It  is  important  that  the  burnt  district  of  Chicago  be 
rebuilt  as  speedily  as  possible;  but  paramount  to  that  and  all 
else  is  the  necessity  that  it  be  built  permanently  and  well. 
Chicago  must  rise  again ;  and  not  only  must  she  rise,  but  rise 
to  stand  as  long  as  the  world  revolves." 

If  deep  moral  lessons  could  be  conveyed  and  impressed  by 
any  calamity,  it  would  certainly  seem  that  this  was  the  dispen- 
sation for  such  a  schooling  as  men  never  got  before.  The  North 
Division  was  thoroughly  ruined,  only  Ogden's  house  and  the 
Grant  Place  M.  E.  church  remainins;.  Here,  on  this  burnt  dis- 
trict.  Pandemonium  seemed  to  reign  on  Sunday's ;  here  were  the 
breweries  and  distilleries.  Hence  the  opposition  to  Sabbath 
laws.  In  the  South  Division  all  the  brothels,  gambling-hells,  and 
theatres  were  swept  clean,  as  with  the  besom  of  destruction. 

All  the  monuments  of  human  energy  and  skill  were  levelled 
and  destroyed,  Now,  will  men  rage  and  thirst  for  riches  as  they 
have  done,  when  at  one  fell  swoop  the  fire  demon  has  melted  their 
idol?  Will  vice  and  crime  riot  as  they  have  done,  eating  out  the 
very  vitality  of  the  city  ?  In  the  presence  of  death  and  woe  will 
men  forget  the  better  part  ?  How  insignificant  seemed  man  as 
we  stood  by  the  dead  in  the  Morgue  !  Mere  pailfuls  of  charred 
bones  and  flesh  indicated  the  existence  of  those  who  but  the  day 
before  were  full  of  lusty  life.     Oh  I  helpless  man,  call  upon  God,. 


56  HISTOKY    OF   THE 

the  living  God.  Here  lay  the  body  of  a  beautiful  young  girl,  of 
perhaps  two  and  twenty.  This  poor  victim  has  a  wealth  of  rich 
brown  hair,  and  brown  eyes ;  she  is  four  feet  in  height,  and  pos- 
sesses a  handsome  figure.  She  must  in  life  have  been  exceedingly 
lovely.  Xot  being  burned  at  all,  she  suifocated  in  the  smoke,  as  did 
many  of  the  other  victims  whose  remains  were  afterwards  con- 
sumed by  the  flames.  A  father  lying  on  his  face  was  recognized  by 
his  motherless  children  as  they  looked  upon  his  head.  We  turn 
from  these  sad  relics  of  humanity  to  gaze  on  the  wreck  of  wealth 
around  us.  No  city  can  equal  now  the  ruins  of  Chicago,  not  even 
Pompeii,  much  less  Paris. 

Tens  of  thousands  have  come  in  to  view  these  remains  of  a 
once  proud  metropolis,  to  which  no  description  is  adequate.  They 
are  bleak  and  lonely.     It  is  a  phantom  city. 

The  little  one-story  frame  shanty,  in  the  rear 'of  which  was  the 
barn  in  which  the  fire  originated,  on  De  Koven  street,  stands  to- 
day alone  and  uninjured.  The  flames  swept  around  it  on  every 
side,  igniting  everything  else,  while  that  miserable  structure 
stands — a  monument  of  the  place  where  the  fire  commenced. 

Under  the  light  of  the  sun,  wandering  among  the  ruins  of  a 
day,  the  beholder  cannot  dispel  the  illusion  that  he  is  the  victim 
of  some  Aladdinic  dream,  and  that  he  has  been  transported  with 
the  speed  of  light,  by  the  genius  of  the  lamp  or  ring,  and  set 
down  among  the  ruins  of  the  Titanic  ages.  Arabia  Petra  looks 
upon  us  from  the  stone  walls  of  the  Post-Ofiice,  and  the  Cata- 
combs of  Egypt  stare  at  us  from  the  embrasure-like  windows  of 
the  Court-House  wings.  Cleopatra's  iS^eedle  and  the  Tower  of 
Babel  find  duplicates  in  the  water-tower  and  the  smoke-stacks  of 
ruined  factories.  Tadmor  of  the  desert,  with  its  sandy  tumuli, 
appears  on  every  hand  in  the  crumbling  piles  of  brick  and  mor- 
tar ;  the  walls  of  ancient  Jerusalem  arise  in  the  ruins  of  the  great 
Central  and  Pock  Island  depots,  and  the  pillared  ruins  of  Cairo 
and  Alexandria  in  the  roofless  front  of  ITonore  Block.     The  puz- 


GREAT  riEE   IN   CHICAGO.  5.7 

zler  Sphynx  is  doubly  reproduced  in  the  one-time  green  lions  of 
Ross  and  Gossage ;,  while  the  Parthenon,  the  Acropolis,  and  the 
gladiatori;il  arena  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome  find  their  coun- 
terpart in  the  fire-built  ruins  of  last  week's  palaces.  Here  all 
time  is  reproduced  in  a  moment.  The  destroyer  works  by  earth- 
quake,  by  storm,  by  the  attrition  of  the  ages,  and  by  fire.  Time 
works  slowly,  and  takes  a  thousand  years  in  which  to  make  an 
ornamental  ruin ;  fire  works  with  lightning  speed,  and  sets  be- 
fore our  eyes  the  ruins  of  a  world  in  the  compass  of  a  single  night. 
A  night  of  more  grandeur  can  scarcely  be  imagined  than  that 
of  our  ruined  city  after  nightfall.  As  far  as  the  eye  can  reach 
to  the  north,  east,  and  south,  the  smouldering  flames,  scarcely 
perceptible  during  the  day,  give  just  enough  light  to  render 
indistinctly  visible  the  ruined  walls  of  the  one-time  busy  palaces, 
teeming  with  life  and  trafiic — now  not  even  a  fit  abiding-place 
for  bats  and  owls.  Away  in  one  direction  appear  the  walls  of  a 
marble-front  row  on  Wabash  avenue,  the  spectre  windows  of 
which  are  lit  up  by  the  blazing  ruins  on  the  other  side,  looking 
like  the  fire-demon  with  a  hundred  burning  eyes,  crouching  for 
a  spring  across  the  South  Branch,  to  bring  destruction  on  the 
remainder  of  the  doomed  city.  Looking  away  through  the  iron 
stays  of  one  of  the  few  remaining  bridges,  to  the  northward,  an 
immense  heap  of  burning  grain  and  coal  lights  up  the  back- 
ground, against  which  everything  is  clear-cut  and  definite — a  dis- 
jointed skeleton  stretches  its  bare  and  bony  arms  toward  heaven, 
as  if  chained  in  an  attitude  of  supplication  by  the  fire-fiend. 
Here  and  there  blue,  red,  and  green  lights  flit  like  spectres  and 
hobgoblins  over  the  graves  of  buried  commerce.  Ever  and  anon 
a  falling  wall  pitches  headlong  to  the  earth  with  a  heavy,  dead- 
ened thud,  like  the  drum-beat  of  the  destroying  angel,  calling  a 
rally  of  his  sooty  cohorts  for  a  fresh  and  final  charge.  Against 
this  threatening  host  a  wall  of  stout  hearts  is  the  only  thing 
opposed. 


58  HISTOET   OF   THE 

Soon  all  this  scene  will  be  changed  and  the  ruins  disappear. 
To  some  places  a  ruin  is  a  God-send,  as  travellers  find  in  the  Old 
World.  Here  we  want  no  such  mournful  mementoes,  and  the 
people  say  let  us  put  away  the  doleful  spectacle  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble. The  following  suggestion  is  certainly  original,  and  appear- 
ed in  the  journals : 

"  Chicago  will  be  rebuilt.  Nature  designed  this  site  for  the  great 
internal  city  of  the  world,  and  time  will  remove  every  trace  of  our 
present  unparalleled  calamity.  When  that  time  comes  mankind 
will  be  incredulous  as  to  our  present  greatness  or  losses.  It  is 
possible  now  to  build  a  monument  that  will  stand  for  ages.  Let 
the  safes  which  are  rendered  worthless  by  the  fire  be  collected 
and  piled  into  a  pyramid  in  one  of  our  public  parks.  It  would 
be  higher  than  the  dome  of  the  Court-House,  and  would  be  in 
the  future  the  greatest  curiosity  of  the  city. 
•  "  The  prevailing  spirit  of  owners  of  real  estate  may  be  fairly 
indicated  by  tlae  way  in  which  a  Yermonter,  who  had  just  arrived, 
viewed  the  situation.  He  was  standing  on  Wabash  avenue,  in 
front  of  his  particular  pile  of  bricks,  and  thus  manifested  himself: 
'  When  I  heard  of  it  I  thought  I  would  come  out  and  see  about 
it.  I  made  my  money  here,  and  I  lost  part  of  it  there  /  I've  got 
some  left,  and  by  to-morrow  night  I'll  have  a  brick  block  started.' 
This  seemed  to  be  the  general  sentiment,  and  the  only  regret  was 
the  inopportuneness  of  the  season  and  the  lack  of  skilled  labor  to 
carry  on  the  immense  amoimt  of  business  necessary." 

God  helps  those  who  help  themselves,  and  the  world  will  lend 
their  aid  to  us  when  they  witness  the  determination  with  which 
our  city  rises  again. 


I  saw  the  city's  terror, 

I  heard  the  city's  cry, 
As  a  flame  leaped  out  of  her  bosom 

Up,  up  to  the  brazen  sky  ! 


GREAT   FIKE   IN   CHICAGO.  59 

And  wilder  rose  tlie  tumult, 

And  tHcker  tlie  tidings  came — 
Chicago,  queen  of  the  cities. 

Was  a  rolling  sea  of  flame ! 

Yet  higher  rose  the  fury, 

And  louder  the  surges  raved 
(Thousands  were  saved  but  to  suffer. 

And  hundreds  never  were  saved). 
Till  out  of  the  awful  burning 

A  flash  of  lightning  went. 
As  across  to  brave  St.  Louis 

The  prayer  for  succor  was  sent. 

God  bless  thee,  0  true  St.  Louis  ! 

So  worthy  thy  royal  name — 
Back,  back  on  the  wing  of  the  lightning 

Thy  answer  of  rescue  came. 
But  alas !  it  could  not  enter 

Through  the  horrible  flame  and  heat. 
For  the  fire  had  conquered  the  lightning, 

And  sat  in  the  Thunderer's  seat ! 

God  bless  thee  again,  St.  Louis  ! 

For  resting  never  then. 
Thou  calledst  to  all  the  cities 

By  lightning  and  steam  and  pen. 
"  Ho,  ho,  ye  hundred  sisters. 

Stand  forth  in  your  bravest  might ! 
Our  sister  in  flame  is  falling, 

Her  children  are  dying  to-night !  " 

And  through  the  mighty  republic 

Thy  summons  went  rolling  on. 
Till  it  rippled  the  seas  of  the  Tropics 

And  ruffled  the  Oregon. 
The  distant  Golden  City 

Called  through  her  golden  gates, 
And  quickly  rung  the  answer 

From  the  city  of  the  Straits. 


60  HISTOKT   OF   THE 

And  the  cities  that  sit  in  splendor 

Along  the  Atlantic  Sea, 
Replying,  called  to  the  dwellers 

Where  the  proud  magnolias  be. 
From  slumber  the  army  started 

At  the  far  resounding  call, 
"  Food  for  a  hundred  thousand," 

They  shouted,  "  and  tents  for  all." 

I  heard  through  next  night's  darkness 

The  trains  go  thundering  by. 
Till  they  stood  where  the  fated  city 

Shone  red  in  the  brazen  sky. 
The  rich  gave  their  abxindance. 

The  poor  their  willing  hands  ; 
There  was  wine  from  aU  the  vineyards. 

There  was  com  from  all  the  lands. 

At  daybreak  over  the  prairies 

Re-echoed  the  gladsome  cry — • 
^'  Ho,  look  unto  us,  ye  thousands. 

Ye  shall  not  hunger  nor  die  I  " 
Their  weeping  was  aU  the  answer 

That  the  famishing  throng  coidd  give 
To  the  million  voices  calling 

"  Look  unto  us,  and  live !  " 

Destruction  wasted  the  city. 

But  the  burning  curse  that  came 
Enkindled  in  all  the  people 

Sweet  charity's  holy  flame. 
Then  stUl  to  our  God  be  glory ! 

I  bless  Him,  through  my  tears. 
That  I  live  in  the  grandest  nation 

That  hath  stood  in  aU  the  years. 

Strangers  perceive  and  acknowledge  that  this  point  is  natu- 
[rally  designed  for  a  great  city,  and  the  testimony  of  our  sister 


GEEAT   FIRE   EST   CHICAGO.  61 

city  St.  Louis  is  a  generous  recognition  of  our  geographical 
supremacy.  Said  tliQ  Ilissouri  RepuUican : — "  Chicago,  though 
stricken  in  purse  and  person  as  no  other  city  recorded  in  history 
ever  has  been,  is  not  crushed  out  and  destroyed,  and  her  com- 
plete restoration  to  the  phice  and  power  from  which  she  is 
temporfy-ily  removed  is  only  a  question  of  time.  It  would  be 
sad,  indeed,  if  a  conflagration,  though  swallowing  up  the  last 
house  and  the  last  dollar  of  a  great  commercial  metropolis,  could 
fix  the  seal  of  perpetual  aimihilation  upon  it,  and  declare  that 
the  wealth  and  prosperity  which  once  were  should  exist  no  more 
forever.  Such  might  be  the  case,  perhaps,  were  there  none  other 
save  human  forces  at  work;  but  into  the  composition  of  such  a 
city  as  that  which  the  demon  of  fire  has  conquered,  enter  the 
forces  and  the  necessities  of  nature.  Chicago  did  not  become 
what  she  w^as,  simply  because  shrewd  capitalists  and  energetic 
business  men  so  ordained  it.  That  mighty  Agent,  who  fashions 
suns  and  stars,  and  swings  them  aloft  in  the  boundless  ocean  of 
space,  marks  out  by  immutable  decree  the  channels  along  which 
population  and  trade  must  flow.  When  the  first  settlers  landed 
at  Jamestown  and  Plymouth,  and  began  to  hew  a  path  for  civil- 
ization through  the  primeval  forest,  it  was  as  certain  as  the  law 
of  gravitation,  that  if  this  continent  were  destined  to  be  a  new 
empire,  fit  to  receive  the  surplus  millions  of  the  eastern  hemi- 
sphere, and  contribute  to  the  progress  and  enlightenment  of 
mankind  everywhere,  there  must  and  would  be  a  few  prominent 
centres,  so  to  speak,  around  which  the  vast  machine  could  re- 
volve. Those  centres  were  determined  by  the  geography  and 
topography  of  the  country ;  and  when  the  advancing  tide  of  im- 
migration touched  them  they  began  to  develop  as  naturally  and 
irresistibly  as  the  flower  does  beneath  the  genial  influences  of 
sunshine  and  showers.  For  practical  purposes  neither  James- 
town nor  Plymouth  were  of  any  special  consequence ;  therefore 
the  one  has  ceased  to  exist  altogether,  and  the  other  remains  an 


62  HISTORY   OF   THE 

insignifieant  town.  But  the  inner  shore  of  Boston  harbor,  the 
island  of  Manhattan,  the  site  of  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Cincin- 
nati, New  Oi'leans,  St.  Louis,  and  San  Francisco,  famished  the 
required  facilities,  and  we  see  the  result  to-day,  Nature  declares 
where  great  cities  shall  be  built,  and  man  simply  obeys  the 
orders  of  Nature.  ^ 

"  The  spot  where  Chicago  river  empties  into  Lake  Michigan 
belongs  to  the  same  category  as  those  we  have  mentioned.  It 
was  designed  and  intended  for  the  location  of  a  grand  mart  to 
supply  the  wants  of  the  extreme  north-west — that  portion  of  the 
central  plateau  lying  on  the  line  and  to  the  north  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Pailway,  and  the  western  part  of  the  British  possessions. 
The  trade  from  these  sections  seeks  an  outlet  there,  and  finds  it 
better  and  more  available  than  anywhere  else.  This  fact  was 
settled  before  the  first  brick  w^as  laid  in  Chicago ;  was  settled 
when  Chicago  rose  to  the  rank  of  the  fifth  city  in  the  republic, 
and  is  settled  just  as  firmly  now,  when,  to  all  human  appear- 
ances, her  destruction  is  wellnigh  accomplished, 

"  Natural  advantages,  then,  must  compel  the  reconstruction 
of  Chicago,  even  though  every  foot  of  its  soil  passes  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  present  proprietors.  And  if  we  examine  what  the 
fire  has  spared,  it  will  be  found  that  the  nucleus  of  a  new  and 
rapid  growth  is  not  wanting.  Nor  more  than  twenty  per  cent, 
of  the  lumber  supply  has  been  consumed,  thus  afibrding  ample 
material  for  building ;  the  largest  elevator  and  perhaps  one  or 
two  of  the  smaller  ones  are  safe  ;  the  stock  yards  are  uninjured, 
and  with  these  avenues  for  business  open,  business  itself  is  sure 
to  come  speedily.  Indeed,  it  is  announced  that  several  vessels 
received  full  loads  of  wheat  from  the  elevators  as  early  as  Wednes- 
day, and  departed  on  tlieii*  accustomed  voyagds  to  eastern  ports. 
There  is  also  good  reason  to  believe  that  at  least  one-half  the 
insurance  will  be  paid,  and  as  this  cannot  be  much  less  than 
,000,000,  money  will  not  be  lacking.     If  we  add  to  these 


GEEA.T  FIRE   IN   CHICAGO. 


63 


resources  the  railway  lines  converging  to  that  point,  which  repre- 
sent an  aggregate  capital  of  $300,000,000,  and  remember  that 
every  railway  is  directly  interested  in  the  process  of  reconstruc- 
tion, and  will  aid  it  in  all  possible  ways,  it  may  not  be  difficult 
for  even  the  most  incredulous  to  see  why  and  how  Chicago  must 
grow  again.  That  she  is  absolutely  ruined  or  permanently  dis- 
abled is  a  sheer  impossibility  which  no  sensible  person  will  for  a 
moment  credit." 

It  may  here  serve  to  show  that  all  is  not  lost,  and  to  convey 
some  impression  of  the  extent  of  losses,  to  append  the  statement 
of  liabitities  and  resources  of  insurance  companies  doing  business 
in  Chicago : — 

NEW   YORK   CITY   AND   STATE. 

Compmiies.  Groi;s  Asuets.  Zoises. 

iEfcna,  City $442,709  $200,000 

Adriatic,  City 246,120  5,000 

Agricultural,  Watertown 550,848  

Albany,  Albany 264,978  

Albany  City,  Albany 396,646  Suspended  " 

American,  P.,  City 741,405  25,000 

American  Exchange,  City 277,350  15,000 

Astor,  City 405,571  500.000 

Atlantic,  City 556,179  250,000 

Beekman,  City 261,851  Suspended 

Buffalo  City,  Buffalo 370,934  500,000 

Buffalo  Fire  and  Marine,  Buffalo 473,577  500,000 

Buffalo  German,  Buffalo 270,081  5,000 

Capital  City,  Albany 293.766  

Citizens,  P.,  City 684.798  25,000 

Clinton,  City 392,704  3,000 

Columbia,  City 451,332  3,000 

Commerce,  Albany 692,877  10,000 

Commerce  Fire,  City 249,372  15,000 

Commercial,  City 306,002  5,000 

Continental,  P.,  City 2,538,038  800,000 

Excelsior,  City 335,744  Suspended 

Exchange,  City 183,959  

Firemen's,  City 369,961  15,000 

Firemen's  Fund,  City 173,477  100,000 

Fireman's  Trust,  City 226,269  20,000 

Fulton,  City 363,002    Ad        700,000 

Germania,  City 1,077,849  225,000 

Glenn's  Falls,  Glenn's  Falls 571,123  10,000 

Guairdian,  City 279,688  40,000 

Hanover,  P.,  City 700,335  225,000 

Hoffman,  City 235,242  10,000 

HoUand  Purchase,  Batavia 171,496  

Home,  City 4,578,008    Ad     2,000,000 

Howard,  P.,  City 783,351  275,000 

Humboldt,  City 251,186  10,000 


6i 


HISTORY    OF   THE 


Companies.                                                          Gross  Assets.  Losses. 

Importers'  and  Traders',  City $303,589  $22,500 

International,  City 1,829,476  400,000 

Irving,  City 321,745  Hef's  risks. 

Jefferson,  City 411,155  47,500 

Kings  County,  City 202,578  80,000 

Lafayette,  L.  I.  City 214,751  7,500 

Lamar,  City 551,402  200,000 

Lenox,«City 240,801  30,000 

Long  Island,  P. ,  City 334,002  

Lorillard,  City 1,715,909  800,000 

Manhattan,  City 1,407,788  500,000 

Market,  P.,  City 704,(534  Susp'd. 

Mechanics,  L.  L ,  City 218,047  22,500 

Mechanics'  and  Traders,  City 400,002  

Mercantile,  City 273,399  100,000 

Merchants',  City 442,090  15,000 

l^ssau,  L.  I ,  City 391,518  

National,  City 232,071  15.000 

New  Amsterdam,  P.,  City 432,638  40,000 

N.  Y.  Central,  Union  Sp'gs 201,864  

New  York  Fire,  City 392,278  15,000 

Niagara,  City 1,304,567  225,000 

North  American,  City 770,305  250,000 

North  River,  City 467,426  

Pacific.  City 443,557  12,500 

Peter  Cooper,  City 295,724  

Phoeuix,  L.  L,  City 1,890,010  350,000 

Relief,  City 310,908  10,000 

Republic,  City 683,478  225,000 

Resolute,  City 252,452  75,000 

Schenectady,  Schenectady 93,737  Wound  up. 

Security,  City 1,880.333     Ad.    1,000,000 

Sterling,  City 247,027  7,500 

Tradesmen's,  City 423,181  25,000 

Washington,  P. ,  City 774,411  400,000 

Williamsburgh  City,  City 539,692  70,000 

Yonkers  and  N.  Y.  City 863,963  300.000 

Western,  of  Buffalo 582,547  600,000 

MASSACHUSETTS  COMPAJSTIES. 

Eliot,  Boston 672,212  12,000 

Hide  and  Leather 419,000  700,000 

Independent 646,000  Suspended. 

Lawrence,  Boston 262,502  12,000 

Manufacturers' 1,480,464  850,000 

Merchants' 958,000  10,000 

National 821,844  500,000 

People's,  Worcester 887,750  300,000 

New  England  Mut.  Marine 1,030,973  700,000 

Washington,  Boston 935,975  25,000 

OHIO   COMPANIES. 

Alemania,  Cleveland 285,000  25,000 

Andes,  Cincinnati 1,203.000  300,000 

Cleveland,  Cleveland 530,000  175,000 

Globe 178,143  25,000 

Home,  Columbus 637,947  150,000 

Sun,  Cleveland 301,340  75,000 


GREAT   FERE   IN"   CHICAGO. 


65 


MISSOURI  COMPANIES. 

Companies.                                                       &rosa  Assets.  Losces. 

American  Central,  St.  Louis $254,875  $350,000 

Anchor , 121,974  27,000 

Boatmen's 51,788  20,000 

Chouteau 21,808  25,000 

Citizens' 271,000  25,000 

CONNECTICUT    COMPANIES. 

^tna,  Hartford 5,762,635  2,000,000 

City,  Hartford 544,237  225,000 

Charter  Oak,  Hartford, 251,951  200,000 

Connecticut,  Hartford 405,069  Suspended. 

Fail-field  County,  Norwalk 216,358  30,000 

Hartford,  Hartford 2,737,510  1,200,000 

Merchants',  Hartford 540,096  350,000 

Phojnix,  Hartford 1,717,947  700,000 

Putnam,  Hartford 785,788  425,000 

EHODE  ISLAND  COMPANIES. 

American 374,069  400,000 

Atlantic 320,614  275,000 

Hope                  211,673  150,000 

Merchants 872,199  13,000 

Narraganset 792,947  33,000 

Providence,  Washington 415, 149  550,000 

Roger  WUliams 279,940  100,000 

American,  New  Jersey 300,000  10,000 

Wheeling,  West  Virginia,  pays  in  full.  Sun,  of  Cleveland,  will  pay  in  full; 
Pacific,  Peoples',  Firemen's'  and  Union  Insurance  Companies,  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, promise  to  pay  in  full ;  Baltimore  Companies  announce  they  will  pay  in  f uU. 

MAINE   COMPANIES. 

National,  Bangor $241,000  $17,500 

Union,  Bangor 421,000  5,000 

MICHIGAN  COMPANIES, 

Detroit  Fire  and  Marine 273,000  30,000 

WISCONSIN   COMPANIES. 

Brewers' Protective 183,681  75,000 

N.  W.  National 191,202  90,000 

St.  Paul  Fire  and  Marine 280,000  60,000 

Aurora,  Covington,  Ky 163,000  35,000 

FOREIGN  COMPANIES. 

Commercial  Union 4,000,000  65,000 

Imperial 5,438,665  150,000 

Liverpool  and  London  and  Globe,  Eng. . . .    20,136,420  2,000,000 

North  British  and  Mercantile 4,104,593  3,000,000 

Queen 2,347,495  Nothing 

Royal 9,274,776  93,000 

PENNSYLVANIA  COMPANIES. 

Franklin 3,087,000  500,000 

Alps,Erie 265,524  12,000 

Boatmen's,  Pittsburgh 18,000 

Eureka,  Pittsburgh 18,000 

Artesian 17,000 

5 


66  HISTOKY   OF  THE 

Companies.                                                           Gross  Assets.  Losses. 

AUemania 18,000 

IVIonongaliela 12,000 

Pittsburgh 10,000  ' 

Union 5,000 

Western 5,000 

Federal 7,500 

Alleghany 2,500 

Merchants'  and  Mantrfactuxers' 6,000 

Enterprise,  Philadelphia 611,000                125,000 

Insurance  Company  of  North  America 3,050,000                600,000 

When  steamboats  or  railway  trains,  for  instance,  for  many 
years  pursue  their  roads  in  safety,  the  awful  crash  of  an  accident 
becomes  the  exception,  nor  does  it  deter  the  travelling  community 
from  running  the  same  risk  with  a  feeling  of  comparative  safety. 
In  the  first  place,  there  seems  to  be  no  rule  in  fire  insurances  of 
the  amount  of  risk  taken  as  to  the  proportion  of  capital  paid  up 
or  held.  Thus,  for  instance,  some  of  the  very  best  ofiices  have 
a  liability  of  nearly  forty  times  their  capital. 

The  ^tna  company  gives  her  statement  on  the  1st  of  Jan- 
uary, 1871:  Gross  assets^  $5,782,635  ;  amount  of  risk  on  1st  of 
January,  1871,  $237,874,573 ;  yet  this  office  is  perfectly  able  to 
meet  its  liabilities.  The  total  capital  of  all  the  insurance  com- 
panies in  the  United  States  is  : — 

In  the  State  of  New  York,  companies'  assets. . .  .$53,722,665  41 
Mutual  companies  in  State  of  Kew  York,  assets. .     2,575,077  36 

Companies  in  other  States,  assets 23.171,101  00 

Mutual  companies  in  other  States,  assets 5,696,226  22 

Total  assets  of  fire  insurance  companies.. .  .   $85,065,060  06 

The  amount  of  risk  on  the  31st  of  December,  1869,  was: — 
Kew  York  joint  stock  fire  insurance  com- 
panies    $2,714,198,776  31 

New  York  mutual  fire  insurance  companies.  .  42,504,145  00 

Companies  from  other  States   1,740.650,887  97 

Mutual  fire  insurance  companies 33,748,782  41 

Total  amount  of  risk $4,530,658,591  69 

or  twice   the    amount   of   the    national   debt,  with    assets   of 
$85,000,000. 


GKEAT  FIRE   IN   CHICAGO.  67' 

Considering  that  for  the  last  generation  the  insurance  com- 
panies have  really  only  been  called  upon  twice  to  make  good  a 
loss  of  over  $10,000,000  at  one  time  and  in  one  place,  viz.,  the 
fire  in  '35  and  '45,  we  must  confess  that,  as  a  general  thing,  fire 
insurance  is  a  lucrative  business,  as  there  is  no  business  that  can 
do  fifty  times  the  amount  of  its  investment  in  a  year.  The  above 
figures  do  not  include  the  foreign  ofiices,  which  insure  very 
heavily.  The  American  branch  of  the  London  and  Liverpool 
and  Globe  Insurance  Company  had,  on  December  31,  1869, 
$90,936,126  fire  risks,  and  the  risks  during  the  year  written,  be- 
sides this,  was  $220,302,506,  or  a  total  of  $311,238,632. 

These  gigantic  figures  certainly  remind  one  of  the  distance  to 
some  planetary  body,  or  the  amount  of  yards  of  cotton  fabrics 
manufactured  In  Manchester,  yet  all  of  this  immense  prop- 
erty upon  which  the  prosperity  of  a  whole  nation  depends, 
has  very  justly  been  looked  upon  as  safe  and  secure.  It  must, 
however,  not  be  supposed  that  the  surviving  insurance  com- 
panies will  very  long  feel  the  loss  sustained  in  Chicago,  as  it  can 
easily  be  seen  by  our  very  figures,  that  the  increase  of  premium, 

which  some  have  already  put  in  force,  of  only  thirty  per  cent.,  wull 

•       .        .  . 

give  the  total  corporations  in  the  United  States  $12,000,000  addi- 
tional premiums,  and  consequently  profits.  The  drygoods  store  in 
Maine,  and  the  cotton-press  in  New  Orleans,  will  alike  be  called 
upon  to  contribute  to  the  loss  of  the  insurance  offices  sustained 
by  the  Chicago  fire. 

On  the  week  following  the  fire  the  National  Banks  resumed 
business  as  usual,  and  an  immense  number  of  men  were  again 
set  to  work,  and  hope  animated  all  faces.  The  labor  of  removing 
rubbish  and  tottering  walls  seems  Herculean  to  one  riding  over 
the  streets  along  which  the  columns  of  flame  rolled  like  swollen 
torrents  of  lava  ;  but  persistent  skilful  efibrt  will  soon  accomplish 
wonders,  and  rear  again  the  stately  buildings  and  restore  all  the 
magnificence. 


68  mSTOKT   OF   THE 

Fair  she  rose, 
Lifting  high  her  stately  head, 

Victor-crowned, 
Stretching  strong  and  helpful  hands 

Far  around ; 
Full  of  lusty,  throbbing  Ufe, 

In  the  strife 
Dealing  quick  and  sturdy  blows. 


Sudden  swept 
Through  her  streets  a  sea  of  fire  ; 

Roaring  came 
Seething  waves,  cinders,  brands. 

All  aflame  ; 
Blood-red  glowed  the  brazen  sky  ; 

Far  and  nigh 
Smoke  in  wreaths  and  eddies  crept. 


Oh !  the  cries 
ShrUl,  heart-rending  !     Oh  !  the  hands 

Frantic  wrung ! 
Oh  !  the  swaying  buildings  vast ! 

Pen  or  tongue 
Ke'er  the  awfiil  tale  can  tell. 

How  they  fell 
Underneath  the  dizzy  skies. 


Low  she  lies. 
Bowed  in  dust  her  stately  head. 

Desolate  ; 
Yet  by  aU  her  glory  past, 

Let  us  wait, 
Stand  beside  her  firm  and  true  ; 

Built  anew. 
Watch  her,  help  her  upward  rise. 


GKEAT   rniE   IN   CHICAGO,  69 

NARRATIVE  OF  REV.  T.  W.  GOODSPEED,  OF  QUINCY,  ILL.,  AN  EYE- 
WITNESS. 
THRILLING   DESGEIPTION    OF    SCENES,  INCIDENTS,  ETC. 

It  being  announced  that  Rev.  T.  W.  Goodspeed,  of  the  Yer- 
mont  Street  Church,  who  was  present  in  Chicago  at  the  time  of 
the  fire,  and  had  witnessed  many  of  its  scenes  and  incidents, 
would  give  a  narrative  thereof  at  his  church,  an  immense 
crowd  was  early  in  attendance,  filling  all  the  space  in  the 
huilding,  while  hundreds  of  others  were  unable  to  gain  admit- 
fance.  Mr.  Goodspeed  took  no  text,  giving  simply  a  narrative 
of  what  he  saw.     He  commenced  by  saying : — 

It  was  my  fortune  to  be  in  Chicago  when  it  was  destroyed.  I  do 
not  propose  to  give  you  a  complete  history  of  the  conflagration. 
Tou  are  getting  that  from  day  to  day  through  the  newspapers. 
Many  have  said  to  me,  "  Tell  us  all  you  saw."  This  great  cal- 
amity is  in  all  hearts.  We  are  not  prepared  to  speak  of  or  listen 
to  anything  else ;  and  I  have  thought  there  was  a  sufficient  rea- 
son for  giving  up  this  service  to  telling  my  congregation  what  I 
saw  of  this  unparalleled  conflagration.  Sympathizing  with  this 
feeling,  Mr.  Priest  has  given  up  his  service  to  be  watli  us,  as 
has  also  the  congregation  of  tlie  First  Church.  I  fear  you  will 
be  disappointed  in  listening  to  ine,  as  I  design  to  tell  you  only 
what  came  under  my  observation,  and  there  were  a  thousand 
things  I  did  not  see. 

The  Chicago  river  runs  directly  west  from  the  lake  almost  a 
mile.  It  then  branches  north  and  south.  That  part  of  the  city 
lying  south  of  the  main  river,  and  east  of  the  South  Branch,  is 
called  the  South  Side.  That  part  lying  north  of  the  main  river, 
and  east  of  the  North  Branch,  is  the  ISTorth  Side,  and  all  west  of 
the  two  branches  the  West  Side.  Each  of  these  divisions  is 
about  one-third  of  the  city. 

You  are  aware  that  the  great  fire  of  Saturday  night,  which 
destroyed  several  blocks,  was  on  the  West  Side,  near  the  South 

P 


70  HISTOET   OF   THE 

Branch  of  the  river.  The  fire  of  Sunday  night  and  Monday 
began  also  on  the  West  Side,  near  the  scene  of  the  other,  de- 
stroj'ing,  with  that,  forty  blocks  on  the  West  Side ;  swept  across 
the  South  Branch,  destroying  a  mile  square  of  the  South  Side — 
the  entire  business  portion  of  the  city — crossed  the  river  and  laid 
in  ruins  almost  the  whole  of  the  North  Side,  about  400  blocks. 

Sunday  evening  I  preached  in  the  Second  Baptist  Church, 
which  is  nearly  a  mile  west  of  the  South  Branch.  We  stopped 
in  the  study  about  half  an  hour  after  service,  and  started  for  my 
brother's  home  a  few  minutes  after  nine.  It  was  then  that  we 
first  saw  the  fire,  a  mile  to  the  south-east.  We  continued  to 
watch  it  from  time  to  time  till  eleven  o'clock,  when,  supposing  it 
under  control,  we  retired. 

We  were  aroused  a  little  before  four  in  the  morning.  Hurrying 
on  my  clothes,  I  went  out.  The  fire  had  got  far  up  on  the  West 
Side  of  the  South  Branch,  and  had  evidently  crossed  the  river  to 
the  South  Side,  and  was  beyond  all  control.  The  wind  was 
blowing  fiercely  from  the  south-west.  The  whole  city  was 
lighted  up  by  the  flames  almost  like  day.  As  I  hastened  toward 
the  river  I  noticed  that  the  stars  were  all  obscured  as  effectually 
as  if  the  sun  were  shining,  and  the  moon  gave  a  feeble,  sickly 
light.     It  was  almost  gray,  altogether  unlike  itself. 

As  I  proceeded  the  streets  became  more  and  more  crowded. 
The  whole  West  Side  was  gathering  and  crowding  toward  the 
river.  I  stopped  to  rouse  my  brother,  but  he  had  long  been 
gone.  A  woman  stopped  me  on  Washington  street  and  said, 
"  My  husband's  place  of  business  is  destroyed,  and  we  are  ruin- 
ed." 

Reaching  the  river,  I  found  that  a  large  part  of  the  South 
Side  was  still  unharmed.  Here  I  saw  the  massive  blocks  of  the 
South  Side  in  flames,  and  saw  vessels  being  towed  north  to  escape 
the  fire.  I  followed  the  South  Branch  up  to  where  it  joined  the 
North  Branch  and  the  main  river,  and  looked  down  the  latter  to 

f 


GREAT   FIEE   IN   CHICAGO.  71 

the  lake.  Three  or  four  blocks  away  the  fire  had  crossed  the 
river.  "Wells  Street  Bridge  was  burning.  The  spectacle  was 
grand  and  awful  beyond  description.  Great  billows  of  flame 
swept  clean  across  the  river,  while  countless  myriads  of  sparks 
and  burning  brands  filled  the  air. 

Proceeding,  I  crossed  the  Kinsie  Street  Bridge  to  the  North 
Side.  Here  I  met  the  fugitives — thousands  of  people,  indeed, 
were  going  both  ways — spectators  to  see,  fugitives  to  escape. 
The  streets  were  filled  with  merchandise  and  furniture.  Women 
were  everywhere  guarding  their  household  goods.  The  air  was 
filled  with  a  thousand  noises.  The  screaming  of  the  steamers, 
the  whistle  of  the  tugs,  the  cries  of  children,  the  shouting  of 
men,  the  howling  of  the  wind,  the  roar  of  the  flames,  the  crash 
of  falling  buildings. 

I  went  on  as  far  as  Wells  street,  and  the  wind  was  here  a 
hurricane.  The  buildings  on  Water  street  and  the  south  bank 
of  the  river  caught,  and  almost  instantly  they  were  one  vast  vol- 
cano, throwing  up  great  volumes  of  flame  that  were  caught  up 
and  carried  bodily  across  the  stream.  The  river  seemed  a  boil- 
ing caldron.  We  stood  under  the  great  elevator  at  the  Wells 
street  depot  and  saw  on  one  of  them  a  man  wetting  the  roof. 
He  had  hose,  and  must  have  saturated  the  entire  building  with 
water,  yet  within  fifteen  minutes  the  building  was  aflame.  I 
returned  to  the  West  Side.  The  fleeing  people  were  carrying 
off  articles  of  every  description.  Two  men  were  wheeling  away 
the  Indian  figure  that  had  stood  before  their  cigar  store.  One 
man  was  hurrying  off  with  two  whiskey  bottles.  I  stopped 
again  to  look  down  the  main  river  toward  the  lake.  The  scene 
was  even  more  magnificent  and  awful  than  before.  This  was 
indeed  the  grandest  spectacle  of  all.  The  whole  length  of  the 
river  was  then  one  broad  sheet  of  tire. 

With  every  fresh  blast  of  wind  great  billows  of  fire  would  roll 
across  toward  the  doomed  North  Side,  as  if  filled  with  a  mad 


72  mSTOEY   OF   THE 

desire  to  sweep  it  away  in  ruin.  Then  for  a  moment  they  would 
subside  and  show  the  three  bridges  wreathed  in  flames  (the  water 
apparently  boiling  underneath  them),  the  black  walls  of  the 
buildings  on  either  side,  and  here  and  there  tongues  of  flames 
shooting  out  from  doors  and  windows  and  roofs.  Then  again 
two  walls  of  fire,  extending  a  mile  away  to  the  lake,  would  flame 
up  toward  heaven  for  a  moment,  to  be  caught  by  the  gale  and 
tumbled  in  fiery  ruin  to  the  ground,  or  carried  in  great  masses  of 
fire  to  spread  the  conflagration.  Going  on  from  here  I  took  my 
stand  on  Lake  Street  Bridge.  The  line  of  fire  extended  a  mile 
or  more  down  the  South  Branch.  Several  bridges  had  already 
been  consumed.  The  great  coal-yards  were  beginning  to  burn, 
and  almost  all  the  magnificent  blocks  of  the  South  Side  were  in 
flames.  From  the  slight  elevation  of  the  bridge,  I  could  see 
almost  two  square  miles  of  fire. 

Looking  toward  the  north-west,  and  seeing  how  directly  toward 
the  water- works  the  flames  were  rushing,  it  crossed  my  mind  that 
they  would  be  destroyed.  I  turned  and  hastened  to  my  friend's 
house,  a  mile  on  the  West  Side,  and  immediately  tried  the  water. 
I  was  too  late,  it  would  not  run,  and  the  great  city  of  300,000 
people  was  without  water. 

Before  seven  o'clock  I  went  to  another  friend's  house  and 
found  him  just  returned  from  saving  his  books,  and  what  mer- 
chandise he  could.  He  had  got  into  his  place  of  business  by  the 
back  way,  and  had  been  driven  away  by  the  swift  demon  of  de- 
struction. I  went  to  another  friend's  house  to  inquire  if  his  store 
was  safe.  He  had  visited  the  fire  at  half  past-ten  and  gone  home 
confident  it  was  under  control.  At  three  he  had  tried  to  reach  his 
business  place,  and  been  driven  back  by  the  fire  that  raged  be- 
tween him  and  it.  I  got  into  his  buggy  with  him  and  we  started 
to  find  it.  Reaching  Twelfth  street,  which  runs  across  the  South 
Branch,  a  mile  and  a  quarter  south  of  the  Court-House  we  found 
the  street  crowded  with  people  and  vehicles,  and  all  pressing  to- 


GKEAT   FIEE   EN   CHICAGO.  73 

ward  the  South  Side.  It  was  a  little  after  seven  o'clock,  and  of 
course  daylight.  We  made  our  way  to  "Wells  or  La  Salle  street, 
and  tried  to  go  up,  but  the  flames  stopped  us.  "We  went  on  to 
"Wabash  avenue,  and  found  it  to  be  so  crowded  as  to  be  utterly 
impassable.  We  crossed  to  Michigan  avenue,  fell  into  the  stream 
of  travel,  and  worked  our  way  up  to  the  Michigan  Avenue  Hotel. 
My  friend  asked  me  to  hold  his  horse  five  minutes,  while  he  went 
to  see  what  he  could  find.  Left  to  m3^self  I  had  time  to  look  about 
me.  I  despair  of  describing  the  scene  to  you.  It  beggars  descrip- 
tion. It  was  here  that  my  friend  Sawyer,  who  is  with  me  in  the 
desk,  joined  me.  His  clothes  covered  with  dust,  his  hair  filled 
with  dust  and  cinders,  his  eyes  red  from  smoke,  his  face  black, 
so  nnlike  himself  that  I  hardly  knew  him.  Michigan  avenue 
was  burning  from  within  a  block  of  where  we  stood  a  mile  away 
to  the  river.  The  magnificent  residences  and  great  business 
houses  were  going  up  in  flames  and  down  in  blackness  before  our 
eyes.  Great  volumes  of  smoke  rolling  away  before  the  gale  con- 
cealed the  North  Side  from  view.  But  at  every  break  or  lift  of 
the  smoke,  the  great  Central  Depot  could  be  seen  all  in  flames.  The 
fire  was  creeping  away  out  on  the  piers,  and  had  reached  one  of 
the  immense  elevators  that  stood  near  its  end,  and  the  flames  were 
soon  reaching  up  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  into  the  air.  Every 
moment  we  expected  to  see  the  great  Central  Elevator,  standing 
very  near  the  burning  one,  fall  before  the  conflagration  that  had 
devoured  everything  else  in  its  path.  But  the  wind  seemed  to 
veer  suddenly  to  the  south,  and  remained  there  an  hour,  and  the 
great  elevator  was  saved ;  with  one  exception,  the  only  one  on 
the  South  Side  north  of  the  line  of  fire.  A  steamer  had  reached 
the  mouth  of  the  river,  but  here  the  fire  caught  her,  and  I  saw 
it  run  from  one  end  to  the  other  in  little  lines  of  light,  and  so 
over  the  rigging  till  the  ship  was  all  ablaze. 

Meantime  I  was  in  the  midst  of  the  wildest  confusion  I  had 
ever  witnessed.      The  open  space  between  Michigan  avenue  and 


74  HISTORY   OF   THE 

the  lake  was  filled  with  every  variety  of  household  goods  and 
merchandise.  There  must  have  been  the  furniture  of  a  thousand 
families  crowded  into  this  narrow  space.  Rich  and  poor,  white 
and  black,  were  together.  Over  every  pile  of  goods  stood  some 
one  to  guard  it.  Meantime  other  fugitives  were  every  moment 
crowding  into  the  already  overcrowded  space,  and  seeking  room 
for  their  goods  as  well.  Thousands  of  people  pressed  along  the 
walks  and  filled  the  open  spaces — some  coming  to  see  and  others 
fleeing.  The  avenue  was  for  hours  one  solid  mass  of  teams. 
Up  and  down  the  street  they  pressed  endlessly,  going  up  empty 
and  returning  full.  At  length  the  press  became  so  great  that  the 
street  was  completely  blockaded,  and  the  police  began  to  turn 
the  still  on-coming  multitude  of  vehicles  backward.  They  chose 
the  spot  where  I  stood  to  accomplish  this.  Then  began  cursing 
and  shouting ;  the  teamsters  insisting  that  they  must  go  on, 
every  one  of  them  having  valuable  property  just  ahead;  and  the 
police  insisting  that  to  save  men's  lives  they  must  turn  back. 
The  more  determined  teamsters  went  through  in  spite  of  the  po- 
lice, who  were  strangely  inefficient.  The  more  timid  or  reason- 
able tried  to  turn  back  in  a  street  where  there  was  hardly  room 
to  move  forward.  One  backed  into  my  buggy  wheels  as  I  crowd- 
ed the  sidewalk  and  waited ;  another  ran  into  one  of  the  shafts. 
Twenty  feet  ahead  of  me  a  horse  tried  to  run  away,  starting 
directly  toward  me.  He  ran  about  ten  feet  and  smashed  two 
buggies.  A  rod  to  my  left  a  driver  ran  against  a  buggy  wheel 
and  crushed  it,  regardless  of  the  other's  load.  I  grew  more  and 
more  nervous,  expecting  every  moment  to  have  the  horse  and 
buggy  ruined.  Two  hours  and  a  half  passed  and  still  I  waited. 
I  had  plenty  ot  time  to  look  about  me. 

Every  variety  of  vehicle  passed  me,  loaded  with  every  variety 
of  article.  I  saw  one  of  our  former  citizens,  Mr.  Pearson,  carry- 
ing one  end  of  a  long  glass  case  filled  with  his  goods — hair  done 
up  in  many  forms.     A  dozen  or  twenty  cows  picked  their  way 


GREAT   FIRE   m   CHICAGO.  75 

among  the  wagons.  A  woman  found  her  way  across  the  street, 
when  there  chanced  to  be  an  opening,  leading  a  great  black  dog. 
The  confusion  was  beyond  all  description.  Up  and  down  the 
Michigan  Central  track  locomotives  were  constantly  moving, 
drawing  heavy  trains,  or  alone,  and,  it  seemed  to  me,  blowing 
their  unearthly  whistles  all  the  time.  The  fire-engines,  a  block 
away,  added  theirs,  which  were  worse  still.  The  voices  of  the 
police  calling  to  the  teamsters,  the  responses  and  often  curses  of 
the  drivers,  their  impatient  yells  to  one  another,  the  cry  of 
distressed  citizens  to  the  expressmen,  the  voices  of  the  crowd, 
the  roaring  of  the  gale,  the  howling  of  the  conflagration,  the 
crackling  of  burning  houses,  the  crash  of  falling  walls,  the  ring- 
ing of  bells,  the  shouts  that  greeted  some  new  freak  of  the  flames, 
and  suddenly  the  sullen  thunder  that  told  us  buildings  were  being 
blown  up  only  a  block  away.  The  conflagration  of  the  great 
day  will  hardly  bring  a  confusion  worse  confounded. 

The  fire  still  made  progress  towards  me  until  the  people  in  all 
the  houses  above  and  below  me  removed  their  goods  and  fled. 
Again  came  the  thundering  and  shaking  of  the  earth  that  accom- 
panied the  blowing  up  of  a  building.  It  seemed  ominously  near. 
I  could  see  the  fire  on  the  Wabash  Avenue  Methodist  Church,  and 
was  sure  it  was  going,  and  that  was  behind  me.  At  length  the 
vast  crowd,  men  and  teams,  precipitated  themselves  down  the 
avenue  like  a  falling  avalanche,  and  the  cry  went  up  that  the 
building  on  the  corner  just  above  us  was  to  be  blown  up.  Wait- 
ing no  longer  I  joined  the  fleeing  multitude  and  made  my  way 
as  fast  as  possible  a  block  farther  away.  After  three  hours  my 
friend  returned  ;  his  coat  gone  ;  his  face  so  black  and  his  eyes  so 
nearly  put  out,  that,  for  a  moment,  I  did  not  know  him.  He  took 
his  horse,  to  my  great  relief,  and  I  proceeded  up  the  Avenue 
toward  the  Central  Depot,  to  see  what  good  I  could  do.  On  be- 
yond Terrace  Row  I  went,  and  had  the  whole  horrible  scene  be- 
fore me.     Not  long,  however,  could  I  see  it.     The  magniflcent 


76  HISTORY   OF   THE 

Terrace  Row  was  in  flames,  and  the  air  was  filled  with  smoke, 
and  dust,  and  cinders,  and  live  coals,  and  faggots  of  fire.  The 
middle  of  this  great  row  fell  first,  the  ends  following,  covered  in 
one  black  cloud  of  smoke,  and  ashes,  and  dust.  It  was  almost 
past  endurance. 

Meanwhile  the  inflammable  material  in  this  narrow  space 
caught  flre  in  a  hundred  places.  Beds,  pillows,  quilts,  carpets, 
sofas,  pianos,  furniture,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  everything 
must  be  burned.  With  a  small  tea-chest  I  spent  hours  bringing 
water  from  the  lake,  helping  to  extinguish  numberless  incipient 
fires  which  broke  out  continually  among  the  heaps  of  goods.  I 
returned  home  at  3  p.m.,  having  had  nothing  to  eat  since  6 
o'clock  Sunday  evening.  Helping  to  carry  a  mirror  up  stairs,  I 
asked  a  woman  on  the  way  down  to  give  me  a  drink  from  a  full 
pail  she  carried,  and  she  refused.  In  the  evening,  Monday  even- 
ing, I  took  my  station  in  the  cupola  of  a  four -story  building  to 
view  the  fire  and  watch,  and  for  hours  witnessed  a  scene  which 
no  language  can  describe. 

Mr.  Goodspeed  visited  the  scene  of  the  fire  the  next  day  and 
described  many  interesting  scenes  which  he  witnessed,  most  of 
which  have  become  familiar  to  our  readers.  We  regret  that  our 
space  only  allows  of  the  foregoing  imperfect  synopsis  of  the  ad- 
dress, but  we  must  make  room  for  the  following  thrilling  inci- 
dent : — 

While  Madison  street,  west  of  Dearborn,  and  the  west  side  of 
Dearborn  were  all  ablaze,  the  spectators  saw  the  lurid  light  ap- 
pear in  the  rear  windows  of  Speed's  Block.  Presently  a  man,  who 
had  apparently  taken  time  to  dress  himself  leisurely,  appeared  on 
the  extension  built  up  to  the  second  story  of  two  of  the  stores. 
He  coolly  looked  down  the  thirty  feet  between  him  and  the 
ground,  while  the  excited  crowd  first  cried  jump !  and  then  some 
of  them  more  considerately  looked  for  a  ladder.  A  long  plank 
was  presently  found  and  answered  the  same  as  a  ladder,  and  it 


GJJEAT   FIRE   IN   CHICAGO.  77 

was  placed  at  once  against  the  building,  down  which  the  man 
soon  after  slid.  But  while  these  preparations  were  going  on 
there  suddenly  appeared  another  man  at  a  fourth  story  window 
of  the  building  below,  which  had  no  projection,  but  was  flush 
from  the  top  to  the  ground — four  stories  and  a  basement.  His 
escape  by  the  stairway  was  evidently  cut  off,  and  he  looked  de- 
spairingly down  the  fifty  feet  between  him  and  the  ground.  The 
crowd  grew  almost  frantic  at  the  sight,  for  it  was  only  a  choice 
of  deaths  before  him — by  fire  or  by  being  crushed  to  death  by  the 
fall.  Senseless  cries  of  jump!  jump!  went  up  from  the  crowd — 
senseless,  but  full  of  sympathy,  for  the  sight  was  absolutely 
agonizing.  Then  for  a  minute  or  two  he  disappeared,  perhaps 
even  less,  but  it  seemed  so  long  a  time  that  the  supposition  was 
that  he  had  fallen,  suffocated  with  the  smoke  and  hea,t.  But  no, 
he  appears  again.  First  he  throws  out  a  bed  ;  then  some  bed- 
clothes, apparently  ;  why,  probably  even  he  does  not  know. 
Again  he  looks  down  the  dead,  sheer  wall  of  fifty  feet  below  him. 
He  hesitates,  and  well  he  may,  as  he  turns  again  and  looks  behind 
him.  Then  he  mounts  to  the  window-sill.  His  whole  form  ap- 
pears naked  to  the  shirt,  and  his  white  limbs  gleam  against  the 
dark  wall  in  the  bright  light  as  he  swings  himself  below  the 
window.  Somehow — how,  none  can  tell — he  drops  and  catches 
upon  the  top  of  the  window  below  him,  of  the  third  story.  He 
looks  and  drops  again,  and  seizes  the  frame  with  his  hands,  and 
his  gleaming  body  once  more  straightens  and  hangs  prone  down- 
ward, and  then  drops  instantly  and  accurately  upon  the  window- 
sill  of  the  third  story.  A  shout,  more  of  joy  than  applause,  goes 
up  from  the  breathless  crowd,  and  those  who  had  turned  away 
their  heads,  not  bearing  to  look  upon  him  as  he  seemed  about  to 
drop  to  sudden  and  certain  death,  glanced  up  at  him  once  more 
with  a  ray  of  hope  at  this  daring  and  skilful  feat.  Into  this 
window  he  crept  to  look,  probably  for  a  stairway,  but  appeared 
again  presently,  for  here  only  was  the  only  avenue  of  escape, 


78  HISTORY   OF   THE 

desperate  and  hopeless  as  it  was.  Once  more  he  dropped  his 
body,  hanging  by  his  hands.  The  crowd  screamed,  and  waved 
to  him  to  swing  himself  over  the  projection  from  which  the 
other  man  had  just  been  rescued.  He  tried  to  do  this,  and 
vibrated  like  a  pendulum  from  side  to  side,  but  could  not  reach 
far  enough  to  throw  himself  upon  the  roof.  Then  he  hung  by 
one  hand,  and  looked  down  ;  raising  the  other  hand,  he  took  a 
fresh  hold,  and  swung  from  side  to  side  once  more  to  reach  the 
roof.  In  vain  ;  again  he  hung  motionless  by  one  hand,  and 
slowly  turned  his  head  over  his  shoulder  and  gazed  into  the 
abyss  below  him.  Then  gathering  himself  up,  he  let  go  his 
hold,  and  for  a  second  a  gleam  of  white  shot  down  full  forty 
feet,  to  the  foundation  of  the  basement.  Of  course  it  killed 
him.  He  was  taken  to  a  drug  store  near  by,  and  died  in  ten 
Hiinutes. 


T 


F.  CAMPBELL, 

Having  re-opened  at  No.  112  Twenty-Second  Street,  wishes 
to  inform  the  Ladies  of  Chicago  and  vicinity,  that  he  has  the 
only  complete  Stock  of 

HAIR  GOODS  AND 
•    HAIR  JEWELRY 

I3Sr  THE!  OZT-S". 

DON'T  PpRGET  THE  NUMBER, 

112  Twenty-Second  Street, 


Map  Showing  the  Burnt  District 


a511iSSii9Sia3iisiB5BssB: 


Mayhon,  Daly  &  Co.,  Importers  of  Millinery  and 


Map  Showing  the  Burnt  District  I  the  Business  Portion  of  the  City. 


__  masas 

iaaaaa9Si!9S^9UiSi:jBssssiiss 
aran^iiggiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiHiii 

[■IBfiMtlHJBDHi 

immmmmBi 


Mayhon,  Daly  &  Co.,  Importers  of  Millinery  and  fey  Dry  Goods,  on  Michigan  Av.  near  MonroeSt 


Tlie  Babck  Fire  E::tipslier 

Played  a  conspicuous  part  at  the  time  of  the 
Conflagration  and  since.  One  of  these  Engines 
was  used,  and  actually  saved  the  only  Building 
that  was  saved  by  the  aid  of  any  fire  appa- 
ratus during  the  Fire.  We  now  speak  of  the 
Lind  Block,  corner  of  Randolph  and  Market 
Streets,  occupied  by  Messrs.  Fuller  Finch  & 
Fuller,  and  Z.  M.  Hall.  This  valuable  appa- 
ratus and  self-acting  method  of  Extinguishing 
Fire  is  now  attracting  much  attention,  and  we 
notice  our  Firemen  are  enthusiastic  as  to  its  avail 
ability  to  extinguish  fire  before  it  assumes  the 
shape  of    a  Conflagration. 

The  Machines  can  be  procured  at  the 
factory,  corner  Washington  and  Clinton 
Streets,  or  at  656  Wabash  Avenue, 

BalDcock  Extinguisher  Co. 


THE 


Great  Conflagration, 


A  COMPLETE  A^ 


BURNING  OF  CHICAGO. 


CONTAINING 

Descriptions  of  the  Scenes,  Incidents,  and 
Accidents  of  the  Fire. 


WITH   A 


BUSINESS  DIEECTOKY 


AND 


List  of  the  Principal   Business   Houses 


IN  THEIR  PRESENT  LOCATIONS. 


CHICAGO. 

Published  by  the  Westekn  News  Company. 

1871. 


THAYEE  &  TOBEY 

FURNITURE 

COMPANY, 

86,  88,  90,  and  92  West  Randolph  Street. 


\ 


Factory  in  full  Operation.    Office  Desks  and 
other  Furniture. 


Tan  Sckck,  Stevenson  Si  M, 

849,  851  and  853  Wabash  Avenue, 

COU.    ISth  STllEET, 

Late  90t  92^  and  94  Lake  Street, 

Wholesale  Druggists, 

Have  taken  the  Old  Baptist  Church,  and  are 
now  laying  in  a  Large  Stock. 


CJOiviEs   j^jy^xy   &:ei:ei  xjs. 


9  r-|-^-y;-y-_»-\-y-r'"f        nr      |      / 

CONTENTS. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  FIRE. 
Its  Commencement,  Progress,  Incidents,  and  Occurences, pp.  5-9 

ITS  RAPID  PROGRESS 
Through  the  West,  South  and  North  Divisions  of  the  City pp.  9-37 

THE  TERMINATION  OF  THE  FIRE 
In  the  South  Division pp.  37-39 

LOSS  OF  LIFE, 
And  number  of  Persons  missing p.  39 

UPRISING  OF  THE  CONTINENT. 
Contributions  both  public  and  private  in  United  States  and  Europe pp.  39-35 

REMARKABLE  SCENES  AND  INCIDENTS. 
Accidents,  Heroisms,  and  Hair-Breath  Escapes pp.  35-59 

INTERESTING  FACTS  AND  STATEMENTS. 
Survey  of  Losses  by  Streets pp.  59-63 

ESTIMATE  OF  THE  AGGREGATE  LOSS 
By  the  Chicago  Conflagration pp.  63-79 

CHICAGO  AS  IT  WAS. 
Describing  the  appeartince  of  the  City  before  the  Fire, pp.  79-83 

CHICAGO  AS  IT  IS. 
Showing  its  present  appearance  of  ruin  and  devestation, pp.   83-87 

CHICAGO  AS  IT  WILL  BE. 
Depicting  the  future  glory  and  prosperity  of  the  City, pp.  87-93 

FIRES  OF  HISTORY. 
The  Great  Conflagrations  of  Ancient  and  Modem  Times pp.  93-97 

DIRECTORY 
Of  the  City  and  County  Offices,  Banks,  etc.,  etc., pp.  97-99 

CATALOGUE  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  BUSINESS  HOUSES 
Of  the  new  Chicago  and  their  present  location pp  101-107 

^  INDEX 
To  Advertisements P-  108 


A.LL  RIGMIT ! 


m  iLLiiis  «mL  1 1 

Is  Running  Trams  Regularly  from  the  Depot,  foot  of  22d  St.  as  follows  : 

9:20  A  J. 

Daily,  Except  Sundays. 

5:15  FJ. 

Daily,  Ejjcept  Sundays, 

8:10  F.  M. 


Daily,  Escept  Saturdays. 


For  ST.  LOUIS,  KANSAS  CITY,  CAIRO, 
MEMPHIS,  VICKSBURG,  MOBILE  and 
NEW  ORLEANS. 

For  CHAMPAIGN  and  all  WAY  STA- 
TIONS between  CHICAGO  and  CHAM- 
PAIGN, also  for  PEORIA,:  CANTON, 
KEOKUK  and  WARSAW. 

For  ST.  LOUIS,  KANSAS  CITY,  CAIRO, 
MEMPHIS,  LITTLE  ROCK,  VICKS- 
BURG and  NEW  ORLEANS. 


No  Change  of  Cars  from  Chicago  to  St.  Louis. 

TIME    A*    QUICK    AS    BY    ANY    OTHER    ROUTE. 


NO  CHANGE  OF  CARS  FROM  CHICAGO  TO  CAIRO 

From  100  to  150  Miles  shorter,  and  HOTJ3FLS 

Quicker  than  any  other  Route. 

ELEGANT  DRAWING  ROOM  SLEEPING  OARS 

ON   NiaHT   TRAINS. 
Baggage  Checked  to  all  Important  Points. 

1^°°  Transfer  made  in  Chicago  by   Parmelee   Omnibus  Line, 

as  usual. 


For  Through  Tickets  aud  Information  apply  at  the  Depot,   foot  of  22d  Street,  Chi- 
cago, and  at  the  principal  Railroad  Offices  throughout  the  United  i^tates  and  Canadas. 


W.  p.  JOHNSON, 

General  Passenger  Agent. 


A.  MITCHELL. 

Genet  al  Superintendent. 


The  Great  ConliagTation. 


PHENOMENAL  CHICAGO. 


It  has  long  been  a  distinguishing  characteristic  of  Chicago,  that  all  her  undertakings 
and  accomplishments  were  phenomenal.  Her  modes  of  action  were  original  and  sensa- 
tional, both  as  regards  individuals  and  the  body  corporate.  She  took  counsel  of  no  pre- 
cedents in  anything  she  did.  When  she  wanted  to  raise  the  gi-ade  of  her  streets,  she 
elevated  the  city  upon  screws,  and  reposed  it  upon  higher  foundations.  When  she  wished 
to  provide  accomodations  for  the  national  convention  of  a  political  party,  she  erected  a 
vast  "  wigwam,"  which  was  a  marvel  of  its  kind,  eclipsiug  all  of  its  predecessors  in  every 
part  of  the  republic.  When  convenience  demanded  easier  and  speedier  transit  from  bank 
to  bank  of  the  river,  she  burrowed  tunnels  underneath  the  stream.  When  a  supply  of 
fresh  and  pure  water^  became  a  necessity  of  our  rapidly  augmenting  population,  she 
carried  an  immense  viaduct  out  miles  fi-om  the  shore,  and  gathered  a  pellucid  streaiu 
from  the  far-off  bosom  of  Lake  Michigan.  Wlieu  the  river  be(jame  the  recepacle  of  the 
sewerage  of  a50,000  people,  and  generated  an  insufferable  stench,  she  carved  out  a  con- 
nection with  the  Mississipi)!,  turned  into  the  channel  the  crystal  floods  of  the  lake,  and 
created  a  perennially  flowing  and  purifymg  current,  sweeping  away  the  whole  accumula- 
tion of  impurities,  and  pcirmanently  transforming  a  cess-pool  into  a  stream  of  cleanliuess. 
Even  her  crimes  were  phenomenal.  Her  criminals  were  hunted  down  with  a  detective 
sagacity  that  was  extraordinary  and  astonishing,  as  witness  the  case  of  Ziegeumeyer. 
Her  suicides  were  bizarve  in  the  extreme,  as  witness  the  self-destruction  of  the  man  who 
inhaled  death  at  the  end  of  a  gas  pipe.  Her  aqcidents  were  beyond  the  level  of  the 
common-place,  as  witness  the  crushing  fall  of  the  Court  House  roofs.  A  miracle  of 
materiel  developement,  of  commercial  activity,  of  far-reaching  forecast,  of  tireless  energy, 
of  prompt  execution,  of  growing  population,  of  accumulated  wealth,  of  advancing 
influence,  Chicago  had  become  a  phenomenon  among  cities.  And  when,  on  the  woful 
Sunday  rdght  of  our  Black  October,  she  departed  partly  to  the  skies  in  flame  and  smoke, 
and  partly  to  the  earth  in  ashes  and  ruins,  she  nyiintained  her  phenomenal  reputation, 
and  signalized  her  exit  by  a  conflagration,  which  outvies  every  one  of  history  in  all  that 
is  wierdly  sublime,  appalling  terrible  and  amaziugly  destructive. 


R   T.  CRANE.  Prrxi'i/'nt. 
S.  W.  ADAMS,  Secretary. 


C.  S.  CRANE.  Vicf  President. 
G.  S.  REDFIBLD,  Treasurer 


(THE  CRANE  BROS.) 

a  rth=  Western 


Works  :  Jefferson  and  Des  Plaines  Streets, 


a. 


(Between  Lake  and 
Randolph.) 


GENERAL  OFFICES  AND  SALESROOMS, 

XTo.  10  XTorth.  Jefferson  Street, 

BRANCH  STORE,  100  WASHINGTON  ST.. 


MANUFACTURERS  OF 


WKOUGHT  IRON  PIPE 

MALLEABLE  IRON  FITTING,  AND 
STEAIVI  WARMING  AND  VENTILATING  APPARATUS. 

Brass  and  lror\  Goods  for  Stearn.  ar\d.  Gas  Fitters  ai\d  Engii\e 

Builders.      Steair\  Engines  and  Steam  Pumps, 

Gei\eral  Macliinery,  etc.,  etc. 

!s$tea,ni  Freiglii:  a.n<i  Passeng'er  Elevators. 

MALLEABE  lEON  CASTINGS  MADE  TO  OEDEK. 

C^"  Cu-culars  and  Prices  of  Goods  not  given  herein  sent  on  application.  _^| 


THE   GRKAT  CONFLAGRATION. 


BEFORE  THE  COniFL,AC}RAT10]V. 

Several  important  atmospheric  peculiarities  marked  the  period  just  previous  to  the 
great  fire.  For  weeks  there  had  been  no  rain  throughout  the  vast  region  of  the  North- 
west. In  various  parts  of  Wisconsin  and  Michigan,  the  woods  had  been  parched  into  a 
sort  of  tinder,  and  in  places  among  them,  the  flames  had  been  raging  with  dangerous 
and  wide-spread  fury,  involving  in  their  lurid  path,  towns,  settlements,  and  farms. 
During  three  nights,  no  dew  had  fallen  in  this  city.  Our  lumber  yards,  our  frame  build- 
ings, our  shingle  roofs,  and  wood-work  of  every  description  in  our  palatial  structures  had 
become  dry  as  kindlings.  The  atmosphere  seemed  not  to  coniiin  an  atom  of  moisture. 
Clouds  of  dust  ascended  from  our  streets  with  every  passing  gust,  and  at  every  rattling 
by  of  a  vehicle,  so  weather-scorched  were  our  thoroughfares.  Our  brave  aud  energetic 
firemen  had  been  almost  worn  out,  the  evening  previous,  in  fighting  down  a  fire,  which 
in  itself  amounted  to  a  conflagration.  And,  to  complete  the  list  of  fatalities,  a  heavy 
gale  was  blowing  from  the  South-west,  ready  to  feed  combustion  with  all  its  forces,  and 
render  nugatory  the  most  heroic  eflfoit. 

COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  L.IJRIU  MARCH. 

We  need  not  occupy  room  in  recounting  the  particulars  of  the  great  fire  which  occurred 
on  Saturday  night — and  which  the  public  thought  a  terrible  disaster — for  the  one  of  the 
following  night  and  its  succeeding  day  throws  that  into  insignifieence.  The  first  men- 
tioned was  itself  a  consuming  tornado  of  flame,  which  lasted  for  appalling  hours,  destroy- 
ing about  twenty  acres  of  buildings  and  lumber  piles,  on  the  West  side,  between  Clinton, 
Adams  and  Van  Buren  Streets,  and  the  South  Branch,  and  involving  the  loss  of  several 
lives.  The  scene  of  that  conflagration  was  visited  during  Sunday  by  thousands  of 
spectators,  who  reviewed  the  spectacle  of  desolation  with  manifest  sadiless,  little  dreaming, 
however,  that  a  broader,  wider,  more^complete  devastation  was  so  soon  in  store  for  the  city, 
and  for  very  many  of  their  own  homes  and  business  houses — a  destruction  of  life  and 
property  compared  with  which  that  of  Saturday  night  was  but  the  crackeling  of  a  juvenile 
bonfire. 

When,  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  fire  alarm  sounded,  the  general  impression 
was  that  the  former  fire  had  broken  out  in  a  new  place,  and  that  it  would  be  extinguished 
with  little  trouble.  Nohody  had  the  remotest  fears  of  the  actual  result.  Even  when  the 
flames  began  to  spread,  lighting  up  the  heavens  far  and  near,  and  the  disaster  threatened 
to  be  quite  serious,  was  there  any  considerable  apprehension  that  the  lurid  march  would 
cross  to  the  South  side.  Indeed  the  origin  of  the  conflagration  was  ludicrously  insignifi- 
cant. A  sick  calf  lay  in  a  trumpery  stable  belonging  to  a  trumpery  frame  dwelling,  on 
DeKoven  street,  between  Jefferson  and  Clinton,  and  thither  the  owner  had  gone  with  a 
kerosine  lamp  to  look  after  the  ailing  brute.  This  lamp  was  set  down  in  the  straw,  and 
accidentally  overturned,  the  spilled  contents  starting  up  into  an  instant  blaze,  which 
quickly  involved  the  whole  structure.  At  the  moment,  a  little  presence  of  mind  and 
some  energetic  action  might  have  sufficed  to  end  the  danger  on  the  spot.  As  it  happened, 
the  flames,  under  the  stimulus  of  the  stiff  gale  then  blowing,  speedily  spread  to  the 
adjacent  buildings.  Suddenly  the  fire  assumed  such  proportions  as  to  make  it  necessary 
to  call  out  the  whole  fixe  department  without  delay.  But  despite  the  most  vigorous 
efforts  of  the  entire  force,  the  lurid  flames  leaped  from  roof  to  roof,  and  building  to  build- 
ing, rapidly  enveloping  block  after  block  in  their  consuming  embrace.  The  exertions  of 
the  firemen,  worn  down  and  jaded  as  they  were  by  the  previous  night's  rough  toil,  seemed 
utterly  inadequate  to  stay  the  onward  career  of  the  devouring  element,   and   ere  long   it 


CHICAGO 

Type  Foundry, 

72    West    Washingfoii  Street. 


We  desire  to  inform  our  friends  that  we  are  located  as 
above,  and  have  opened  our  office  for  business. 

Having^  recovered  from  the  recent  disastrous  Fire,  we 
are  happy  to  inform  the  Printers  and  Publishers  through- 
out the  Northwest,  that  they  will  find  us  as  above,  where 
we  will  be  happy  to  see  our  friends,  and  will,  in  a  short 
time,  be  able  to  fill  all  orders  with  usual  Dispatch. 

HARDER,  LUSE  &  CO. 


H.    HARTT,  '  J.    W.    OSTRANDER. 

H.  HARTT  &  CO., 

intingPressMaGhine 

©HOP, 


AND    DKALEES    IN 


PRINTING    PRESSES, 

70  &  72  West  Washington  Street, 

Are  prepared   to   fill   all  orders  in  their  Line 
promptly,  and  at  old  prices. 


THE  GREAT  COtiTPLAGRATIOK. 


became  apparent  that  the  city  was  doomed  to  suffer  the  most  appalling  visitation  of  the 
fire-fiend  that  it  ever  had  experienced.  All  the  combined  energies  of  the  firemen,  police- 
men and  citizens  could  accomplish  was  to  prevent  the  flames  from  moving  further  West 
than  Des  Plaines  street.  The  fire,  having  started  in  a  neighborhood  where  there  were 
numerous  lumber  yards,  planing  mills,  and  other  wooden  structures,  fed  hastily  upon 
these  light  combustibles,  and  spread  with  incredible  rapidity.  All  the  heavens  were 
lighted  up  with  a  lurid  glare,  ^^om  various  quarters  poured  forth  a  thick  suffocating 
stream  of  blackish  smoke,  glittering  with  blazing  brands  and  spangles  of  cinders  the 
moment  it  touched  the  purer  atmosphere.  Meanwhile  the  gale  had  increased  in  severity, 
and  the  conflagration  raged  with  intensified  violence.  That  part  of  the  city  now  seemed 
but  the  almost  boundless  crater  of  an  inextinguishable  volcano,  as  viewed  by  the  near 
spectator.  Vast  volumes  of  flame  shot  up  to  an  immense  hight  into  the  air,  and  appeared 
at  times  to  have  been  detached  by  the  fury  of  the  wind,  and  percipitated  forward  over 
entire  blocks  and  even  squares,  kindling  new  fires  to  feed  other  like  flame  volumns,  to  be 
hurried  hence  on  their  mission  of  devastation.  Showers  of  cinders  descended  upon  all 
the  dwellings  and  factories  and  streets  in  the  path  of  the  onpouring  current. 

PROGRESS  OF  THK  COIVFLAGRATlOSi. 

It  was  now  a  little  after  10  o'clock.  The  fire  had  already  made  fearful  havoc.  A  vast 
tract,  perhaps  30  or  40  blocks  on  the  West  Side,  north  and  south  of  Jackson  street,  was 
one  great  field  of  fire.  As  yet,  the  people  on  the  East  Side  felt  themselves  comparatively 
safe.  They  had  little  apprehension  that  the  fire  would  cross  the  river.  The  light  from 
the  burning  city  illuminated  the  heavens  with  a  fearful  glare.  The  streets  were  fiUed  by 
an  excited  multitude.  People  from  the  West  Side  were  fleeing  from  their  burning  homes. 
The  noise  of  the  roaring  tornado  of  flames  as  it  swept  onward  in  its  career  of  devasta- 
tion rose  above  the  tumult  and  din  of  the  great  houseless  multitude  that  fled  before  its 
devouring  fury. 

Up  to  this  time  the  inhabitants  on  the  East  Side  had  been  hopeful.  They  relied  largely 
on  the  character  of  their  great  iron  and  stone  front  buildings.  The  track  of  the  fire- 
fiend  was  already  nearly  a  mile  in  length  and  half  a  mUe  wide.  A  vast  multitude,  hur- 
ried from  their  burning  homes,  were  crossing  the  river  before  the  advancing  columns  of 
flame.  The  wind  whistled  and  howled  through  the  streets,  and  the  bright  light  of  the 
fire  every  moment  grew  brighter.  The  heat  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fire  became  intense,  as 
the  winds  fanned  the  glowing  timbers  to  a  whiter  heat. 

Still  in  the  lower  part  of  tlie  city  in  the  vicinity  of  tlie  great  hotels  and  business  the 
feeling  among  the  people  was  more  that  of  commisseration  for  the  sufferers  on  the  West 
Side  than  of  apprehensi(jn  for  their  own  safety.  They  did  not  as  yet  fuUy  believe  that  it 
would  cross  the  river.  StiU  the  wind  roared  through  the  streets,  and  still  the  flames 
blazed  and  crackled  among  the  timbers  of  fast  consuming  dwellings  and  shops  along 
Jackson  street,  and  north  of  that  street  on  the  West  Side.  The  crowds  in  the  streets,  in 
the  eastern  part  of  the  city,  were  every  moment  growing  larger ;  the  noise  was  increas- 
ing. It  was  now  fully  evident  that  the  fixe  engines  could  do  nothing  to  resist  the  onward 
march  of  the  flames. 

By  this  time,  nearly  the  entire  population  of  the  city  had  been  aroused,  and  the  streets 
for  a  mile  or  two  surrounding  the  scene  of  the  disaster  were  thronged  with  excited,  sway- 
ing humanity,  and  with  all  descriptions  of  vehicles,  pressed  into  the  service  for  the  hasty 
removal  of  household  goods  and  personal  effects.  Every  street  resembled  a  second-hand 
furniture  store,  goods  of  all  desccriptions  being  loaded  and  unloaded  here,  there,  every- 
where, that  promised  refuge,  in  promiscous  confusion.     Invalids  and  cripples  were  car- 


^(xvJERc^e, 


MANUFACTURERS  OF 


Improved  Agraffe 

SQUARE  AND  UPRIGHT 


-A.Nr> 


Znstruzxients 


OF  ^L3L.  IDESOR.IFTIOlsrS. 


iSi  nwmmM^¥mw§  Mm^  T#pfcf 


f 


270  aiid  614  Michigan  Avenue. 


FORMERLY  AT 


No.  69  WASHINGTON  STREET,  (Crosby  Opera  House.) 
0HI0J^C3-0. 


THE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  11 

ried  away  on  improvised  ambulances ;  aged  women  and  helpless  infants  were  hastily 
borne  to  places  of  temporary  or  permanent  safety ;  people  who  were  utterly]  overcome 
with  excitement  and  fatigue  were  seen  sleeping  on  lounges,,  trunks  and  tables,  in  the 
midst  of  the  crowds  that  were  surging  with  emotion ;  empty  houses  were  forcibly  broken- 
open  and  taken  possession  of  by  houseless  wanderers,  made  desperate  by  the  awful  sur- 
roimdings,  in  some  instances,  as  many  as  five  families  tumbling  into  the  same  bxiilding. 

■^'''  THE    FIRE  CROSSES    THE    RIYER. 

It  was  now  a  little  after  11  o'clock.  The  roaring  furnace  along  the  West  Side  up  to 
the  river,  extending  from  Jackson  to  Adams  street,  represented  a  miniature  hell.  Men 
forgot  the  flight  of  time — moments,  under  the  terrible  suspense  and  apprehension,  length- 
ened int«  hours.  Some  buildings  in  the  neighborhood,  on  the  East  Side,  were  proclaimed 
to  be  on  fire.  Jackson  street  bridge  was  already  a  mass  of  rolling  flames.  Then  the 
hearts  of  the  people  on  the  Bast  Side  sank  within  them  for  very  horror.  They  now  fully 
realized  the  magnitude  of  the  peril.  The  gale,  in  a  steady,  blustering  ourront,  was  blow- 
ing gi  cat  sheets  of  blaze  down  into  the  heart  of  the  business  part  of  the  city.  Strong 
men  ti'ombled,  women  shrieked,  aiid  children  became  frantic. 

Tn  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time,  the  conflagration  had  reached  Wells  street,  and 
with  another  mighty  leap  involved  the  buildings  on  La  Salle.  From  Jackson  street  north- 
ward, the  fire  column  seemed  to  bound  forward  successively  to  Adams,  to  Monroe,  and 
on  towards  Madison  street.  One  of  the  finest  quarters  of  the  city  was  now  swallowed, 
as  it  were,  in  a  vortex  of  fire.  No  words  could  photograph  the  tumultuous  and  appal- 
ling scene  at  that  moment  of  universal  terror  and  despair. 

STREET    SCENIES. 

It  was  now  midnight.  The  heavens  were  lighted  up  with  a  lurid  glare,  the  vast  surg- 
ing multitude  swaying  to  and  fro,  wliile  above  the  roar  of  the  wind,  and  the  crackling  of  the 
flames,  rose  the  confused  noise  of  shouting  men  and  wailing  women.  Merchants  were 
gathering  up  their  most  valuable  articles,  such  as  books  and  jjapers ;  landlords  were  arous- 
ing their  guests,  and  advising  hasty  departures  ;  men,  loaded  with  the  most  precious  arti- 
cles of  the  household,  followed  by  awe-stricken  women  and  frantic  children,  were  rush- 
ing away  from  the  fire-demon  as  rapidly  as  the  thronged  condition  of  the  streets  would 
admit ;  women,  separated  from  their  families,  gave  utterance  to  shrieks  that  rang  out 
clear  and  shrill  above  the  horrible  roar  of  the  devouring  flames  and  the  wild  moan  of  the 
wind  as  it  swept  the  fiery  deluge  along  in  its  march  to  ruin. 

Vast  smoke  clouds  hovered  over  all  the  central  and  northern  part  of  the  city.  The 
fire-light,  reflected  back  from  the  dense  smoke,  shone  with  a  baleful  red  glare  that  was 
truly  awe-inspiring.  Strong  men  grew  powerless,  and  became  frantic  in  face  of  the  appal- 
ling calamity. 

A  little  after  12  o'clock  the  guests  of  the  large  boarding-houses  in  the  neighborhood  of 
State  and  Adams  streets,  were  turned  horrified  into  the  streets  to  swell  the  vast  mvilti- 
tude  already  abroad. 

II11I.I.IONS  TOPPI.E  ii«To  Rinnrs. 

StUl  onward  swept  the  sea  of  flame,  remorselessly  consuming  everything  which  fire  could 
destroy  that  lay  in  its  path.  And,  not  only  did  the  conflagration  march  Northward  and 
Eastward,  but  they  also  made  slow  but  steady  progress  Southward,  against  the  driving 
force  of  the  gale,  involving  many  of  the  finest  residences  on  Wabash  and  Michigan 
avenues,  and  all  the  other  buildings  located  between  Harrison  street  and  the  main  river, 


STARK  &  ALLEN, 


lM:i»OI£TEItS    OF 


WATCHES, 


AND 


363  WABASH  AVENUE. 


Sammons,  Clark  &  Co. 


MANUFACTURERS  OF 


^arttke  and  ^khire  ^rmfe 

MOLDINGS, 

Square,  Oval,  Arch  Top  and  Rustic  Picture  Frames, 


IMPORTERS    OF 


Wholesale  Uealers  in  JBaeking  Cords,  Jtc,  &c. 


Escaped   the  late  Fire   unharmed,  and  continue    Business   as 

usual.     Price  Lists  and  Cuts  of  Mouldings  sent  on 

application.     Address, 

SAMMONS,  CLARK  &,  CO., 

197  &  199  South  Clinton  St.,  Chicago. 


THE   GREAT  CONELAGRATION.  13 


in  the  South  division.  Among  the  more  prominent  atmctures  destroyed  within  this  area, 
besides  dwellings,  were  the  following :  the  Armory,  the  Gas  Works,  the  Wabash  Avenue 
Methodist  Church,  the  St.  Paiil's  Church,  the  First  and  Second  Presbyterian,  the  New 
Jerusalem  Temple,  the  Palmer,  Bigelow,  Orient,  Everett,  Tremont,  Sherman,  Briggs, 
Metropolitan,  St.  James,  Adams,  Massasoit,  City  Nevada,  and  Clifton  hotels ;  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce,  the  Court  House  and  Jail,  (which  contained  the  offices  and  records  of 
all  the  city  officials) ;  the  four  principal  telegraph  offices ;  the  Crosby  Opera  House, 
McVicker's,  Theatre,  Hooley's  Opera  House,  the  Dearborn  Theatre,  the  Michigan  Central 
and  Union  depots,  all  the  hanks  in  the  city  except  two  small  ones  located  in  the  West  divi- 
sion; Far  well,  Metropolitan,  and  Crosby's  halls,  several  bridges  and  viaducts,  and  all  the 
newspapers  and  job  offices  on  the  South  side. 

This  devastated  area  extended  from  Harrison  street  North  to  the  river,  and  fi'om  the 
South  Branch  east  to  Ij^ke  Michigan,  taking  in  every  building,  with  three  exceptions — 
the  Lind  Block  at  Randolph  bridge,  church  on  the  comer  of  Harrison  street  and  Michi- 
gan avenue,  and  a  new  structure  on  the  corner  of  LaSalle  and  Monroe.  The  Michigan 
Southern  and  Rock  Island  passenger  house,  together  with  the  Michigan  Central  and 
Illinois  Central  freight  depots,  were  swept  away,  including  one  of  their  elevators.  The 
principal  offices  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington,  and  Qiiincy,  and  of  the  Chicago  and  North- 
western Railroads  were  also  utterly  destroyed.  From  the  latter  not  a  scrap  of  paper  out 
side  of  the  safe  was  rescued.  This  completeness  coupled  with  swiftness,  of  destruction, 
is  one  of  the  most  remarkablo  features  of  the  occasion.  Fire-pi'oof  structures,  or  what 
wei'e  so  esteemed,  crumbled  to  pieces  as  easy  as  those  of  brick.  Stone-work,  both  sand 
and  limestone,  melted  down,  for  the  most  part,  into  a  disintegrated  mass. 

The  ground  burned  over  on  the  West  side,  was  about  one  mile  in  length,  from  DeKoyen 
street  to  Van  Buren,  and  perhaps  a  quarter  of  a  mUe  in  length,  bordering  along  the  river 
for  most  of  the  way,  and  consuming  the  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  freight  house,  to- 
gether with  all  freight  cars  in  their  yards. 

SCE^KS  OF  THE  BURIVIIVC;. 

While  this  wholesale  wreck  of  property  was  going  on,  the  wind  at  times  blew  almost  a 
hurricane,  and  it  seemed  but  the  work  of  a  moment  for  the  fire  to  enter  the  south  ends 
of  buildings  fronting  on  flandolph.  Lake  and  Water  streets,  and  to  reappear  at  north 
doors  and  windows,  shooting  forth  in  fierce  flames.  The  conflagration  appeared  literally 
to  melt  its  way  from  street  to  street.  Often  the  long  tongues  of  fire  would  dart  clear 
across  some  thoroughfare,  igniting  the  houses  on  the  opposite  side,  when  both  sheets  of 
flame  would  pour  together  toward  the  centre,  uniting  and  presenting  a  solid  mass  of  com- 
bustion, completelj-^  filling  the  open  space,  and  shooting  upward  a  hundred  feet  or  more 
into  the  air  above  the  roofs  in  their  mad  career ;  and  thus  was  street  after  street  filled 
with  flame  and  fire,  accompanied  by  a  roar  which  can  be  equalled  only  by  combining  the 
noise  of  the  ocean  when  its  waters  are  driven,  during  a  tempest,  upon  a  rocky  beach, 
with  the  howl  of  the  blast.  Huge  walls  toppled  and  fell  into  the  sea  of  fire  without, 
a]iparently,  giving  a  sound,  as  the  roar  of  the  devouring  element  was  so  great  that  all  the 
minor  soimds  were  swallowed  up.  The  fall  was  perceptible  to  the  eye  if  not  to  the  ear. 
If  the  reader  will  recall  to  his  mind  the  fiercest  snow  storm  in  his  experience,  and 
imagined  the  snow  to  have  been  fire,  as  it  surged  hither  and  thither  before  the  fury  of 
the  fiend,  he  will  be  able  to  form  a  faint  conception  of  the  flames  as  they  raged  through 
the  streets  of  our  doomed  city.  Many  of  the  buildings  situated  along  South  Water 
street  buried  their  red-hot  rear  walls  ui  the  waters  of  the  river  into  which  they  plunged 
with  a  hiss  like  to  nothing  earthly,  throwing  up  a  billow  of  seething  water,  which  would 
3 


<,OUNESco. 

HOTEL. 

Elizabetli  cor.  Washington  Street 

CHTCA^aO. 


This  new  and  elegantly  furnished  Hotel  with 
all  modern  improvements,  offers  the  only  first 
class  accomodations  for  families  in  the  City: 

JAMES  L.  BURNS,  Proprietor- 


KIRK,  COLEMAN  &  CO . 

]SJa,iivifaft  ni-ei-.s,   !rn.poi'tei'.s,  iiinl  Dealet-s  in 

iM^M,  MMLS,  STEEL, 

SE^RTISrGS,  AXLES, 

Wagon  and  Carriage  Materials, 
34  South  Canal'St ,  CHICAGO. 


THE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  15 


gradually  subside,  until  other  walls  would  follow  in  their  turn.  The  heat  was  so  intense 
at  times  from  some  of  the  burning  buildings,  that  they  could  not  be  approached  nearer 
than  an  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  which  accounts  for  the  n^anner  in  which  the  fire  worked 
.back  South,  generally  in  the  very  teeth  of  the  blast. 

RUSIIime  TO  THE  RESCUE. 

Long  before  the  conflagration  reached  the  vast  proportions  described,  a  new  element 
of  uproar  was  added  to  the  general  confusion.  It  being  Sunday,  proprietors  and  em- 
ployes of  the  business  section  were,  for  the  most  part,  enjoying  the  comt'orts  of  home  in 
dwellings  far  distant  from  spectacular  drama  of  the  fire-king.  Tliose  who  saw  the  flames 
supposed  them  the  remains  of  Saturday  night's  fire,  and  having  implicit  confidence  in  the 
fire  department,  were  unconcerned  spectators  ;  but  between  11  and  12  o'clock  a  rumor 
got  abroad  that  the  disaster  had  overtaken  the  very  heart  of  Chicago.  Then  ensued  a 
scene  of  the  wildest  excitement.  Every  available  horse  and  vehicle  was  brought  into 
requisition  to  hurry  proprietors  and  their  friends  to  the  point  of  peril.  For  several  hours 
the  main  thoroughfares  leading  from  the  outskirts  toward  the  scence  of  the  conflagration 
were  thronged  with  galloping  horsesmen  urging  their  steeds  to  the  top  of  their  metal ;  by 
wagons  and  buggies  and  hacks,  rattling  along  at  break-neck  speed  ;  and  by  predestrians 
out  of  breath,  yet  pushing  their  panting  way  with  what  strength  and  swiftness  could  be 
put  forth  by  agonizing  anxiety  and  overstrained  resolution.  But  what  a  harrowing 
spectacle  met  the  gaze  of  these  new  comers  !  The  Board  of  Trade  building,  the  Court 
House,  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  and  Associated  Press  Offices,  with  hundreds  of 
other  structures,  stately  with  architectural  grandeur  and  opulent  with  contained  wealth, 
were  masses  of  fire,  from  which  the  flames  ascended,  with  a  sullen  roar,  into  the  very 
skies.  Worse  than  all,  the  fire-engines  were  powerless  to  save.  Indeed,  when  the  con- 
flagTation  first  crossed  over  to  the  East  side,  all  these  instruments  of  protection,  save  one, 
were  in  the  West  division,  where  had  been  their  properly  assigned  place  of  duty  until 
the  arrival  of  that  catastrophe. 

A    REAI.    BI.ESSIIVO. 

The  laxge  fire  on  the  West  Side,  which  occurred  on  Saturday  night,  has  since  been 
regarded  as  a  positive  god-send  ;  for,  had  it  not  been  for  the  vacant  ground  occasioned  by 
it,  two  squares  in  width,  the  conflagration  would  have  swept  unhindered  to  the  North- 
ward, and  destroyed  in  its  path  the  principal  manufacturing  district  of  the  city,  and  the 
the  business  portion  of  the  West  division.  As  it  was,  this  vacant  ground  was  the  means 
of  checking  the  onward  sweep  of  the  flames  west  of  the  river,  although,  on  its  way  to  the 
South  Side,  it  reduced  to  ruins  the  lofty  elevator  which  so  nobly  had  withstood  the  fire 
of  the  previous  evening.  Thus  it  was  that  the  blasted  and  desolated  district  which  had 
been  accounted  a  great  calamity  proved  to  be  really  a  blessing  in  disguise — a  sort  of 
insurance  against  further  disaster. 

1VORTB    SIDE    IW    FLAMES. 

WhUe  much  of  the  South  division  was  helplessly  awaiting  the  approach  of  destruction, 
the  deluge  of  fire  had  rolled  on  until  it  encountered  the  main  river,  where  many  per- 
sons had  hoped  its  devastating  strength  would  be  efifectually  and  finally  stayed  ;  but  it 
leaped  across  this  watery  baiTier  at  a  single  bound,  and,  like  some  tidal  wave  of  flame, 
resumed  its  consuming  progress.  This  sudden  transit  of  the  devoui-ing  element  was 
preceded  by  a  half-crazed  multitude  thronging  across  the  Rush  street  bridge  to  the  aid 
of  their  im.periled  families  and  to  the  rescue  of  their  household  eifects.     Many   driven 


COLLINS  &  BUKGIE, 

STOVE  MANUFACTURERS, 

Being  among  the  very  few  whose  Manufactory  escaped  destruction,  by  the  great 
Conflagration,  are  in  full  operation,  and  as  usual 


MANCTACTURING  AND  DEAXiING  IN 


ALSO,  SOLE  MANUFACTURERS  FOR  THE  NORTHWEST  OF 

PriiidJe's  Agricultural  Steamer  and  Farjners'  Boiler, 

FOCHT'S    PAIENT   PULLEY    BLOCKS, 
7f^i/A  or  wt/fiout  yVick's  Semi  Metallic  Faced  Sheave, 

Clark's  Patent  Tuyere  Iron, 

CONCEDED  TO  BE  THE  BEST  EST  USE. 

Stable  Fittings  and  Fixtures,  Ornamental,  Convenient  and  Durable. 
NOTT'S  PATENT  KITCHEN  SINKS, 

Unsurpassed  in  utility  and  fluish.    Address  Orders  fi)r  Sinks  to  S.  L.  BIGNALL  &  CO.,  232  Lake  Street 

Particular  attention,  given  to  orders  for  Light  and  Fancy  Castings,  and  Castings 
for  Patteims  wliere  Models  are  furnished. 

STOVE  WORKS  AND  OFFICE,  COR.  JEFFERSON  AND  VAN  BUREN  STREETS, 
CHICAOO.    ILLINOIS. 


UNION  SCREW  AND  BOLT  CO., 

Coi*.  Van  Biii*en  and  Jetfisrson  Sts.,  Cliioago. 

SOLE  MANUFACTURERS  OF 

Lag  Screws,  Cider  Press  Screws,  Bench  Screws, 

OJieese  Press  Screivs^  Bridge  JBolts,  Skein  Bolts., 
JACK  SCREWS,  SCRFW  HINGES, 

WITH  rOEGED  UPSET  THREAD 


MANUFACTURERS  ALSO  OP 


CARRIAGE  BOLIS,  AGRICULIURAL  ROUS,  SPLICE  BAR  BOLTS, 

>j\v\t\y^e  ^oWs,  "9Vo\x>  fioWs  Tvve  '&v>V\%, 

With  Forged  Thread  either  raised  or  reduced,  or  with 
common  cut  Thread. 

SEND    FOR    PRICE    LIST. 


THE  GHKA'P  CO^LAGftAttON.  l7 


upon  Water  street  by  the  onrushing  fire,  suddenly  found  themselves  cut  off  from  all  ordi- 
nary means  of  exit,  and  were  forced  to  seek  an  unwilling  refuge  in  the  river,  where  it  is 
believed  that  quite  a  number  must  have  escaped  roasting  alive  only  in  death  by 
drowning. 

Panic  soon  spread  wide  and  far  throughout  the  North  division.  The  same  infatuation 
which  had  made  thousands  of  residents  on  the  South  Side  feel  unapprehensive  of  danger, 
and  caused  them  to  spend  golden  opportunities  in  sight-seeing  that  should  have  been 
devoted  to  diligent  preparations  against  the  coming  catastrophe,  seeme  to  have  lulled 
into  financial  security  the  mass  of  the  population  on  the  North  Side.  Hence,  when  the 
great  peril  was  at  their  very  doors,  large  numbers  were  almost  as  much  startled  as  if  a 
conflagration  had  broken  out  in  their  very  midst  without  a  spark  of  warning.  Hun- 
dreds, even  of  those  who  lived  near  the  river,  were  taken  so  unawares  that  they  escaped 
barely  with  their  lives  and  the  clothes  on  their  backs,  and  rushed  away  from  their 
homes,  half  demented,  m  every  direction  which  seemed  to  promise  expedient  refuge  from 
the  scorching  heat  at  their  heels,  following  sometimes  almost  at  their  own  pace. 

So  soon  as  the  flames  had  spread  beyond  the  loftier  and  more  substantial  business 
structures,  and  had  entered  upon  the  long  and  broad  stretch  of  frame  dwellings  and  re- 
tail stores,  the  progress  was  frightfully  rapid,  seeming  to  pursue  the  frightened  inhabit- 
ants with  the  menace  of  fate  itself.  Many  comfortable  residences,  with  all  their  con- 
tents, were  abandoned  to  the  march  of  destruction,  the  tenants  glad  to  escape  on  any 
terms.  In  various  instances,  fathers  and  husbands  had  ventured  over  to  the  South  Side 
as  spectators,  and  had  been  cut  oft'  from  timely  return,  and  women  and  children  had  thus 
been  left  to  battle  with  the  peril  alone.  It  required  an  incredibly  brief  space  of  time  to 
destroy  all  avenues  of  passage  across  the  main  river.  La  Salle  street  tunnel  early  ceased 
to  be  available,  for  it  sucked  in  a  broad  sheet  from  the  south,  and  poured  forth 
from  its  hither  entrance  a  vast  volume  of  suffocating  smoke  and  heat,  as  if  it  had  been 
some  huge  chimney.  All  the  bridges  above  and  below  this  artery  of  travel  were  soon 
involved  in  the  general  wreck,  and  both  sides  of  the  river,  from  the  branches  to  the  lake, 
were  walls  of  living  fire.  This  broad  destruction  cut  off  large  numbers  from  access  to 
their  homes,  and  drove  them  panic-stricken  to  the  lake  shore  for  precarious  refuge. 

When  the  fire  had  passed  Kmzie  street,  the  terror  was  something  indescribable.  Every 
imaginable  kind  of  conveyance,  even  hearses,  were  employed  to  hurry  away  to  places  of 
safety  such  remnants  of  household  furniture  and  personal  effects  as  could  be  snatched 
from  the  general  wreck.  Many  were  summoned  from  beds  where  they  had  been  quietly 
sleeping,  and  suddenly  confronted  with  the  peril  of  the  hour,  often  escaping  only  in  their 
night  garments.  The  Nicolson  pavement  in  the  streets  was  on  fire  in  every  direction 
reached  by  the  conflagration.  For  a  long  distance  in  advance  of  the  flames,  which  rolled 
on  like  billows,  showers  of  sparks,  intermingled  with  blazing  brands,  were  whirled  aloft 
by  one  eddy  of  the  breeze,  only  to  be  precipitated  by  another  upon  roofs  dry  as  tinder, 
where  they  fii'st  sent  up  curling  whisps  of  blue  smoke,  and  then  gTished  forth  in  spurts 
of  dark  red  flame, 

THE  STRiaj»e8  OF  DESTRVCTION. 
In  this  way,  solitary  building  were  often  ablaze  half  a  dozen  squares  ahead  of  the 
main  line  of  the  fire.  This  separate  havoc  opened  new  lines  of  march  for  the  devouring 
element,  which  spread  forward  and  laterally,  leaving  tracks  of  desolation  in  the  midst  of 
otherwise  untouched  districts.  Indeed,  the  fire  on  the  North  Side  did  not  move  on  in 
solid  column  as  it  had  done  in  the  South  Division,  but  broke  into  sections,  some  of  which 
advanced  more  rapidly  than  the  others,  the  whole  spreading  afterward,  and  involving 


D.  B.  FISK  d  CO., 


WHOLESALE  DEALERS  IN 


LADIES'  FURNISHING  FANCY  GOODS    . 


ST'  "West,  ■Wa.sh.ingtorL  Street, 


Near  Tiannel  Entrance. 


Orders  Solicited  and  Satisfaetioii  Guaranteed. 


J.  H.  SMALL.  H.  GR\INGER. 

JOHN  H.  SMALL  &  CO., 

STATIONi 


AND 


Blank  Book  Manufacturers, 

No.  27  Smith  Canal  Street, 

FORMERLY  117  DEARBORN  STREET, 

CHICAQO. 


THE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  19 


everything  in  a  mass  of  ruins.  All  that  was  spared  in  its  earlier  stages  was  one  comer 
of  Kinzie  street,  a  few  houses  between  Market  street  and  the  bridge,  one  elevator  (New- 
berry's), a  few  lumber-yards,  and  a  coal-yard  or  t^.  With  these  exceptions,  the  con- 
flagration swept  along  the  North  Branch  to  the  Gas  Works,  taking  every  stick  and  stone 
that  lay  in  its  way.  It  worked  with  the  wind  and  against  it,  with  frightful  impartiality. 
It  held  a  direct  northward  course  to  Division  street  bi-idge,  near  the  Gas  Works,  where 
there  are  some  large  vacant  lots,  rather  damp,  and  without  any  combustible  surroudings. 
At  this  point  it  took  an  oblique  turn  eastward,  toward  Lincoln  Park,  leaving  the  New- 
berry School,  on  North  avenue,  and  sweeping  along  to  Lincoln  avenue,  to  Dr.  Dyer's  new 
house,  where,  on  that  side,  it  halted,  having  burned  itself  out.  It  left  a  couple  of  frame 
buildings  in  front  of  the  park  entrance,  sparing  the  fine  park  itself,  hardly  a  shrub  being 
injured.  Not  so  with  the  old  cemeteries,  Protestant  and  Catholic.  The  grass  on  the 
graves  was  burned,  the  wooden  crosses  were  consumed,  and  the  gravestones  were  splin- 
tered into  dust.  Trees  were  withered  Uke  dry  leaves,  hardly  a  skeleton  remaining,  while 
furniture,  pUed  there  for  safety  by  the  earlier  fugitives,  served  only  to  make  a  funeral 
pyre.  The  very  pest-house,  down  on  the  lake  shore,  was  burned  to  the  gi'ound,  the 
miserable  patients  being  obliged  to  seek  in  the  water  the  fate  from  which  they  fled.  The 
affrighted  fugitives  in  the  cemeteries  escaped  madly  toward  the  park,  while  the  air 
resounded  with  their  cries  and  lamentations.  Meantime  the  conflagration  swept  eastward 
to  the  lake,  consuming  everything  that  lay  in  its  path.  By  this  time  dawn  was  begin- 
ning to  tinge  the  horizon,  and  with  its  coming,  the  great  Water  Works,  the  pride  and  the 
protection  of  the  city,  were  discovered  to  be  charred  and  promiscuous  ruins. 

REFVQEES    ANO    TICTIMS. 

To  describe  this  fire  in  its  details  through  the  North  Division  would  be  utterly  impos- 
sible. It  was  like  a  battle,  where  all  was  din,  smoke,  confusion,  and  turmoil.  Each 
individual  of  the  vast  fleeing  tide  can  tell  a  different  stoiy  of  peril  and  escape.  Before 
that  awful  front  of  flame,  the  streets  yet  unbumed  were  packed  and  jammed  with 
myriads  of  hiiman  beings  of  every  age,  sex  and  condition.  It  reminded  one  of  a  disas- 
trous retreat,  the  baggage  blocking  np  the  highways,  while  the  very  horses  were  burned 
to  death  beneath  the  loads  of  household  goods  crowded  upon  their  wagons.  Hundreds 
of  the  affrighted  animals  ran  away,  mad  vrith  pain  and  terror,  crushing  in  their  flight 
men,  women  and  children.  The  principal  lines  of  retreat  for  the  North  Side  community, 
living  west  of  Clark  street  and  North  of  Oak  street,  were  over  Brie  and  Indiana  street, 
Chicago  avenue  and  North  avenue  bridges.  They  retired  to  the  prairie  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  rolling  mills,  or  else  took  refuge  with  their  terrified  and  trembling  friends  in 
the  West  Division.  The  North  Side,  taking  a  line  from  Canal  street  north,  was  com- 
pletely annihilated.  The  little  portion  that  escaped  belonged  more  properly  to  the 
northwestern  section. 

Oi^Erie  street  and  Chicago  avenue  the  loss  of  life  was  fearful.  The  bridges  were 
choked  with  fugitives  and  baggage.  The  wagons  became  entangled,  and  the  fi'ightened 
people  either  plunged  into  the  river  and  were  drowned,  or  else  fell  down  never  to  rise, 
suffocated  by  the  frightful  smoke.     The  scene  was  enough  to  unnerve  the  stoutest  heart. 

DESTRUCTION  OF  CHURCHES  AJVD  SHA.DE  TREES. 

Through  the  helli.sh  splendor  of  mingled  gloom  and  fire  the  tall  church  steeples  loomed 
proudly  against  the  fiery  firmament.  The  first  spire  that  Avent  down  was  that  of  the 
Holy  Name — Roman  Catholic — Church,  on  State  street.  The  crash  was  fearful  and  was 
only  exceeded  by  the  terrific  noise  produced  by  the  falling  of  the  North   Presbyterian 


PAGE  BEOS.  &  CO., 


LATE,  No    50  LAKE  STREET, 


DEALERS  m 


it 


,1 


35  and  37  South.  Canal  St., 


OHIC^ao 


GEO.  A.  MISCH  &;  BRO 


MANUFACTURERS  OF 


fjmm 


ifclB®fli  BmmiB#l##^ 


EMBOSSED,  CUT  AND  GROUND  GLASS. 


Office,  Corner  Canal  and  Lake  Streets, 

Manufactory,  N.   Wells  Si.,  bet.  Division  and  Schiller. 

i 


GEO.  A.  MISCH. 
ADOLPH  MISCH. 


tiImI.  all  orders  as  before  the  fire. 


THE   GREAT   CONFLAGRATION. 


31 


Church,  on  Cass  street,  a  moment  later.  It  was  a  sad  sight  to  see  the  beautiful  little 
church  of  Robert  CoUyer  succumb  to  the  pitiless  enemy,  and  the  hardly  less  beautiful 
German  CathoHc  Church  of  St.  Joseph  met  the  same  untimely  doom.  And  sad  was  it  to 
see  the  fine  rows  of  stately  trees  which  formed  the  shade  of  the  North  Side  streets  go 
down  like  grass,  withered  and  blackened.  The  marble  can  be  replaced  and  the  stone  can 
be  laid  afresh,  biit  many  a  long  year  must  pass  ere  we  shall  see  again  the  ma.ples,  and 
poplars  and  elms.  ^^^•._- 

Those  of  the  North  Side  inhabitants  who  lived   in   the   section  lying   between    Clark 
street  on  the  west  and  the  Lake  on  the  east,  and  between  Chicago  avenue  on   the   north 
and  the  river  on  the  south,  were  the  last  to  suffer.     They  expected  that  the  flames  would 
pass  them,  as  they  had  already  burned  up  to  the  Newberry  school  before  Rush  street  was 
eno-ulphed.     This  hope,  Uke  so  many  others,  was  doomed  to  be  of  short  duration.     Very 
so^n  the  cry  arose  that  Rush  street  bridge  was  burning,  while  the  large  reaping  machine 
factory  of  C.  H.  McCormick  was  discovered  to  be  a  blazing  ruin.     Presently  the  old  Lake 
House  built  in  1837,  and  situated  on  Michigan,  near  the  comer  of  Rush  street,  shot  up  a 
column  of  flame,  which  proclaimed  that  the  fiend  had  seized  upon  it. 
FLEEIIVO  FOR  LIB  E. 
This  was  the  signal  of  a  general  stampede.     The  roughs  that  infested  the  lower  streets, 
near  the  river,  broke  into  the  saloons  and  drank  what  liquor   they  could   find.     Many  of 
these  ruffians  were  draymen   and   wharfrats,   and   their   conduct   was  ruffianly   in   the 
extreme.     Hell  seemed  to  have  vomited  these  wretches  forth   as   fitting  denizens   of  the 
fiery  air  around  them.     The  robbers  broke  into  and  sacked  many  houses,  the  inhabitants 
thereof  being  only  too  glad  to  get  away  at  any  price.     Retreat  to  the  north  was   cut  off, 
for  ali-eady  the  flames  had  fired  the  water  works  and  were  burning  the  pier  at  the   foot  of 
Superior  street.     The  destruction  of  Rush  street  bridge  precluded  a  southward  flight,  and, 
besides,  the  South  Side  was  one  ocean  of  fire.     Everything  was  burned   on   a  line  with 
Rush  street,  and  that  was  already  begining  to  go.     Language  cannot  portray   the  scenes 
that  ensued.     Evervthing  was  placed  on  some  kind  of  vehicle,  horses  were  let  loose  from 
their  stables,  children  were  flung  into   carts   with   their  half  crazy   mothers,  the  lower 
orders  were  raging  drunk,  while  the  respectable  people  were  wholly  demoralized.     For  a 
time  it  looked  as  if  the  final  day  had  come  for  all  these  thousands,  for  the  fire  was  rushing 
down  upon  them  like  an  avenging  spirit,     On   most  faces  was   depicted   terror,   on  the 
fewer  calm  indifference  or  detestable  brutality.     Women  cried  out  for  aid   to   save   their 
little  ones     Their  entreaties  were  disregarded  or  else  were  made  the  the  theme   of  ribald 
jokes  by  the  inebriated  ruffians  from  the  purlieus  of  North   Water   and  Kinzie  streets. 
Happy  were  those  women  and  children  who  had  husbands  and   fathers  to   protect  them. 
Where  were  aU  these  affrighted  beings  tending  to  ?     The  cry  of  "To  the   sands  !     To  the 
Sands!  "was  heard   on   every  side,   and   to   the   sands  everybody  fled   as   by  common 

intuition.         p^R,^OUS  I.IFE  AMOIIG  THE  "SAKDS." 

The  "Sands"  have  long  been  notorious  in  the  annals  of  the  city.  They  used  to^  be 
infested  wi^h  the  vilest  of  vile  rookeries  until  Long  John  Wentworth,  when  he  was  Mayor 
of  Chicago,  became  a  justifiable  incendiary  and  burned  them  all  out.  Since  then  they 
have  been  almost  deserted.  They  are  that  portion  of  the  lake  shore  lying  between  St. 
Clair  street  and  Lake  Michigan  and  between  the  North  Pier  and  the  Water  Works.  A 
more  desolate  place  could  hardly  be  imagined.  The  sand  there  has  been  drifted  into 
small  mountains,  which  half  conceal  knots  of  miserable  shanties,  wherem  the  Arabs  of 

4 


L^ 


f 


IMPORTER    OF 


AND 


ORNAMENTAL  HAIR  MANUMDTURiR 


^^t   W liolessiale  and  I^eiail, 


145  TWENTY-SECOND  ST 


ORDERS  BY  MAIL  PROMPTLY  AND  FAITHFULLY  ATTENDED  TO. 


DIEBOLD  &  KIENZIE'S 

Celebrated  Fire  and  Burglar  Proof 


« 


The  fearful  ordeal  of  fire  which  has  visited  Chicago,  among 
other  things  has  tested  thoroughly  the  comparative  value  of  the 
different  Safes. 

"We  refer  with  just  pride  to  the  record  of  the  DIEBOLD  and 
KINIZE  Safes  in  this  terrible  test,  which  in  almost  every  case 
have  preserved  their  contents  in  excellent  condition.  No  other 
Safes  in  the  fire  were  so  uniformly  successful  in  protecting  their 
contents.  We  are  constantly  receiving  testimonials  from  the 
leading  business  men  of  Chicago  who  used  these  Safes,  which 
we  invite  those  requiring  Safes  to  examine  at  our  office, 

D.  S.  COVERT,  Gen'l  Agt. 

446  STATE  STREET. 


THE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATION. 


28 


the  North  Side  used  to  dwell.  In  most  parts  these  houses  reached  nearly  to  the  water's 
edge.  In  a  few  places  there  was  an  extent  of  some  hundred  yards  in  width.  The  place 
might  have  been  comparatively  safe  from  the  fire,  only  that  at  the  foot  of  Erie  street  was 
the  large  wooden  bath  house,  dry  as  tinder,  and  along  the  southern  section,  toward  the 
pier,  stretched  an  immense  varnish  factory,  an  oil  refinery,  and  a  long  range  of  sheds  in 
which  pitch  and  tar  were  stored  in  large  barrels.  All  this  made  the  situation  anything 
but  pleasant,  and  very  far  from^ecure,  All  the  space,  unocupied  by  houses  and  lumber 
was  on  that  eventful  morning  crowded  with  trunks,  bedsteads,  mattresses,  pianos,  chairs, 
tables,  bundles  of  clothing,  feather  beds,  people,  horses,  wagons,  and  almost  everthing 
that  goes  to  make  up  a  large  city.  Besides,  there  were  numerous  barrels  of  whisky  which 
had  been  rolled  down  from  the  hell  shops  further  up  by  the  dissolute  wretches. 

Day  was  just  breaking  when  the  conflagration  had  reached  the  edge  of  the  sands.  The 
gale  continued  to  drive  with  fury,  and  the  sand  and  smoke  combined  to  pelt  the  very 
eyes  out  of  the  wretched  thousands  crowded  on  that  desolate  place.  Soon  the  smoke 
became  so  dense  that  the  sands  were  dark  as  at  midnight.  The  strongest  constitution 
could  not  look  that  wind  in  the  teeth  and  remain  aUve.  The  people  fled  dnwn  to  the 
very  water,  whUe  the  flames  bust  through  the  dense  smoke  and  leaped  after  them.  The 
fiery  brands  fell  amid  the  furniture  and  bed  clothing,  soon  setting  the  entire  shore  in  a 
blaze.  Hundreds  of  horses  broke  from  their  owners  and  ran  into  the  lake  ;  the  wagons 
which  were  run  into  the  water  for  safety,  took  fire  where  they  stood  and  burned  to  the 
water's  edge.  Scores  of  horses  perished  in  the  waves,  which,  even  against  the  wind, 
leaped  upon  the  shore  like  mad  things  of  life. 

At  9  o'clock  on  Monday  night,  thirty-six  hours  after  the  breaking  out  of  the  conflagra- 
tion, the  varnish  factory  and  the  rest  took  fire,  raising  a  wall  of  flame  between  the  people 
and  the  west.  AU  now  gave  themselves  up  for  lost.  The  brands  came  down  by  thousands, 
causing  the  water  to  hiss  where  they  fell.  The  clothes  of  women  caught  fire  from  this 
fatal  shower,  and  one  old  woman,  named  McAvoy,  was  burned  to  death  before  she  could 
be  rescued. 

The  smoke  grew  more  dense  every  moment  and  the  sense  of  suffocation  was  dreadful. 
Women  screamed  in  utter  despair,  while  the  poor  children  were  stricken  mute  with 
terror.  A  number  of  people  were  smothered  in  the  bath  house.  Thousands  threw  them- 
selves  on  their  faces  in  the  hot  sand,  while  hundreds  rushed  into  the  lake  up  to  their 
necks.  The  final  day  could  not  have  brought  more  terror  with  its  dawn.  The  great  fear 
was  that  the  north  pier  itself  would  go,  in  which  event  hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  of 
people  must  have  perished.  Fortunately,  between  the  varnish  factory  and  the  foot  of  the 
pier  there  lay  a  broad  expanse  of  sand,  and  the  people  on  the  pier  used  their  hats  and  a 
few  buckets  to  extinguish  the  brands  that  continued  to  fall  upon  the  structure.  At  11 
o'clock  that  morning  the  factory  was  burned  out,  the  pier  was  saved,  and  the  people  began 
to  hope.  There  was  no  food  and  no  prospect  of  any.  Five  large  steamers— Goodrich's— 
were  standiag  out  near  the  crib  in  the  lake,  and  a  score  of  schooners  were  lying  to,  under 
bare  poles,  watching  the  tableau  on  shore.  Not  a  saU  ventured  to  approach  the  sands. 
The  afternoon  wore  away  and  the  evening  shadows  were  coming  to  lend  a  deeper  gloom 
to  the  smokewreaths  when  a  fleet  of  tug  boats,  sent  down  by  the  Mayor,  came  to  the  reHef 
of  the  unfortunates.  Most  of  ^them  were  taken  off  and  landed,  up  through  the  heated 
river,  at  Kinzie  street  bridge,  while  the  others  slept  that  night  on  the  shore,  guarding  the 
few  household  articles  that  remained  to  them.  The  wreck  of  home  comforts  lay  along 
that  sorrow-laden  beach,  and  some  human  beings  lay  there  dead.  When  the  sun  went 
down  that  Monday  night,  the  10th  of  Obtober,  1871,  he  set  upon  a  waste  of  ruined  homes, 
the  lost  treasures  of  grief-wnmg  hearts,  aU  that  remained  of  world-renowned  Chicago. 


Hall's  Patent 


^•^^ 


The  terrible  ordeal  through  which  these  Safes  here  recently 
passed,  have  fully  demonstrated  their  great  superiority  over 
all  others.  Up  to  this  date,  October  19th,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-three  have  been  taken  from  the  ruins,  that  have  pre- 
served their  contents  in  good  condition,  and  in  many  of  them 
the  contents  were  uninjured. 

Such  a  record  and  such  a  test  need  no  comment  from  us. 

We  have  already  contracted  for  the  re-building  of  our 
spacious  store,  at  the  old  stand,  Nos.  147  and  149  Dearborn 
Street,  and  expect  to  occupy  it  by  December  l5th,  with  a 
splendid  assortment  of 

SAFES  <Ss  VAUIiT  -WORK. 

In  the  mean  time  our  Offices  and  Salesrooms  will  be  at  66 
West  Madison  Street,  where  we  will  use  every  exertion  to 
supply  the  great  demand  for  our  work. 

HalVs  Safe  and  Lock  Co.^ 

66  West  Madison  St.,  Chicago. 


THE  GREAT  COKPLAGllATiOiir.  '^5 


DAYLIGHT    SCESfES    ON    THE    WEST    SIDE. 

Standing  in  a  safe  spot  near  the  junction  of  the  North  and  South  Branches,  the  be- 
holder surveyed  a  waste  of  ruin  and  flame  extendiag  to  the  lake  in  front,  and  on  either 
hand  far  beyond  what  it  was  possible  to  see.  The  conflagration  was  still  raging  fiercely, 
and  flames  still  shot  up  from  various  quarters  of  the  wilderness  of  devastation,  over 
which  it  had  so  remorselessly  swept.  Blowing  strongly,  the  wind  bore  the  breath  of 
miles  of  fire,  and  was  oppressive  with  its  heat  and  suffocating  with  its  smoke. 

Just  as  the  blood-red  sun  rose  above  the  horizon,  the  object  of  central  solicitude  was 
the  Lake  street  bridge ;  for  now  the  danger  of  the  conflagration  crossing  to  the  West 
Side  was  confined  to  that  spot.  In  the  presence  of  a  multitude  of  helpless  spectators, 
strung  up  to  the  highest  pitch  of  anxiety,  the  fire  was  steadily  working  from  various 
quarters  toward  the  bridge,  near  which  stood  two  wholesale  drug  houses,  filled  with  the 
most  combustible  and  heat-maintaining  materials.  The  flames  seemed  literally  to  melt 
through  walls  ia  their  progress.  Soon  the  southeast  comer  was  converted  into  a  mael- 
strom of  fire.  Broad  jets  of  blaze  burst  from  doors  and  windows,  extending  half  way 
across  the  street,  their  scorching  power  being  distinctly  felt  across  the  river  by  the  on- 
lookiag  multitude.  Yet,  within  forty  feet  of  this  furnace,  the  firemen  maintained  their 
position  with  unflagging  resolution,  and  fought  back  the  further  spread  of  the  flames. 
Presently  the  conflagration  enveloped  the  lofty  structure  on  the  northeast  comer,  and  the 
lines  of  approach  were  kept  thoroughly  wet  by  a  stream  poured  thereon  from  a  hose  on 
the  bridge.  These  combined  efforts  proved  successful,  and  the  baflled  conflagration  was 
happily  prevented  from  resuming  its  devastating  march  in  the  West  Division,  to  the 
infinite  relief  of  the  people.  Meantime  the  sun,  a  blood-red  ball,  shorn  of  his  beams, 
hung  in  the  sky  partiaUy  obscured  by  the  pall  of  smoke,  and  glaring  down  upon  the 
scene  of  ruin  like  the  eye  of  some  malignant  and  exultant  fiend. 

itLOIVQ     THE     LAKE     SHORE. 

The  intense  heat  of  the  fire  in  the  city  hafl  forced  the  vast  multitude  collected  along 
Michigan  avenue  back  to  the  furthest  verge  of  the  beach,  and  southward  into  Lake  Park 
and  even  down  to  Cottage  Grove.  The  day  dawn  found  not  fewer  than  75,000  people 
exposed  to  the  wind  aftd  mist  of  the  lake,  who  had  been  but  a  few  short  hours  before 
surrounded  by  the  comforts  of  home. 

It  is  now  impossible  to  describe  the  scene  presented  by  these  now  houseless,  homeless, 
and  in  many  cases  penniless  people.  Hither  had  been  brought  the  old,  the  infirm,  and 
the  sick,  rescued  from  buming  homes.  It  was  indeed  a  pitiable  sight  to  see  the  pale, 
emaciated,  and  suffering  men,  women,  and  children,  removed  from  comfortable  couches, 
and  laid  out  in  the  open  air  with  perhaps  only  a  blanket  or  two  under  them,  and  only 
the  smoke-hazed  sky  for  a  covering  above  them.  The  amount  of  suffering  thus  entailed 
upon  the  helpless  sick  cannot  be  estimated. 

A     SLEEPLESS     lilGHT     AMD     HOPELESS     DAWfli. 
AU  night  the  fire  fiend  continued  its  dread  work  of  devastation.     Strangers  had  been 
hurried  from  their  quarters  in  the  hotels  and  compeUed  to  take  their  chances  in  the 
general  chaos  into  which  everything  was  thrown  by  the  untoward  calamity  to  the  city. 

AU  night  the  hurrying  throngs  had  been  driven  before  the  faat-traveUng  flames. 
Goods  taken  from  buming  houses  to  locaUties  supposed  to  be  safe  were  soon  endangered 
again,  and  had  to  be  removed  to  still  more  remote  sections  of  the  city,  or  abandoned  at 
last  as  a  prey  to  the  flames.  Suddenly,  enveloped  in  dense  clouds  of  suffocating  smoke, 
great  crowds  rushed  into  the  lake  or  the  river.     The  number  of  Uves  thus  lost  must  have 


COGSWELL  &  CO, 


Lia\e  Vl^  ljCvV.e  §>\vee\, 


BBIIC  J[W[L[RS, 


0:R.33E:rtS    SOIjICJITCESID. 


LORD,  SMITH  &  CO., 

Wholesale  Druggists. 

We  shall  resume  business  at  once  in  commo- 
dious quarters  on  Dearborn  Park,  Fronting  on 
Washington  Street,  just  east  of  our  old  Store. 

A  continuance  of  the  patronage  of  our 
friends  throughout  the  west  is  earnestly 
solicited. 

LORD,  SMITH  &  CO. 


THE   GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  27 


been  great.  Reliable  persons  state  that  they  saw  nunxbers  of  people  throwing  themselves 
into  the  lake  to  escape  a  more  horrible  fate  by  being  strangled  by  the  stifling  clouds  of 
hot  smoke  from  the  raging  cauldron  of  fire  on  the  south  side  of  the  river. 

If  the  night  had  been  one  of  alarms  and  ceaseless  anxiety  to  scores  of  thousands,  the 
davra  found  them  hopeless  and  despairing.  The  wind,  which  had  been  blowing  from  the 
first  a  breeze  that  amounted  almost  to  a  gale,  seemed  to  gather  strength  with  the  coming 
day,  and  careered  over  the  doomed  city,  creating  whirlwinds  of  fire  which  seemed  to 
clutch  every  object  and  reach  far  out  in  quest  of  more  food  to  appease  its  insatiate  fury. 

No  pen  can  adequately  describe  the  awful  subUmity  of  the  scene.  The  light  from  the 
first  buidings  which  had  fallen  a  prey  to  the  flames  had  not  faded  away  before  the 
advance  columns  of  fire  were  two  miles  away  in  the  North  Division,  leaving  in  its  track 
nothing  but  glowing  fires  and  drifting  ashes. 

EXTORTION     AMD     PLUATDER     ANOn^O     THE     RUIXS. 

No  sooner  was  the  extent  of  the  disaster  known  abroad  than  the  ghouls  of  the  race, 
who  ever  haunt  scenes  of  disaster  and  misfortune,  began  to  gather.  Thieves  mingled 
with  the  great  stricken  multitude  and  busily  plied  their  vocation,  even  in  that  dire  hour 
of  calamity.  Villians  seized  upon  the  fleeing  inhabitants  as  they  came  from  their  blazing 
homes,  and  endeavored  to  take  what  little  remained  to  them  saved  from  the  general 
wreck.  Hackmen  and  express  drivers  and  carmen  seemed  to  have  lost  all  conscience,  and 
charged  fabulous  sums  for  conveying  a  load  from  the  scene  of  destruction  to  a  safe  dis- 
tance. Men  who  had  large  sums  of  money,  endeavoring  to  convey  it  away  to  places  of 
safety,  were  beset  by  thieves,  even  in  the  street,  in  the  garish  light  of  their  consuming 
houses,  and  robbed  of  their  remaining  all. 

One  instance  is  known  of  a  hackman  exacting  from  a  distracted  husband  $250  to 
convey  his  invalid  wife  from  his  burning  home  to  a  place  of  safety.  Twenty-five  dollars 
was  regarded  as  a  very  moderate  charge  for  an  express  wagon  to  take  a  load  ten  squares, 
and  $50  and  $100  were  frequently  demanded  and  paid  for  the  use  of  a  wagon  and  team 
of  two  horses  for  half  an  hour. 

When  the  fire  was  raging  along  La  Salle,  Clark,  and  State  streets,  and  sweeping 
onward  towards  Washington  and  Randolph,  towards  the  north,  the  great  commercial 
houses  were  thrown  open  and  an  attempt  made  to  save  the  most  valuable  goods.  The 
harvest  of  the  thieves  began  at  this  time.  The  police  had  lost  control.  Those  intent  on 
profiting  by  the  fire  now  went  in  with  great  zest.  They  loaded  themselves  vsdth  the 
richest  goods,  and  sought  a  place  of  concealment. 

THE    COIVFLAGRATION     iSiTAYED. 

It  is  proper  to  narrate  how  the  flames  were  stayed  in  their  progress  southward.  At 
the  corner  of  Clark  and  Harrison  streets  the  Jones  School  was  burned.  A  wooden  pri- 
mary on  the  same  lot  escaped  destruction.  Why  it  escaped  would  be  curious  to  know. 
The  flames,  as  if  weary  of  the  awful  race  they  had  run,  did  not  cross  the  street.  At  the 
comer  of  Fourth  avenue  and  Harrison  street  the  Jewish  Synagogue  burned  fiercely,  but 
the  Otis  block  of  brick  buildings  on  the  northeast  comer  of  the  street  did  not  burn.  At 
the  comer  of  Third  avenue  and  Harrison,  men  with  chains  pulled  down  a  wooden  resi- 
dence, which,  though  it  was  consumed,  did  not  bum  fiercely.  At  the  comer  of  State 
and  Harrison,  O'Neil's  brick  block  was  blown  up  by  powder,  and  prevented  the  further 
spread  in  that  direction.  At  the  comer  of  Harrison  and  Wabash  the  Methodist  Church 
stood  as  if  defying  the  flames,  and  as  though  it  uttered  with  the  voice  of  authority, 
"  Thus  far  shalt  thou  go,  and  no  farther."     The  flames  did  not  cross   Wabash  avenue 


SHANDREW  &  DEAN, 

STATE  AGENTS, 

NORTHWESTERN 


LIFE  INSURANCE  C0MN7. 


OFFI  O  E. 


13  SoTatli  Oreen  Street,  0]aioa.go. 


Weed  Sewing  lache, 

196  ATTEST  MADISON  ST. 

Are  now  prepared  to  fill  Orders  as 

formerly,  from  their  new 

Office,  as  above. 

We  Guarantee  Satisfaction  in  every  Case. 
WEED  SEWING  MACHINE, 


THE  greatIconflaqration.  29 


was  saved,  the  Michigan  Avenue  Hotel  standing  upon  the  comer  like  the  huge  battlement 
of  a  fortress  that  had  withstood  a  siege.  By  noon  the  fire  had  ceased  in  its  progress 
southward,  and,  except  by  uncertain  rumor  (and  during  all  the  fire  many-tongued  rumor 
spread  its  baleful  tales  more  rapidly  than  ran  the  wild  fire),  no  one  south  of  Harrison 
street  knew  the  desolation  which  reigned  in  the  North  Division.  Nor  was  it  known 
that  the  city's  situation  had  excited  the  active  sympathy  of  its  neighbors,  and  that  steam 
engines  had  upon  the  wings  of  steam  flown  to  our  rescue. 

The  lake  front  was  filled  with 'household  goods  piled  in  the  utmost  confusion.  Weary 
watchers  stood  guard  about  their  little  all,  and  hundreds  of  people  homeless  and  without 
property  of  any  kind  were  lying  about  exhausted.  The  last  was  a  grievous  annoyance, 
but  the  roar  of  the  fire  was  a  positive  terror  which  drove  minor  considerations  from  the 
mind.  From  the  lake  front  the  destruction  of  the  palatial  block  of  residences  known  as 
Terrace  Row  was  watched  with  intense  interest.  Its  burning,  although  occurring  in  the 
day  time,  when  the  spectacular  effect  of  fire  is  greatly  lost,  was  one  of  the  remarkable 
scenes  of  the  great  tragedy.  If  it  alone  had  burned,  all  the  rhetoric  at  the  command  of 
the  writers  on  the  press  would  have  been  used  in  its  description, 
south  of  Congx'ess  street,  one  block  north  of  Harrison,  and  the  south  side  of  Congress 

LOSS    OF    L.IF1:. 

When  the  flames  were  raging  and  block  upon  block  of  solid  stone  melted  into  nothing- 
ness, it  was  feared  that  the  destruction  of  life  would  be  something  unparalleled.  It 
was  well  known  that  many  people  roomed  in  the  lofty  buildings  in  the  business  portion 
of  the  city,  and  that  some  kept  house  there,  but  the  greater  number  by  far  were  single 
men  and  abandoned  women,  who  hired  sleeping  rooms,  and  lived  a  wandering  life, 
obtained  food  here  to-day  and  there  to-morrow.  This  class  was  in  imminent  danger  of 
being  caught  near  the  roof  of  the  lofty  structures  to  which  they  usually  betook  them- 
selves, and,  even  if  awake  and  active,  of  being  suffocated  by  the  smoke  ere  they  could 
find  their  way  to  the  pavement.  How  many  such  fell  victims  to  the  flame  is  not  known 
now,  and  never  can  be.  Fire  that  melted  granite  would  leave  nothing  of  human  bone 
and  muscle,  and  the  spirits  of  those  who  perished  in  the  awful  conflagration  passed  to 
the  land  of  the  hereafter  amid  no  cries  save  their  own,  and  their  bodies  perished  from 
off  the  face  of  the  earUi.  As  soon  as  the  ruins  were  in  a  condition  to  be  visited,  bodies 
of  the  dead  were  looked  for  with  horrible  interest.  A  superficial  examination  brought 
to  view  in  various  parts  of  the  city  the  charred  and,  for  the  most  part,  unrecognizable 
remains  of  ninety  persons.  A  morgue  was  erected  on  Milwaukee  avenue,  whither  the 
bodies  were  borne.  Here  they  were  viewed  by  thousands,  many  drawn  to  the  hideous 
spectacle  through  morbid  curiosity,  others  because  they  feared  to  find  the  remains  of 
friend  or  relative,  who  in  the  fearful  confusion  were  separated  from  them.  The  Coroner 
held  an  inquest  upon  the  bodies,  and  they  were  soon  consigned  to  their  last  resting  place. 
The  whole  number  of  deaths,  on  the  lowest  estimate  made  by  competent  authority,  is 
200.  The  yet  unreported  missing,  together  with  the  known  dead,  make  an  aggregate 
of  one  thousand  persons. 

VPRISIWC    OF     THE    COJVTIXEXT. 

It  is  now  a  positive  certainty  that  Chicago  is  to  be  rebuilt,  and  the  indications  are  that 
the  city  will  rise  from  its  present  ruins  greater  than  ever  before.  This  conclusion  was 
arrived  at  immediately  after  the  great  catastrophe,  and  the  secret  of  it  all  is  exactly  here : 
Chicago  saw  that  the  world  at  large  had  the  fullest  confidence  in  her  ability  to  recon- 
struct herself ;  that  the  country  would  be  greatly  disappointed  if  the  representative  city 
of  the  energy  of  the  age  lagged  in  the  slightest  degi'ee  in  the  fulfillmant  of  her  manifest 
5 


Late  at  105  <fe  107  State  Street,  now  at 

No.  434  State  Street, 

IMPORTERS,  MANUFACTURERS  AND  JOBBERS 

lULIlRY,  STRAW  GOODS. 

FRENCH  FLOWERS,  FEATHERS  &  LACES. 


Orders  solicited  and  Promptly  Executed- 


HODGE  &  HOMEE, 


Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealers  in 


MECHINICS'  TOOLS  m  AGaiCULTURlL  IPLENBKTS. 


We  are  one  of  the  few  firms  left  by  the  fire  and  we  have  a 
complete  stock  of  BUILDERS'  HARDWARE,  CUTLERY, 
MECHANICS'  TOOLS,  SHOVELS,  SPADES,  PICKS,  Etc, 
Etc;  also,  a  good  stock  of  REVOLVERS  and  AMMUNL 
TION,  at  Wholesale  and  Retail,  all  of  which  will  be  sold  at 
the  lowest  market  price.     Give  us  a  lift. 


THE   GREAT  CONFIiAGRATIOK. 


31 


duty  ;  and  that  the  world  was  -williag  to  assist  Chicago  in  her  endeavors.  It  was  this 
which  inspired  our  city  to  a  grander  effort  than  she  had  ever  made  before.  When  she 
saw  the  contributions  from  Europe  and  the  whole  of  America  pouring  in  so  bountifully, 
she  could  not  help  showing  herself  worthy  of  them. 

Chicago  conld  not  feed  the  fugitives  from  the  fire  without  impoverishing  the  citizens 
who  still  retained  a  portion  of  their  possessions ;  and  so  the  people  of  America  sent  in 
supplies  without  limit,  and  100,000  refugees  were  plentifully  supplied  with  the  necces- 
saries  of  life.  Chicago  could  not  afford  house  room  for  so  many  wanderers ;  and,  there- 
fore, car-loads  of  building  material  and  thousands  of  greenbacks  came  in,  with  which 
barracks  were  erected  for  the  accommodation  of  the  suiferers.  No  detail  was  omitted 
in  this  work  of  benevolence.  A  cargo  of  nails  came  from  Springfield,  and  lumber  came 
from  the  North,  where  other  devastating  fires  bade  fair  to  destroy  the  source  of  supply 
of  this  same  material. 

When  the  people  of  Chicago  saw  the  stupendous  quantities  of  provisions,  of  blankets, 
of  lumber,  of  everything  that  could  be  of  use  in  the  present  emergency,  they  could  not 
but  take  heart,  and,  while  earnestly  thanking  these  friends  in  need,  resolved  that  their 
bounty  should  not  be  wasted,  nor  their  confidence  betrayed.  Therefore,  we  see  brick 
walls  already  going  up  on  the  burned  district,  although  it  is  the  last  of  October,  and 
likely  to  be  an  inclement  bmlding  season  ;  therefore  we  see  business  firms  and  banks 
resuming — or  rather  continuing — on  every  hand.  This  most  generous  aid  from  abroad 
has  produced  an  air  of  cheerfulness  among  all  classes  of  citizens,  and  has  done  wonders 
in  the  restoration  of  public  confidence. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  statistics  of  the  aid  that  has  been  rendered.  In  the  first  place 
no  written  record  has  been  kept  of  the  arrivals :  and  in  the  second,  the  contributions  have 
not  by  any  means  ceased,  and  the  sum  totals  of  supplies  sent  in  to  date  would  not  even 
approximate  to  the  real  amount  transmitted.  We  can  only  state  that  the  quantity  sent 
in  has  been  stupendous.  The  quarters  irom  which  munificence  was  least  expected  have 
been  most  munificent.  St.  Louis  and  Cincinnati,  whom  we  have  maligned  for  twenty 
years  have  sent  in  their  offerings  by  millions.  New  York,  whose  interest  we  were 
beoinning  to  combat,  aud  a  portion  of  whose  commerce  we  were  just  striving  to  obtain, 
has  sent  us  $2,000,000.  The  lists  of  subscribers  to  the  relief  fund  in  the  metropolis,  as 
published  in  the  journals  of  that  city,  are  most  interesting.  "  A  widow  and  her  two 
boys  "  give  $10  each — a  mite  which,  perhaps,  shall  provide  shelter  for  another  widow  and 
her  children.  Robert  Bonner,  who  remembers  when  he  was  without  a  dollar,  and  in, 
possession  only  of  the  meagre  clothing  upon  his  person,  gives  $10,000  for  impoverished 
printers  and  journalists  in  Chicago,  who  have  been  placed  in  a  similar  situation  by  the 
fire.  It  is  useless  enumerating  instances  of  this  spontaneous  generosity  in  the  metropo- 
lis, for  it  would  require  many  volumes  to  record  them. 

The  city  of  Cleveland,  400  miles  from  Chicago,  sent  us  twenty-three  car-loads  of 
supplies  within  twenty-four  hours  after  the  reception  of  the  news  of  the  disaster  in  that 
city.  One  car-load  was  on  its  way  to  this  city  from  Cleveland  before  a  single  hour  had 
elapsed  after  the  first  telegram  had  been  received.  Milwaukee  sent  the  first  car-load, 
Cleveland  the  next.  Milwaukee  suffered  by  the  fire  largely  by  way  of  the  destruction 
of  commercial  interests,  and  was  stUl  more  directly  injured  by  conflagrations  at  her  very 
door.  Milwaukee  depends  very  largely  for  support  upon  the  lumber  regions  of  Northern 
Wisconsin,  and  the  loss  of  these  immense  pine  districts  was  necessarily  the  loss  of  Mil- 
waukee. Besides,  thousands  of  people  in  Northern  Wisconsin  were  driven  from  their 
homes  into  a  bleak  wilderness  by  these  same  devastating  conflagrations,  and  Milwaukee, 


G.C.  COLLINS 


BO-^"'© 


792  Wabash  Avenue, 


COBB.  ANDREWS  &  CO. 


WHOr.ESALE  AND  RETAIL 


m 


469  Wabash  Avenue, 


Blank  Books,  Diarr\or\d  Paper,  Envelopes, 

Pencils,  Pei\s,  Arnold's  lr\ks.  Copying  Books, 

Copying  Presses,  Drawing  Paper, 


COBB,  ANDREWS  &  CO., 


]Vo.  4t50  Wabash  Avenue. 


I  I  a  S  s 


mi 


IMPORTERS  OF 


AND 


^f 


®m®F© 


it#«p# 


'i 


Michigan  Av.  near  Monroe, 


Orders  filled  on  day   of  receipt, 
at  our  usual  Low  Prices.        i 


THE   GREAT   CONITLAGRATION.  33 


the  metropolis  of  the  State,  was  called  upon  to  provide  them  shelter  and  food.  This  she 
did  without  stint,  aud  had  enough  left  to  feed  the  suffering  of  Chicago,  her  old  and  suc- 
cessful commercial  rival. 

Old  feuds  and  differences  were  everywhere  forgotten  in  this  work.  St.  Louis  was 
scarcely  exceeded  in  the  amount  sent  by  New  York  herself.  Cincinnati  held  mass  meet- 
ings and  sent  relief  without  limit.  Many  were  the  instances  where  towns  in  the  country 
sent  aid  out  of  all  proportion  to  their  size  and  resources.  In  one  case,  such  a  number  of 
immense  boxes  of  bread,  crackers,  blankets,  etc.,  came  from  a  small  city  in  Ohio  that  the 
clerks  who  had  been  receiving  goods  of  this  kind  aU  day,  were  astounded,  and,  knowing 
nothing  better  to  do,  sent  a  message  by  telegraph  thanking  the  citizens  of  the  town  in 
question  for  their  marvelous  generosity,  on  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  Chicago.  Every 
town,  and  every  agricultural  community,  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
country,  sent  food  without  stint,  and,  what  was  needed  sorely,  timber  to  shelter  the 
houseless  and  blankets  to  cover  them. 

Detroit,  Milwaukee,  Indianapolis,  Lafayette,  Peoria  and  other  cities  generously  sent 
fire  engines,  which  were  our  sorest  need  during  the  day  immediately  succeeding  the 
great  disaster. 

Nor  was  generosity  limited  to  our  own  country.  There  was  a  spontaneous  uprising  of 
the  whole  world  to  help  us.  England,  never  behind  in  a  work  of  genuine  charity,  sent  us 
money  to  the  extent  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  pounds  sterling.  "Within  a  day  after 
bhe  reception  of  the  news  in  Great  Britain,  a  cargo  of  food  was  on  its  way  from  Liverpool 
bo  Chicago.  Public  meetings  were  held  in  all  parts  of  the  three  kingdoms,  at  which  there 
was  little  speech-making  and  much  aid-giving.  The  merchants  of  London  gave  liberally 
of  their  opulence.  They  knew  that  London  was  long  ago  visited  by  a  precisely  similar 
salamity,  and  they  also  knew  that  very  little  aid  had  been  rendered  from  any  quarter  on 
that  occasion.  London  was  rebuilt  in  spite  of  the  cold  world,  but  Chicago  must  not  have 
that  obstacle  to  her  recovery.  Dublin  sent  us  more  than  £15,000  sterling.  The  continent 
of  Europe  was  not  behind.  Germany  in  particular  gave  largely  by  way  of  subscriptions 
md  the  mercantile  organizations  in  her  leading  cities  sent  lists  scarcely  exceeded  by  those 
of  our  brothers  in  England. 

The  Springfield  (Mass.)  Republican  tells  of  a  contribution  which,  weighed  in  the 
philosopher's  scales,  is  the  largest  sum  yet  given  to  the  Chicago  relief  fund.  A  little 
Irish  boy  in  that  city  had  no  money,  but  he  possessed  a  toy  whip,  the  pride  of  his  heart, 
iear  as  the  apple  of  his  eye,  and  this  he  sold  for  ten  cents,  and  cast  his  mite  into  the 
treasury  of  charity.  Was  Stewart's  $50,000,  or  Bonner's  $10,000,  dearer  to  its  owner 
than  this  poor  boy's  one  possession  ? 

But  our  poverty-stricken  language  falls  far  short  of  its  task  when  it  attempts  an  intel- 
ligent account  of  this  uprising  of  a  world.  Language,  with  a  stretch  of  its  tension  to 
utmost  limit,  can  describe  the  appaling  scenes  of  that  evnetfiil  Sunday  night ;  it  can 
how  palaces  fell  before  the  mighty  hurricane  of  fire,  and  how  great  marble  columns 
\  a,,  ished  in  the  midst  of  that  furnace  heat ;  but  it  is  incompetent  to  deal  with  so  vast  a 
subject  as  the  spontaneous  union  of  the  whole  world  in  deeds  of  charity  to  the  suffering 
Inhabitants  of  a  single  city.  It  is  true  that  no  record  of  this  munificence  has  been  kept 
upon  paper,  and  that  history  will  never  be  able  to  tell  how  much  was  given ;  but  the 
story  of  this  great  charity  is  recorded  in  the  hearts  of  our  citizens  and  in  heaven.  Not  a 
loaf  of  bread  nor  a  single  cracker  has  failed  of  its  purpose ;  and  if  the  gratitude  of  our 
citizens  is  not  expressed  it  is  because  it  is  inexpressible. 

The  distribution  of  these  copious  supplies  has  been  an  easy  matter.  The  Mayor  turned 
it  over  soon  after  the  disaster  to  the  Relief  and  Aid  Society,  and  that  organization,  by 


MATHEAV^S  &  MASON, 

(LATE  BROWN  &  MATBEWS,) 


II 


FORMERLY  93  WABASH  AVENUE, 

Now  Located  659  Wabash  Ave 


Stock  complete — Business  continued  as  formerly. 


BROWJS  &  PRIOR. 


U 


MANTTFAOT  URERS    OF   THE 


I 


CELEBRATED  SAM  BROWN  SHIRT, 

LATE  93  WABASH  AVENUE, 

NOW  LOCATED  AT  659  WABASH  AVE. 


REMOVED  TO  N.  W. 


Cor.  of   Washington  and 
Halsted  Streets. 


CS^  FIRST  CLASS  IN  EVERY  RESPECT 

W.  A.  JENKINS,  Prop'r. 

H.  P,  KITTREDaE,  Clerk. 


TfiK  GREAT  CONfLAORATlON.  85 


parceling  the  work  out  to  able  and  willing  gentlemen,  has  easily  solved  the  problem  of 
distribution.  The  different  receiving  depots  have  witnessed  busy  scenes  for  the  past 
week,  and  the  pouring  in  of  supplies  has  been  watched  with  delight  by  those  who  have 
the  matter  in  charge,  as  well  as  by  the  thousands  in  need  of  sustenance.  The  arrange- 
ments of  the  Relief  and  Aid  Society  have  been  so  perfect  that  probably  very  few  articles 
have  been  misappropriated,  and  it  is  certainly  better  that  jnany  who  do  not  deserve  aid 
should  receive  it  than  that  a  single  hungiy  person  should  suffer.  The  churches,  at  which 
the  bulk  of  the  fugitive  population  is  fed,  make  requisitions  on  the  distributing  depots 
for  the  amounts  needed,  and  all  the  hungTy  are  supplied.  The  scenes  at  the  churches 
to-day,  which  are  all  to-day  fulfilling  only  a  part  of  their  legitimate  duty,  are  often 
interesting.  The  paupers  are  fed  at  rough  board  tables  by  the  young  ladies  of  the 
different  church  societies,  and  so  universal  is  the  desire  among  the  charitable  women  of 
the  city  to  serve  in  this  capacity  that  many  applications  are  daily  rejected  by  the  com- 
mittees having  the  distribution  in  charge.  The  poor  found  comfortable  quarters  ^and 
abundant  food  in  the  churches,  and,  thanks  to  the  kindness  of  our  friends  abroad,  begin 
to  think  there  might  be  worse  happenings  than  burnings.  Temporary  barracks  have 
been  erected  on  several  squares  on  the  West  Side — those  on  the  square  bounded  by 
Madison,  Ada,  Washington,  and  Elizabeth  streets  being  able  to  accommodate  several 
thousand  people. 

This,  then,  is  what  Europe  and  America  have  done  for  us :  One  hundred  thousand 
people,  who  were  homeless,  shelterless,  and  without  a  morsel  of  food  on  the  9th  of 
October,  have  found  themselves,  on  the  I4th,  with  comfortable  quarters  in  which  to  live, 
warm  clothing,  abundance  to  eat.  and  no  prospect  of  suffering  during  the  coming  winter. 
When  this  is  made  known  nothing  more  can  or  need  be  said.  It  is  a  marvel  which  will 
forever  stand  out  upon  the  page  of  history,  the  featm-e  of  paramount  interest  in  the 
great  Chicago  disaster  of  1871. 


REMARKABLE    SCENES   AND  INCIDENTS. 

A    PERILOUS    EXODUS. 

Perhaps  the  most  fearfully  thrilling  scene  of  the  great  conflagration  was  that  in  the 
eastern  section  of  the  North  Division.  When  it  became  apparent  that  all  hope  of  saving 
the  city  was  lost,  after  the  flames  had  pushed  down  to  the  main  branch  of  the  river,  the 
oitizens  of  the  North  Side,  who  were  over  to  see  the  principal  theater  of  the  fire,  thought 
it  time  to  go  into  their  own  division,  and  save  what  they  could.  Accordingly,  they  beat 
a  rapid  retreat  toward  the  tunnel  and  bridges.  The  former  of  these  thoroughfares  were 
impassible  at  3  o'clock.  Clark  street  had  not  been  open  for  some  time,  and  State  street 
was  in  a  blaze  from  one  end  to  the  other.  Rush  street  bridge  was  now  the  only  means 
of  getting  away  from  the  South  Side,  and  over  that  bridge  the  affrighted  fugitives  poured 
in  thousands.  The  latter  jumped  the  river  wifh  miraculous  swiftness,  and  ran  along 
the  northern  section,  from  Dearborn  street  to  the  North  Branch,  like  lightning.  So 
rapid  was  the  advance  of  the  fiery  element,  driven  by  the  heavy  gale  from  the  southeast, 
that  th9  people  were  glad  enough  to  escape  unscathed.  Everything  was  abandoned. 
Horses  and  wagons  were  merely  as  a  means  of  flight.  Few  people  in  the  direct  course 
of  the  fire  thought  about  saving  anything  but  their  lives  and  those  of  their  families. 


Home  Shuttle 


This  unequalled  Machine  uses  a  straight  needle,  makes  the 
Lock  Stitch  (alike  on  both  sides,)  has  a  self-adjusting  Ten- 
si(p,  works  equally  well  on  Silk,  Linen,  Woolen  and  Cotton 
Goods ;  with  Silk,  Linen  and  Cotton  Thread. 

In  Simplicity,  Strength  and  beauty  it  is  unapproachable ; 
a  successful  combination  of  UTILITY,  and  ECONOMY,  and 
it  is  the  only  Practical,  Low-priced  Lock  stitch  SEWING 
MACHINE  ever  invented, 

Do  not  pay  enormous  prices  when  you  can  buy  of  us  at 
the  following  rates,  MACHINES  WARRANTED  to  work  as 
well  as  any  in  the  market : 

PRICE    LIST: 

Plain  Machine          .          .          .          .  $37.00 

Half  Cabinet       -----  42.00 

Pull        '* 75.00 

Silver  Plated,  extra      -          -          -          -  lo.OO 

We  have  a  full  line  of  Attachments. 


We  invite  every  one  to  call  and  make  a  personal  examina- 
tion of  the  merits  of  the  HOME  SHUTTLE. 

JOHNSON,  CLARK  &  CO., 

General    A^g^ents, 

242  WEST  MADISON  STREET. 


.LIBERAL  TERMS  TO  AGENTS. 


THE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  §7 

•         i 


HEMMED   IN. 

The  conflagration  having  reached  Chicago  avenue,  took  an  eastward  turn,  and  cut  oft" 
irom  flight,  northward,  all  who  remained  in  the  unburned  section,  lying  between  Dear- 
bom  street  and  the  lake.  The  inhabitants. of  that  district  flattered  themselves  that  their 
homes  might  escape  the  general  destruction.  But  the  fire  was  not  to  be  cheated  in  that 
way.  The  gale  changed  its  course  in  a  few  minutes  more  toward  the  east,  and  the  entire 
quarter  of  the  city  specified  became  a  frightful  pen,  having  a  wall  of  fire  on  three  sides, 
and  the  fierce,  rolling  lake  on  the  fourth.  Then  followed^  scene  which  surpassed  any- 
thing that  ever  took  place  on  this  continent.  The  houses  were  abanrloned  in  all  haste. 
Wagons  were  loaded  with  furniture,  clothmg  and  bedding.  Mothers  caught  up  their 
infants  in  their  arms.  Men  dragged  along  the  aged  and  helpless,  and  the  entire  horror- 
stricken  multitude  bent  their  course  to  the  "  Sands." 

DESTRUCTION    OF    THE    TRIBUNE    BUlIiDING. 

One  block  in  all  the  vast  business  section  remained  at  daylight,  the  Tribune  block. 
The  Custom  House  and  Honore  block,  in  Dearborn  street,  had  burned,  and  those  who 
had  fought  the  flames  here  thought,  at  last,  this  block  could  be  saved.  A  patrol  of  men 
under  Sam  Medill  swept  oif  the  live  coals  and  but  out  ilames  on  the  sidewalks,  and 
another  lot  of  men,  under  the  direction  of  Hon.  Joseph  Medill,  watched  the  roofs.  At 
h£iK-past  seven  o'clock  this  appeared  safe,  and  most  of  the  men  went  to  get  a  rest  or  food. 
A  number  went  to  sleep  in  the  Tribune  building,  but  there  was  a  change  of  wind.  The" 
flames  reached  Wabash  avenue.  State  street  and  Michigan  avenue,  and  soon  McVicker's 
Theater  caught  fire.  In  a  few  moments  the  Tribune  was  in  flames,  and  at  the  last 
moment  the  sleeping  men  were  aroused  and  rescued  from  the  flames.  By  ten  o'clock  in 
the  forenoon  this  remaining  block  was  in  ashes.  Now  was  to  be  seen  the  most  remarka- 
ble sight  ever  beheld  in  this  or  any  country. 

SUFFERING   HUMANITY. 

There  were  from  50,000  to  75,000  men,  women  and  children  fleeing  by  every  available 
street  and  alley  to  the  southward  and  westward,  attempting  to  save  their  clothing  and 
their  lives.  Every  available  vehicle  was  brought  into  requisition  for  use,  for  which 
enormous  prices  were  pgid,  and  the  streets  and  sidewalks  presented  the  sight  of  thousands 
of  persons  and  horses  inextricably  commingled  ;  poor  people,  all  color  and  shades,  and 
every  nationaUty,  from  Europe,  China  and  Africa,  mad  with  excitement,  struggled  with 
each  other  to  get  away.  Hundreds  were  trampled  under  foot ;  men  and  woman  were 
loaded  with  bundles  and  their  household  goods,  to  whose  skirts  were  clinging  tender 
infants,  half  dressed  and  barefooted  all  seeking  a  place  of  safety.  Hours  afterwards  these 
might  be  seen  in  vacant  lots  or  on  the  streets,  far  out  in  the  suburbs,  stretched  in  the 

dust. 

PITIFUL   SIGHTS. 

One  of  the  most  pitiful  sights  was  that  of  a  middle  aged  woman  on  State  street,  loaded 
with  bundles,  struggling  thi-ough  the  crowd,  singing  the  Mother  Goose  melodies, 
"Chickery,  Chickery,  Craney  Crow,"  "I  went  to  the  weU  to  wash  my  toe,"  &c.  There 
were  hundreds  of  others  likewise  distracted,  and  many  rendered  delirous  by  whiskey  or 
beer,  which,  from  excess  of  thirst  -in  the  absence  of  water,  they  drank  in  great  quantities, 
and  spread  themselves  in  every  direction'  a  terror  to  all  they  met. 

A    FEARFUL    ALTERNATIVE. 

At  one  time,  after  the  fire  had  been  raging  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  and  while  the  fire 
was  raging  on  the  south  side  of  the  river   a  considerable  number  of  persons   were    cut  off 
5 


AIKEN,  LAMBERT  &  CO, 


Formerly  34  Dearborn  Street. 


Vvve  cowv^eVs.  W.S  \o  \,e>ocv\k,oYaYW.v^  VoeaXt  oA 


88  W.  Washington  St. 


Manufacturers  of  and  Wholesale  Dealers  in  the  Celebrated 


AIKEN,  LAMBERT  &  CO  S 


f 


FINE   JETVXLRY, 

GOLD   AND  SILVER   PEN   AND   PENCIL  CASES, 

TOOTH    PICKS,    &c. 

Our   New    York  House  ^ves  us  facilities  for  filling  all  orders  in  our  li  n 
on  short  notice,  and  we  hope  to  be  favored. 

LET    THE    WEST     REMEMBER     CHICAGO 

SUFFERERS. 

AIKEN,  LAMBERT  &  CO., 

88    West  Washington  Street. 


THE   GREAT   CONTIiAGRATION.  39 


from  crossing  and  could  not  retreat  on  account  of  the  flames.  The  -water  or  the  fire  was 
the  alternative  presented.  Not  long  did  they  hesitate,  and  the  whole  party  were  soon 
struggling  in  the  river.  It  is  not  known  if  all  safely  reached  the  shore  ;  but  one  brave 
fellow  seized  a  little  girl,  plunged  in  and  safely  crossed  with  his  precious  burden. 

ONE   POOR   MAN 

crawled  for  refuge  into  a  water  main  lying  in  the  street  near  the  water  works,  but  the 
fire  fiend  found  him  even  there  before  he  could  get  his  body  wholly  in  safety,  and  robbed 
him  of  his  life. 

FRUSTRATED    RUFFIANS. 

A  banker  had  a  cash-box  in  his  hand,  containing  $50,000,  which  he  was  endeavoring  to 
convey  away.  Three  desperadoes  seized  upon  him  with  the  intention  of  robbing  him. 
To  prevent  it  he  threw  the  box  with  its  valuable  contents  into  the  fire,  rather  than  yield 
it  to  these  ghouls  of  disastrous  fate. 

FILIAL    PIETY. 

A  man  residing  on  one  of  the  small  streets  running  from  North  State  street  to  the  lake, 
had  lost  his  father  on  Saturday.  The  coffin  was  in  the  house,  and  so  rapid  was  the  pro- 
gress of  the  flames  on  Monday  morning  that  he  was  unable  to  save  anything  else,  and  to 
repeated  the  story  of  Anchises,  pious  .SJneas  and  blazing  Troy.  He  carried  out  the 
coffin  on  his  shoulders,  and,  safety  on  shore  being  impossible,  anchored  it  in  the  lake  with 
a  rope  and  stone. 

ANOTHER   COFFIN   STORY. 

Early  on  Monday  morning  a  strange  procession  was  seen  coming  over  Lake  street 
bridge.  An  undertaker's  establishment  beinsr  in  peril,  the  proprietor  (sure  of  a  market 
for  his  wares)  seized  the  largest  and  costilest  of  his  caskets,  loaded  two  express  wagons 
therewith,  then  grasped  one  himself  in  both  arms,  and  followed  the  carriages,  succeeded  in 
turn  by  about  a  dozen  employes  of  all  ages,  each  of  whom  wrestled  with  a  coffin.  The 
procession,  ghastly  and  ludicrous  withal,  reminded  one  of  the  inmates  of  the  city  grave- 
yard compelled  to  take  up  their  coffins  and  walk  out  of  the  way  of  the  march  of  modem 
improvement.  • 

MEANING    \irELL. 

An  old  man  from  Iowa  no  sooner  heard  of  the  conflagration  than  he  took  instant 
passage  for  the  city  to  succor  his  son's  family.  It  was  his  first  visit  to  Chicago,  and  it  is 
to  be  presumed  he  was  ignorant  of  our  geographical  position.  Still  he  meant  well,  so 
well,  indeed,  that  on  being  informed  at  a  way  station  that  the  people  were  suffering  from 
a  scarcity  of  water,  he  alighted  from  the  train,  purchased  a  cask,  filled  it  with  water, 
and'  brought  it  to  the  city  in  triumph.  It  did  not  transpire,  but  is  likely  to  have  been 
the  case,  that  a  philanthropic  expressman  charged  him  $100  to  convey  it  from  the  railroad 
station. 

GUTTERS    OF    LIQUOR. 

At  the  distilleries  near  Madison  street  bridge,  where  the  stronger  liquors  were  unfitted 
for  such  a  purpose,  the  spectators  could  see,  for  it  seemed  for  hours,  a  steady  stream  of 
alcohol,  from  stills,  vats,  and  casks,  pouring  into  the  river.  On  the  North  Side  the  streets 
in  some  places  literally  ran  with  beer  and  spirits.  Men  bailed  the  tide  up  with  their 
hats,  and  scooped  it  up  in  the  palms  of  their  hands  to  drink.  In  some  places  the  fire 
communicated  with  these  streams  and  ignited  them  for  hundreds  of  feet  with  the 
rapidity  of  trains  of  gunpowder.     Stories  were  rife  of  men  drunken  to  excess  falling 


^^ 


Clothing  House, 

Burned  at  147  and  149  S.  Clark  St . 


lTO"W"    LOO^TED 


gtn^. 


m'fi 


Tlionipson  s  Block, 

229  Madison  St.  cor  Peoria. 


^4^,ik 


nd 


4K» 


S^( 


n^ 


r  State  St, 


SQUARE  DEALING  FOREVER. 

IVinis  offered  by  uo  concern  in  the  woi'ld,  viz: 

THAT   IS    WHAT    WE    MEAN    BY   SQUARE  DEALING. 


THE   GREAT   CONFIiAGKATION.  41 


into  these  streams  of  liquid  fire  and  being  roasted  to  death.  At  the  fancy  grocery  stores 
heaps  of  canisters  of  potted  meats,  oysters,  fruits,  etc.,  were  to  be  seen  lying  in  the  ruins, 
burst  open  at  the  ends  by  the  action  of  the  fire  or  the  air  within.  Hundreds  of  people 
made  a  luscious  feast  on  Tuesday  upon  these,  and  on  the  site  of  Stanton's  store,  comer 
of  Clark  and  Madison  streets,  almost  every  person  carried  a  canister  out  of  which  he 
picked  roasted  oysters  or  cooked  tomatoes,  with  a  fork  improvised  from  a  stick  or  a  piece 
of  telegraph  wire. 

FIRE  AND  MARRIAGB. 

On  Monday  a  high  city  official  was  accosted  in  the  street  by  a  clergyman,  followed  by 
a  youth  and  maiden,  who  all  asked  him  at  once,  in  the  name  of  Heaven,  if  they  couldn't 
get  a  marriage  license.  The  young  couple  desired,  it  seemed,  to  espouse  each  other,  and 
when  the  swain  reached  the  Court-House  he  found  that  the  office  of  the  County  Clerk 
was  not  there.  He  rushed  madly  about,  asking  the  policemen,  the  firemen,  everybody, 
if  they  could  tell  him  where  he  could  get  a  marriage  license.  No  one  knew  and  no  one 
seemed  interested.  In  tears  he  returned  to  the  would-be  bride,  and  they,  with  the 
clergyman,  went  down  town  to  see  what  could  be  done.  The  city  official,  moved  by 
their  tears  and  protestations,  told  them  that  he  was  very  sorry,  but — "  Oh,  good  Mr.  City 
Official,"  said  the  bride,  can't  you  give  us  a  permit,  or  a  pass,  or  anything  ?  "  The  city 
official,  being  in  a  hurry,  and  being,  further,  noted  for  his  obliging  disposition,  told  them 
that  he  hadn't  any  passes  with  him  at  the  time.  "  But,"  said  he,  kindly,  "  just  go  ahead, 
and  I'll  make  that  all  right."  He  hadn't  any  power  to  issue  a  license,  but  that  made  no 
difference ;  everybody  was  satisfied,  the  clergyman  (who  is  connected  with  a  West  Side 
church  of  prominence)  married  them,  and  the  happy  couple  went  to  see  the  ruins  of  Lill's 
brewery,  next  day,  as  a  wedding  trip.  It  is  a  question  in  that  remorseful  city  official's 
mind  as  to  whether  he  has  not  been  guilty  of  malfeasance  of  office,  at  the  very  least. 

A   NARRO'W   ESCAPE. 

Mrs.  A.  J.  Crnswold,  the  wife  of  the  well-known  organist,  was  compelled  to  flee  from 
her  house  on  Ohio  street,  and  was  so  hotly  pursued  by  the  flames  that  she  was  compelled 
to  take  refuge  in  the  lake,  with  her  children,  one  about  three  years  old  and  the  other  an 
infant.  Numerous  othar  cases  of  people  seeking  refuge  in  the  lake  or  the  river  are 
recorded,  and  others  are  known  to  have  fled  to  the  sand-hills  nearer  Lincoln  Park,  and 
there,  throwing  themselves  flat  on  their  faces,  to  have  remained  until  the  fiery  sirocco 
went  by,  leaving  them  almost  suflfocated  and  with  the  clothing  on  their  backs  burned  to 
cinders. 

MR.    MILLIOAN'S    TROTTER. 

Peoria  sent  a  steam  fire  engine  to  the  relief  of  Chicago,  and  in  one  of  the  narrow 
streets  it  was  so  nearly  surroundrd  by  the  flames  that  the  men  had  given  up  hope  of 
saving  it,  and  were  about  being  forced  to  seek  their  own  sarety  in  flight.  At  this  junc- 
ture, Mr.  Milligan,  of  the  firm  of  Heath  &  Milligan,  came  along  with  his  roadster. 
Perceiving  their  peril,  in  a  moment  he  had  hitched  the  fast  trotter  to  one  side  of  the 
pole.  The  men  caught  the  tongue,  pole  and  wheel,  and  with  a  cherry  shout,  out  they 
whirled  through  the  smoke  and  cinders  at  a  four-minute  gait.  The  Peorians  saved  their 
steamer,  and  vow  that  they  will  get  up  a  subscription  and  purchase  Milligan's  sorrel  if 
the  city  has  to  issue  more  bonds. 

A    SEA    OF    FIRE. 

The  basins  at  one  time  were  literally  seas  of  fire.  Some  large  furniture  dealers  had 
thrown  large  quantities  of  furniture  into  the  water,  hoping  to  save  their  goods.     Streams 


"Wholesale  and  Retail. 


A.  B.  VAN  GOTT  &  CO., 

Late  107  Lake  Street,  have  opened  at 

4G1  Wabash  Avenue, 

And  are  now  receiving  new  goods  from  the  East.  The  greater 
])ortion  of  our  stock  being  destroyed ;  we  will,  soon  have  a 
fresh  stock  of  desirable  goods. 

Orders  from  the  trade  will  receive  as   heretofore  prompt 
attention. 

^.  B.  VA^TSTCOTT,  &  CO., 
461  WABASH  AVENUE. 

EHWARD  ELT 

657  WABASH  AVENUE, 


ii 


AND  MANUFACTURER  OF 


{Extra  Durable  and  Perfect  in  Fit:) 


Clergymen  10  Per  Cent  off.    «d.w 


ur^'Oi^pT"    1«E  Q^AT  COJTBJAOBA^ON.  TXT"  4^ 

of  petroleum  and  of  liquor  had  in  other  places  trickled  from  the  docks.  The  intense 
heat  of  the  fire  had  set  fire  to  these  lighter  liquids  as  they  floated  on  the  water,  and  the 
newly-varnished  furniture,  almost  as  imflamable,  burned  rapidly.  As  each  piece  rose 
and  sunk  in  the  slowly  swaying  water,  the  swelling  or  decadence  of  the  flames  and  their 
crackle  or  hiss  afforded  a  strange  picture  to  the  eye  and  odd  music  to  the  ear. 

1$'      U        |.  THE    COMING   MAN 

Early  on  Monday  afternoon,  a  reporter  for  the  Evening  Post  met  an  elderly  man  on 
Wabash  avenue,  in  an  excited  and  lachrymose  humor.  He  was  shouting  at  the  top  of 
his  voice  ;  "  I  know  there  is !  I  know  there  is !  "  •'  I  know  there  is  what  ?  "  asked  the 
reporter.  "  A  man  who  could  stop  this  fire  if  he  wanted  to  by  just  saying  one  word. 
Oh,  where  is  he  ?  Why  doesn't  he  speak  ?  Oh,  where,  where  is  he  ?  "  The  reporter 
vainly  endeavored  to  ascertain  the  mysterious  individual's  name,  but  the  excited  indi- 
vidual did  not  know  it,  and  went  along  on  his  quest,  bellowing  tearfully,  "  Where  is  he  ? 
Oh,  where  is  he  ?  " 

WHAT    THEY    SAVED. 

It  was  almost  as  ridiculous  as  melancholy  to  watch  the  long  stream  of  people  who 
poured  out  of  the  tenements  on  Adams  street,  Van  Buren  street  and  the  alleys  near  the 
river,  both  on  the  West  and  South  Sides,  and  to  notice  what  each  bore.  On  Adams  street 
the  perambulators  outnumbered  every  other  article  saved.  About  every  third  person 
wheeled  one,  and  about  every  seventh  perambulator  contained  a  bady.  One  man  in  his 
shirt  sleeve,  and  with  but  one  boot,  wheeled  a  child's  carriage,  in  which  was  a  bady,  per- 
haps eighteen  months  old,  astonished  at  its  sudden  awakening  and  the  crowd,  and  sucking 
lustily  at  a  green  paper  lamp-shade.  These,  alone,  evidently  remained  of  all  his  Lares 
and  Penates.  Another,  perfectly  frenzied  with  excitement,  rushed  along  Harrison  street, 
waving  over  his  head  the  handle  of  a  bronzed  earthemware  pitcher,  and  shouting  at  the 
top  of  his  voice.  The  woman,  with  hardly  an  excaption,  carried  a  bundle  in  one  arm  and 
a  bady  in  the  other,  and  had  their  shawls  thrown  over  their  heads.  Perhaps  a  couple  of 
older  children  clung,  frightened  and  crying,  to  their  skirts.  When  the  hotels  were  menaced, 
out  poured  from  each  a  long  string  of  guests,  each  with  a  valise  in  one  hand  and  dragging 
behind  hiTin  a  trixnk.  The  fate  of  these  amateur  baggage-smashers  is  wrapped  in  mystery, 
as  hardly  a  traveling  trimk  was  anywhere  to  be  seen  on  Tuesday.  ■.\}  t  1 

A   NEW   USE   FOR   CIDER 

One  building  on  the  West  Side,  which  was  saved  after  desperate  exertions,  owes  its 
preservation  to  an  agent  rarely,  if  ever,  used  before  for  such  a  purpose,  and  which  ia 
efficacy  was  a  formidable  rival  to  the  Babcock.  The  roof  was  covered  with  wetted  blankets, 
and  when  water  for  this  purpose  failed,  two  barrels  of  cider  were  employed  with  success. 
The  flames  retired,  and  the  proprietor  on  the  roof  carroled  a  joyous  paean.  '■  A  little 
more  cider,  too," 

BURIED    THE    HATCHET 

The  fire  has  wrought  many  changes  among  business  men — some  separated,  and  others 
brought  together.  Among  the  latter  we  may  mention  Wm.  Eden  and  A.  M.  Delight, 
between  whom  for  many  years  there  has  existed  a  deep  feeling  of  business  rivalry.  The 
former  manufactured  the  well-known  "  Exoral,"  for  the  hair,  and  the  latter  the  equally 
well-known  "  Spanish  Lustral."  The  storm  of  fire  found  them  both  unprepared  for  such 
an  emergency,  and  swept  their  magnificent  establishments  out  of  existence.  But  before 
the  embers  were  cold  they  had  shook  hands,  joined   fortunes,  bought  the  lease  of  a  store 


"WALSH  &  HUTCHINSON. 


WHOLESALE 


616  WABASH  AVENUE 


Being  among  the  first  to  rise  from  the  ruins,   we   beg   to   an- 
nounce we  are  agaic  in  the  field  mth  a  full  stock  of 

Ribbons,  Silks,  Velvets,  Laces,  Flowers,  feaibers.  Straw  Goods,  &c, 


To  which  we  invite  the  attention  of  the  Trade. 


N.  SHER'WOOD  &  CO., 

WHOLESALE 


P 


No.  812   STATE   STREET, 

Formerly  58  Michigan  Avenne. 

We  are  glad  to  intorm  the  public  that  we  are  again  prepared  to  supply 
our  patrons  with  goods  at  as  close  figures  as  ever. 

Notwithstanding  the  entire  loss  of  our  heavy  Stock  in  store,  the,  inter- 
ruption of  business  was  slight,  as  we  had  a  large  stock  of  our  own  impor- 
tation still  remaining  in  Bonded  Warehouse,  and  heaw  invoices  in  transit, 
giving  us  a  complete  stock  with  which  to  continue  business. 

We  would  say  to  those  wishing  to  buy  goods  from  this  city,  that  their 
wants  can  be  supplied  without  looking  further,  as  Chicago  Merchants  are 
determined  to  hold  all  their  old  trade,  if  careful  buying  and  selling  at 
close  figures  will  do  it. 

Our  buyer  is  now  in  China  aud  Japan  markets,  and  will  forward  us  new 
Teas  by  every  steamer.  Greater  efibrt,  if  possible,  than  ever  ,will  be  made 
to  make  it  for  the  interest  of  the  trade  to  deal  with  us. 

N.  SHERWOOD  &  CO. 


THE   GSEAT  CONFLAGRATION/  -  45 


on  Canal  street,  just  north  of  Randolph,  in  the  heart  of  the  new  busines.s  center,  and  are 
now  in  full  blast,  with  more  business  than  they  can  do.  Their  old  friends  are  invited  to 
call. 

MONUMENTS    OF   MERCY. 

The  most  remarkable  feature  of  what  is  left  in  the  districts  of  the  great  fire  are  the 
buildings  that  escaped  destruction.  A  new  five-story  stone  building,  which  was  all 
completed  except  putting  in  the  windows,  on  the  comer  of  La  Salle  and  Monroe  streets, 
is  a  marvel.  Its  exterior  is  perfect  and  its  interior  not  even  smoked,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  the  terrible  flames  raged  around  it  on  all  sides.  Its  preservation  is  truly  a 
mystery.  Equally  wonderful  was  the  preservation  of  the  extensive  gluss-covered  green- 
house and  conservatory  of  Mr.  E.  B.  McCagg,  on  the  North  Side.  Notwithstanding  the 
total  destruction  of  all  the  buildings  on  all  sides  of  this  little  oasis  in  the  great  desert  of 
ruin,  there  it  smiles  before  the  observer  in  all  its  wonderful  loveliness — not  even  a  crack 
in  all  its  oval  glass-covered  roof — the  prints  and  flowers  inside  as  fresh  and  beautiful  "  as 
if  nothing  had  happened."  Yet  Mr.  McCagg's  fine  brick  residence,  only  a  few  feet  from 
it,  is  a  mass  of  ruins.  Two  blocks  distant  stands  the  large  house  of  Malilon  D.  Ogden,  a 
wooden  building,  which,  notwithstanding  the  total  destruction  of  all  the  large  churches 
and  other  fine  edifices  around,  it  stands  there  isolated  and  unharmed — even  the  wooden 
outhouses  unscorched,  and  the  grass  fresh.  These  and  Elevator  B,  of  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral Railroad  Company,  are  the  only  really  remarkable  escapes  of  the  great  conflagration  ; 
and  it  is  very  difficult  for  any  man  to  explain  satisfactorily  how  and  why  they  were 
spared.  "  There  are  more  wonders  in  heaven  and  earth  than  are  dreamed  of  in  our 
philosophy. 

THRILLING  INCIDENT  IN  THE  WASHINGTON  STREET  TUNNEL. 

While  the  conflagration  was  raging  in  the  South  Division,  on  that  memorable  Sunday 
night,  a  thrilling  incident  occurred  in  the  Washington  street  tunnel,  which,  we  believe, 
has  not  yet  been  mentioned  publicly.  Several  of  the  bridges  over  the  South  Branch  being 
on  fire,  the  tunnel  was  resorted  to  by  thousands  of  people  who  desii-ed  to  pass  from  one 
division  into  the  other.  ^  Tliuse  going  into  the  South  Division  were  mostly  persons  who 
had  offices  and  places  of  business  "  down  town."  Those  going  the  other  way  were  teni- 
fied  residents  of  the  South  Side,  rushing  into  the  West  Division  for  safety.  At  a  moment 
when  the  passage-way  was  filled  with  pedestrians,  rushing  wildly  in  either  direction,  the 
gas  suddenly  gave  out,  and  all  were  left  in  total  dai'kness.  A  terrible  panic,  a  collision, 
and  the  trampling  to  death  of  the  weaker  by  the  stronger,  seemed  inevitable.  But, 
strange  as  it  may  seem,  everybody  in  that  dark  recess  seemed  at  once  to  comprehend  the 
necessity  for  coolness  and  courage.  Not  a  man  lost  his  presence  of  mind,  but  all,  as  with 
one  accord,  bora  to  the  right,  each  calmly  enjoining  upon  others  to  be  cool  and  steady,  and 
to  march  steadily  on  till  the  end  of  the  light  could  be  reached.  Rapidly,  but  without 
confusion,  the  two  columns  moved  on  through  the  thick  darkness  with  almost  military 
precision,  the  silence  being  broken  only  by  frequent  shouts  of  "  right,"  "  right."  There 
was  no  collision,  and  no  one  was  harmed,  but  aU  reached  the  ends  of  the  tunnel  in  safety, 
and  then  for  the  first  time  in  almost  ten  minutes  breathed  freely. 

The  incident  was  one  of  the  most  thi-illing  imaginable,  and  will  neve^'  be  forgotten  by 
those  who  participated  in  it.  Had  there  been  any  considerable  number  of  women  and 
children  in  the  crowd,  the  result  might  have  been  horrible,  and  to  many  lives,  fatal ;  and 
even  with  none  but  men  in  the  tunnel,  it  seemed  almost  miraculous  that  all  should  keep 
their  presence  of  mind. 


The  Finkle  &  Lyon  Manufacturing  Co/s 


TOR 

SewingMachine 


k 


The  -'VICTOR''  is  the  simplest,  most  durable  and  complete  Family  Sewing  Machine 
now  in  use,  and  is  in  every  respect  reliable  and  first  class,  contains  aU  the  latest  im- 
provements and  inventions,  doing  every  variety  of  Family  Sewing  without  the  com- 
plications of  springs,  cog  wheels,  or  delicate  and  troublesome  adjustments. 

The  "VICTOR"  is  the  only  lock-stitch  machine  that  has  a  straight  "self- setting" 
needle,  which  cannot  be  set  wrong. 

The  "VICTOR"  has  the  simplest  and  most  easily-threaded  Shuttle,  which  is  moved 
by  a  Shtittle-carrier  that  prevents  soiling  thread  and  wearing  the  shuttle. 

The  -'VICTOR'"  has  a  positive  Tension  and  Thread-Controller,  enabling  it  to  pilss 
from  heaviest  to  lightest  materials,  or  to  cross  seams,  without  change  of  tension. 

The  "VICTOR"  is  so  constructed  that  all  wear  is  taken  up  by  adjusting  screws,  per- 
mitting it  to  run  much  longer  without  repair  than  any  other  shuttle  machine. 

The  'VICTOR"  Sewing  Machine  has  taken  First  Premiums  at  numerous  State 
and  County  Fairs. 

The  "Great  Northwestern  Exposition"  at  Minneapolis,  in  Minnesota  State  Fairs  in 
1869,  1S70  and  1871,  awarded  to  the  Finkle  &  Lyon  Manufacturing  Co.,  Highest  Pre- 
miums and  Silver  Mf  dai  for  Best  Family  Sewing  Machine. 

Wherever  introduced,  the  "VICTOR''  has  met  with  universal  favor,  and  has 
far  exceeded  the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  its  friends  and  patrons,  its  sales  more 
than  doubling  in  the  last  year. 

Each  Machine  is  sent  out  complete  (without  extra  charge)with  Drop  Feed,  new  style 
Hemmer  and  Feller,  Quilter,  Braider,  extra  Needle  Plate,  Screw  Driver,  Oiler,  Bottle 
of  Oil,  12  asserted  Needles,  6  Bobbins,  Gauge  and  Screw,  Wrench  and  Instruction 
Book. 


Price  List  "VICTOR"  Sewing  Machines. 

Plain  Table,  Oil  Finish, $65  00 

Box  Cover 70  00 

■ '        "    with  Extension  Leaf  and  Castors 75  00 

"        "     with  Chest,  four  Drawers 80  00 

"        "     with  Chest,  four  Drawers  and  Extension  Leaf 85  00 

Folding  Cover,  moulded  base 85  00 

Cabinets 100  00  to  150  00 

Pearl  and  Half  Pearl  M;ichines    additional lO  00  &  15  00 

RELIABLE    A^OENTS    W^AISTTED. 

THOMAS  BARROWS  &  CO., 

GENERAL  WESTERN  AGENTS, 

IVo.  73  Soutli  BalMted  Street,  Cbicag-o, 

Before  the  Fire  101  Washington  Street. 

W    L.  BATES  &  CO.,  Agents  for  Michigan. 
J.  L.  BARROWS  &  CO.,  Agents  for  Iowa. 


THE  GREAT  C6NFLAGRATraON.  47 


THE  BRUTE  CREATION  CRAZED 

The  horses,  maddened  by  heat  and  noise,  and  irritated  by  falling  sparks,  neighed  and 
screamed  with  aflFright  and  anger,  and  reared,  and  kicked,  and  bit  each  other,  or  stood 
with  drooping  tails,  and  rigid  legs,  ears  laid  back,  and  eyes  wild  with  amazement,  shiver- 
ing as  if  with  cold.  The  dogs  ran  wildly  hither  and  thither,  snuffing  eagerly  at  every 
one,  and  occasionally  sitting  down  on  their  haunches  to  howl  dismally.  When  there  was 
a  lull  iu  the  fire,  far-away  dogs  could  be  heard  barking, '  and  cocks  crowing  at  the 
nnwonted  light.  Cats  ran  along  ridge-poles  in  the  bright  glare,  and  came  pattering  into 
the  street  with  dropsical  tails.  Gl-reat  brown  rats,  with  bead-like  eyes,  were  ferreted  out 
from  ujider  the  sidewalks  by  the  flames,  and  scurried  hither  and  thither  along  the 
streets,  kicked  at,  trampled  upon,  hunted  down.  Flocks  of  beautiful  pigeons,  so  plentiful 
in  the  city,  wheeled  into  the  air  aimlessly,  circled  blindly  once  or  twice,  and  were  drawn 
into  the  maw  of  the  fiery  hell  raging  beneath.  At  one  bird-fancier's  store  on  Madison 
street,  near  La  Salle,  the  wails  of  the  scorched  birds  as  the  fire  caught  them  were  piteous 
as  those  of  children. 

ik    THRILLING    INCIDENT    AND  A    NARROW    ESCAPE. 
When  the  fire  crossed  fi-om  the  South  to  the  North  Side,  at  Wells  street,  and  the 
Galena  depot  and  buildings  in  its  vicinity  were  on  fire,  some  seven  or  eight  men  were  on 
the  roof  of  Wheeler's  elevator,  on  which  a  shower  of  cinders,  and  burning  shingles,  and 
patches  of  flaming  felt  roofing  from  other  buildings  was  thickly  falling.     Lookers-on  felt 
and  knew  that  the  efforts  to  save  the  building  were  useless.     Still  the  men  persisted  in 
their  endeavors  to  the  last.     All  at  once  the  roof  was  in  flames  in  several  places.     All 
but  four  of  the  men  made  their  escape  down  through  the  interior  of  the  building,  but 
these  four  were  ia  such  a  locality  that  their  retreat  was  cut  off.     One  portion  of  the  roof 
after  another  falls  in,  the  men  are  huddled  together  on  the  northwest  corner  of  the  brick 
wall,  sixty  feet  from  the  ground,  and  the  whole  interior  of  the  structure  is  a  roaring 
gulf  of  flame.     No  hook  and  ladder  company  or  fire  engine  has  yet  arrived  on  the  North 
Side,  and  only  two  or  three  men,  their  escaped  comrades,  are  at  the  foot  of  the  wall.     No 
other  human  aid  is  near  them,  although  Lake  street  bridge  and  its  viaduct,  across  the 
river,  are  covered  with  thousands  of  spectators,  thrilled  with  a  hopeless  horror.      And 
now  the  lives  of  these  four  men  depend,  not  upon  minutes,  but  upon  seconds.     Their 
comrades  below  make  vain  efforts  to  cast  up  to  them  a  stout  rope.     Then  one  of  the  men 
runs  away  and  soon  returns  with  a  small  line,  to  which  a  piece  of  brick  is  attached  and 
thrown  over  the  wall,  and  the  men  eagerly  draw  up  the  rope.      An  agony  of  suspense, 
silent,  breathless,  intense,  pervades  the  multitude  of  people  at  the  bridge,  for,  ever  and 
anon,  with  the  puffs  and  blasts  of  wind,  huge  sheets  of  flame  intervene  between  us  and 
the  men  which  seem  to  have  enveloped  them.     Then  the  flames  lift  again,  and  we  see 
that  the  men  are  still  there.     They  fasten  the  rope  to  some  inner  projection.     There  is  a 
row  of  windows  all  along  the  side  of  the  building  just  below  the  top  of  the  wall,  and 
each  window,  except  one,  is  a  roaring  furnace  of  flame.     That  one  is  where  their  rope 
passes.     It  so  chanced  that  the  rope  could  be  secured  nowhere  else.     Then  the  men  go 
down  the  rope,  one  after  another,  the  last  one  has  passed  the  window,  and  the  flames 
almost  immediately  after  burst  out  of  that  window  also,  and  his  feet  have  scarcely 
touched  the  ground  when  the  burning  rope  parts  and  comes  down.      Then  the  shout 
of  joy  that  went  up  from  the  thousands  on  the  bridge  may  be  imagined,  but  it  cannot  be 

described. 

RAPACITY    OF    EXPRESSMEN 

A  wholesale  grocer,  residing  on  the  North  side,  was  absent  from  the  city.     His  wife,  a 
delicate  woman,  fibading  the  flames  suddenly  upon  her  house,  snatched   up  a  silver   cake 

I 


I  STILL  LIVE ! 


€J%   WW   ^ 


NOW,  564  WEST  MADISON  STREET, 
"GREAT  CEi^TRAL" 

Cask  Fhotograpliic  Warehouse, 

Photograph  Goods  of  every  description  at   usual 

Low  Prices. 


Send    A.long  Your   Ord 


ERS, 


^^    fl 


i 


The  Largest  Hotel  left  in  Chicago. 


1 


Cor.  of  Randolph  and  Canal  streets,  near  Randolph 

street  Bridge. 

Tf'.  K.  SWALL.OTr,  Proprietor. 

H.  H.  HAMLIN,         \  ^.    , 
HENRY  LANGDON,)  ^^®'^'^- 

SALOON.  BARBER  SHOP  AND  BILLIARD  ROOM  ALL  IN  THE  HOUSE. 


f    ~        ,      t      1                          THE  GKEAT  CONFLAGRATION.                                                          49 
(        }\ — 


basket  and  a  valuable  little  clock,  took  one  of  her  two  children  in  her  arms  and  another 
by  the  hand  and  fled.  As  she  sped  before  the  pursuing  fire,  she  found  her  strength  fail- 
ing, and  begged  the  driver  of  a  passing  express  wagon,  lightly  laden,  to  help  her  in  her 
extremity.  He  would,  for  the  clock.  She  submitted  to  the  exaction,  was  carried  three 
block,  and  then  forced  to  get  down.  The  cake  basket  bought  her  another  ride  of  about 
the  same  distance,  and  then  she  was  forced  to  finish  her  flight  on  foot,  her  means  of  satis- 
fying the  rapacity  of  drivers  being  exhausted.  Finally,  more  dead  than  alive,  she  reached 
a  place  ot  safety. 

KEEPING  OPEN  HOUSE, 
On  Monday  evening,  a  knot  of  men,  from  35  to  40  years  of  age,  stood  on  Michigan 
avenue,  watching  the  fire  as  it  sought  its  way  southward,  in  the  t«eth  of  the  wind.  They 
were  looking  grimy  and  dejected  enough,  until  another,  a  broad  sholdered  man  of  middle 
height,  with  a  face  that  might  have  belonged  to  one  of  the  Cherryble  brothers,  shining 
through  the  overspreading  dust  and  soot,  approached  them,  and  clapping  one  of  their 
number  on  the  shoulder,  exclaimed  cheerfully  :  "Well,  James,  we  are  all  gone  together. 
Last  night  I  was  worth  a  hundred  thousand,  and  so  were  you.  "Now  where  are  we  ?  " 
"  Gone,"  returned  James.  Then  followed  an  ijiterchange  from  which  it  appeared  that  the 
numbers  of  the  group  were  young  merchants  worth  from  $50,000  to  $150,000.  After 
this,  said  the  first  speaker,  "Well,  Jim,  I  have  a  home  left,  and  my  family  are  safe.  I 
have  a  barrel  of  flour,  some  bushels  of  potatoes  and  other  provisions  laid  in  for  the  winter; 
and  now  Jim  I'm  going  to  fill  my  house  to  night  with  these  poor  fellows,"  turning  to  the 
sidewalks,  crowded  with  fleeing  poor,  "chuck  full  from  cellar  to  garret !"  The  blaze  of 
the  conflagration  revealed  something  worth  seeing  in  that  man's  breast.  Possibly  the 
road  to  his  heart  may  have  been  choked  with  rubbish  before.  Tf  so,  the  fire  had  burned 
it  clear,  tUl  it  shone  like  one  of  the  streets  of  burnished  gold,  which  he  will  one  day  walk. 

COMMON   OCCURRENCES. 

The  experience  of  Mr.  Lambert  Tree  and  family  was  in  part  that  of  many.  Perceiving 
that  his  own  house  could  not  escape,  Mr.  Tree,  with  his  wife  and  child  and  aged  father, 
went  to  the  residence  of  his  father-in-law,  Mr.  Magee.  The  Magee  residence  occupied 
the  centre  of  a  large  enclosure,  and  was  therefore  regarded  as  a  place  of  probable  safety 
But  the  very  fact  that  of  its  isolation  from  surrounding  biiildings  soon  revealed  that  it 
was  the  most  dangerous  retreat  that  could  have  been  chosen.  The  conflagration  envel- 
oped it  completely  on  all  sides  before  the  house  took  fire.  On  the  side  opposite  to  the 
approaching  flames,  the  square  was  enclosed  by  a  high  board  fence,  without  openings.  On 
the  front,  the  flames  had  already  cut  off  all  possibility  of  retreat.  The  only  way  of 
escape  was  toward  the  northeast,  over  the  fence  already  mentioned ;  a  barrier  which  three 
aged  persons,  a  woman  already  fainting  in  the  dense  smoke,  and  a  little  child  half  suffo- 
cated, could  not  possible  scale.  The  fence,  too,  was  on  fire.  The  house  was  already 
enveloped  in  a  shower  of  burning  fire-brands.  A  horrible  death  seemed  to  be  the  inevi- 
table doom  of  the  entire  party. 

At  this  terrible  juncture,  a  portion  of  the  burning  fence  feU  to  the  ground,  opening  a 
gateway  from  the  fiery  cul  de  sac.  Through  this  opening,  Mr.  Tree  dragged  his  fainting 
wife  and  child,  fled  toward  the  lake.  In  the  flight  from  the  premises,  the  party  became 
separated.  Nothing  more  was  seen  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Magee  until,  on  the  following  day, 
they  were  found  on  the  prairie  northwest  of  the  city.  In  their  flight  they  had  taken  a 
different  direction  from  the  others,  and  had  no  choice  but  to  hasten  on  before  the  advanc- 
ing fire  until  beyond  the  line  of  its  horrible  path.  The  aged  couple  passed  the  night  of 
Monday  on  the  open  prairie. 


CHAKLES  WIPPO, 

Furniture ! 

Furniture! 


^A  WWO^.^^^1.^  ^^^  U^^^M., 


99  West  Madison  Street, 


CJHio^a^oo,  xi-.x^, 


0.  B.  1855-X    1866-B.  O-  &  C.  A.  1871- 


E.  ^   BO\^^E:]^^, 


it 


f 


(FORMERLY  ON  DEARBORN  STREET,) 


43  W.  Washington  St.,  near  Clinton  St,. 


ALL  SIGN  WORK  AT  OLD  PRICES,  OR  LESS. 


THE  Q/kiAT  CONBTIiAGRATION.  61 


In  an  open  space,  sheltered  by  the  walls  of  Lill's  brewery,  Mr.  Tree  and  his  family,  with 
some  of  their  neighbors,  again  supposed  themselves  to  be  in  a  place  of  safety.  But  from 
the  refuge  they  were  also  daiven  by  the  advancing  flames.  The  intense  heat  drove  them 
to  the  beach  and  even  into  the  water  in  which  many  men,  women,  and  children  stood  for 
an  hour,  throwing  water  over  their  clothing  to  prevent  it  taking  fire  from  the  flames  and 
sparks  which  a  fierce  wind  drove  toward  them. 

ONE  or  THE  "WORST  FEATURES 

of  Monday  night  was  the  agonizing  appeals  of  wives  for  missing  husbands  ;  daughters 
and  sisters  for  absent  fathers  and  brothers,  and  children  for  their  parents.  The  station 
houses  were  beseiged  by  tearful,  despairing  searchers  for  relatives  and  acquaintances  who 
had  not  been  seen  nor  heard  of  since  the  preceding  night,  and,  as  soon  as  it  was  known 
that  dead  bodies  were  being  brought  into  the  various  municipal  head-quarters  remaining, 
the  anxiety  and  terror  increased  tenfold. 

NORTH   SIDE    INCIDENTS. 

The  interesting  incidents  attending  the  fire  on  the  North  Side  were  innumerable. 

Mr.  C.  H.  McCormick,  the  great  reaper  manufacturer,  slept  out  on  the  prairie. 

A  musically  disposed  individual,  probably  filled  with  despair  as  well  as  melody,  on 
Tuesday  commenced  playing  on  a  piano  standing  on  the  street  near  to  Lill's  brewery  and 
continued  the  occupation  for  several  hours. 

Dr.  Weiner,  a  well-known  North  side  physician,  was  seen  during  the  progress  of  the 
fire,  rushing  up  North  Clark  street  on  horseback,  with  a  game  cock  under  each  arm. 

On  one  of  the  streets,  a  cat,  being  rather  to  warm  to  be  comfortable,  rushed  up  a  fallen 
lamp  where  it  stuck  and  was  roasted. 

As  an  instance  of  the  suffering  of  those  who  were  burned  out  on  the  North  side  may 
be  mentioned  the  case  of  an  newly-married  couple,  who  were  driven  from  their  home 
along  with  the  fire  to  the  prairie,  remained  out  in  the  drenching  rain  that  followed,  and 
two  days  afterward  walked  miles  over  to  the  South  division  to  get  their  first  mouthful  of 
bread. 

A  woman,  after  saving  $300  from  her  house,  attempted  to  return  to  the  building  to 
save  something  else  ;  but  when  she  came  again  she  was  in  flames,  and  the  only  way  that 
her  husdand  could  save  her  was  by  tearing  off  her  clothes  ;  not  a  shred  of  clothing  being 
left  on  her.  Her  nakedness,  however,  was  finally  covered  with  a  blanket.  Her  eldest 
daughter  was  in  the  same  plight. 

Three  Protestant  ministers  and  a  Chatholic  priest  slept  under  the  sidewalk  at  North 
avenue  bridge  one  night. 

A  woman  living  on  Ontario  street,  between  Market  and  Franklin  brought  out  her  two 
children,  aged  5  and  7  safely,  and  then  went  for  a  baby.  The  childjan  followed  her  back 
and  none  came  out  alive. 

The  Quinn  brothers  went  into  their  house  while  it  was  untouched  by  the  Are  to  secure 
some  clothing,  but  in  getting  out  had  to  jump  through  the  windows. 

Mr.  Malcomb,  who  died  about  two  hours  before  the  fire  reached  his  residence,  was 
burned  almost  beyond  recognition. 

THE    KEY    TO    THE    POSITION 

At  one  time  on  Monday,  "  the  key  to  the  position,"  as  regards  the  spread  of  the  flames 
in  the  South  Division,  was  to  keep  the  fire  from  striking  the  Palmer  House.  The  walls  of 
the  Bigelow  House  had  fallen.  This  house  stood  on  the  northwest  comer  of  Dearborn 
and  Quincy,  and  aftei*  the  walls  had  fallen,  the  low  frame  house  on  the  northeast  comer 


Mabley  &  Co., 


THE  GREAT 


OF    THE    ^\^EST, 


AND    THE 


Chicago  One-Price  Clothing  Store, 

AT  122  WEST  MADISON  STREET. 

JOHN  HUGHES  &  SON, 

PLUMBERS, 


AND    DEALERS    IN 


m 


«^  yuM^ 


m 


p# 


^tSTo.    345    ^West    Madison   Street, 


CHICAGO,    ILL. 


THE   GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  53 


of  Dearborn  and  Quincy  stood  intact.  But  the  engine  stationed  at  this  point  continued 
playing  upon  the  ruins  of  the  Bigelow  House,  when  not  a  single  spark  issued  therefrom, 
instead  of  taking  up  a  position  about  a  block  or  two  further  to  the  southwest,  on  the 
comer  of  Van  Buren  and  Wells  streets,  where  the  small  frame  building  was  burning, 
and  the  only  one  on  fire  then  in  that  part  of  the  city.  Judge  Trumbull  and  other 
citizens  urged  that  the  engine  be  removed  and  made  to  play  on  this  building,  but,  in  the 
absence  of  the  captain,  the  engine  was  not  removed  until  too  late.  The  fire  in  fifteen 
minutes  swept  the  Palmer  House,  and  the  result  was  the  loss  of  all  the  houses  in  the 
space  lying  between  Quincy  and  Congress  street,  and  Wells  street  and  thf  lake. 

CHICAGO    PliUCK    AND    PRIDE. 

The  most  hopeful  and  characteristic  sign  during  all  the  terror  and  ruin  of  Sunday  night 
was  the  pride  displayed  by  many  in  the  extent  of  their  calamity.  Chicago  was  ruined, 
true ;  but  in  her  ruin  she  was  Chicagoish.  Like  Ajax,  she  fell  with  the  light  of  heaven 
around  her.  It  is  in  this  spirit  that  the  magnificent  bankrupt  For  millions  looks  down  on 
the  insolvent  whose  balance  sheet  does  not  require  four  figures  for  the  sum  total.  But 
the  frame  of  mind  finding  expression  in  these  words  is  not  of  kin  to  that  in  which  hypo- 
chondriacs glory  in  their  diseases.  These  are  the  outspeaking  of  a  hearty  egotism,  which 
no  calamity  can  overcome  ;  of  a  self-reliance  which  nothing  can  destroy.  In  memory  of 
this  honorable  pluck  the  new  city  might  change  its  name,  emblem  and  motto.  The  Gar- 
den City  has  no  significance  now.  Let  the  name  be  the  Phoenix  City,  the  emblem  a 
Phoenix,  springing  glorious  fi'om  the  flames,  and  the  motto,  "  Resui'gam,"  for  Chicago  will 
rise  again. 

C1JSTOM    HOUSE    VAULTS    PROVED    WORTHLESS. 

The  Custom  House,  the  walls  of  which  are  standing,  proved  to  be  worthless  as  a  place 
of  safety  for  Goverement  money  and  Government  treasure.  The  vault  in  the  sub- 
treasury  office  was  upon  the  second  story.  It  rested  upon  two  iron  pillars  built  from 
the  basement,  with  two  iron  girders  connected  with  the  wall.  A  fire-proof  vault 
was  built  upon  this  foundation,  and  proved  to  be  the  weakest  in  the  city.  In  the  vault 
at  the  time  of  the  fire  were  $l,r)00,000  in  greenbacks,  $300,000  in  National  Bank  notes, 
$225,000  in  gold,  and  $5,000  in  silver,  making  a  total  of  $2,130,000,  of  which  $300,000 
was  in  specie.  A  little  safe  containing  $50,000  was  saved,  it  having  been  buried  away 
from  the  heat  by  the  ruins  of  the  vault.  The  specie  was  scattered  over  the  basement 
floor  and  fused  with  the  heat.  Lumps  of  fused  eagles,  valued  at  from  $500  to  $1,000, 
blackened  and  burned,  but  now  as  refined  gold,  are  in  the  ruins.  The  employees  have 
recovered  about  five-sixths  of  the  amount. 

AU  the  vaults  of  the  building  were  shams  of  the  thinnest  kind,  and  as  many  of  the 
United  States  biiildings  are  constructed  on  the  same  plan,  the  Government  will  doubtless 
have  them  inspected. 

THE    GREAT    LEVELER. 

An  instance  to  show  the  leveling  process  of  the  fire.  A  gentleman  who  had  $65,000 
annual  income  from  stores  situated  in  the  burned  district  of  the  South  Division  has  not 
to-day  $1  of  income,  and  his  family  is  talking  of  taking  boarders  to  help  pay  the  winter's 
expenses. 

A    WATER-PIPE    TURNED    INTO    AN    OVEN. 
Even  the  surroundings  of  the  water-works  were  not  without  their  tragedies.     A  man 
employed  in  a  foundry  on  the  comer  of  Van  Bui-en   and  Clinton  streets,  who  had  been 
on  a  spree  for  some  time,  was  overtaken  by  the  fire,  and  thinking,  perhaps,  that  the  heat 
7 


^Ta      Jt^)m 


W 


NOTIONS,  FANCY  GOODS  &G 


241,243  Ji24SWestMsoiSt, 

TlioiTLpson's  Block, 

Between  Peoria  and  Sangamon  Sts. 

Resumes  business  in  this  new  and  convenient  locality.     * 

My  STOCK  IS  COMPLETE  IN  EVERY  DETAIL, 

shall  continue  the  business  with  duplication    of  our  past   sue 

cess. 

Will  have  the  Goods  to  meet  the  wants  of  all,  and  trust 
by  RENEWED  EXERTION  and  LOW  PRICES,  to  con- 
tinue to  merit  in  the  future  as  in   the   past  the  GOLDEN 

OPINION  of  all  our  patrons. 

OUR  JOBBING  DEPARTMENTS  are  now  in  com- 
plete working  order,  shall  be  happy  to  see  all  our  old  cus- 
tomers and  hosts  of  new  ones. 


All  Orders  sent  will  be  Promptly  Executed. 


NEW  GOODS  CONSTANTLY  ARRIVING. 


THE  GREAT  COBTFIiAGKATION.  55 


of  the  approaching  fire  would  not  prove  to  be  so  intense  and  destructive  as  it  actually 
was,  crawled  into  a  large  water-pipe  lying  on  the  ground  and  was  roasted  to  death. 
When  fully  awake  to  his  mistake,  probably  all  he  spw  at  either  end  of  his  last  refuga 
was  a  flame  of  fire. 

THE    CAR    TRACKS. 

North,  along  Clark  street,  and  on  the  branch  tracks  along  Chicago  avenue,  Division 
street,  Larrabee  street,  Sedgwick  street,  and  Clybourne  avenue,  the  horse-car  tracks  were 
more  or  less  injured;  the  tracks  in  some  places  being  doubled  up  to  a  height  of  tliree 
feet.  The  ti-acks  of  the  Northwestern  road  along  North  Water  street,  and  extending 
between  the  government  pier  and  the  Ogden  slip,  were  still  more  damaged,  many  of  the 
ends  of  the  rails  being  thrown  eight  or  ten  feet  ft-om  their  original  position.  In  many 
sections  of  the  track  the  rails  have  assumed  a  zigzag  course. 

THE    LAST    BUILDING    TO    BURN 

was  "  Terrace  Row,"  a  palatial  block  of  private  residences  on  Michigan  avenue,  extending 
northward  from  Harrison  street.  Its  destruction  required  two  or  three  hours,  as  nothing 
remained  in  its  rear  to  accelerate  the  work.  About  eighteen  hours  from  the  first  dis- 
covery of  the  fire  on  De  Koven  street,  the  last  wall  of  "  Terrace  Row "  fell.  In  the 
South  Division,  north  of  a  diagonal  line  reaching  from  the  east  end  of  Harrison  street  to 
Polk  street  bridge,  there  remained  two  buildings  unharmed,  one  the  large  business  block 
immediately  north  of  Randolph  street  bridge,  and  the  other  an  unfinished  stone  structure 
at  the  comer  of  Monroe  and  La  Salle  streets.  The  entire  busraess  portion  of  the  city 
was  obliterated.  Two-thirds  of  the  territorial  area  of  the  city  was  unscathed,  but 
Chicago  as  a  great  business  mart,  the  proud  commercial  center  of  the  growing  West,  was 
no  more.     Was  ever  devastation  more  complete  ? 

A   FRIGHTFUL   SCENE. 

While  Madison  street,  west  of  Dearborn,  and  the  west  side  of  Dearborn,  were  all 
ablaze,  the  spectators  saw  the  lurid  Ught  appear  in  the  rear  windows  of  Speed's  block. 
Presently  a  man,  who  had  apparently  taken  time  to  dress  himself  leisurely,  appeared  on 
the  extension  built  up  to  the  second  story  of  two  stores.  He  looked  cooly  down  the 
thirty  feet  between  him  and  the  ground,  while  the  excited  crowd  first  cried  '.'  Jump ! " 
and  then  some  of  them  more  considerately  looked  for  a  ladder.  A  long  plank  was  soon 
found,  which  answered  the  same  as  a  ladder,  and  it  was  placed  at  once  against  the 
building,  down  which  the  man  soon  slid. 

But  while  these  preparations  were  going  on,  there  suddenly  appeared  another  man  at 
a  fourth-story  window  of  the  buUdiug  below,  which  had  no  projection,  but  flush  from 
the  top  to  the  ground — four  stories  and  a  basement.  His  escape  by  the  stairway  was 
apparently  cut  off,  and  he  looked  despairingly  dovm  the  fifty  feet  between  him  and  the 
ground.  The  crowd  grew  almost  frantic  at  the  sight,  for  it  was  only  a  choice  of  death 
before  him.  Senseless  cries  of  "  Jump !  Jump ! "  went  up  from  the  crowd — senseless  but 
full  of  sympathy,  for  the  sight  was  absolutely  agonizing.  Then,  for  a  minute  or  two  he 
disappeared,  perhaps  even  less,  but  it  seemed  so  long  a  time  the  supposition  was  that  he 
had  fallen,  suflbcated  with  smoke  and  heat.  But  no,  he  appears  again.  First,  he  throws 
a  bed,  then  some  bed  clothes,  apparently  ;  why,  probably  even  he  does  not  know.  Again 
he  looks  down'  the  dead,  sheer  waU  of  fifty  feet  below  him.  He  hesitates,  and  well  he 
may,  as  he  looks  behind  him.  Then  he  mounts  to  the  window  sill.  His  whole  form 
appears,  naked  to  the  shirt,  and  his  white  limbs  gleam  against  the  dark  wall  in  the  brigh 
light  as  he  swings  himself  below  the  window. 


The  only  remaining  building  in  the  whole  of  the  business 
portion  of  the  City  North  and  South  Side. 


Which  is  occupied  as  follows  :  By  Z.  M.  HALL,  WHOLE- 
SALE GROCER,  259  &  261  Randolph  St.--Keep8  a  full  stock 
of  TEAS  <fe  GROCERIES,  and  Manufacturers  of  ROASTED 
AND  GROUND  COFFEES  AND  SPICES. 


JOHN    DAVISON, 

PI^OPRIETOR    OF    THE 


ALyO,  DEALER  IN 


I,  AEIOR  CHAM, 

30  SO,  MARKET  STREET, 


1^"  See  next  page  for  Occupants  of  same  Building. 


THE  GREAT  CONPLAGRATION.  57 


Somehow — none  can  tell — he  drops  and  catches  upon  the  top  of  the  windows  below 
him  of  the  the  third  story.  He  stoops  and  drops  again,  and  seizes  the  fram.e  with  his 
hands,  and  his  gleaming  body  once  more  straightens  and  hangs  prone  downward,  and 
he  drops  instantly  and  accurately  upon  the  window  sill  of  the  third  story.  A  shout, 
more  of  joy  than  applause,  goes  up  from  the  breathless  crowd,  and  those  who  had  turned 
away  their  heads,  not  enduring  to  look  upon  him  as  he  seemed  about  to  plunge  to  sudden 
and  certain  death,  glanced  up  afc  him  once  more  with  a  ray  of  hope  at  this  daring  and 
skillful  feat.  Into  the  window  he  crept  to  look,  probably,  for  a  doorway,  but  appeared 
again  presently,  for  here  was  the  only  avenue  of  escape,  desperate  and  hopeless  as  it  was. 
Once  more  he  dropped  his  body,  hanging  by  his  hand. 

The  crowd  screamed,  and  waved  for  him  to  swing  himself  over  the  projection  fi-om 
which  the  other  man  had  just  been  rescued.  He  tried  to  do  this,  and  vibrated  like  a 
pendulum  from  side  to  side,  but  could  not  reach  far  enough  to  throw  himself  upon  the 
roof.  Then  he  hung  by  one  hand,  and  looked  down ;  raising  the  other  hand,  he  took  a 
fresh  hold,  and  swung  from  side  to  side  again  to  reach  the  roof.  In  vain.  Again  he 
hung  motionless  by  one  hand,  and  slowly  turned  his  head  over  his  shoulder,  and  gazed 
in  the  abyss  below  him.  Then,  gathering  himself  up,  he  let  go  his  hold,  and  for  a  second 
a  gleam  of  white  shot  down  fully  forty  feet  to  the  foundation  of  the  basement.  Of  course 
the  fall  killed  him.  He  was  taken  to  a  drug  store  near  by,  and  died  in  ten  minutes. 
His  name  was  P.  P.  Dewey,  dealer  in  real  estate,  125  Dearborn  street. 

THE    ONLY    BUSINESS    BLOCK    LEFT. 

Standing  solitary  and  alone  within  the  limits  of  the  fire  district  h  the  Liud  block,  at 
tbe  corner  of  Randolph  and  Market  streets.  That  locality  will  henceforth  assume 
many  aspects  of  historical  iuterest,  and  we  preseut,  on  another  page,  a  wood-cut  of 
that  landmark  as  it  now  appe  ira.  Only  there,  were  wholesale  stocks  saved  untouched 
by  the  general  wreck. 

Fronting  south  are  the  stores  occupied  by  Z.  M.  Hall,  the  well-known  grocer,  who 
was  fortunate  enough  to  save  his  large  assortment  complete,  and  to  be  able  to  resume 
business  at  the  old  stand,  with  a  full  line  of  goods,  so  soon  as  the  scene  of  dismay  and 
confusion  came  to  an  end. 

The  Market  street  front,  emb<  'dying  the  stores  made  so  conspiouous  and  so  generally 
known  by  the  large  number  of  gilt  signs  displayed  on  the  outer  waUs,  advertising 
Eastern  medi<  ines,  weie  and  st  11  are  occupied  by  Fuller  &  Fuller,  the  only  wholesale 
drug  house  in  Chicago  which  entirely  escaped  the  tornado  of  fire.  These  gentlemen 
had  on  hand  an  extensive  stock  of  everything  in  this  line  of  business,  and  are  as 
ready  to  and  capable  of  filling  orders  to  any  amount  as  they  were  before  the  confla- 
gration, since  not  a  single  article  of  their  immense  assortment  suffered  the  slightest 
injury. 

Adjoining  them  toward  the  north,  is  located  the  well  known  firm  of  Henry  W- 
King  &  Co.,  also  unscathed,  whose  high  and  deserved  reputation  throughout  the 
Northwest  as  clothing  dealers,  mu4  guarantee  them  the  continuance  of  their  old 
patrenage  and  of  their  customary  prosperity. 

These  three  wholesale  bouses  tower  alott  amid  the  wide-spread  scene  of  desolation 
with  a  sort  of  columnal  significance— monumental  piles  of  brick  and  mortar,  around 
which  must  cluster  for  many  long  years  the  most  eventful  and  emotional  recollections, 
after  the  ruins  and  vestiges  of  the  burnt  district  shall  have  utterly  disappeared  from 
Bight,  and  been  replaced  by  a  resurrection  of  buildings  and  commercial  activity. 


Henry  W.  N^iedert  &  Co,, 


Wholesale  Dealers  in  Flour,  and 


TS, 


Lind's  Block.  Clli#as#® 


FULLER  &  FULLER, 

22,  24  and  26  Market  Street,  Chicago, 


Importers  and  Wholesale  Dealers  in 


9£v//1 


»f 


m 


PAINTS,  DYE  STUFFS,  CHEMICALS. 


We  are  happy  to  inform  the  public,  that  our  establishment  was  entirely  uniti/ured  by 
the  late  fire.      Orders  filled  ivith  our  usual  promptness. 


WRIGHT  k  BEEBE, 


€^MmMSmM  MEB€MmMWS 


Ho.  20  MARKET  STREET,  Lind's  Block, 


N.  T.  WRIGHT, 
6.  T.  BBEBE. 


THE  GREAT  CONELAQRATION.  59 


SCENES    ON    W^^ ABASH    AVENUE. 

As  the  fire  commenced  spreading  up  the  avenue,  a  wild  scene  of  confusion  ensued.  The 
street  was  crowed  with  vehicles  of  all  descriptions,  many  drawn  by  men,  who  found  it 
impossible  to  procure  draught  animals.  The  sidewalks  were  filled  with  a  hurrying  crowd, 
bearing  in  their  arms  and  upon  their  backs  and  heads  clothing,  furniture,  and  so  on. 
Ladies  dressed  in  eleg;int  costumes,  put  on  with  a  view  of  preserving  them,  and  with 
costly  apparel  of  all  kinds  throyn  ov(;r  their  arms  and  shoulders,  staggered  along  under 
the  unwonted  burden.  Poor  woman  with  mattresses  iipon  their  heads,  or  weighed  down 
with  furniture,  tottered  with  weary  steps  up  the  crowded  street.  Nearly  every  one  wore 
a  stem  expression,  and  moved  on  without  a  word,  as  if  they  had  braced  up  their  minds  to 
endure  the  worst,  without  manifesting  any  emotion.  Occasionally,  however,  the  wail  of 
women  and  children  rent  the  air,  bringing  tears  to  the  eyes  of  those  who  witnessed  the 
manifestations.  Poor  little  children  shivered  in  the  cold  night  air,  and  looked  with  wide 
open  eyes  upon  the  scene  they  could  not  comprehend.  Ludicrous  incidents  were  of 
occasional  ocurrence,  lighting  up  with  a  sort  of  horrible  humor  the  terrible  realities  of 
the  situation.  Women  would  go  by  with  dogs  in  their  arms,  their  pets  being  all  they 
had  saved  from  the  ruins  of  their  homes.  An  octogenarian  van  in  a  yard,  with  a  large 
cat  enfolded  in  his  feeble  embrace.  Men  dragging  wagons  wore  green  veils  over  their 
faces  to  protect  their  eyes  from  the  blinding  dust. 

Drunken  men  staggered  among  the  crowds,  apparently  possessed  of  the  idea  that  the 
whole  affair  was  a  grand  municipal  spree,  in  which  they  were  taking  part  as  a  duty  that 
should  be  discharged  by  all  good  citizens.  Trucks  passed  up  street  loaded  with  trunks, 
on  which  sat  ladies  in  costly  garb,  and  with  diamonds  on  their  fingers.  But  one  day 
before  they  would  have  scorned  the  idea  of  riding  in  anything  less  imposing  than  a 
luxurious  landau  or  coupee ;  but  their  pride  was  leveled  in  the  presence  of  the  universal 
imminent  danger,  and  they  were  thoroughly  glad  to  get  the  humblest  cart  in  which 
to  place  themselves  and  their  valuables. 

A    HORRI8LE    TRAGEDY: 

At  the  intersection  of  Randolph  and  Market  streets  was  a  large  building  (Cullom's), 
used  for  offices.  The  janitor  resided  on  the  fourth  floor,  with  his  family,  consisting  of  a 
wife  and  four  children,  *  By  some  means  they  were  unable  to  escape.  Surrounded  by  the 
fire  they  ascended  to  the  roof.  The  babe  was  in  the  mother's  arms,  and  another  child — 
a  little  boy — clung  to  her  skirts.  Two  girls  were  clAsped  in  the  arms  of  the  father.  Their 
shouts  were  but  faintly  heard  over  the  howl  of  the  winds  and  the  roar  of  the 
flames.  At  last  the  heat  became  so  intense  that  the  woman  was  overcome,  and  fell  to  the 
roof.  The  father  wildly  threw  out  his  hand,  then  staggered,  writhed,  and  sank  by  his 
wife's  side.  That  was  all  of  that  tragedy.  It  froze  the  blood  of  those  who  witnessed  it, 
who  yet  could  extend  no  helping  hand,  but  were  forced  to  hurry  on  to  places  of  safety  for 
themselves. 


INTERESTING  FACTS  AND  STATEMENTS. 

A    SURVEY    OF    L.OSSES    BY    STREETS: 

No  better  idea  of  the  losses  can  be  obtained  than  can  be  got  by  going  over  a  little  iu 
detail  the  area  swept  by  the  fire  in  the  South  Division.  As  yet,  and  for  weeks  and 
months  to  come,  no  one  Avill  be  able  to  enumerate  these  losses  accurately  and  elabo- 
rately. 


i  Fiitif 


t 


60  and  62  So.  Canal  St. 


The  record  of  these  Safes  during  the  recent  Fire  is  one 
that  has  no  superior,  and  parties  interested  in  the  matter  have 
only  to  inquire  to  ascertain  the  noble  record  they  have  made 
for  themselves. 

Vault  Doors 


AND 


BURGLAR  CH£STS. 


AGENT  FOR  SARGENT  &   GREENLEAF'S 


Patent  0011113111111011  &  Key  Locks. 


THE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  61 


Beginning,  not  with  the  point  where  the  fire  commenced,  but  at  the  main  branch  of 
the  river,  for  convenience,  let  us  enumerate  the  streets  and,  as  far  as  possible,  recall  what 
was  on  them,  what  was  bought  and  sold  and  stored  there,  and  by  whom  they  were  occu- 
pied. 

And  first.  South  Water  street  was  swept  with  destruction's  besom,  from  the  South 
Branch  to  the  lake.  Here  went  down  the  Lumber  Exchange,  several  elevators  with  their 
contents,  almost  innumerable  houses  stored  with  flour,  with  apples  and  butter,  with  lard 
and  pork,  poultry,  farm  products,  garden  vegetables,  and  on  the  east  half  of  the  street  on 
both  sides  were  wholesale  houses  stored  from  cellar  to  attic  with  groceries,  coarse  and 
fine,  with  the  products  of  Europe,  the  wines  of  Burgundy  and  the  Rhine  ;  coffee  from 
South  America,  the  West  Indies,  and  the  Orient ;  teas  piled  high  like  a  Canton  store- 
house ;  whisky,  the  distilled  essence  of  thousands  of  acres  of  Illinois  com.  These,  with 
all  that  was  left  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  buildings,  were  wiped  out,  for  the  entire  length  of 
the  street,  with  the  peculiar  paraphernalia  of  the  street,  the  skids,  the  clogged  and 
choked  sidewalks,  through  which  buyers  wended  sinuous.  Where,  now,  oh,  consigners 
from  the  Northwest,  are  the  products  of  your  labor  ?  You  may  come  in  thousands,  as 
you  already  have,  to  look  after  them ;  but  they  are  consigned  where  no  consignee  or 
purchaser  will  ever  see  them- — into  oxygen  and  hydrogen,  thin  air. 

While  pursuing  its  resistless  way  along  this  street,  eating  through  the  vegetables,  and 
poultry,  and  fruit,  and  provisions  of  the  Northwest  more  rapidly  than  the  carnivorous 
tooth  of  time,  aided  by  the  forces  of  decay,  the  fires  were  also  sweeping  across  the  river. 

Next  take  Lake  street.  This  street,  wnich  for  twenty  years  has  stood  as  the  great 
business  street  of  Chicago,  was  totally  destroyed  from  end  to  end,  from  the  lake  to  the 
river,  with  the  contents  of  the  houses.  The  principal  hide  and  leather  houses  occupied 
the  west  end  ;  next  came  several  heavy  hardware  and  cutlery  establishments,  farm 
implement  establishments  and  toy  shops,  some  of  the  largest  silver  and  plated  ware 
establishments,  clothing  houses,  large  retail  dry  goods  houses,  and  below  Dearborn  street 
both  sides  of  the  street  were  occupied  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  with  palatial  marble- 
fronted  rows  where  goods  were  only  sold  at  wholesale ;  tall  buildings  whose  shadows  fell 
entirely  across  the  street  and  terminated  somewhat  up  the  fi'onts  of  the  opposite  side. 
These,  containing  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  goods  of  aU  kinds,  the  labor  of  the  loom, 
from  sunny  France,  from  Italy,  from  India  and  China,  and  the  shops  of  Old  and  of  New 
England,  were  aU  consigned  at  last  to  the  general  limbo  of  total  destruction.  At  the 
foot  of  this  street  stood  several  fine  hotels,  the  Adams,  the  Richmond,  and  Massasoit 
Houses,  and  the  great  raib-oad  union  depot,  a  marvel  of  magnitude  and  art,  whose 
picture  graces  some  of  the  school  geographies.  These,  with  the  freight  buildings  and 
the  warehouses  beyond  almost  to  the  mouth  of  the  harbor,  containing  freight,  and  stores, 
and  graia  ia  quantities  that  nobody  knows,  and  probably  never  wiU,  in  the  aggregate, 
were  all  consumed. 

Than  Randolph  street  followed  The  Lind  block  stands  at  the  bridge,  the  solitary 
structure  left  out  of  all  that  was  valuable,  beautiful,  or  grand  on  the  street.  This 
was  the  street  where  the  krge  hotels  stood,  the  She  man  house,  the  Briggs  house,  the 
Metropolitan,  the  Matteson,  and  several  others.  A  large  number  of  furniture  estab- 
lishments and  toy  establishments  accupied  the  west  end  of  the  street,  while  the  east  end 
was  devoted,  like  Lake  street,  to  wholesale  houses,  includinj  the  great  auction  ho  ses. 
The  Museum,  the  Northwestern  Engraving  Company's  building,  and  several  wholesale 
grocery  establishments  together  with  a  miscellaneous  business,  comprising  retail  estab- 
lishments, banks,  etc.,  which  were  all  consigned  to  ruin  with  the  rest. 


Reed's  Temple  of  Music. 

81  Sixteenth  Street. 


This  well-known  establishment,  with  its  contents,  was  burned  in  the  late 
Fire,  but  fortunately,  was  fully  insured  in  good  Eastern  Companies  The 
new  establishment  occupies  two  entire  floors  of  one  of  tlie  finest  brick 
buildings  in  the  City.     A  large  and  complete  Stock  of 

ONE  HUNDRED  CHICKERING 


P 


N 


Are  now  arriving,  which  will  offer  the  best  opportunity  that  can  be 
found  in  the  West  fur  those  wishing  to  purchase. 
The  Messrs.  Reed's  are  determined  to  re-establish  their  Business  on   a 
basis  as  extensive  as  before  the  Fire,  and  make  their  establishment  now,  as 
then,  the 

GREAT  LEADING  PIANO  HOUSE  CF  THE  WEST. 

Every  one  is  invited  to  call  and  see  them  at  their  new  place,  as  above. 


WHITE  &  ROSSMAN, 

Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealers  in 

HEATERS,  RANGES, 


w 


AND 


House  Furnishing  Goods, 

Formerly  200  East  Lake  street, 

NOW  LOCATED  AT 

No.  146  WEST  MADISON  STREET. 

HICKS   &   WOLFE,   Proprietors,   Troy,  N  Y. 


THE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  63 

Washington  street,  from  the  tunnel  to  the  lake,  comprised  tuany  of  the  best  buildings 
in  the  city.  It  was  largely  devoted  to  banks,  offices,  insurance,  and  real  estate  dealers. 
On  this  street  was  the  Second  Presbyterian  church,  the  Union  bank  building,  the 
Merchants'  insurance  building,  the  Nevadn  house,  the  Opera  house,  St.  James  hotel, 
the  first  National  bank,  the  Board  of  Trade  and  a  large  number  of  other  equally  fine 
blocks  almost  all  of  which  were  marble  fronts. 

Then  all  on  Madison  street  from  the  lake  to  the  bridge.  Some  of  the  famous  build- 
ings on  this  street  were  Farwell  Hall,  McVicker's  theatre,  the  Morrison  block.  Tribune 
building,  Staats  Zeitung  building,  and  St.  Mary's  church.  The  entire  street  was  built 
up  with  blocks  such  as  cannot  be  excelled  in  any  city. 

Monroe  street,  from  river  to  lake,  having  upon  it  the  Lombard  block,  the  Post  office, 
the  Prairie  Farmer  building,  Mnd  a  large  number  of  th''  finest  blocks  in  the  city;  Adams 
street  with  its  cheaper  buildings  at  the  west  end,  its  A.cademy  i  )f  design,  with  most  of 
the  works  of  art  therein  contained,  its  temple  of  Swedenburg,  the  South  side  reservoir, 
and  many  other  buildings;  Quincy  street,  with  its  Pacific  hotel,  fast  approaching  com- 
pletion, and  its  Palmer  house,  the  pri  1e  of  everybody,  with  its  palaces  and  its  dens  of 
infamy  and  shame  Jackson  street,  from  the  residence  of  the  rich  and  elegant  Trinity 
church  on  the  east  to  the  less  pretentious  houses  of'  the  working  class  farther  west,  to 
the  hundreds  of  dens  and  holes  of  darkness  Ht  the  west,  were  illuminated  and  oxygen- 
ized. 

Van  Buren  street,  with  its  bridge,  the  magnificent  railway  depot,  St.    Paul's  church, 

the  Academy  of  Science  buildinii,  and  its  blocks  of  fine  residences  and   acres  of  poor 

ones  were  annihilated. 

Congress  street,  with  its  elegant  Second  Congregational  church.  Harrison  street,  with 

jts  freight-house-:,  the  Jones  school  building,  and  every|thing  else,  except  the  Methodist 

church  on  Wabash  avenue  and  the  houses  ou  Michigan  avenue  fell  before  the  flames. 

And  this  was  the  most  southern  street  whicli  was  burned  from  end  to  end,    from  the 

lake  to  the  river. 

The  east  and  west  streets  only  comprise  in  their  description  a  larger  portion  of  the 

houses  burned. 

On  State  street,  stood  the  magnificent  hook  stores  of  Griggs  &  Co.,  Keen  &  Cooke, 

and  the  Western  News  Company,  Field  &  Leiter's  wholesale  dry  goods  house,  besides 

minv  largH  wholesale  and  retail  houses,  jewelry  establishments,  and  furniture  houses. 

On  Dearborn  street  stood  the  Times  and  Journal  newspaper  offices,  the  Dearborn 
theatre,  and  a  considerable  number  of  bank^  and  large  office  blocks.  La  Salle  street 
was  built  up  with  many  of  the  finest  buildings  to  be  found  in  the  city.  It  was  largely 
occupie<l  by  insurance  agents,  real  esta'e  brokers,  lawyers,  etc.  Betwe<'n  Washington 
a':d  Randolph  street'^  stood  ihe  Court  House,  which  of  course,  shared  the  general  ruin. 

These  details  are  only  tiiven  to  aid  the  reader  in  obtaining  a  proximate  idea  of  the 
losses.  Little  was  saved  except  from  those  houses  which  were  not  attacked  by  the 
fiames  until  several  hours  after  it  was  seen  to  be  inevitable  that  the  city  was  doomed. 

Immense  quantities  ot  goods  were  piledl^upon  the  lake  park  and  on  the  groimds  of 
the  Chicago  Base-Ball  club— pyramids  of  clothing,  boots  and  shoes,  dry  goods,  and 
furniture  from  the  rich  dwellers  along  Michigan  avenue— all  of  ^which  finally  fell  a 
prey  to  the  destroyer. 

A    WESTERN     MERCHANT'S     ESTIMATE     OF    THE     AGGREGATE 
liOSS    BY    THE    CHICAGO    CONFLA.GRATION: 

[From  the  New  York  Express,  Oct.  12.] 
Ten  thousand,  houses  burned,    of    which  2,000  were  business  bouses,  and  8,000 
dwellings. 


MM 


[«  SnMllW©©Bs 


» 


MANUFAOTUBBB    AND    DEALKR    IN 


*"*^*-fflNlB\T.1 


^chool,  ^hwirh  and  Office  ^nrmtniie, 

GLOBES,  MAPS.  CHARTS,  INK  WELLS,  SLATING  FDR  BLACKBOARS,  HO., 

103,  105,  107  Canal  St. 


HENRV  M.  SHERWOOD, 
GEO.  SHERWOOD. 
C.   W.  SHERWOOD. 


( Near  Madison  Street  Bridge.) 


CHICAGO. 


Geo.  &  C.  W.  Sherwood,  SCHOOL  BOOKS,  103  S.  Canal  St. 


JoL 


m    MSm 


yp 


MERCHANT  TAILOR. 

201  17V.  Madison  St. 

(Formerly  202  South  Clark  St.) 
CHICAGO. 


I  still  live  and  am   prepared  to  fill  all  orders    promptly. 
A  choice  Stock  on  hand. 


THE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  65 

2,000  business  houses  at  $25,000 $50,000,000 

8,000  dwellings  averaging  $6,000 48,000,000 

Engines  and  machinery  attached 2,000,000 


Total  loss  in  houses  alone $100,('00,000 

Of  business  houses  probably  ten  contaiued  §1,000,000  each 10,000,000 

20  valuables  at  $500,000  each 10,000,000 

40  contents  worth  $250,000  eadh 10,000,000 

200  worth  $100,000  each 20,000,000 

500  averaging  $30,000  each 15,000,000 

Remaining,  670,  and  averaging  $10,000  each 16,700,000 

Furniture  and  other  contents  of  8,000  dwellings  averaging  $2,00" 16,00<i,000 

Lumber  yards,  railroad  stock  and  craft 2,300,000 

Total  goods  and  wares,  lumber,  railroad  stock  a  d  vessels $100,000,000 

Aggregate  loss  by  fire 20(i,000,000 

We  do  not  think  this  an  excessive  estimite,  and  it  comes  from  a  very  careful  busi- 
ness man  of  the  West,  who  knows  whereof  he  writes.  To  this  lo-s  of  $200,000,000 
in  property  is  to  be  added  the  immense  loss  in  arrested  improvements,  works  stopped, 
and  corresponding  or  worse  calaruities  incidental  to  the  greatot  misfortune  of  the 
times.  But  among  all  tne  people  we  know  of,  the  citizens  of  Chicago  will  bear  their 
losses  in  as  manly  a  way  as  the  very  best.  They  have  shown  patience,  plack,  courage 
and  hope,  with  a  becoming  sorrow  and  resignation,  and  there  is  no  better  capital  than 
this  to  begin  a  new  Ufe. 

CHICAGO    TIMES'    ESTIMATE. 

The  aggregate  loss  has  been  variously  guessed  to  be  two,  three,  four,  five,  and  so  on 
to  eight  or  nine  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  One  wUl  meet  in  an  hour's  walk 
among  the  ruins  twenty  intelligent  men  who  will  avow  that  not  a  dollar  less  than 
$5"0,000  000  of  property  nas  b^ en  destroyed.  This  is  nonsense-  At  the  most  liberal 
estimate,  $500,000,000  would  cover  the  value  of  eveiy  particle  of  property  of  p.very 
kind  that  ever  existed  within  the  corporate  limits  of  Chicago.  It  is  certainly  not  all 
destroyed,  nor  a  half,  nor  a  third  of  it 

A  careful  ca'culation  will  show  that  $150,000,1)00  is  a  liberal  estimate  for  the  value 
that  has  been  destroyed  by  the  conflagration.  The  valuation  of  pniperty  for  city 
taxation  for  the  present  year  was  in  round  numbers  as  tollows  : 

EEAL  ESTATE  (INCLUDING  BUILDINGS.) 

South  Division $ll0,00'',n00 

West  Division 87,000,000 

North  Division 38,000,000 


Total $235,000,000 

PERSONAL   PEOPLRTT. 

South  Division .»- $40,000,(^00 

West  Division 8,000,000 

North  Division 5,000,000 

Total $53,000,000 

The  judgment  of  the  most  trustworthy  experts  is  that  the  assessed  valuation  of  real 
property  is  rather  over  than  under  two  thirds  of  the  actual  cash  value,  upon  an  average 
of  the  whole  city,  while  thut  of  personal  property  is  rather  under  than  over  one-third 


ce^ 


esteim  ^tdr 


~\i=^^ 


a. 


BKASS    FOUNDEES, 


AND 


m  iBDj 


i) 


No.  17  South  Canal  Street 


J.  E.  ALDRICH  &  CO., 


MANUFACTURERS  OF 


m^  ri 


Rearof  Nos.  11, 13, 15  &  17  S.  Canal, 


■^etVY  ^CV^dl0\.\».\v  §\., 


ClEJiXCDJ^G-O- 


FINE  CABINET  WORK  TO  ORDER. 


THE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  67 


of  the  actual  cash  value.  Adding  one-third  to  the  real  property  and  two  thirds  to  the 
personal,  and  the  total  v^lue  of  all  property  in  the  city  of  Chicago  before  the  fire  was 
$469,000,000.  How  much  of  this  value  still  remains?  How  much  of  it  has  the  fire 
destroyed  ? 

Assessment  District  No.  1  included  all  the  South  Division  north  of  Twelfth  street 
The  total  valuation  of  land  and  buildings  in  that  district  was  $64,000,000 — about 
$40  000,000  for  the  former  and.f  24,000,000  for  the  latter.  Much  the  greater  pait  of 
the  personal  property  of  the  South  Division  was  in  that  district — probably  $35,000,000  ; 
total,  $99,000,000.  Deducting  $40,000,000  for  the  land,  and  the  loss,  if  everything 
else  were  destroyed,  would  be  $60,000,000,  nccording  to  the  Assessor's  valuation;  or 
if  this  be  equal  upon  an  average  of  real  and  personal  estate  to  one-half  the  actu  al 
cash  value  (which  is  believed  to  be  quite  within  the  fact),  an  actual  loss  of  .$120,- 
000,000.  Similarly,  the  actual  loss  in  the  North  Division  is  found  to  be  in  the  vicinity 
of  $30  000,000.  But  from  this  calculation  must  be  deducted  all  that  unbumt  portion  of 
Assessment  District  No  1  between  Twelfth  wnd  Harrison  streets,  and  a  small  unburnt 
district  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the  North  Div  sion.  From  it  must  ulso  he  deducted 
the  value  of  all  personal  property  saved  from  the  fire.  To  it  must  be  added  the  loss  in 
the  burnt  district  of  the  West  Division.  Thus,  while  the  calcul  ition  does  not  assume 
the  character  of  precision  it  furnishes  a  trustworthy  approximation,  showing  that 
$1.'>0, 000, 000  will  rover  the  entire  destruction  of  property  by  the  conflagration 

HOMELESS    POPULATION    OF  THE    BURNT    DISTRICT. 

The  following  table  will  show  the  number  of  people  who  lost  their  homes.  The 
figures  are  taken  from  an  oflicial  list.  Of  the  wards  the  Third  and  Sixteenth  wee 
partially  destroyeil  ;  the  others  have  tf>tally  disappeared : 

First  Ward 8,103 

Second  Ward 1-3,449 

Third  Ward 3,500 

Sixteenth  Ward 8,880 

Seventeenth  Ward 18,814 

Eighteenth  Ward ! 18.805 

Nineteenth  Ward 9,237 

Twentieth  Ward 14,522 


96,810 

West  Side  (about) 2,500 

99,310 
The  partially  burned  wards  and  the  portion  of  the  West  Side  destroyed  are  figured 
approximately,  a  large  margin  being  left  on  the  hopeful  side.     The  figures  may  there- 
fore he  relied  upon  as  the  closest  to  the  facts  that  can  be  made.     In  round  numbers, 
100,000  persons  have  been  rendered  homeless. 

CITY    BUILDINGS    DESTROYED. 

The  loss  to  the  city  as  a  corporation  is  considerable,  and  includes  many  fine  build- 
ings, the  most  notable  of  whicti  was  the  Court-House.  The  old  Bridewell  buildings, 
mere  shanties,  were  swept  away.  The  Armory  was  consumed.  Of  school-houses, 
the  Jones,  erected  in  1844,  at  the  corner  of  Polk  and  Clark  streets  ;  the  Kinzie,  on 
Ohio  street ;  the  Ogden,  on  Chestnut  street;  the  Division  street  school  and  the  Lincoln 
are  all  gone.      Of  engine-houses,  the  Rice,  the  Titsworth,  and  all  stationed  on  the 


THE  HARTFORD  FIRE  INS.  CO. 

• — ^ — • — ^ — • 

"OLD  HARTFORD" 

NEVER  SURRENDERS ! 

Pays  from  her  surplus  of 

HER  LOSSES  BY  THE  GREAT  CHICAGO  FIR  E 

Leaving  her  magnificent  capital  of 

ONE  MILLION 

untouched  and  QUARTER  OF  A  WIILLION  SURPLUS  to  spare' 

Oettlie  Best.  Uet  Hartford  Policies. 


Chartered,  1810.    Capital.  $1,000,000. 

Agencies  in  all  prominent  Localities  in  the  United  States 
and  Dominion  of  Canada. 

PRESENT  OFFICE  : 

CORNER  WASHINGTON  &  GREEN  STS. 

Ofiice  Building  to  be  immediately  rebuilt^  49  La  Salle  St. 


THE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  69 


North  Side.  The  magnificent  Water  Works  buikliugs,  with  the  gigantic  engines 
stationed  there,  were  badly  damaged,  but  it  is  thought  they  mMy  be  repaired.  The 
bridges  gone  are  those  at  Polk,  Van  Buren,  Adams,  Wells,  State,  Clark,  and  Rush 
streets.  The  pavemens  in  the  burnt  district  are  nearly  useless,  but  as  tht-y  were  built 
by  special  assessment  the  loss  is  not  immediately  upon  the  corporation. 

A  PARTIAL  lilST  OF  THK  PUBLIC  HALLS,  BLOCKS,  BUILD- 
INGS, HOTELS,  CHURCHES,  CHARITABLE  INSTITUTIONS, 
ACADEMIES,    SCHOOLS,    ETC..   DESTROYED    BY    THE    FIRE. 

The  Chicago  Evening  Journal  of  Oct.  13  contained  the  following  philosophic  view 
of  the  ruins  of  the  great  contiagration.     It  said  : 

Now  that  the  smoke  of  the  burnt  district  has  cleared  away  and  the  general  conf  uaiou- 
at  first  so  confounding,  has  very  considera'-ly  subsided,  we  are  able  to  take  a  birds, 
eye  view  of  the  general  loss,  which  we  give  below  : 

PUBLIC  HALLS  AND  BLOCKS,  ETC. 

Aiken's  Museum,  Andrews'  Building,  Andrews  &  (^tis'  Building,  Arcade  Building, 
Arcade  Court,  Berlin  Block,  Blake's  Building,  Blaney  Hall,  Boone  Block,  Bowen's 
Building,  Burch's  Block,  Calhoun  Block,  Foltz's  Hall,  Chamber  of  Commerce 
Building,  Chicago  Mutual  Life  Insmance  Company,  Chicago  Times  Building,  City 
Armory,  Ciiy  Gas  Works,  Court-House,  City  Water  Works,  Cobb's  Block  (No.  1), 
Cobb's  Building,  Cobb's  B'ock  (No.  2),  Commercial  Building,  Commercial  Insurance 
Company's  Building,  C'rosby's  Building  and  Crosby's  Opera-Hou.'-e,  Custom-IIouse 
and  Post  Office,  Democratic  Hall,  Dickey's  Building,  Dole's  Building,  Drake's  Block, 
Ewing  Block  Exchange  Bank  Buildiiig,  Farwell  Hall,  Fenian  Hall,  Firemen's  Hall, 
Flanders'  Block,  ^tna  Building,  FuUertou  Block,  Gallup's  Building,  Garrett  Block, 
Gerruan  House  Turner  Hall  (Clark  street),  Germauia  Hall,  Hartford  Fii'e  Insurance 
Building,  the  finest  insurance  building  in  the  West ;  Health  Lift  Building,  Holt  s 
Building,  Honore  Block,  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Land  Department  Building,  Jackson 
Hall,  Keep's  Building,  Ke  t'  Building,  King's  Block,  Kinzie  Hall,  Larmon  Block, 
Ligiit  Guard  Hall,  Lincoln  Block,  I/mk's  Block,  Lloyd's  Block,  Lombard  Block, 
Loomis  Building  Lumliermen's  Exchange,  McCarty's  Building,  Mc(Jormiek'8  Building, 
McKee's  Building,  Magic's  Building,  Major  Block,  Marine  Bank  Building,  Masonic 
Temple,  Mt  chnnic's  Building,  Mercantile  Building,  Methodist  Church  Block,  Metro- 
politan Hall  Block,  Monroe  Building,  Morrison  Buildings,  New  Turner's  Hall, 
Newberry  Block,  Noith  Mjrket  Hall,  Norton  Block,  Odd  Fellow's  Hall,  Old  Board  of 
Trade  Buildings  (South  Water  street).  Oriental  Buildings,  Otis  Block  (La  Salle  street), 
Otis  Bull- ling  (State  stri  et),  Pardee's  Building,  Phcenix  Building,  Pomeroy's  Building, 
Pope's  Block,  Portland  Block,  Post  OflSce  Building,  Purple's  Block,  Raymond  Block, 
Reynolds'  Block  Rice's  Building,  Scammon's  Building,  Shepard's  Building,  Sherman 
House  Bloci-,  Smith,  Nixon  &  Ditson's  Hall,  Smith  &  Nixon's  Block,  Sons'  Hall, 
Speeds  Block,  Staats-Zeitung  Building,  Steele's  Block,  Stone's  Building,  Taylor's 
Block,  Teutonia  Hall,  Trade  Assembly  Hall,  Tribune  Building,  Turners'  Building, 
Tyler  Block,  Dhlich's  Block,  North  Division  City  Railway  Stables,  Baer's  Bloc 
Herting's  Building,  Union  Building,  Volk's  Buildmg,  Walker's  Block,  Warner's  Hall 
and  BlocK,  Washington  Block,  Wheeler's  Building,  Wicker's  Building,  Witkowsky 
Hall  Building,  Workingmen's  Hall,  Wright  Bros.'  Building,  Bryan's  Block. 

In  addition  to  the  above  were  a  large  number  of  elegant  buildings  recently  com- 
pleted, or  in  process  of  erection,  representing  a  valuation  approximating  millions  of 
dollars. 

9 


HASKIN,  MARTIN  &  WHEELER, 


MA.NUFACTURERS  OF 


FINE  SALT, 

ANO    DEALERS    IN 

Fine  Coarse  and  Dairy  Salt,  Cements,  Stucco,  &c. 


Utiea  Cement  Company 

^  MANUFACTURERS   OF 

BLACK   BALL   BRAND 

Utica  Cexnexit. 

HASKIN,  MARTIN  &  WHEELER,   Agents, 

Office  temporarily  No.  686  So.   Canal  St., 
CHICAGO,    ILL.. 


79    SOUTH   HALSTED    ST.   79 

D 


§• 


BAGGOT   &  ALMY, 

FORMERLY  OF  163  and  165  LAKE  ST., 


We  are  ready  to  attend  to  all  work  in  the    Plumbing   and    Gas   Fitting 
line.     No  advance  in  Price.     All  work  warranted.     Do  not  fail  to  call  at 

79  S.  Halsted  Street. 


THE  GREAT  CONPIiAGRATION.  71 


CHURCHES. 

North  Bapiist,  Olivet  Baptist,  (colored),  Swedish  Baptist,  North  Star  Baptist, 
Mariners'  Bethel.  New  England  Congregational,  Lincoln  Park  Congregational,  Church 
of  Our  Saviour,  (Epis  ),  Church  of  the  Ascension,  (Episcopal),  Cooper's  Independ- 
ent, St.  Ansgfirius  (Swedish  Episcopal),  St.  James  (Episcopal),  Trinity  (Episcopal), 
Trinity  Mission,  Evangelical  Association  of  North  America,  Evangelical  Second 
Church,  Free  Evangelical,  English  Lutheran  ( Ontario  street),  First  German  Evaugelical 
Lutheran,  St.  Paul's  Evangelical  Lutheran  Trinity,  First  German  Unite'l  Evangelical 
Lutheran  St.  Paul's  Illinois  Street  Independent  Mission,  Jewij'h  Church  ot  the  North 
Side,  Kehileth  Benai,  Shalom  (Jewish),  First  Methodist,  Wabash  Avenue  Methodist 
(scorched),  Grace  Methodist,  Grant  Place  Methodist,  Dixon  street  Metbodist,  Van 
Buren  street  German  Methodist,  Clybouru  avenue  Germao  Methodist,  First  Scandina^ 
yian  Methodist,  Grace  Scandinavian  Methodist,  Huron  street  Bethel,  Bethel  African 
Methodist,  Quinn's  African  Methodist  Chapel,  First  Norwegian  Evangelical  Lutheran, 
Swedish  Evangelical  Lutheran,  First  Presbyterian,  Second  Presbyterian,  Westminster 
Presbyterian,  FuUerton  Avenue  Presbyterian,  North  Prestoyterian,  Orchaid  street 
Presbyterian,  Bremer  street  Independent  Mission,  Newsboy's  Independent  Mission  and 
Home,  Erie  street  Presbyterian  Mission,  Burr  Presbyterian  Mission,  Tammany  Hall 
Mission,  Catholic  Cathedral  of  the  Holy  Name,  St.  Mary's  Catholic  Church  aud  Uni- 
versity, the  C^atholic  Ecclestical  Palace,  St.  Louis'  Catholic,  St.  Joseph's  Catholic,  St. 
Michael's  Catholic,  Church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  St,  Rose  of  Lima  Catholic, 
Convent  and  Academy  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  Convent  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  (North 
Side),  Convent  of  N'  'tre  Dame,  House  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  Conventiof  the  Sisters  of 
the  Good  Shepherd,  Convent  of  the  Benedictine  Fathers,  Convent  of  the  Benedictine 
Nun*),  Convent  of  the  Redcmptionist  Fathers,  Swedenborgian  Temple  of  the  New 
Jerusalem,  North  Swedenborgian  Mi^sion,  Umtarian  Church  of  the  Misslah,  (R.  L. 
Collier),  Unity  Church  (Robert  Collyer's),  St.  Paul's  Universalist. 

BANKS. 

Chicago  Clearing  House  ;  First,  Second,  Third,  Fourth,  Fifth,  Cook  County,  Com- 
mercial, City  Manufacturi  rs'.  Merchants'  Mechanics',  Loan  'and  Trust,  North- 
western, Traders',  and  Union  National  Banks ;  International  Mutual  Trust 
Company  ;  Merchants'  Savings,  Loan  and  Trust  Company  ;  Commercial  Loan  Com- 
pa'y  ;  Fnrmers',  Merchants'  and  Mechanics' ;  State  Savings  Institution  ;  Heal  Estate, 
Loan  and  Trust  Company  ;  Union  Insurance  and  Trust  Company ;  Hiberaian  Banking 
Association;  Chicago  Bulding  and  Loan  Associations;  Swedish  Commercial ;  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Commerce  ;  Marine  Bank. 

PRIVATE   BANKERS. 

J.  M.  Adsit,  A.  C.  &  O.  F.  Badger,  Baldwin,  Walker  &  Co.,  H.  Clausenius  &  Co., 
Uliman,  Wreuu  &  Co.,  Cushman  &  Hardin,  Folansbee  &  Son,  Henry  Greenebaum  & 
Co,  Greenebaum  &  Foreman,  Lunt,  Preston  &  Kean  ;  Mayer,  Leopold  &  Stelner; 
Meadowcroft  Brothers,  NichofE  &  Co.,  Louis  Sapieha,  J.  R.  Shepherd  &  Co  ,  Lazarus 
Silverman,  A  O.  Slaughter,  Geo.  C.  Smith  &  Bro.,  Snydacker  &  Co  ,  James  B  Storey 
&  Co.,  Wilkins  &  Stone,  Ferd.  S.  Winslow,  Collins  &  Uliman. 

HOTELS. 

Adams  House,  American  House,  Brevoort  House,  Briggs  House,  Central  House, 
City  Hotel,  Clarendon  House,  Clifton  House,  Continental,  Eagle,  European  ( Dearborn 
street),  European  (State   street),  iflverett,    French   (WeUs  street),    French    (Kinzie 


WM.  B.  PHILLIPS,  PreBident.  ANDREW  MOODY,  VicePres't.  GEO.  E.  CHURCH,  Sec'y 


m  &  FIILIIPS  HllF'i;  CO 


MANUFACTURERS     OF 


Sash,  Doors,    Blinds, 


STAIR  RAILING,  POSTS,  BALUSTERS, 


MOULDINGS,  FLOORING,  SIDING,  &c. 


DEALERS  IN  LUMBER,  LATH,  SHINGLES. 

Principal  Office,  cor.  Clark  &  12tli  Sts. 


r     t^  •»    fCOR,  CLARK  &  l'2th  STS. 
lactones  ^^^q^   22d  <b  PISK  STS. 


CHICAGO. 


The  above  cut  represents  our  Establishment  cor.  Clark  and  12th  sts.  OurEstabUsh- 
ment  cor.  22d  and  Fisk  streets  is  fully  as  extensive^ — the  cuts  of 
which  were  all  lost  in  the  gieat  Fire. 


THE  GREAT  CONPIiAGRATIOir.  73 


Street),  Fort  Dearborn  House,  Garden  City,  Girard,  Hatch,  Hess,  Garni,  Howard 
House,  Haber  House,  Illinois  House,  Jervis  House,  Palmer,  Bigelow,  Ogden  House, 
Laclede,  Mansion  House,  Massoit  House,  Matteson  House,  Moulton  House,  Metropoli- 
tan Hotel,  Michigan  Central  Railroad  Hotel,  Bethel  Home,  Nevada,  New  Yorii, 
Orient,  Potomac,  RasTnond  House,  Revere,  Rock  Island,  Schall,  Sherman,  St.  James', 
Tremont,  Washington,  Western  Eagle,  and  Wright's. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  should  be  mentioned  at  least  a  dozen  other  stmctures  in 
course  of  erection  and  completion,  representing  a  valuation  of  several  hundred 
thousand  dollars. 

RAILWAY    DEPOTS. 

Great  Union  Central  Depot,  (including  the  Illinois  Central,  Michigan  Central,  and 
Chicago.  Burlington  &  Quincy),  Southern  Michigan  and  Rock  Island,  Northwestern 
(Wells  street). 

TEIiEGRAPH    COMPANIES. 

Western  Union,  Metropolitan,  Great  Western,  Atlantic  and  Pacific, 

EXPRESSES. 

Adams',  American  Merchants'  Union,  United  States,  Brink's. 

NEWSPAPERS,    ETC. 

Evening  Journal,  Tribune,  Times,  Republican,  Post,  Mail,  Ledger,  Democrat, 
AgerdyrkningandOeconomic,  American  Churchman,  American  Messenger,  American, 
ischer  Botschafter,  Baptist  Quarterly,  Baptist  Teacher,  Catholic  Weekly,  Chicago  City 
Directory,  The  Chicago  Mercantile  Journal,  Commercial  Bulletin,  Commercial  Ex 
press  and  Produce  Reporter,  Daily  Law  Reeord,  Daily  Progi-ame,  Daily  Record,  Dis- 
patch, Druggists'  Price  Current,  Dry  Goods  Prlce-List,  .Journal  of  Commerce,  Legal 
News,  Olfice  Directory,  Railway  Review,  Real  Estate  Journal,  Union  (German),  Staats 
Zeitung,  Child's  Paper,  Child's  World,  Dagalyet,  Daily  Commercial  Report  and 
Market  Review,  Der  Deutche  Arbeiter,  Der  Hausfreund,  Evening  Lamp,  Hemlandet, 
Hemlandet  Ratta,  Home  Circle,  Volks  Zeitnug,  Catholische  Wochenblatt,  Little  Cor- 
poral, Live  Stock  Reporter,  Macedonian  and  Record,  Methodist  Publishing  House, 
National  Baptist,  New  Covenant,  News  from  the  Spirit  World,  Northwestern  Review, 
Publishers'  Auxiliary,  Railroad  Gazette,  School  Festival,  Sunday  School  World, 
Svenska  Amerikanaveu  Advance,  Art  Review,  The  Arts,  Bright  Side,  Courier,  The 
Chronicle,  Congregational  Review,  Fremad,  Herald  ot  the  Coming  Kingdom,  Land- 
Owner,  Inside  Track,  Liberal,  Interior,  Juxbruder,  Life-Boat,  Lyceum  Banner,  Na 
tional  Prohibitionist,  Observer,  Pharamcist,  Prairie  Farmer,  Religio-Philosophical 
Journal,  Skandinavian,  Spectator,  Standard  Reporter,  Western  Odd  Fellow,  Western 
Rural,  Soldiers'  Friend,  Westliche  Unterhallings  Blaeter,  Workingman's  Advocate, 
Young  Reaper,  and  the  following 

MAGAZINES- 
Lakeside  Monthly,  Manford's,  Home  Journal,  Medical  Examiner,   Bureau.   Chicago 
(Mrs.  Rayne's)  Missionary,   Mystic  Star  Monliily,   Sunday  Scholar,    Sunday  School 
Helper,  Sunday  School  Teacher,  Voice  of  Masory. 

LIBRARIES. 

Historical  Society,  Law  Institute,  Metropolitan  Hall  Library  Association,  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  Union  Catholic,  together  with  many  others  of  great  value. 


ADAMS  EXPRESS  CO., 


mm 

Lightniiig  Line 


TO    AND    FROM 


NEW  YORK,  BOSTON,  BALTIMORE, 

WASHINGTON,  PHILIDELPHIl  &  NEW  BNGLIND  STITBS, 


— VIA- 


Pittsburgl)  Ft.  Wayne  &  Penn.  Central  Rail  Roads. 

JOHN  L.  HOPKINS,  Agent. 


W  MM  LIFE  INS  CO., 

PLINY  FREEMAN,  President. 

All  Books,  Receipts  and  Papers  belonging  to  the  North 
western  Department  were  saved  from  the  Great  Chicago  Fire. 

To  men  of  ability  out  of  business  and  who  desire  permanent  and  profi- 
table employment,  Mr.  MgKindley  offers  a  CAPITAL  CHANCE  in  the 
following  Card. 

The  Globe  is  one  of  the  Standard  Companies  of  the  country  and  in 
too  well  known  to  need  comment. 

The  Ghbe  Mutval  Life  Insurance  Company  of  New  York,  wish  to  engage  men  of 
intelligence,  integrity  and  business  ability,  to  solicit  applications  for  Life  Insurance  in 
Michigan,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota  and  Nebraska  on  liberal  terms. 

Agencies  in  all  parts  of  the  above  States  can  be  formed  into  Districts  of  from  three 
(3)  to  ten  (10)  counties 

To  Agents  thm-aiigldy  conversant  with  the  btisiness,  rare  inducements  will  be  offered. 

Agents  make  nontracts  at  this  oflSce  with,  and  work  directly  for  the  Company  in 
the  above  territory. 

Address,  with  references,  J.  G.  MoKindley,  Manager  Northwestern-  Department. 

23  SOUTH  HALSTED  ST.  near  Washington, 

CHICAGO,    ILL. 


THE  GBEAT  CONFLAGRATION.  75 


CITY    SCHOOLS. 

Dearborn,  Jones,  Kinzie,  Franklin,  Ogden,  Newberry  (scorched),  Pearson  Street 
Primary,  Elm  Street  Primary,  North  Branch  Primary,  La  Salle  Street  Primaiy,  Third 
Avenue  Primary. 

INDEPENDENT    SCHOOLS. 

Holy  Name,  St.  Mary's,  St.  Joseph's,  Immaculate  Conception,  First  Lutheran,  First 
United  German  Lutheran,  St.  Paul's  Second  and  Third,  Italian  School,  German  and 
English. 

ACADEMIES    AND    SEMINARIES. 

Academy  of  Sciences,  Christian  Brothers,  Holy  Name,  St.  Francis  Xavier,  Bryant 
&  Chase's  Commercial,  Dearborn  Ladies'  Seminary,  Dyhrenfurth's  Commercial,  Gold- 
beck's  Conservatory  of  Music,  Law  Department  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  Rash 
Medical  College,  College  of  Pharmacy,  Homeopathic  Academy  of  Medicine,  Charity 
Dispensary,  Hahnemann  Medical  Dispensary,  Bennett  Medical  and  Surgical  College 

HOSPITALS. 

Women  and  Children's,  Protestant  Deaconess',  Small  Pox,  Alexian  Brothers', 
United  States  Marine  Hospital,  Jewish. 

ASY.LUMS. 

Newsboys'  and  Bootblacks'  Home,  Nursery  and  Half-Orphan,  St  Vincent,  House 
of  Providence,  St.  Paul's  Presbyterian  Orphan  Asylum,  St.  Mary's  and  St.  Joseph's 
Orphan  Asylum,  Charitable  Eye  and  Ear-  Infirmary. 

IRREPARABLE    LOSSES. 

The  losses  by  the  destruction  of  buildings,  goods,  and  commercial  paper  and  prop- 
erty by  the  great  fire  are  not  the  only  g>-eat  losses.  Treasures  of  literature,  science 
and  art  were  consumed  which  caa  never  be  restored  or  replaced,  and  which  no 
insurance  risks  can  ever  give  back  to  us. 

Among  these  are  the  invaluable  collections  of  books,  pamphlets  and  manuscripts 
in  the  Historical  Society's  well-filled  rooms;  the  priceless  scientific  coikctioos  in  the 
rooms  of  the  academy  of  sciences  ;  the  vast  collection  of  curiosities,  wonders  and 
valuables  in  Colonel  Wood's  Museum ;  the  oil  paintings  in  the  Opt^ra  House  and 
Academy  of  Design  Art  Galleries,  and  in  the  score  of  artists'  studios ;  the  choice  art 
collections  and  libraries  in  the  private  residences  of  wealthy  citizens  on  the  South 
Side  avenues  and  on  the  North  Side  ;  the  libraries  of  the  Library  Association  and  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association ;  and  the  vast  slocks  of  fine  hooks  and  pictures  in 
the  great  State  street  book-stores ;  and  other  losses  only  apparently  less  miportant 
because  less  generally  known. 

The  value  of  many  of  these  rare  treasures  of  literature,  art  and  wonder,  cannot  be 
computed  by  money  considerations.  They  were  beyond  price,  beyond  the  power  of 
purchase,  and  are  beyond  the  power  of  human  wealth  or  ability  to  replace. 

HOW    CHICAGO    RESUMES    BUSINESS. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  New  York  Tribnne: 

Sib  :  As  a  little  indication  of  the  go-ahead  spirit  of  Chicago,  I  send  you  a  copy  of 
the  first  and  only  telegram  received  by  the  American  News  Company,  since  the  fire, 
from  their  house  in  Chicago,  the  W  estern  News  Campany,  dated  Oct.  11,  1871 : 

Send  two  cases  steamboat  cards. 


FOLEY'S 


AND 


SAMPLE    ROOM, 

Co7\  Canal  and  Randolph  Streets. 


Uii<iei*  E6ai*iies  liou^e. 


«^s- 


»^  «* 


® 


ESTABLISHED  1857. 


m 


*#Wi, 


PreiXLium  Wig  Maker, 

143  "West  l^SLdi&oid  St.,  01iioa.go, 


Importers  and  Mnnufactureis  of 

HUMAN   AND   IMITATION   HAIR 


p 


(LATE  No.  77  CLARK  STREET,) 

No.  143  WEST  MADISON  STREET, 

W.  BAKKOW.  CHICAGO. 


THE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  77 

$500  worth  of  Faber's  pencils 

$300  worth  of  Eagle  pencils. 

One  case  each,  5  and  6,  in  German  S.  S.  pencils. 

One  cask  Arnold's  quarts. 

$18,000  worth  of  school  books,  assorted. 

200  gross  Gillott's  303  ppns. 

100  gross  Gillott's  404  pens. 

50  gross  Gillott's  170  pens. 

100  gross  Estabrook's  pens,  assorted. 

One  cask  Arnold's  pints  and  hulf  pints. 

Not  one  word  about  fire  or  other  calamity  ;  simply  business,  nothing  more,  nothing 
less.  This  "move  on  ''  spirit  made  the  old  Chicago,  and  will  make  the  new,  grander 
and  more  beautiful. 

Sinclair  Tousey, 
President  of  the  Ame  iinn  New-<  Company. 

New  York,  Oct.  11,  1871. 

An  estimate  made  by  the  Western  News  Company,  about  eighteen  months  ago, 
gives  the  following  as  their  current  sales  of  each  edition  of  the  periodicals  named  : 

Ledger,  25,000  copies;  New  York  Weekly,  16,000;  Saturday  Night,  14,000;  Har- 
per's Weekly,  5,.500;  Chimnej  Corner,  5,000;  Western  World,  3,500;  Fu-eside 
Companion,  3,500;  Harper's  Bazar,  3,000;  Day's  Doings,  3,000;  Frank  Leslie's 
Newspaper,  2,500;  Police  News,  2,500;  Appletons'  Journal,  2,400;  Waverlv  Maga- 
zine,  2,300;  Sporting  Times,  1,800;  Hearth  and  Home,  1,000;  Spirit  of  the  Times, 
500;  Nation,  200;  New  York  Citizen,  75;  Harper's  Monthly,  7.O0O;  Godey,  4,000  5 
Atlantic,  2,000  ;  Peter-on,  2,000;  Our  Young  Folks,  l,e00;  Putnam,  750;  Galaxy, 
700;  Our  Boys  and  Girls,  500  ;  Overland,  250  ;  Lippmcott,  200  ;  Riverside,  200. 

BIRTH    AND    DEATH. 

On  som-  unhappy  women  the  throes  of  child-birth  fell  at  this  supreme  hour.  One 
Indy,  a  guest  at  a  hotel,  was  wrapped  in  a  bl  .nket  by  her  busbanrl,  who  bore  her 
tenderly  away  through  tJic  crowd  and  flames.  She  lay  there,  silent,  and  he  thought 
that  she  had,  perhaps,  fainted.  Still  pursued  by  the  fire,  he  hurried  northward,  and  it 
was  only  at  Lincoln  Park  tliat  he  paused,  and  unfolded  the  covering  only  to  find  that 
Love  had  carried  Death  in  its  arms. 

Another  woman,  in  the  pangs  of  maternity,  could  only  crawl,  with  her  hour  old 
babe,  to  the  do  r  of  h  r  house,  where  she  was  foimd,  stark  and  dead,  with  her  child  in 
her  lap,  naked     It  was  removed  by  a  pitying  woman — whither  ? 

Out  on  Lincoln  Park  during  that  awful  Monday  nitiht,  three  children  were  bom 
only  to  die.  Of  the  moth'-rs,  two  survived;  but  the  third  succumbed  to  the  cold  and 
exhaustion. 

PHIL.    SHERIDAN'S    PLUCK. 

One  of  the  very  few  men  in  Chicago  who  did  not  lose  heart  or  head  in  presence  of 
the  calamity  was  General  Sheridan.  He  was  everywhere  and  always  cheery  and  self- 
possessed.  Nowhere  was  he  of  greater  service  than  in  condurtmg  the  blasting  opera- 
tions at  the  corner  of  tJarrision  and  St^te  streets.  It  was  owing  to  him,  indeed,  that 
the  fire  was  checked  here.  Through  a  fiery  rain  of  falling  sparks  he  passed  into  the 
centre  building  of  a  large  terrace,  a  man  on  each  side  of  him  bearing  a  barrel  of 
powder.  The  powder  was  placid  in  the  cellar,  the  fuse  attached,  the  men  retired. 
10 


V 


^^E  SHo/^ 


THIS  RELIABLE  AND  POPULAR  LINE, 

OFFER    THE    SAME 

First  Class  Acconimodatioiis 

TO  THE  TEAVELING  PUBLIC  AS  BEFORE  THE  FIRE. 

4 EXPRESS  TRAINS, 
DAILY  ARRIVE  AND  DEPART  TROM  THE 

New  Depot  on  Polk  Street, 

With  that  Regularity  which  has  made  the 

LAKE  SHOEE  LINE 

Througli  Tickets  and  Berths  in  Sleeping  Coaches 

CAN   BE  PROCURED  IN 

l:^e'w  Depot  on  Polk  Street, 

AND  AT  S.  W.  COR.  OF  CANAL  AND  MADISON  STS. , 

AND  PASSKNOER  STATION  2^^d  ST. 

CHAS.  F.  HATCH,  F.  E.  MORSE, 

Oen,  Sup't,  Cle%>eland,  O.  Oen.  ffeatem  Pass.  A.gt.,  Chicago,  HI. 


THE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATIOK.  79 

The  General  stood  alone  (m  the  steps,  waving  the  crowd  back  and  shouting  at  the  top 
of  his  voice,  "Back  !  back,  all  of  you  for  your  lives!"  When  the  street  hud  been 
cleared,  he  gave  the  signal,  tbe  match  was  applied  by  the  soldier,  who  hastily  retreat- 
ed, the  General  walked  slowly  away,  last  of  all,  and  only  to  a  short  distance.  A  loud 
explosion,  and  the  ring  of  falling  masonry  eosucd,  and  when  the  smoke  cleared  away 
a  great  gap  was  opened  in  the  path  of  the  advancing  fire,  and  its  progress  was  checked. 
But  this  was  not  sufficient  To  the  width  of  the  street  it  was  desired  to  add  the  width 
of  a  house  at  the  corner.  The  owner  protested  and  entreated,  but  in  vain.  What 
availed  petty  private  interests  in  a  moment  of  su 'h  peril  "The  house  shall  go  di>wn, 
by ,"  said  Sheridan,  '"pull  away,  boys."  A  hundred  willing  hands  were  instan- 
taneously at  work,  there  was  a  crackle  and  a  crash,  and  the  building  melted  into  a 
mass  of  shapeless  ruin.     South  Chicago  was  saved. 

! 

t  — ^-. — .* 


CHICAGO   AS    IT   WAS. 

A  half  a  century  ago  there  was  nothing  of  Chicago  save  a  marsh  lying  at  the  foot 
of  Lake  Michigan,  with  prairies  at  its  back.  Indians  gathered  there,  because  theoce 
they  could  conveniently  re^ch  the  Southern  and  the  Western  rivers  and  the  great 
lakes.  A  few  whites  came  at  irregular  intervals  to  trade  with  the  red  men,  and  forty 
year-i  ago  there  was  written,  •'  The  villa<ie  presents  no  cheering  pronpects.  As  a  place 
of  busiu'  88  it  offers  no  in  lucement  to  the  settler."  In  1795  the  Potawal amies  had 
ceded  to  the  United  States  a  tract  of  lanil  six  miles  square,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Chi- 
cago (Uver. 

In  1804  the  United  States  erected  thereon  Fort  Dearborn,  which  was  destroyed 
during  the  War  of  1812,  and  rebuilt,  sheltering,  in  1832,  800  inhabitants,  and 
the  taxes  in  that  year  were  f  1.50  In  183:^  the  United  States  expended  $30,000  in 
dre<lging  ou'  the  Chicago  River,  and  in  1834  a  freshet  swept  away  the  bar  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  opening  the  stream  to  the  largest  lake  craft.  There  was  nothing 
of  this  description,  however,  in  the  vicinity  of  Chicago  at  that  time.  Two  years 
liter  the  population  was  4,000.  In  1849  the  first  locomotive  came  and  halted  ten 
mile '  below  the  city.  Lake  commerce  had  grown  beyond  all  calculation  ;  the  Indians 
were  di  appearing;  the  arr  val  of  one  locomotive  hnd  revolutionized  sentiment  on  the 
subjc'  t  of  railroads,  as  well  us  the  mcthotls  of  magnifying  traffic.  The  marshes  were 
already  partially  drained ;  the  canal  joining  the  Chicago  and  Illinois  river  was  in 
active  operation,  and  the  trade  in  coal  and  stone  had  gained  considerable  importanct^. 
The  popu'ation  from  1840  to  1871  has  been  as  follows:  1840,  4,855;  1850,  29,9fi3; 
1860,  110,973;  1870,  299,227;  1871  (Edward's  report),  334,270. 

THE    RAPID    GROWTH    OF    THE    CITY. 

The  rapid  growth  of  Chicago  m  wealth,  population,  commerce,  and  all  the  elements 
.  which  go  to  make  up  a  prosperous  commonwealth,  has  been  one  of  the  marvels  of 
our  age.  The  first  white  child  born  within  what  are  now  the  corporate  limits  of  the 
city  of  Chicago  is  yet  in  the  prime  of  life,  while  the  mere  collection  of  huts  which 
exi-ted  at  the  time  had  expanded  into  a  city  of  nearly  a  third  of  a  million  population, 
busy  with  the  pursuits  of  ,a  hundred  trades,  abounding  in  public  and  private  palaces, 
rich  in  the   treasures  of  art,  and  possessing  all  the  refinements  and  elegancies  of 


HEATH  &  MILLIGAN 


MANUi^^ACTURERS  OF 


ZIITC, 


AND 


COLORS, 


170  and  172  Randolph  St. 


.    1^*  Until  the  completion  of  our  New  Store, 

we  shall  be  at 

103  WestRandolpli  st. 


THE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  81 


civilized  life.  Passing,  in  its  marvelous  career,  the  older  cities  of  the  continent,  it 
has  pushed  bteadily  forward  for  the  front  rank,  until  it  stood  fourth  in  population  and 
importance,  exceeded  only  by  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Brooklyn 

The  causes  which  have  contributed  to  this  rapid  development  are  various.  We 
became  the  depot  from  which  the  productions  of  our  rich  aud  boundless  prairies  were 
sent  over  the  lakes  to  the  older  Eastern  cities,  wh.le  the  retm-ning  craft  brought  the 
products  of  Eistern  manufactories,  together  with  tho-isands  of  immigr-inis  who 
sought  horn  js  among  us  Capital,  energy,  and  forethought  soon  began  tbat  network 
of  railways  wnich  have  gone  oo  expanding,  until  Chicago  has  become  tbe  focal  point 
for  nearly  ten  thousand  miles  of  road,  reaching  by  its  connections  nearly  every  point 
of  the  habitable  globe.  Into  its  grannries  the  product  of  the  vast  arable  plains  around 
us  huve  been  gathered,  and  numerous  parallel  railways,  and  an  immense  marine  carry 
them  onward  to  the  sea. 

The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  various  branches  of  trade  which  have  ministered 
tt)  the  city  s  wealth  and  population.  The  total  exhibits  the  receipts  and  shipments  of 
the  articles  named,  for  the  year  1870,  together  with  the  total  valuatitm  of  receipts. 

The  estimated  value  of  the  receipts  of  the  articles  named  for  the  year  1871  is  as 
follows : 


Article.  Value. 

Iron  ore .  .    $16,0(i0,000 

Shirigles 2,500,000 

Lath 1,01.0,000 

Highwrnes 6,000,000 

Boots  and  shoes        8,00'  i  000 

Drugs  and  chemicals            . .  4,000,000 

Hardware         5,000,000 

Jewelry 6,<J00,000 

Dry  Goods 35,000,000 

Groceries 53,000,000 


Article.  Value. 

Flour                     f  8,000,000 

Wheat".'.'...' 18,000,000 

Corn 13,000,000 

Oais 4,000,(100 

Pork 2,000,000 

Dressed  hogs 6,000,0(»0 

Live  hogs 45,000,000 

Tobacco 6,(100,000 

Cattle 22,000.000 

Coal    8,000,000 

Lumber •  16,000,000 

The  total  trade  is  estimated  at  $400,000,000,  showing  an  increase  of  some  nine  per 
cent  on  a  gold  basis  over  that  of  the  previous  year.  We  had  before  the  fire  sevemeen 
large  grain  elevators,  having  an  aggregate  capacity  of  11,580,000  bushels,  the  largest 
accommodating  1,700,000  bushels. 

To  carry  on  this  immense  traffic,  eighteen  banks  were  in  operation,  with  an  aggre- 
gate capital  of  $10,000,000,  wi  h  nearly  $17,000,COO  of  deposits.  The  total  amount 
of  checks  passing  through  the  Clearing  House  during  the  year  1870  waa  $810,000,000. 

To  accommodate  this  traffic,  aud  the  vast  travel,  not  less  than  one  hundred  passenger 
trams  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  freight  trains  arrived  and  departed  daily,  while  full 
seventy-five  vessels  loaded  and  unloaded  every  day  at  our  wharves. 

For  the  municipal  year  of  1870-71  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  city  was 
$277,000,000,  of  which  $224,000,000  was  real  and  $53,000,000  personal.  This, 
however,  represents  scarcely  more  than  a  half  of  the  actual  value,  which  was  in 
excess  of  $500,000,000.  The  taxes  collected  for  that  year  were  $3,000,000,  besides 
nearly  an  equal  amount  for  special  improvements,  grading,  paving,  and  curbing.  The 
personal  property  was  classed  as  follows  :  Individual  personal  property,  $43,647,920 ; 
bank  personal  property,  $7,511,600;  vessels,  $1,183,430. 

The  area  of  the  city,  according  to  the  last  arrangement  of  the  boundaries,  including 
parks,  public  squares,  etc,  was  about  35  square  miles,  or  22,400  acres.  The  number 
of  dwellings,  according  to  the  last  enumeration,  was  nearly  60,000,  of  which  about 
40,000  were  wood. 


Turned  out  Oct.  9. 


Printing  OfiBce  running  Oct.  11. 


CULVER,  FAIIE,  HOYNE  &  CO, 

11, 13, 15  ITorth  Desplaines  St., 


OHICA.eK>, 


m  iwmm, 

BLANK  BOOK  MANUFACTURERS, 

Our  Printing  Office  and  Bindery  are  now  in  fall 
operation. 

Orders  for  BLANK  BOOKS  promptly  tilled. 

%m  BOOM  ClRElfLLV  REBOUND. 

100  CASES  PAPER  RECEIVED  OCTOBER  21. 

IShipments  of  General  Stationery  daily  received. 

Shall  be  ready  to  fill  all  orders  from  the  trade  j^romptly 
about  first  of  November. 


I_EGAL_    BLANKS. 
We  respectfully  announce  to  Attorneys,  Public  Oflicers, 
etc.  that  sample  sheets  of  our  Blanks  were   preserved    in  our 
vaults  and  are  novr  being  i-eprinted  as  rapidly  as  possible. 


®mm^&mo  AWTmm  ^mi; 


3  JJ'^jOj 


inJBgaPQDiDDPBa 


followine  public  bnlldinn: 
iw.     7.  "  Evening  Journal* 
Depot.     The  dotted  sectlone 
gan  Central  Depot. 


c 


B 


op 


abo 


etc. 
vau\ 


I  If     II'  THE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  83 

Chicago  had  thus  become  a  miracle  of  material  development,  and  had  achieved  a 
reputation  known  wherever  civilization  existed.  By  rapid  stages,  it  had  advanced  to 
the  position  of  the  railroad  city  of  the  railroad  State  of  the  Union.  It  had  become  the 
center  of  the  grain  trade  of  the  Northwest,  and  had  invented  the  elevator  system  to 
accommodate  this  immense  agricultural  interest.  It  bad  grown  to  be  the  emporium  of 
the  pork-packing  busim  ss  of  the  entire  country.  Its  relations  to  the  hide  and  leather 
industry  had  assumed  vast  proportions,  which  were  becoming  still  m<re  important  and 
vital.  It  had  grasped  and  securely  held  the  chief  market  for  the  sale  of  all  descriptions 
of  agricultural  labor-saving  machinery.  It  was  gradually,  but  surely,  wresting  from 
the  East  supremacy  in  the  tea  trade,  the  finer  qualities  beiog  already  imported  to  this 
point,  and  distribut*  d  therefrom,  to  all  parts  of  the  interior  of  the  continent.  In 
groceries;  in  drugs;  in  oils;  in  dry  goods;  in  crockery;  in  hardware;  in  stoves;  in  hats, 
boots  and  shoes;  in  ready-made  clothing;  and  In  a  variety  of  other  lines  of  business, 
Chicago  had  already  secured  a  broad  and  expanding  market,  and  was  rapidly  gaining 
the  ascendency.  Direct  importations  from  foreign  countries  were  daily  gathering 
new  strength,  promising  the  day  soon  when  this  eity  would  be  entirely  independent  of 
all  tidewater  marts.  The  horizon  (^f  our  future  was  aglow  with  the  brightest 
promises.  With  every  local  and  surrounding  advantage  on  our  side,  we  stood  where 
New  York  city  had  ftood  in  1840,  as  regards  population,  and  at  the  same  rato  of  in- 
crease, the  year  1900  promised  to  give  us  inhabitants  to  the  number  of  three  millions 

Its  elevators,  its  bridges  its  tunnels,  its  water- works,  its  changed  current  of  the  river, 
its  commercial  fleet,  its  railroad  communications,  its  lumber  yards,  its  push  and  vim, 
hadbeceme  a  wonder  wherever  the  efforts  of  enterprise  were  heralded  and  appreciated. 
Ohicatjo  was  everywhere  a  name  synonymous  with  all  that  is  progressive,  sagacious 
and  successful. 


CHICAGO  AS  IT  IS. 

JUST    AFTER    THE    FIRE. 

To  eyes  that  see  no  further  than  the  present,  Chicago  is  nothing  more  than  one  vast 
net  work  of  prostrate  ruins,  contemplating  while  hope  itself  may  feel  discouraged.  A 
track  one  mile  wide  and  five  miles  long  presents  one  vast  stretch  of  ashes  and  debris. 
Where  are  the  tracer  of  architectural  stateliuess  ?  Where  are  the  proud  structures,  the 
magnificent  stores  and  buainess  palaces,  which  so  lately  had  been  the  glory  of  Chicago? 
Vanished  as  if  before  the  wand  of  an  enchanter.  Nothing  left  were  to  indicate  their 
character — nothing  but  the  repulsive  opposite  of  their  greatness  and  beauty.  Here, 
where  stood,  a  proud,  exalting  city — liere,  where  throbbed  the  the  heart  of  its  com- 
mercial energy — is  nothing  but  a  rugged,  chaotic  expanse  of  desolate  destruction— an 
unsightly  broken  plain,  still  hot  with  unsubdued  flame,  and  rolling  upward  a  dun, 
.:!olored  \;loud  of  smoke.  Here  and  there  are  walls  in  which  are  large  gaps,  wnd  the 
jagged  peaks  rise  with  bleak  uneven  profile,  while  between  such  stark  sentinels  are 
wide  spaces  covered  with  that  bleak  debris  which  only  a  tempest  of  flames  can  leave 
behind.  The  lines  of  streets  are  obliterated,  for  so  intense  has  been  the  action  of  the 
heat,  and  the  force  of  miles  of  simultaneous  flame,  fanned  by  a  wind-storm,  operating 
with  all  the  intensity  of  some  stupendous  blow-pipe  that  houses  had  not  merely 
crumbled  and  fell,  but  bm-st  open  and  scattered  the  materials  of  construction  on  all 


THE  GREAT  FIRE  CAUSES  1  DELAY  TO  THE 


OP   THE 


MICHIGAN  CENTRAL 


AND 


Great    Western    R'ys. 

Four  Passenger  Trains  Leave  Chicago  Daily, 

FROM  THE  FOOT  OF 

TWENTY-SECOND  STREET, 

AS  FOLLOWS  : 

6.13  A.  M.  Mail  stops  at  all  Stations — Sundays  excepted. 

9.13      "       Day  Express — Sundays  excepted. 

5  28  P.  M.  Atlantic  Express    Daily.     This   Train  has    Pull- 
man Car  attached  through  to  New  York 

9:13      "      Night  Express — Saturday  and  Sunday  excepted 


Sunday  Train  Leaves  5.28  P.M. 

Vi 

AND    SLEEPING   CAR  accommodations  can  be  cb..,  ned  at   Coitipany's 
Office,  N.  W.  cor.  Canal  and  Madison  Stpeetii,  "^^^esi  side)  and  at   Depot. 

W.  K.   MUIR,  -  *      '^f^      SARGENT, 

Gen'l  Supt.  Great  Western  R'ys.  Jfi"-  ^^°^  Supt.  M.  C.  R.  R 

HENRY  C.  Wf^TWORTH, 

Gen'l  West.  Pas...  Agent. 


THE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  85 


sides,  in  promiscuous  confusion,  thie  ligliter  wooden  stuff  of  the  interior  having  been 
lora  up  into  the  air  as  by  an  awful  suction,  and  shed  abroad  from  a  great  height. 
Walls  had  fallen  inward,  walls  had  fallen  outward,  as  if  melted  or  uprooted. 

THE    DE    KOVEN    LANDMARK. 

As  if  to  mock  the  pride  of  architecture  and  ordinary  notions  of  security,  one 
squalid  little  hovel  alone  remains  intact  in  all  the  broad  expanse  of  desolation,  where 
the  conflagration  first  began  its  devouring  march.  A  warped  and  weather-beaten 
shanty  of  two  rooms,  perched  on  thin  piles,  with  tin  plates  nailed  half  way  down 
them,  like  dirty  pantalets.  There  is  no  shabbier  hut  in  Cuicago,  nor  in  Tipperary. 
But  it  stands  there  safe,  while  a  city  his  perisheii  before  it  and  around  it.  It  was  pre- 
served by  its  own  destructive  significance.  It  whs  made  ■-acred  by  the  curse  that 
rested  on  it — a  curse  more  deadly  than  that  which  dnrkened  the  lintels  of  the  house  of 
Thyestes.  For  out  of  that  house,  on  that  ever  memorable  8ut}day  night,  came  a 
woman  with  a  lamp  to  ihe  barn  behind  the  house,  according  to  one  account,  drunken 
aud  aimless  ;  according  to  another  legend,  to  milk  the  cow  with  the  crumpled  temper, 
that  kicked  the  lamp,  that  spilled  the  kerosene,  that  fired  the  straw,  that  fired  the 
stable,  that  burned  Chicago.  And  there  to  this  hour  stands  that  craven  little  house, 
holding  on  tightly  to  its  miserable  existence. 

OUT    ON    THE    PRAIRIES. 

Destitute,  shivering  wretches,  lately  tenauts  of  comfortable  homes,  and  owners  of 
property,  lie  huddled  on  tht;  eround,  exhausted  with  tense  feelings  and  overstrained 
exertions.  Near  by  each  stricken  group  is  the  little  pile  of  damaged  personal  effects — 
the  insignificant  remnants  of  their  worMly  possessions — rescued  from  the  maw  of 
destruction  Few  have  anything  to  eat ,  and  no  lips  have  touched  water  for  hours. 
Many  are  prone  at  full  length,  thoroughly  tired  and  sound  asleep.  Others  sit  crouched 
on  the  bare  earth,  and  peer  with  sleepy,  furtive  eyes  through  the  smoke-filled  atmos- 
phere at  the  not  far-distant  wilderness  of  ruins.  In  some  places,  the  pains  of  partu- 
rition have  seized  some  suffering  women,  aud  the  cries  of  the  new-born  infant  mingle 
wiih  the  murmurs  of  the  wiiid.  Death,  too,  has  set  his  seal  on  some  eyes,  and  the 
prostrate  forms,  pulseless  and  cold,  lie  stretched  beside  the  living.  Despau-  is  m  many 
a  heart.  A  rain  has  swept  over  the  sorrowful  scene — a  raiu  welcome  to  all  at  first, 
for  it  supplied  moisture  for  parched  throats,  and  purified  a  suffocating  atmosphere ; 
but  pernicious  in  nd,  lor  it  drenched  everybody  to  the  skin,  and  chilled  the  frame 

i>f  every  victim. 

Many  in  the  vast  throng  of  a<-xious  spectators  of  the  awful  scene  had  been  startled 
by  the  first  alarm,  and  left  th^ir'homes  supperless  ;  but  the  night  passed  aud  the  day 
came  again,  bringing  no  pru&pects  of  breakfast.  The  sun  mounted  toward  the  zenith, 
and  yet  I  he  anawings  O' ic»  '•r  were  not  appeased.  The  scene  became  pitiable  in  the 
extreme.  Thousancfs  <  ,  ,  ,7/  .  who  had  never  known  what  it  was  to  want  even 
for  the  luxuries  of  life,  now.^,  .jried  for  bread  they  could  not  get.     Men  with 

haggard  look  and  bloodsx.^.^^  ' \.^  by  exertion  and  anxious  care,  unrefreshed 

by  slumber  or  food,    mov  ■  —  Vstless  air,  and  if  spoken  to  frequently 

returned  for  an  answer  a  ^     '^''^^  '^r  stare,  as  if  reason  and  the  power  of 

utterance  hud  vanished  togetht,!  ^^ 

The  day  wore  slowly  away,  and  stix  "^    ken  no  food.     The  cries  of  the 

children  became  more  boisterous ;  won  \  *rong  men  bowed  in  unut- 

terable agony.     The  gale  had  blown  clou  <,^^^ smoke  mto  their  very 

11 


Chicago  &  Alton  R.  R. 

THE  ONLY  FIRST  CLASS  ROAD  IN  THE  WEST. 

(See  Classification  of  Railways  by  Board  of  Railway  Commissioners.) 

Chicago,  Alton  &  St.  Louis  Tliro'  Line 
Loyisiai7Mo7toSiortlytefrorCH^ 

THE  SHORTEST,  BEST  AND  QUICKEST  ROUTE  FROM 

CHICAGO    TO    ST.    LOUIS    "^'rr-f?.^."-"" 


O     EXPRESS  TRAINS  TO  ST.  LOUIS  DAILY,    1 1       ,i„Ti; 

*^  and  a  Saturday  JViarht  Train.  ^^ 


THE  ONLY  KOAD  RUNNING 

and  making  the 
time  in 

day  ^ight  Train. ^•*^H[OXJK.S 

The  only  Line  running  PULLMAN  PALACE  SLEEPING  CARS  between 

Cliicago  and  St.  Loiais. 


CLOSE  CONNECTIONS 


In  St.  Louis  for  all  points  in 
Missouri,  Kansas,  Colo- 
rado and  California. 


The  DIRECT  ROUTE  and  the  ONLY  ALL  RAIL  ROUTE 

to  Memphis,  Vicksburgh,  Mobile,  New  Orleans,  and 

a  long  Steamboat  Transfer   of  TWENTY-FIVE 
MILES,  and  changes  of  Cars  by  taking  this  Route. 


"DTTT  T  HI"  4  \r    "D4T    i  r^T?    r'i'RC    RUN  on  THIS  ROUTE  ONLY  from  CHICAGO 
JLUlJlJlTLjfl.il    xiLlJAV^ri    V'ii.ll/I^    to  NEW  ORLEANS,  with  but  one  Change. 

LOUISIANA,  MO.  NEW  SHORT  ROUTE  FROM  CHICAGO  TO  KANSAS  CITY, 

Yia  Chicago  and  Alton  and  Northern  DlissoariBailroads,  passing  through  Joliet,  Blooniington 
and  JaekKonville    III.,  and  crossing  the  Mississippi,  ai  Louisiana,  MO. 

THE    BEST    SHORT    ROUTE     FROM     CHICAGO     TO     KANSAS     CITY 

WITHOUT    CHANGE    OF    CARSi 


in  Union  Depot,  Kansas  City,  with  all 
fl\i\Illj  liUi\(5  Western  Roads  for  Kansas,  Colorado, 
New  Mexico  and  California ;    and  in  Chicago 

WITH  TRAINS  OF  ALL  ROADS  FOR  THE  EAST  AND  NORTHWEST, 

Elegant  Day  Cars  and  PULLMAN  PALACE  SLEF^"^'^  CARS  run  through  from 
€bicagro  to  St.  L.ouis  and  €b*'  to  Kansas  City 

«®°  Pullman,  Palace  Dining  and  irs  on   all  Day  Trains. 

The  ONLY  LINE  running  the-  .ICAGO  &  ST.  LOUIS 

and  CHIC  ^6  CITY. 

JAMES   CHARLTON,  J.   C.   McMULLIN, 

General  Passenger  <*  General  Superintendent, 

Cli»'  Cliicagro. 


tSE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  87 


faces,  and  enveloped  and  covered  them  up,  until  they  scarcely  wore  the  semblance  of 
human  beings. 

It  is  amid  these  forlorn  greups,  scattered  over  a  wide  expanse,  that  reliei  parties 
from  the  city  soon  move,  bringing  wagon-loads  of  provisions  to  succor  the  sufferprs  by 
those  two  miserable  nights  of  hunger  and  cold .  As  they  satisfy  appetite  and  quench 
thirst,  hope  gleams  in  weary  eyes,  and  partially  recuperated  nature  once  more  turns  to 
the  tasks  of  life  with  almost  instinctive  purpose.  Little  by  little  they  were  removed 
from  their  open,  unsheltered  bivouac,  terrible  in  its  remembrances,  and  sir^plied  with 
temporary  homes,  where  they  once  more  face  the  realities  of  the  fuiarc;  with  resolute 
hearts,  and  put  their  hands  to  the  duties  of  the  hour  Charity  meantime  proceeds 
with  her  work  of  mercy  and  benefaction,  until  all  the  outlying  victims  of  the  confla- 
gration are  safely  housed,  fully  fed,  and  comfortably  clad. 

ORGANIZED    RELIEF. 

Contributions  of  money  and  food  soon  pour  in  from  every  direction.  Churches 
become  depots  of  supplies,  whence  the  needy  flock  and  are  comforted.  The  railroads 
munificently  offer  to  carry  away,  without  ch  irge,  the  destitute  to  places  where  they 
can  find  work  or  friends.  School-houses  are  thrown  open  to  the  homeless.  Rows 
of  tenements  are  hastily  run  up  on  various  open  lots.  Employment  is  secured  for 
those  able  to  work  In  a  few  days  all  suffQriug  that  can  be  relieved  by  such  means  is 
brought  to  an  end. 

THE    WORK    OF    RESTORATION. 

The  wonderful  people  of  Chicago  are  already  upon  their  feet.  Banks  are  doing 
business  as  usual.  Insurance  companies  are  adjusting  losses.  Numerous  temporaiy 
structures  and  some  first  class  buildings  are  already  taking  the  place  of  recent  ruins. 
Contracts  are  being  let  for  the  erection  of  hundreds  of  buildings  of  the  most  imposing, 
costly,  and  substantial  kind.  The  Water  Works  are  airain  supplying  the  whole  city 
with  its  accustomed  abundance.  The  gas  companies  are  rapidly  getting  into  condition 
to  fulfil  their  former  relations  to  the  public.  All  the  daily  newspapers  are  revived. 
The  railroads  are  in  full  operation.  Business  men  who  have  been  burned  out,  with  a 
large  number  of  corporations,  have  opened  new  centers  of  trade  and  dflBces  in  the 
West  and  South  Divisions,  until  they  can  can  return  to  their  old  locations.  Canal  and 
Clinton  streets,  with  Lake,  Randolph,  Washington,  Madison,  and  Monroe,  toward  the 
South  Branch,  are  now  the  great  thoroughfares  ot  commerce,  loud  with  the  hum  and 
bustle  of  traflSc,  thronged  with  dr  lys,  wagons,  and  carriages,  thick  with  coming  and 
going  pedestrians  All  is  life,  visror,  cheerfulness,  and  hope  once  more.  Nobody 
doubts,  nobody  hesitates  Everywhere  the  city,  Phcenix-like,  is  preparing  to  rige  from 
its  ashes  Confidence  in  the  future  is  even  exultant.  Indomitable  Western  pluck  is 
master  of  the  situation.     Resumption  of  business  is  the  order  of  the  day. 


CHICAGO  AS  IT  WILL  BE. 

WHAT    IS    LEFT    TO    BEGIN    WITH. 

Chicago  has  still  all  the  elements  of  a  great  city  except  the  mere  buildings  She 
has  her  river  harbor,  which  has  been  dredged  and  enlarged,  and  her  piers  and  break- 
waters, which  have  been  constructed  at  an  enormous  expense.     These  can  not  be 


W.  J.  .TEPFERSON. 

T.  J.  WEOE. 

JEFFEESON  &  WEOE, 

General 

Job  Printers, 


"Ho.  K^^   §ovv\\v  CVvvv^ow  §\Yee\, 


Are  prepared  to  fill  Orders  for  all  kinds  of  Printing  witl^  usual 

dispatcl\.     meir  old   customers,  hotel  men,  and 

otl\ers,  are  invited  to  call  and  see  tl^ena. 


W.  F.  HUNT. 


DEAIiER  IN 


Rass  and  Old  letals 


78  and  80  West  Van  Buren  Street 


CMmm^m^  II, 


f  MLmmm 


THE  GREAT  CONJ-LAGJlAlTION.  89 

extemporized  in  any  other  place.  She  has  her  light-houses  for  the  security  of 
navigation.  She  has  her  expensive  tunnel  under  Lake  Michigan  for  supplying  a  city 
thrice  her  recent  magnitude  with  pure  water,  with  an  extensive  ramification  of  mains 
and  subsidiary  ducts  wholly  unimpaired  ;  aud  all  the  gas  mains  that  feed  the  city  exist 
still  m  as  perfect  condition  as  before  the  fire  ;  she  has  her  extensive  system  of  sewerage, 
which,  being  under  ground  and  constructed  of  nnn-combustible  materials,  has  not 
been  consmned.  She  has  the  grading  to  her  streets,  and  eighty  to  hundred  n^iles  of 
pavmg  in  fair  condition  throughout  the  burnt  district,  with  the  excavations  of  her 
cellars  and  vaults.  She  has  the  outlying  vegetabh^  gardens  and  milk  dairies  for  sup- 
plying her  tables.  Her  vast  cattle  yards  were  untouched  by  the  flames.  The 
destruction  of  her  great  railroad  depots  will  scarcely  obstruct  travel  and  traffic,  as 
passengers  can  be  received  and  landed,  and  freight  taken  and  delivered,  in  the  open 
air,  until  the  depots  are  rebuilt.  Her  water  communications  are  untouched,  and  her 
commercial  fleet  is  as  numerous  to-day,  and  as  ready  and  efficient  and  potential,  as 
ever  it  was.  Her  geographical  position,  which  made  her  the  entrepot  and  emporium 
of  the  Northwest,  possesses  all  the  natural  advantages,  with  nearly  all  of  those 
superadded  by  the  hand  of  enterprise.  The  people  of  thi-^  whole  section,  who  fnund 
it  to  to  tlieir  interest  to  trade  with  Chicago  before,  will  still  find  their  account  in 
coming  here,  if  the  goods  are  here  to  buy,  and  if  the  means  are  provided  here  for 
receiving  and  shipping  the  produce  of  ibe  country,  as  assuredly  they  will  be. 

And  what  is,  perhaps,  the  most  important  of  all  her  remaining  advantages  and 
sources  of  resuscitation,  Chicago  h?is  not  lost  her  shrewd,  enterprising,  energetic, 
indomitable  men  of  business.  Tliey  can  more  easily  re-estab  ish  themselves  in 
Chicago  than  thpy  can  form  new  conntctions  elsewhere.  They  will  not  break  from 
their  creditors  in  the  East,  nor  from  their  customers  in  the  West.  The  vast,  magnifi- 
cent Northwest  must  still  be  furnished  with  goods  and  they  will  continue  to  furnish 
the  supply.  New  men  in  new  cities  have  not  their  business  acquaintances,  and  can 
not  build  stores  and  collect  stocks  as  quickly  as  the  Chicago  merchants  can  build  and 
renew  them.     Chicago  will  restore  herself  before  competitors  can  come  into  the  field. 

The  Chicago  of  Oct.  9  may  be  likened  to  a  strong,  active  man  stunned.  Conscious- 
ness is  now  returning ;  the  stiffened  limbs  are  recoveiing  their  lost  action  ;  the  warm 
blood  is  again  coursing  through  the  veins  and  arteries  ;  the  man  is  again  erect,  inspired 
with  new  energies,  looking  to  the  future,  and  determined  to  forget  the  past.  Its 
geographical  location  gave  Chicago  a  stamp  of  greatness.  Commerce  and  finance 
pointed  it  out  as  one  of  their  favorite  centers.  This  fact  attracted  energy,  industry, 
enterprise,  and  capital.  The  men  who  built  Chicago  are  still  bustling  about  the  ruins. 
Past  opportunities  for  business  success  in  Chicago  were  nothing  as  compared  to  fut  .re 
ones.  The  business  men  of  to-day  will  remain,  to  be  joined  by  thousands  of  othe.«, 
all  inspired  by  a  common  interest — that  of  not  only  restoring  the  City  of  tbe  Lakes  to 
its  former  grandtur,  but  increasing  it  tenfold.  The  wand  of  a  grater  than  the  genii 
of  Aladdin's  palace  will  soon  be  ha-^y  around  the  charred  ruins.  |  Its  magic  touch 
will  fashion  the  blackened,  ragged  walls  into  towering  structures,  and  with  it^ 
enchantment  in  time  substitute  living  vernal  ofierings  for  the  heaps  of  dead  ashes. 
There  is  no  Marius  to  stalk,  like  a  specter,  among  the  ruins  of  this  our  Carthage,  but 
tens  of  thousands  whom  no  calamity  can  disheaiten,  to  build  the  city  anew,  more 
Cyclopean  in  its  massiveness,  more  aesthetic  in  its  architecture,  more  secure  in  its 
durability,  more  utilitarian  in  its  progress,  more  powerful  and  far-reaching  in  its  influ- 

ences. 
The  growth  of  Chicago — a  city  which   has  risen  like  an  exhalation  on  the  s('Uth- 


Fittskrgli,  Ft.  Wayne  ^  Foni 

FRAILFROAO. 

Trains  leave  from  cor.  Madison  &  Canal  Sts., 

CHICAGO,  as  heretofore, 

9:00  A.  Iff.  EXPRESS,  entire  train,  with  Pullman  Palace  Cars  through 

to  New  York,  without  change 

5:15  P.  M.  EXPRESS,  with  Pullman  Palace  Cars  through  to  New  York, 

without  change. 

9:00  P.  M.  EXPRESS,  with  Pullman  Palace  Cars  through  to  New  York, 

without  change. 

5:30  A.  M.  MAIL,  stops  at  all  Stations  between  Chicago  and  Pittsburgh. 
3:45  VALPARAISO  ACCOMMODATION. 


Tickets  for  sale,  and  Sleeping  Car  Berths  secured  at  48   Madison  St. 
in  Sherman  House,  and  at  Depot,  cor.  Madison  &  Canal  8t8.,  Chicago. 


F.  R.  MYERS,  Genn  Passejiger  &  Ticket  Agt.     W.  C.  CLEIAND,  ^^'^  Passenger  Agt 
Oct.  1871.  J.  N.  McCULLOUCH.  aen'l  Manager . 

Pittsburgh,    Cincinnati 

AND  ST.  LOUIS  RAILWAY. 

Trains  leave  old  Milwaukee  Depot,  Cor.  Canal  &  Kinzie  Sts.,  Chicago,  as  follows  : 
Express,  Except  Sunday.  (VIA  PAIV-HANDLK  ROUTE.) 

7:20  A.  M.        Indianapolis,  Richmond  &,  Cincinnati. 

Express,  Except  Suoday  (VIA  LAFAYKTTE  ROUTE.) 

8:40  A.  M!,       Indianapolis,  Cincinnati  &,  Louisville, 

EXPRESS,  Except  Sunday.  VIA  PAN-HANDLE  ROUTE. 

12:40  p.  M.     COLUMBUS   AND   EASTWARD. 

EXPRESS,  Except  Saturday.  (VIA  LAFAYETTE  ROrTE.) 

7:25  P   M.     Indianapolis,     Cincinnati     and    Louisville. 

EXPRESS,  Except  Saturday.  (VIA  PAN-HANDI.E  ROUTE.) 

7:25  P.  M.     COLUMBUS  AND  EASTWARD. 

EXPRESS,  Except  Saturday.  (VIA  PAN-HANDLE  ROUTE.) 

*7:55  P-  M.     Indianapolis,  Richmond  and  Cincinnati. 
4:10  p.  IVE-  Except  Sunday.         Doltou  &  Lausiug  Accom. 

10:10    A     JVI-      Except  Sunday.  DoltOU  AcCOm. 

F.    R,    MYERS,  W.    C.    CLELAND, 

Gen'l  Pass.  &  T.  Agent,  Pittsburgh.  Ass't  Geo.  Pass.  Ag't,  Chicago. 

J.     N.     McCULLOUGH,    Qen'l  Manager,  Pittsburgh. 

-Jt  Passengers  for  Columbus  and  Eastward  leaving  Chicago  at  7:55  P.  M.  overtake  (md  aan  change  at 
Logansport  to  train  leaving  Chicago  at  7 :26  P.  M. 


WM.  KERR  &  CO., 


MANUFACTURERS  AND  DEALERS  IN 


Wisconsin  Lime 


OEis/HEisro?, 


D 


asteL  Piasie[in 


ifec,    &c. 


96  WEST  LAKE  ST., 


CJiIIC^G^O 


.^f t   »i  j.^i^.'juijrTmTPreT^fw^fWPBJ^^Wi 


THE  GREAT  CONFLAGRATION.  91 


westeiTi  shore  of  Lake  Michigan — has  been  regarded  by  travelers  and  economists  as 
one  of  the  chief  marvels  of  recent  times.  It  is  a  phenomenon  which  never  had  a 
parallel,  but  which  will  be  eclipsed  by  the  more  astonishing  miracle  of  the  reconstruc- 
tion <  f  the  burnt  emporium  from  its  ashes.  Forty  and  two  years  was  this  wonder  in 
building,  and  yet  it  will  he  reconstructed  in  thi'ee  years.  It  will  rise  again  from  its 
Tuins  88  if  by  magic,  and  the  marvel  of  its  original  growth  will  be  forgotten  in  the 
greater  marvel  of  its  sudden  new  creation.  If  there  was  any  place  on  the  earth's 
surface  where  there  was  concentrated,  within  a  few  sqnare  mUes,  the  most  wonder- 
ful evidences  of  human  enterprise,  activity  and  vigor,  and  where  life  wa--  most  intense 
and  hopeful  and  where  the  thought  of  destruction,  or  even  of  possible  repression  of 
growth,  was  most  absolutely  banished,  it  was  in  that  area  of  which  the  Chicago 
Court  Hou'^e  was  the  center,  and  where  the  soft-made  earth  seemed  to  groan  beneath 
hundreds  or  proud  edifices,  worthy  of  a  world's  metropolis,  and  to  quake  under  the 
mighty  pulsations  of  the  greatest  cnramerce  ever  transacted  in  a  city  of  like  dimen- 
sions. This  gigantic  realization  is  to  be  reorodaced,  only  more  magnificent  in  propor- 
tions, more  vigorous  in  strength,  more  enterprising  in  spirit,  more  sagacious  m  fore- 
thought, more  solid  in  prosperity. 

The  hopeful  and  confident  anticipation  rest  upon  the  most  solid  grounds.  In  the 
first  place,  the  city  remains,  except  the  consumed  buildings,  machinery,  and  stocks  of 
goods.  There  are  the  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  outlying  cities  and  villages  scattered 
through  the  West:  theie  are  millions  and  millions  of  acres  of  productive  farms;  there 
are  the  thousand  and  thousands  of  miles  of  railroad  radiating  in  all  directi  ns  from 
that  great  center;  there  are  th«  millions  of  tons  of  shipping  on  the  great  lakes  which 
have  been  accustomed  to  sail  from  Chicago  laden  with  grain,  and  ;o  return  laden  with 
goods  and  lumber.  These  are  what  made  the  greatness  of  Chicago,  and  they  will 
quickly  renew  it.  Chicago  has  grown  only  because  these  have  grown.  Chicago  was 
a  marvel  only  because  the  West  was  a  miracle.  It  has  taken  Chicago  forty  years  to 
reach  the  greatness  it  had  beeore  the  fire,  because  it  has  taken  that  length  of  time  to 
bring  the  Western  prairies  under  cultivation,  to  build  up  the  tributary  Western  towns, 
to  construct  the  We  tern  railroads,  to  cover  the  Western  waters  with  their  fleets  of 
propellers  and  sailing  vessels.  All  these  still  exist,  forming  the  materials  and  the 
machmery  for  a  vast  commerce,  which  must  be  transacted  from  some  Western  center. 
The  destruction  of  the  Western  farms,  towns  and  railroads  would  have  been  fatal. to 
Chicago,  but  the  burning  of  her  buildings  is  nut  fatal,  and  will  be  only  a  transient  impe- 
diment to  her  wonderful  growth. 

There  is  not  the  slightest  danger  of  the  transfer  of  her  grain  trade  and  her  various 
busmess  to  other  lake  cities.  At  present  the  other  lake  cities  have  not  facilities  to  ac- 
commodate it;  their  elevators,  warehouses,  mercantile  establishmen-s,  banks,  etc., 
being  proportioned  to  the  business  they  already  possess.  To  transact  in  addition  the 
bu.iuess  of  Chicago,  they  would  need  an  enormous  increase  of  structures,  accommo- 
dations, and  capital.  But  these  can  be  replaced  in  Chicago  as  quickly  as  they  could 
be  built  at  Milwaukee  and  other  lake  ports,  and  nobody  will  invest  money  tor  them 
elsewhere  with  the  certainty  that  Chicago  will  be  rebuilt  as  speedily  as  multitudes  of 
busy  hands  can  do  the  work.  The  lake  commerce  will  always  tend  to  one  great  cen- 
ter,  and  there  is  no  other  center  which  possess  such  natural  advantage,  as  Chicago. 
These  have  been  increased  by  costly  artificial  advantages  which  it  has  required  thirty 
years  of  persistent  industry  to  create.  All  the  great  raihoad  lines  have  been  con- 
structed with  a  view  to  Chicago  as  a  starting  point  and  a  terminus.    It  might  be  easy 


RING'S  SAFES 

m  THE  GHE  AT  FIEE. 

CHICAGO,  Oct,  17,  1871. 
MESSRS.  HERRING  &  CO.: 

Gentlemen — In  the  ever  memorable  fire  of  the  8th  and  9th  instant, 
which  destroyed  some  TWENTY  TPIOUSAND  buildings,  including  the 
entire  wholesale  business  portion  of"  this  city,  we  had  our  valuable  books, 
papers,  etc.,  enclosed  in  HERRING'S  SAFES,  which,  owing  to  the  inten- 
sity of  the  heat  and  the  want  of  water,  lay  imbedded  in  the  ruins  for  days 
before  they  could  be  got  at,  and,  notwithstanding  the  unparalleled  trial, 
they  have  proved  equal  to  our  expectations,  preserving  our  property  when 
every  thing  else  was  swept  away. 


Day,  Allen  &  Co. 

Tappan,  McKillop  &  Co.  ("2  safess.  ) 
Union  Insurance  and  Trust   Compa- 
ny (2  safes.) 
Weage,  Kirtland  and  Ordway. 
John  V.  Farwell  &  Co. 
H.  H.  Husted. 
Gale  &  Blocki. 
Armour,  Dole  &  Co. 
Brink  worth  &  Leopold. 
Field,  Benedict  &  Co. 
A  M.  Wrieht  &  Co 
Giles  Bro.  '&  Co. 
Warner  &  Felix 

Van  Schaack,  Stevenson  &  Reid. 
Heath  &  Milligan. 
Haskin,  Martin  &  Wheeler. 
W.  H.  Hoyt  &Son. 
Loomis  &  Foilett. 
Charles  Cleaver. 
Tenney,  McClellan  &  Tenney. 
A.  £  Neely  &  Co. 
Stanton  &  Co. 
George  Armour. 
L.  A.  Willard. 


Singer  &  Talcott. 

James  S.  Kirk  &  Co. 

J.  C.  Mitchell. 

L  P.  Wright. 

A.  F.  Dickinson. 

D.  Herfurth  &  Son. 

Holland,  Frear  &  Wilson. 

Dyer  &  Payne. 

Doggett,  Bassett  &  Hill. 

Carter,  Becker  and  Dale. 

Louis  Faessler. 

Frear  Stone  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany. 

Shandrew  &  Dean. 

Geo.    W.  Hannis. 

Ingram,  Corbin  and  May. 

W.  M.  Hoyt&Co. 

G.  Beckwith. 

Bradner,  Smith  &  Co. 

Taylor  &  Thomas. 

F.  E.  Spooner,  Agent  Union  Line 
Company. 

Union  Akron  Cement  Company 

Northwestern  Mauufacturing  Com- 
pany. 


A  LARGE  ASSORTMENT  OF 

PATENT  CHAMPION  SAFES, 

BANK  SAFES, 

DWELLING  HOUSE  SAFES, 

VAULT  SAFES, 

EXPRESS  CHESTS,  &c. 

Constantly  on  hand  at  our  Factory  and  Warerooms, 


THE  GREAT  CONFLAGBATION.  98 


to  build  a  new  town,  if  that  were  all;  but  not  easy  to  reconstruct  the  railroad  system  of 
the  West  with  a  new  point  of  convergence. 

Milwaukee,  Toledo,  and  some  other  places  will  no  doubt  do  an  additional  business 
up  to  the  limit  of  their  facilities,  in  moving  what  has  not  been  burnt  of  this  years' 
grain  crop.  But  they  will  not  venture  to  erect  a  single  new  elevator  with  reference  to 
next  year's  business.  Before  the  next  grain  crop  is  thi-eshed,  Chicago  will  have  as 
many  elevators  as  she  possessed  the  day  before  the  lire.  There  will  be  no  difficulty  in 
restoring  all  the  buildmgs  and  machinery  before  the  end  of  July,  nor  perhaps  before 
the  opening  of  navigation  in  the  spring.  It  would  be  sheer  waste  of  money  to  build 
them  at  other  ports  when  they  are  certain  to  be  rebuilt  with  the  utmost  speed  and 
energy  on  their  old  sites. 

The  city  will  surely  rise  with  renewed  greatness  and  magnificence  and  power.  Of 
course,  aU  parts  of  the  restoration  will  not  go  on  simultaneouly.  Bu.ldings  for  the 
accommodation  of  commerce  and  travel  will  be  first  reconstructed,  and  probably  most 
of  the  elevators,  railroad  depots,  warehouses,  hotels  banks,  and  many  of  tho  stores 
will  be  replaced  within  a  year.  There  will  be  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  capital  for  enter 
prises  which  are  not  entative  or  experimental,  but  absolutely  certain  lo  bring  in  hand- 
some returns.  The  buUdings  ean  be  mortgaged;  and  the  land  on  which  they  stand  can 
be  mortgaged  to  pay  the  cost  ot  construction. 

On  the  Fourth  of  July,  1876,  the  American  people  will  signaUzed  the  centennial 
celebration  of  Independence  Day;  and  the  sojourners  in  Chicago,  who  shall,  on  that 
occasion,  saUy  forth  from  his  comtortable  and  even  luxurious  quarters  in  the  most 
magnificent  and  celebrated  hotel  in  the  interior  of  this  continent,  in  search  of  vestiges 
of  our  late  confiagration^  will  be  able  to  view  only  stately  piles  of  brick  and  mortar  and 
stones— long  avenues  flanked  by  lofty  buildings,  and  thronged  with  pedestrians  and 
vehicles — and  his  ears  will  be  assailed  with  the  hum  of  commerce,  the  whir  of  ma- 
chinery, and  the  commotion  of  enterprise,  where  he  expected  to  find  conspiciuous 
traces  of  Sunday  night's  calamity.  Should  he,  in  his  extended  search,  come  upon  any- 
thing of  columnal  significance,  marking  the  black  ruins  that  once  existed,  it  will  be  in 
the  shape  of  some  memorial  pm-posely  set  up  by  our  citizens,  not  any  sign  of  guaut 
desolation  left  perforce. 


FIRES    IN    HISTORY. 

THE     GREAT      CONFLAGRATIONS      OF     ANCIENT       AND      MODERN 

TIMES. 

Fire  has  ever  been  at  once  the  greatest  blessing  and  scourge  of  tlie  human  race. 
While  ministerins;  to  human  wants,  it  has  never  failed  to  give  to  war  redoubled  hor- 
rors, and  invest  peace  with  uncertainty  and  dread.  The  dreadful  scenes  at  the  fall  of 
Troy  are  invested  with  a  Imid,  ghastly  splendor,  when  Horn*  r  describes  the  demoniac 
flames  bursting  from  the  devoted  city,  roaring  and  battling  with  the  clouds,  while  the 
Greeks,  frenzied  with  victory,  and  maddened  by  their  ten  years'  absence  from  their 
wives  and  children,  rush  thr,;Ugh  the  ijlazing  streets  and  murder  the  Trojans  in  their 
ancestral  hall'5.  When  Alexander  returned  from  Hydaspes,  and  entered  Persepolis, 
the  mysterious  and  wonderful  capital,  he  revenged  himself  for  the  Grecian  cities 
which  had  been  ravngt  d  with  fire  and  sword  one  hundred  and  seventy  years  before  by 
burning  the  city,  of  which  the  sublime  Chehelminar,  .  r  Forty  Pillars,  alone  remain  to 
bear  actual  evidence  of  its  former  greatness.  A  century  later  the  wo  Id  was  appalled 
by  the  conflagration  that  swept  Carthage  into  oblivion.  In  her  list  melancholy  strug- 
gle with  Rome,  JEmilanusi,  the  besieging  general,  caiTied  tire  to  be  applied  to  the 
houses  as  the  only  means  of  uaining  a  tooting  within  the  walls.  The  city  was  allowed 
to  bm-n  six  days,  when  the  flames  were  extingui->hed.  On  her  final  subj  ugation, 
Rome's  inexorable  decree,  ''  Carthage  delenda  est,''  Vf&s  csirried  in' o  eSect.  The  city 
was  set  on  fire,  and  in  many  quarters  at  once.  The  reuewed  cooflagration  raged  with 
incredible  fury  for  seventeen  days.  Here,  unlike  at  Chicago,  the  flames  were 
assisted  rather  than  resisted  by  man  ;  but  so  vast  in  extent,  and  so  filled  with  treasure 
was  the  Atrican  metropolis,  that  for  twenty-three  days  the  smoke  of  her  buruing  pal- 
aces and  warehouses  ascended. 

In  time  Rome  herself  was  burned.  The  flames  raged  for  six  days  and  seven 
nights,  and  out  of  fourteen  quarters  only  three  escaped  unharmed.  The  origin  of 
this  dreadful  calamity  is  involved  in  doubt,  although  the  frequent  occurrence  of 
minor  fii-es  in  Rome  lends  probability  to  the  assumption  that  it  was  due  to  accident. 
So  common  was  conflagrations  in  Rome  that  Crassos  amassed  much  of  his  great 
wealth  by  speculating  on  these  calamities.      When  a  fire  broke  out  he  would  hasten  to 

12 


SWEET,  DEMPSTER  &  CO, 

59  &  61  West  Washington  St., 

HAVE  RESUMED  BUSINESS, 

And  are   prepared    to    offer    to  the  trade    an   entire  new 

STOCK    OF 


FUES,  GLOVES,  MITTENS,  &c 

AT  THE  VERY  LOWEST  PRICES. 

Orders  promptly  and  carefuliy  filled. 

J.    MANZ, 


^ttgrakr  on  II00I1, 

165  W.  Madison  Street, 
CHICAGO, 

(FORMERLY    AT    REYNOLDS'  BLOCK,    CORNER    OF    DEARBORN    AND 

MADISON  STREETS,) 

Again  in  full  working  orde  r,  and  prepared  to  take  any  orders  for  Engrav- 
ing on  Wood,  which  will  be  executed  in  the  best  style  of  the  art  at  low 
rates  and  on  short  notice. 


ORDERS    SOLlCI 


:d- 


THE  OKEAT  CONFLAGRATION.  95 


the  scene  with  a  gang  of  slaves,  and  would  induce  the  aflFrighted  householders  to  part 
with  their  burning  property  at  considerable  under  its  value.  He  would  then  employ 
his  slaves  in  arrestmg  the  flames,  and  afterward  would  have  the  buildmgs  rep  iii-ed. 
In  this  way  he  became  landlord  of  a  grea'  part  of  Rome. 

Constantinople  has  sufiered  most  of  all  places  from  fire.  Early  in  he  reign  of  Jus- 
tinian it  was  the  scene  of  the  greatest  conflagration  known  in  history,  and  to  the  pres- 
ent 'lay  the  Turkish  capital  retains  its  proverbial  liability  to  the  ravages  of  fire 

The  great  fire  of  London  broke  out  at  one  o'clock  on  Sunday  mornmg,  Sept.  2,  16B6, 
at  the  house  ot  one  Farryner,  a  baker,  in  Pudding  lane.  Fish-street  Hill.  Whether 
it  originated  in  accident  or  design  is  a  point  on  which  historians  by  no  means  agree, 
while  all  concur  in  representing  it  as  at  once  more  destructive  in  its  progress,  and  ulti 
mately  productive  of  more  beneficial  eifects,  than. my  conflagration  recorded  in  history. 
The  part  of  the  city  where  it  began  consisted  of  narrow  lanes  and  passages,  and  the 
houses  were  principally  of  wood.  The  fire  soon  spread  to  the  adjacent  houses,  and 
defied  the  power  of  water  poured  from  buckets,  for  the  engines  could  not  be  brought 
to  bear  upon  it  successfully  on  account  of  the  narrowness  of  the  streets.  It  was  thnn 
suggested  to  the  Lord  Mayor,  who  arrived  on  the  sp>t  at  three  )'clock  in  the  moroing. 
that  it  would  be  advisable  to  pull  down  severnl  houses  to  interrupt  the  progress  of  the 
flames,  but  he  refused  so  prudent  a  measure,  and  is  said  to  have  expressed  his  opinion 
of  the  fire  in  a  flippHut  and  indelicate  terms.  By  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  it  had 
reached  London  Bridge  and  there  divided.  The  main  body  of  the  flames  pressed  for- 
ward into  Thames  street,  which  was  filled  with  combustible  material  that  augumvnted 
the  fire  considerably,  which  raged  with  great  fury  the  whole  day;  and  struck  the  in- 
habitants with  such  terror  that,  says  Lord  Clarendon'  "All  men  stood  amazed  as 
spectators  only,  no  man  knowing  what  remedy  to  apply,  nor  the  magistrates  what 
orders  to  give." 

On  Monday  the  winds  changed  and  spread  the  flames  over  places  deemed-quite  secure 
the  day  before.  Grace  Church  street  and  parts  of  Lombard  and  Fmchurch  streets 
were  in  flames,  and  the  fire  was  then  burning  in  the  form  of  a  bow.  The  night  of 
Monday  was  more  fearful  than  the  preceding  one  the  fire  shone  with  such  fearful  blaze 
that  the  streets  were  as  light  as  noonday.  The  Cathedral  of  St.  Paul's  was  entirely 
consumed.  On  Tuesday  night  the  fire  continued,  sweeping  away  Ludgate  Hill,  the 
Old  Bailey,  the  whole  of  Fleet  street,  and  the  Inner  Temple,  and  threatening  even  the 
Court  at  Whitehall,  which  now  began  to  be  alarmed,  and  gave  directions  to  blow  up 
several  houses  with  gun  powder.  On  Wednesday  morning,  when  the  inhabitants  of 
Westminster  and  the  suburbs  were  preparing  for  flight,  the  wind  fell,  and  the  fire  was 
stayed.  Thirteen  thousand  and  two  hundred  dwelling  houses,  89  churches  and  400 
streets  were  destroyed  In  this  confiagration,  which  is,  perhaps,  the  only  one  commemo- 
rated by  a  monument.  The  extent  of  ihe  ravages  covered  436  acres,  and  the  value  of 
the  iToperty  destroyed  was  estimated  at  $50,000,000 

London  rapidly  recovered  from  this  disaster,  and  in  four  years  had  rebuUt,  in  an 
improved  style,  the  greater  part  of  the  burned  district.  The  inherent  vitality  in  great 
cities  ought  to  be  full  of  promise  to  Chicago,  which,  imlike  London,  has  at  her 
command  all  the  great  improvements  introduced  within  recent  years  for  facilitating 
the  construction  of  buildings 

The  burning  of  Moscow  was  perhaps  more  remarkable  in  its  character  and  ultimate 
effect  than  any  other  conflagration  recorded.  It  changed  at  one  stroke  the  fortunes 
of  Napoleon,  and  delivered  Russia  from  the  invader.  Nauoleon  had  advanced  with 
succes-ive  victories  2,000  miles  from  his  capital,  and  at  length  entered  the  Russian 
rapital  with  200,000  men,  when  the  city  was  fired.  The  French  soldiers  shot  the 
incendiariea,  bayoneted  them,  tossed  them  into  the  flames,  but  still  the  gangs  plied 
their  work  The  fire  continued  with  unabated  fury  for  three  days,  until  nothing  was 
left  of  Moscow  save  the  remembrance  of  its  former  grandeur. 

The  fire  in  Liverpool  in  1842,  the  great  fires  that  have  taken  place  within  the  last 
twenty  years  in  London,  and  the  dreadful  scenes  last  April  in  Paris,  may  be  regarded 
as  among  the  prmcipal  conflagrations  that  have  occurred  in  Europe  during  this 
century. 

The  conflagrations  of  American  cities  have  so  far  not  equalled  in  extent  the  great 
European  burnings,  but  still  have  entailed  vast  losses  and  created  great  suffering. 
The  most  fearful  fire  that  ever  devasted  New  York  city  broke  out  on  the  night  of  the 
16th  of  December,  1835,  in  the  lower  wards.  The  flames  rased  fiercely  for  three 
days,  laying  waste  the  business  part  of  the  city,  and  consuming  648  houses  and  stores, 
with  $18,000,000  worth  of  property,  among  which  were  the  marble  Exchange,  in 
Wall  street,  hitherto  deemed  fire-proof,  aaid  the  South  Dutch  Church  in  Garden  street. 
Some  buildings  were  finally  blown  up  by  gunpowder,  and  the  work  of  ruin  thus 
arrested.  This  calamity  was  soon  followed  by  the  commercial  distress  of  the  winter 
of  1837,  but  the  elasticity  of  the  city  was  not  long  depressed  by  these  misfortunes. 
A  reaction  took  place  before  many  months  had  passed,  and  busuiess  revived  more 
briskly  than  before. 


GAGE  BROTHEES  &  CO., 

WHOLESALE  IfllLLINERY 

'     Aifid  Straw  Goods^    ■ 

^^\  ~\vi^vaw<v  ^>i-ewvve,  >oe\x3^ee^  "^0  &lTI\%\  S\.YeQ\%, 


(Formerly  at  78  Lake  Street,) 


Orders  promptly  filled,   Stock  full,  Goods  all   new   and   Cheap. 

FRANCIS  DODD.  FRANKLIN  J  GUTH 

DODD&GUTH, 

Manufacturers  of 

%t%  and  ^\u  l}t)tiejt«ieat, 

Dealers  in  Mens'  Furnishing  Goods, 

LIST  m  PRICES  AND  INSTRUCTIONS  FOR  SELHEASOREMENT  SENT  BF  MAIL. 
hjcg-ular.  oiscoxjnt  to  thk  tijadb:. 


Goods  can  be  returned  at  our  expense,  that  prove  unsatisfactory. 


THE  OBEAT  CONPIiAGKATION.  97 


Four  years  later  46  buildings  were  burned,  entailing  a  loss  of  $10,000,000.  In  1845 
a  fire  broke  out  in  New  street,  then  extended  to  Broad  street,  where  a  building  in 
which  saltpetre  or  other  explosive  material  was  stored,  blew  up,  carryinu  six  or  seven 
buildings  with  it,  and  shaking  the  whole  city  like  an  earthquake.  After  raging  all 
day,  tne  flames  were  extinguished  about  midnight  In  a  sef.tion  nearly  bounded  by 
Broadway.  South  WiiliMm  street.  Exchange  place,  and  Beaver  street,  2(;8  buildino-s 
had  been  destroyed,  causing  a  loss  of  anout  ?6,000,000.  ° 

In  other  pans  of  New  York  State  fires  of  great  magnitude  have  occurred.  In 
August,  1849,  24  acres  were  burned  over  in  Albany,  and  6U0  buildings,  with  a  number 
of  sieamboats,  were  destr  yed.  The  fire  of  April  10,  1815.  consumed  200  houses  in 
Brooklyn,  causing  a  total  loss  ot  $8WO,000.  lu  Tioy  a  fire  in  1820  destroyed  the 
business  p^irt  of  the  city.  Another  fire  (Aug.  25,  1854)  destroyed  300  buildings  ;  and 
again  on  May  10,  1862,  property  valued  at  $3,OUO,00o  was  buraed,  including  671 
buddings,  among  which  were  mauy  public  edifices. 

San  Francisco  has  been  in  special  degree  scourged  by  fire .  The  first  great  fire  was 
on  Dec.  24,  1849,  and  the  estimated  loss  was  i  1,000,000;  the  next  was  on  May  4, 
1850,  loss  *3, 000,000;  the  third  on  June  14  of  the  same  year,  loss  $3,000,000;  the 
fourih  on  May  2,  1851,  loss  $7,000,000  ;  the  fifth  on  June  22,  18;"1,  loss  $2,'ooo,6(tO— 
making  a  total  of  $16,000,000  lost  by  fire  fire  within  18  months  by  a  city  whose 
P'  ipulation  did  not  then  exceed  one-tenth  of  the  present  population  of  Chicago. 

The  city  of  Washins;ton,  which  was  burned  down  by  the  British  during  the  war  of 
1812-14,  was  visited,  in  1836,  with  a  fire  which  reduced  to  ruins  the  general  post  office 
and  patent  ofiice,  and  consumed  10,000  valuable  models  and  drawings 

Pittsburgh  was  the  scene  of  conflagration  on  April  10,  1845,  which  destroyed  1,000 
buildings,  and  entailed  a  loss  of  $G,000,0(JO. 

In  Philadelphia  the  fire  of  July  9,  1850,  destroyed  400  buildings. 

St.  Louis  endured  a  similar  calamity  in  July,  1R49,  leveling  418  buildings,  and 
destroying  25  steamboats.    The  total  loss  was  over  $6,000,000. 

In  the  tire  at  Portland,  Maine,  July  4,  1866,  1,600  buildings  were  reduced  to  ruius. 
The  loss  was  $9,000,000.  The  value  of  the  property  insured  did  not  exceed 
$4,000,000. 

The  British  Provinces  have  had  some  extensive  fires  in  their  cities.  At  Quebec, 
1,500  houses  were  burned,  and  a  vast  amount  of  property  was  consumed  on  the  28th 
of  May,  1845.  One  month  afterward,  1,300  buildings  were  destroyed  in  the  sama 
city,  in  all  amounting  to  two-thirds  of  the  whole  city.  In  June,  1846,  the  whole  city 
of  St.  John's,  Newfoundland,  was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  6,000  people  were  rendered 
homeless. 


DIRECTORY. 

Amid  an  uprooting  of  (Id  landmarks  so  complete,  and  changes  of  location  so 
numerous,  so  simultaneous,  and  so  anomalous,  we  have  encountered  extraordinary 
difficulties  in  compiling  an  accurate  and  reliable  directory.  Offices  of  wholesale 
houses  are  to  be  temporarily  found  iti  private  residences.  Banks  have  resumed  busi- 
ness in  the  most  unexpected  localities.  Firms  are  to  be  found  in  basements  or  in 
second  floor  rooms,  that  used  to  require  whole  structures  for  the  accommodation  ot 
their  business  Indeed,  if  a  nitro-glycerine  explosion  had  scattered  the  signs  of  the 
burnt  district,  and  the  owners  had  set  up  business  again  at  the  places  where  these 
signs  had  fallen  to  earth  again  or  lodged,  there  could  hardly  be  a  more  promiscuous 
and  novel  distribution  of  business  localities.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  offices  of 
city  and  United  Slates  officials. 

We  have  done  the  best  we  could  amid  so  many  impediments,  and  present  below  a 
directory  which,  if  not  always  accurate  and  reliable,  will  prove  useful  for  reference, 
and  supply  a  want  greatly  urgent  at  the  present  time. 

OFFICES    OF     THE     UNITED     STATES,    COUNTY    AND    CITY    GOV- 
ERNMENT,  HOTELS,    RAILROADS,    AND    BANKS. 

UNITED    STATES    OFFICES. 

Custom  House,  United  States  Depository,  Marshal,  Commissioner,  Pension  Agent 
District  Court  Appraiser,  Assessor  of  Internal  Revenue,  Collector  of  Internal  Rev- 
enue, wiU  be  found  at  Congress  Hall,  Congress  street. 

Postofflce,  Burlington  Hall,  State  and  Sixteenth  streets,  soon  to  be  removed  to  Ply. 
mouth  Church,  comer  Wabash  avenue  and  Eldridge  court. 

OOTINTT  OFFICES. 

The  County  Clerk,  Circuit  and  Superior  Clerks,  County  Treasurer,  and  Courts  of  the 


SIDDOJSrS' 

Patent  Fire-Proof  Iron  Roo% 

'   GALVANIZED  IRON  CORNICES, 

OBNAMENTAt    GAtVilNIZEO    IBOM  WORKS. 


JOHN  SIDDONS  &  SON, 

90  Main  st.  Rochester,  New  York. 


No  argument  is  needed  to  convince  an  intelligent  public 
of  the  importance  of  good  buildings.  To  secure  such  without 
too  great  an  expense,  has  been  the  labor  and  study  of  years. 
Experiments  with  different  materials  have  been  more  or  less 
satisfactory,  but  no  cheap  roof  has  yet  been  found  to  answer 
the  purpose  fully.  Iron,  for  roofing,  has  been  conceded  by 
those  best  informed  in  such  matters,  to  be  the  best  material 
for  roofing,  taking  cost,  durability  and  protection  against  the 
elements  into  account.  The  deeideratum  was  to  so  construct 
the  iron  roof  that  it  would  fullv  answer  the  purpose  required. 

Siddons'  Patent  Iron  Roofing  is  so  constructed  as  to  over- 
come all  objections  heretofore  met  in  the  construction  of  iron 
roofs.  It  has  been  thoroughly  tested  in  every  particular,  and 
has  given  the  most  entire  satisfation  where  it  is  used.  An  ex- 
perience of  twenty -five  years  in  the  manufacture  of  roofs,  has 
enabled  the  inventor  to  understand  fully  what  was  wantedjand 
what  difiaculties  had  to  be  overcome. 

Our  Roofs  are  so  put  on  that  expansion  and  contraction 
are  provided  for  in  all  directions  of  the  sheet. 

We  also  make  a  specialty  of  Galvanized  Iron    Work,    for 

Cornices,  Window  Tops,  Dormal  Windows,  and  all   kinds   of 
Ornamental  Work,  such  as  is  usually  used  on  buildings. 

Address,    c,  R.  OTIS,  Chicago. 


ffil!  GUSEAt  COKFLACHlATlON.  99 


Record  generally,  will  be  found  in  the  High  School  building  on  Monroe  streeet.     This 
is  the  county's  headquarters  generally. 

CITY  OFFICES. 

The  Mayor  and  city  officers  generally  are  located  at  the  comer  of  Hubbard  court 
and  Wabash  avenue. 

Board  of  Public  Works,  Masonic  building,  comer  of  West  Randolph  and  Halsted 
streets 

Board  of  Education,  No.  271  West  Randolph  street. 

Police  headquarters  are  at  the  Ujiion  Street  Station. 

Headquarters  of  the  First  Precmct  at  church,  corner  of  Third  avenue  and  Polk 
street. 

OOMMEKOIAL.  « 

Board  of  lYade,  51  and  53  South  Canal  street. 

Lumber  Exchange,  southwest  corner  of  Lake  and  Market  streets. 

THE  BANKS. 

First  National,  644  Wabash  avenue. 

Merchants'  Loan  and  Tmst  Company,  544  Wabash  avenue. 

Third  National,  436  Wabash  avenue. 

Fourth  National,  475  Wabash  avenue. 

Fifth  National,  449  Wabash  axenue. 

Union  National,  534  Wabash  avenue. 

National  Bauk  of  Commerce,  532  Wabash  avenue. 

Northwestem,  536  Wabash  avenue. 

City  National,  Bishop  Block,  West  Randolph. 

Traders'  National,  447  Wnbash  avenue.  ' 

Merchants'  National,  225  Michigan  avenue. 

Cook  County  National,  681  Wabash  avenue. 

Illinois  State  National,  101^  West  Randolph. 

Merchants'  National,  281  Cottage  Grove  avenue. 

Manufacturers'  National,  532  Wabash  avenue. 

Cushman,  Hardin  &  Co.,  57  Calumet  avenue. 

MerchHUts',  Farmers'  and  Mechanics'  Savings  Bank,  64  South  Halsted  street. 

Merchants'  Savings,  Loan  and  Trast  Company,  414  Wabash  avenue. 

THE   HOTELS. 

Sherman,  comer  Clinton  and  Madison. 

Tremont,  the  old  Michigan  Avenue,  comer  of  Congreaa. 

Briggs,  West  Madison  street,  near  the  bridge. 

NEWSPAPEHS, 

Tribune,  No.  15  Canal  street. 

The  Evening  Post,  business  office  No.  lOli  Randolph  street. 

The  Times.  105  West  Randolph  street. 

The  Republican,  21  Clinton  street. 

Evening  Jonrnal,  No.  13  Canal  street. 

The  Staats  Zeitung,  business  office  No.  101^  Randolph. 

The  Evening  Mail,  Lind's  block.  South  Division. 

RAILROADS. 

Chicago,  Burligton  and  Quincy,  and  Illinois  Central,  at  the  ruins  of  the  old  depot. 

The  following  railroad  offices  have  been  established  at  No.  308  Wabash  avenue  : 
Offices  of  the  Chicago  and  Southwestern  Railroad,  offices  of  the  Decatur  and  State 
Line  Railroad,  office  of  the  Solicitor  of  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railroad,  and 
office  of  the  Solicitor  of  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific  Railroad. 

Trains  on  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific  Railroad  leave  the  depot, 
corner  Clark  and  Twenty-second  streets,  at  10  A.  M.,  4:30  P.  M.,  and  10  P.  M. 

The  Pullman  Palace  Car  Company,  corner  of  Eighteenth  street  and  Prairie  avenue. 

Erie  and  North  Shore  Line,  769  Wabash  avenue. 

Merchants'  Dispatch,  218  West  Randolph  street. 

Goodrich's  steamers,  dock  foot  of  Michigan  avenue. 

Union  Steamboat  Company,  west  end  of  Lake  street  bridge. 

Blue  Freight  Line,  769  Wabash  avenue. 

Baltimore  and  Ohio,  comer  of  Sixteenth  and  State. 

Northwestem,  Halsted,  near  Kinzie. 

TELEQBAPHS. 

The  Pacific  and  Atlantic  Telegraph  offices  are  situated  at  845  Clark  street. 

Western  Union,  358  Canal. 

Fire  Alarm  Telegraph  Office,  southwest  corner  of  Canal  and  Washmgton  streets. 

EXPRESSES. 

Adams  Express  Company,  55  West  Washington  streets. 

American  Merchants'  Union  Express,  comer  of  Green  and  Randolph  streets. 

United  States  Express,  Washington  near  Canal. 


HALSET  BEOS., 

^tmmfttkk  lit?  < 

Ho.  704  State  Street 

In  Oomp>lete   I^-uLnrLirLg   Order, 
DEALERS  IN  HOMEOPATHIC  MEDICINES, 


Surgical  Instruments, 
'mlvmic  §dtteries,  ^annimti  ^^ringeSr 

Agents  for  Yoltaic  Armor  Bands  and  Soles. 


During  the  recent  calamitous  Fire,  it  was  observed 
by  thousands  that  the  rapid  spread  of  the  Conflagration  was 
owing  largely  to  immense  sheets  of  Composition  or  Felt 
Roofing,  which,  becoming  ignited,  were  borne  through  the  air 
by  the  wind,  setting  fire  wherever  they  dropped — in  many  in- 
stances many  blocks  in  advance  of  the  fire  itself.  We  are 
glad  to  see  that  merchants  and  builders  are  giving  this  matter 
serious  consideration,  and  will  largely  adopt  in  their  new 
buildings  a  fire-proof  roofing.  Such  is  SIDDONS'  PATENT 
FIRE-PROOF  IRON  ROOFING,  a  description  of  which  is 
o^iven  in  our  advertising  pages.  Mr.  C,  R.  Otis,  the  Chicago 
Agent;  will  be  happy  to  confer  with  parties  desiring  to  place 
on  their  buildings  this  celebrated  roofing. 


DIRECTORY  TO   PRmCEPAL  BUSINESS  HOUSES. 


101 


BUSINESS  DIRECTOET. 


American  Express  Co,  Washington  st,  near  Canal 

American  Sewing  Macliine  Co,  133  South  Peoria  st 

Andrews,  A  H,  office  deslis,   &c,  119  West  Wash- 
ington St. 

American  Mutual  Express  Co,  cor  Green  and  West 
Randolph  sts. 

Adams'  Express  Co,  55  West  Washington  st. 

Allen  &  Mackey,  carpets,  l^i  State  st. 

Aiken,  Lambert  &  Co,  jewelers,  88   West  Wash- 
ington St. 

American  Fire  Insurance  Co,  48T  West  Madison  s'. 

American  Powder  Co,  lOSl  Indiana  av 

Adams,  Blackmer  &  Lyon,  publishers,  201  West 
Washington  st. 

Appleby,   K  B,  frames  and  mouldings,  15  South 
Halsted  st. 

Atwater  &  Co,  agricultural  implements,  51  and  53 
North  Jefferson  st. 

Arctic  House,  95  Canal  st 

^tna  Sewing  Machine  Co,  159  Milwaukee  av. 

Andrews,  A  H  &  Co,  office  desks,  cor  Washington 

and  Jefferson  sts . 

Aldrich,  A  E  &  Co,  furniture,  rear  11,  13,  15  and  IT 
South  Canal  st. 

B 

Boal,  (;  F  &  Co,  grocers,   cor  Harmon  court  and 
Michigan  av. 

Bonsfield,  Poole  &  T  Althrop,  14:U5  Wabash  av 

Bliss,  Moore  &  Co,  grocers,  (504  Wabash  av. 

Bittinger,  J  &  Bro,   diied  fruits,  302  West  Hai- 
rison  st. 

Boyuton  &  Co,  130  Park  av. 

Bowen,   Hunt  &  Winslow,   dry  goods  128  Michi- 
gan av. 

Buret,    A  W  &  Co,  Continental  Ins  Co,  N.  Y,  393 
Wabash  av. 

Bowen,  E  A,  sign  painter,  43  Washington  st. 

Bowen  Bros,  360  Wabash  av. 

Baldwin  S  S,  gold  and  silver  plating,   356  Wabash 
ave. 

Boyd,  Chas  L,  money  broker,  336  Wabash  av. 

Boyiugton,  architect,  cor  Van  Buren  st  and  Wa- 
bash av. 

Board  of   Public  Works,  cor  Halsted  and  Ran- 

*  dolph  sts. 

Brick,  U  S  Machine  Works,  cor  Monroe  and  Clin- 
ton sts. 

Bohanon  &  Puringtun,  fruit,  etc,  60  Madison  st. 

fielding  Bros  &  Co,  716  Michigan  av. 

Buck  &  Rayner,  druggists,  819  State  st. 

Bangs  Bros,  stoves,  1135  Prairie  av. 

Byrne  &  O'Brien,  47  and  49  Miller  st. 

Blees  Sewing  Machine  Co,  142  West  Twelfth  st. 

Baker  &  Baker,  343  State  st. 

Barker  &  Illsby,  stoves,  674  State  st. 

Barnes,  A  S  &  Co,  515  State  et. 

12 


Bowen,  E  R  &  Son,  gloves,  15  Center  av. 
Boynton  &  Co,  contractor,  cor  Clark  and  Madison 

sts. 
Board  of   Education,    Randolph,  bet   Sangamon 

and  Morgan  sts. 
Brigham  &  Jones,   saddlery   hardware,   14  West 

Randolph  st. 
Blackburn  Bros,  leather  findings,  27  South  Canal 

St. 

Blanchai'd,  Borland  &  Co,  lumber  commission,  cor 
L;ike  and  Market  sts. 

Bernauer,  B,  66  Lake  st. 

Barnes  House,  cor  West  Randolph  and  Canai  sts. 

Blenis  Hou.se.  cor  Canal  aud  West  Randolph  sts. 

Brinks'  City  Express,  37  East  Randolph  st. 

Briggs,  f-pencer  &  Co,  hardware,  1022  Wabash  av. 

Burley  &  Tyrrell,  crockery,  367  Wabash  av. 

Bullock  Bros,  boots  and  shoes,  cor  Twenty-first 
st  aud  Wabash  av. 

Bassett  &  Hammond,  hats  and  caps,  196  West 
Madison  st. 

Blauchard,  Rufus,  maps,  132  Clark  st. 

Barlow  &  Wells,  201  West  Washington  st. 

Beiersdorf,  J,  furniture,  350  Wabash  av. 

Bcckwith,  C  H  «&  Sons,  wholesale  grocers,  Mich- 
igan av.  and  Monroe  st. 

Baruum  &  Richardson,  car  wheel  manufacturers, 
07  to  71  West  Madison  st. 

Butler,  E  W  &  Co,  paper  warehouse,  22  and  24 
Desplaines  st. 

Blatchford,  E  W,  Chicago  Lead  and  Oil  Works,  66, 
68,  70  South  Clinton  et. 

Blandy's  engines  and  sawmDls,  36  Canal  st. 

Bell,  R  L,  ties,  wood,  bark,  etc,  30  Canal  st. 

Butts,  G  C  &  Co,  73  West  Lake  st. 

BUSS  &  Sharp,  druggists,  154  Twenty-second  st. 

Boston  Square  Dealiug  Clothing  House,  retail, 
Madison,  cor  Peoria  st. 

Boston  Square  Dealing  Clothing  House,  Twenty- 
second  st,  near  State  st. 

Botsford  &  Sou,  wholesale  hardware,  461  Wabash 
av. 

Briggs  House,  cor  West  Madison  and  Canal. 

Bradstreet  &  Son,  mercantile  agency,  36  Canal  st. 

Braduer,  Smith  &  Co,  paper  dealers,  619  State  st. 

Bauer,  J  &  Co,  pianos,  270  Michigan  av. 

Bradley  &  Sidley,  machine  oils,  60  West  Lake  st. 

Britnell.  Terry  &  Belden,  wholesale  hardware,  57 
West  Lake  st. 

Butler,  J  W  &  Co,  paper,  13  West  Jeflfersou  st. 

Butters,  W  A  &  Co,  auctioueers,  3  and  4  Dearborn 
Park. 

Burton  &  Pierce,  cor  Eldridi,'e  ct  and  Michigan  av. 

Bonte,  A  C  P,  pictures,  looking  glass,  etc,  165 
West  Indiana  St. 

Bryan,  Thos  B,  fidelity  safe  depository.  139  Ran- 
dolph St. 

Board  of  Public  Works,  204  West  Randolph  st. 


102 


DIRECTOBY  TO  PRINCIPAI.  BUSrNSSS  HOUSES. 


Brown  &  Prior,  gents  furnishing,  659  Wabash  av. 
Baggott  &  Almy,    gal  fitting    and  plumbing,    79 

South  Halsted  st. 
Barrow,  W,  143  West  Madison  st. 
Bowen,  Ira  P  &  Co,  crockery,  107  Wabash  av. 

c 

Collins  &  Bnigie,  stoves,  cor  Jefferson  and  Van 

Bnren  st. 
Chicago  Gas  Light  &  Coke  Co,  1st  Baptist  church, 

cor  Wabash  av  and  Hubbard  court. 
Cragin,  H  B  &  Co,  tinners  stock,  122  Michigan  av. 
Coly  &  Farwell,  114  and  116  Michigan  ave. 
Cossitt,  F  D   &  Co,  grocers,   cor  Monroe  st  and 

Michigan  av. 
Cook,  G  C,  wholesale  grocer,  299  Michigan  a  v. 
Cnnard  Line  Steamers,  office  3T6  State,  room  12 . 
Chase,  F  B  &  Hild,  sign  painters,  109  Randolph  st. 
Case  &  Sa\Tn,  lamps,  etc,  15  Soutli  CJanal  st. 
Clement,    Morton  &  Co,   wholes.ile  clothing,  125 

Sxichigan  av. 
Crere,  Adams  &  Co,  railway  supplies,   164  Jlichi- 

gan  av. 
Cook  County  National   Bank,  cor  Harrison  and 

Wabash  av. 
Corn  Exchange  National  Bank,  364  Wabash  av. 
Connecticut  Mutual  Insurance  Co,  377  Wabash  av. 
Clapp,  Wm  B  &  Bros,  sUver-plate  ware,  356  Wa- 
bash av. 
Cahn,  Wampold  &  Co,  clothing,  474  Michigan  av. 
Chase,  Hanford  &  Co,  oils,  etc,  479  Canal  st. 
Campion,  Safford  &  Co,  460  West  Adams  st. 
Colbum,  L  J,  confectionery,  1045  Wabash  av. 
Crane,  H  E  &  Co,  builders,  cor  State  and  Jackson 

StB. 

Ciiurch's  Housekeepers'  Resort,  1221  State  st. 

Collins  &  Ullman,  1234  Prairie  av. 

Coraell,  W,  662  West  Madison  st. 

Connell,  D,  ornamental  plasterer,  343  Center  av. 

Cass,  Chapman  &  Co,  architects,  Clark  st. 

Cone,  S,  jeweler,  369  South  Clark  st. 

Chicago  Manufacturing  Co,  213  ;iud  215  Lake  st. 

Cooper,  C  &  G  &  Co,  wholesale  hardware,   10  and 

12  Randolph  st. 
Chicago  Daily  Union,  cor  Market  and  Randolph 

6tS. 

Clark  &  Edwards,  priuters,  198  West  Randolph  st. 

Cummings,  S  &  Co,  266  West  Madison  st. 

Cohen,  N,  Center  av,  near  Twelfth  st. 

Cogswell  &,  Co,  jewelry,  318  West  Madison  st. 

Cragin  H  B  &  Co,  cor  Michigan  av  and  Washing- 
ton st. 

Culver,  Page,  Hoyne  &  Co,  jobbing  stationers, 
11, 13,  15  North  Desplaiues  st. 

Chicago  Scale  Co,  36  West  Washinu'tou  st. 

Chadwick,  dry  goods,  237  West  Madison  st 

Clifton  House,  cor  West  Washington  and  South 
Halsted  sts. 

Chicago  Shot  Tower  Co,  64  South  Clinton  st. 

Coggswell,  Chas  P,  muchiuery,  37  and  39  Canal  st. 

Chicago  Foundry,  cor  Monroe  and  Canal  sts. 

Chicago  Lumber  Co,  cor  Lake  and  Market  sts. 

Conntiss,  R  H,  teas  and  spices,  817  State  st. 

Chandler,  H  H,  advertising  agency,  49  South  Ca- 
nal St. 


Commercial  NatioDal  Bank,  532  Wabash  av. 

City  National  Bank,  N  E  cor  Clinton  and  Wash- 
ington sts. 

Cobb,  Andrews  &  Co,  paper  and  stationery,  469 
Wabash  av. 

Coen  &  Ten  Broeke,   carriages,  cor  Ann  and  West 
Randolph  st. 

C  &  G  Cooper  &  Co,  machinery,   10  and  12  Ran- 
dolph St. 

Chase  C  E  &  Co,  forwardiug  and   Ins  agency,  cor 
Randolph  and  Halsted  sts. 

Campbell,   Nye,  wholesale  fish  depot,  21  Jeffer- 
son St. 

Chandler  &   Boynton,    hides,   pelts,  etc,  49  South 
(/anal  st. 

Childs,    S  D  &  Co,  engraver   and  die  sinker,  253 
Kinzie  st. 

Chicago  Plate  and  Bar  Mill  Co,  752  Wabash  av. 

Coggswell  &  Co,  jewelers,  318  West  Madison  st. 

Callaghan  &  Crockcroft,  law  books,  121  West  Ran- 
dolph St. 

Chicago  Lime  Co,  800  State  street. 

Cannon,  M  T,  merchant  tailor,  514  Wabash  av. 

Chicago  Newspaper  Union,  13  North  Jefferson  st. 

Chicago  Scale  Company,  34  and  36  West  Washing- 
ton St. 

Clinton  Wire  Cloth  Co,  781  State  st. 

Commercial  Agency  of    Tappan,  McKillop  &  Co, 
35  and  37  South  Canal  st. 

Chicago  Academy  of  Music,  800  Wabash  av. 

Cross,  Steele  &  Cass,  289  West  Madison  st. 

Chicago  Mercantile  Journal.  463  South  Clinton  st. 

Chicago  Type  Foundry,  72  Washington  st. 

Collins,  C  C,  boys'  clothing,  792  Wabash  av. 
D 

Draper,  N  C,  teas,  syrnps,  etc,  49  West  Lake  st. 

Dana,   Hyde  &   Co,   teas,    syrups     etc,  49  West 
Lake  st. 

Dane,  Westlake  &  Covert,  87  West  Lake  et. 

Duulop,  Reade  &  Brewster,  printers,  7  and  9  Jef- 
ferson St. 

Drake,  A,  wall  paper  and  painting,  178  West  Madi- 
son st, 

Day,  J  L,  tailor,  265  Madison  st. 

Dana.  Hyde  &  Co,  merchants,  49  West  Lake  st. 

Dunham  &  Hoit,  20  South  Market  st 

Downs,  A  G  &  Co,  dry  goods,  cor  State  and  Archer 
av. 

Dixon  &  Hamilton,  architect.  829  State  st. 

Doggett,   Bassett  &  HlUs,  boots  and  shoes,  522 
Wabash  av. 

Dean  Bros,  &  Hoft"man,    book  manut,  31  South 
Clinton  st.  * 

Day,  AUeu  &  Co,  wholesale  grocers,  631    Michigan 
av. 

Diebold  &  Kenzies,  safes,  446  State  st. 

Durand  Bros,   &  Powers,  wholesale  grocers,   cor 
Washington  and  Green  sts. 

Doane,  J  W  &  Co,  wholesale  grocers,  14s  Calumet 
av. 

Douglass,  Frank,  machinery  depot,  58  South  Canal 

St. 

Dennison  &  Co,   tags,  14  Canal  st,   A  L  Hale  & 
Bros  building. 


DIRECTORY  TO  PRINCrPAI.  BUSINESS  HOUSES. 


103 


Dawson,  John,  oakum  works,  30  Market  St. 
Dahl,  H  L,  merchant  tailor,  201  West  Madison  st. 

E 
Evening  Journal  OfHce,  13  Sonth  Canal  st. 
Electric  Watch  Company,  67  West  Madison  st. 
Eldorado  Cook  Sto\e  Company,  991  Michiijan  av. 
Evins  &  Co,  '24,  26  North  Jeflerson  st. 
Eveniug  Mail,  cor  Market  and  Randplph  sts. 
Edward8,Bliiett  &  Co,clothiers,  47  West  Madison  st, 
East  India  Tea  Company,   cor  Maiisoii  and   Hal- 

sted  sts. 
Erlckson,  boots  and  shoes,  470  State  st. 
Esway,  A  S  &  Co,  bedding,  435  West  Lske  st. 
Eclectic  Life  Insurance  Co,  Halsled  and  Randolph 

sts. 
Esmay,  Simmonds,  25  South  Canal  st. 
Ely,  W  L  &  Co,  84  West  Randolph  st. 
Eden  &  Delight,  Canal,  just  N  of  Randolph  st. 
Ely,  Edward,  tailor,  657  Wabash  av. 


Field,  Leiter  &  Co,  wholesale  and  retail  dry  e:i)ods, 

cor.  18th  and  Stale  sts. 
Friedmau,  J,  clothing,  671  Michigan  av. 
Frank  &  Co,  clothing,  509  \v  abash  av. 
Fowler  &  Carr,  bailders,  13  Egan  uv. 
Flavels,  G  W,  trunk  store,  131  West   Randolph  st. 
Forsyth,  J  F  &  Co,  scales,  70  West,  Washington  st. 
Forsyth,  James    &  Co,  wholesale  grocers,  154  and 

156  Lake  st. 
Fuhring,  P,  drugs,  156  West  Randolph  st 
Fuller  &  Fuller,  wholesale  drugs,  22,   24,  and  26 

Market  st. 
Fargo,   C  H  &  Co,  Boot  Manufacturipg  Co,  575 

State  St. 
Faxon,  E  G  L  &  Co,  654  Wabash  av. 
Folsom  Bros  &  Co,  16  North  Canal  st. 
Fisk,  D  B  &  Co,  wholesale  miilinery  and  straw 

goods,  57  West  Washington  st. 
Ford,  David  M,   machine  shops  cor  Clinton  and 

Washington  sts. 
Freeman  Bros,  boots  and  shoes,|243  West  Madison 

St. 

Purst  &  Bradley,  Garden  City  Clipper  Plow 
Works  5S  to  70  South  Jefferson  st. ' 

Fairbanks,  Greenleaf  &  Co,  scales,  11  Caual  st. 

Ford  &  Co,  164  West  Lake  st. 

Franklin  Insurance  Co,  165  West  Washinfton  st. 

First  National  Bank,  446  Wabash  av. 

Farwell,  F  W,  Babcock  Extinguisher,  556  Wabash 
av. 

Fiukle  &  Lyon  Sewing  Machine,  73  South  Halsted 

St. 

Florence  Sewing  Machine,  15  Eldrldge  st. 
Fitch,  Williams  &  Co,  75  Calumet  av. 
Fitch,  T  S  &  Co,  real  estate,  421  Cottage  Grove  av. 
Parrington,  Brewster  &  Co,  grocers,   Michigan  av, 

near  Hubbard  court. 
Pairbauk,  Peck  &  Co,   oils,  cor  Eighteenth  and 

Blackwell  sts . 
Farwell,  J  V  &  Co  Wabashjav,  neargSixteeuth  st 
Farnum,  Flagg  &  Co,  boots  aud   shoes,  266  West 

Madison  st. 
Fourth  National  Bank,  475  Wabash  av. 


Fifth  National  Bank,  449  Wabash  av. 
Pollansbee  &  Son,  bankers,  401  Wabash  av. 
Foley,  billiard  hall,  cor  Canal  and  Randolph  st. 

G 

Gray  Bros,  332  Michigan  av. 

Greensfelder,  Rosenthal   &   Co.   wholesale  boots, 
etc,  113  Wabash  av. 

Gondy  &  Chandler,  attorneys,  391  Wabash  av. 

Gregory,  Campbell,  360  Wabash  av. 

Glaser,  Rifield  &  Co,  Michig.'in  nv,  neiiv  Congress  st 

Gillespie,  J  M,  705  Wabish  jivc 

German  Bank,  17  Milwauke  av. 

Gottig,  C  H,  cor  Lake  iiud  Canal  sts. 

Greenebaum,  Henry  &  Co.  German  Bank,  16  North 
Canal  st. 

Giles,  J,  show  cases,  035  Stale  st. 

Glacie  &  Sievers,  54  Lake  st. 

Gavin,  John  R,  scroll  sawing,  S7  West  Lake  st. 

Gilmore,  A  W,  banker,  107  West  Rand^ilph  st. 

Gale  &  Blocki,  drugs,  57  West  Randolph  st. 

(Jrus,  Wm  &  Co,  tailors,  172  West  Washington  st. 

Globe  Theater,  Wood's  Miii^enm,  etc,  Desplaines 
and  Washington  sts. 

Gage  Bros  &  Co,  wholesale  millinery,  961  Indi- 
ana av. 

Goodspeed,  J  W,  publisher,  292  West  Madison  st. 

Garrick,  John,  30  Canal  st. 

Gilbert,  Hubbard  &  Co,  cordage,  twines,  etc,  14 
ana  IC  Market  st. 

Gibson  Bros,  35  West  Lake 

Gillett,  McCulloch  &  Co,  chemical  works,  51  West 
Lake  st. 

Graff,  M  &  Co,  fruit,  fancy  dealers,  123  West  Madi- 
son St. 

Gould,  Briggs,  &  Co,  wholesale  grocers,  41,  43 
South  Canal  st. 

Glassbrook,  M,  hair  goods,  145  Twenty-second  st 

Giles  Bros,  jewelers,  cor  Wabash  av  and  Twenty 
second  st. 

G'.obe  Job  Printing,  4'>  West  Washington  st. 

Gilbert  &  Sampson,  320  Michigan  av. 

Grand,  Hotel,  cor  Canal  and  Madison  sts. 

Gray  &  Barrow,  143  West  Madison  st. 

Globe  Mutual  Ins.  Company,  23  Sonth  Halsted  st. 

Goss  &  Phillips,  cor  Clark  and  Twelfth  sts. 

H 

Hibbard  &  Spencer,  hardware  and  tinplate,  120 
Michigan  av. 

Hall,  Kimbark  &  Co,  iron  merchants,  118  Michi- 
gan av. 

Hussey,  W^ells  &  Co,  12.54  Wabash  av. 

Hale,  Ayer  &  Co,  iron,  nails,  1  Park  Row, 

Hunt,  Edwin  &  Sons,  hardware,  Michigan  av,  bet 
Monroe  and  Adams. 

Hull,  Sidell  &  Co,  hops  and  malt,  9  Michigan  av. 

Hibben  &  Co,  21  Archer  av. 

Harmon,  Messer  &  Co,  grocers,   125  Michigan  av. 

Hotchkiss,  Eddy  &  Oo,  167  Michigan  av. 

Henderson,  C  M  &  Co,  boots  and  shoes,  337  Michi- 
gan av. 

Harvey,  H  M,  men  and  boya  clothing,  :385  Wabash 


104 


DIRECTORY  TO  PRENCIPAI.  BUSHfESS  HOUSES. 


Hamlin,  Hale  &  Co,  dry  goods,  288  Michiscan  av.     | 

Heimedinger  &  Florsk,  143  Twenty-third  st. 

Hall  &  Harlow,   boot    and  fehoe  company,   105o| 

t  Michigan  av. 

Hodge.-,  J  B,  577  State  st. 

Hopson  &  Co,' 300  Michigan  av. 

Hanchet,  livery  stable,  Hnbbard  court. 

Holden,  W  H,  1050  State  st. 

Henry  &  Cunningham's  Oyster  Depot,  421  Clark 

St. 

Hoichkin.  Palmer  &  Co,  148  Twenty-fifth  st. 
Hibernian  Banking  A.=sociation,  446  Wabash  av. 
Heron,  Hugh  &  Co,  book  publishers,  376  State  st. 
Hirsh,  J  M  &  Co,  83  West  Washington  st. 
Haggart.  S  B  &  Co,  stoves,  39  Lakest. 
Hunt  &  Co,  farming  implements,  47  Weft  Lake  st. 
Heath  &  Milligaii,  paints  and  oils,  103  West  Ean- 

dolph  St. 
Hodge  &  Homer,  hardware,  paints,  oUs,  etc.,  78 

West  Randolph  st. 
Hooker,  H  M,  wholesale  and  retail  hardware.  59 

West  Randolph  st. 
Hall,  Z  M,  wholesole  grocer,  259  and  261  East  Ran- 
dolph St. 
Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Co,  cor  Washington  and 

Green  sts. 
Hineich  &  Sontag,  1269  Indiana  av. 
Halsey  Bros,  homeopathic  pharmacy,  704  State  st 
Hale,  A  L  &  Bro,  furnitnre.  Canal,  bet  Randolph 

and  Lake  sts. 
Hart,  Asten  &  Co,  Bag  Manufacturing  Co,  5  and  7 

West  Madison  st. 
Haden  &  Kay,  saddlery,  etc,  47  West  Randolph  st 
Hayes,  Gibbins  &  Co,  millinery,  etc,  434  State  st 
Hartford  Life  Insurance  Co,  6.59  Wabash  av. 
Home  Insurance  Co  of  N  Y,  30  and  32  Clinton  st. 
Hallock  &  Wheeler,  belting  and  rubber  goods,  28 

West  Randolph  st. 
Haskiu,   Martin  &  Wheeler,    cement,  686    South 

Canal  st. 
Hollister,  E  F  &  Co,  carpe's,  10  North  Canal  st.  * 
Hanson,  C  H,  engraver,  .54  West  Madison  st. 
Howe's  trucks,  etc,  .57  North  Jefferson  st. 
Home  Shuttle  Sewing  Machine  Co,  243  West  Mudi 

son  St. 
Hall's  Safe  and  Lock  Co,  66  West  Madison  st. 
Hobson,  3  W  &   Son,   wholesale  fish  dealers,  60 

South  Canal  st. 
Hendrickson,  J  S,  103  Milwaukee  av 
Hartt  &  Co,  printing  presses,  72  Washington  st 
Hunt,   W    P,  rags  and  metals.   Van    Buren,   bet 

Clinton  and  Jefferson  sts. 
Harris'  safes.  Canal,  bet  Randolph  and  Washington 

sts 
Herring's  safes,  cor  Fourrcenth  st  and  Indiana  av. 
Hughes,  John  &  Son,  plumbers,  245  \\  est  Madi 

son  St. 


Inr.ess  Bros.  364  West  Washington  st. 
Ingraham,  Corbem  &  May,  127  Michigan  av. 
Inman  Line  Ocean  Steamers,  31)  West  Kinzie  st. 
Indiana  Pioneer  Coal  Mining  Co,  West  Lake  st. 


Ivison,  Blackman,  Taylor  &  Co,  school  books,  273 

West  Randolph  st. 
Illinois  Central  R  R  Company,  510  Michigan  av. 
Imperial  Insurance  Co,  London,  505  Michigan  av. 


Jenkenson  &  Keitz,  47  Twenty-sixth  street. 
Jordan,  C  H,  undertaker,  56  South  Curtiss  st. 
Jevne  &  Almini,  paints,  oUs,  etc,  669  State  st. 
Jones,  R,  paints  and  oils,  200  West  Madison  st. 
Jenesen,  E  S,  architect,  669  State  st. 
Johnson  &  Abbey,  hardware,  .534  South  Canal  st 
Jones,  J  M  W.  Canal  st,  bet  Washington  and  Mad- 
ison sts. 
Jefferson  &  Wroe,  printers,  463  Clinton  st. 
Jones  &  Laughlin,  100  to  lOG  South  Canal  st. 

K 

King,  H  W  &  Co,  wholesale  clothing,  24  Market  st. 
Kinsley,  H  M,  caterer,  114  Michigan  av 
Kersting,  French  boots,  99}<^  Twenty  second  St. 
Keene,  W  B,   Cooke  &  Co,    Wasliinirton  st,  bet 

Wabash  and  Michigan  avs. 
Kern's  lunch  rooms,  117  South  Clark  st. 
Kerr,  Wm  &  Co,  Wisconsin   lime,  98  West  Lake  st. 
Kelley,  J  W  D  &  Bro,   hardware,  959  Indiana  av. 
Kimball,  W  W,  pianos,  610  Michigan  av. 
Keith  Bros,  hats  and  furs,   wholesale,  916  Prairie 

ave. 
Knickerbocker  Life  Insurance  Co,  cor  Randolph 

and  Halsted  sts. 
Kirk,   Coleman  &  Co,   iron,   nails,   etc,  34  South 

Canal  st. 
Kenley  &  Jenkins,  oils,  34  North  Canal  st. 


Lord  &  Smith,  wholesale  druggists,  Dearborn 
Park. 

Lorillard,  P,  82  West  Madison  st. 

Lunt,  Preston  &  Kean,  hankers,  cor  Halsted  and 
Randolph  sts. 

Loring,  E  R,  plumber,  98  Sixteenth  st. 

Lombard,  Wra,  for  Cooper,  Fellows  &  Co  3H  West 
Randolph. 

Lyon  &  Healy,  music  store,  287  West  Madson. 

Lyon,  J  W  &  Co,  197  Van  Buren  st. 

Lusk  &  Blatherwack,  com.  merchants,  56  West 
Lake  st 

Lichtenberger,  Chas,  hides,  etc,  136  West  Ran- 
dolph st. 

Larrabee  &  North,  hardware,  46  and  48  West  Lake 

St. 

Leavenworth,  A,  hardware,  216  West  Lake  st. 

Luddington,  N,  203  West  Twenty-second  st. 

Lasher,  G  &  Son,  28  West  Randolph. 

Libby,  A  A  &  Co,  packers,  830,  840  State  st. 

Lafliu  &  Rand,  powder  company,   595  Wabash  av. 

Laflin,  G  H  &  L,  paper,  57  North  Jefferson  st. 

Liverpool,  London  &  Globe  Ins  Co.  5  West  Madi- 
son St. 

Leopold  &  Co,  373  Wabash  av. 

Lloyd,  Lewis  &  Co,  advertising  agent,  59  West 
Randolph  st. 


\ 


t>ttlKC*roilY  TO  PRmCIPAt  BUSINESS  HOUSES. 


105 


M 

Mann  &  Scott,  elevator,  182  West  Washington  st 

Merchant  &  Carter,  15  Desplaines  st 

Marston  &  Peck,  592  Wabash  av. 

Millard  &  Decker,  24,  26  Jefferson  st. 

Merker  Bros,  56  South  Canjil  st. 

Mayhon,  Daly  &  Co,  millinery  goods,  126  Michigan 

McLennan  &  Frost,   contractors  and  builders,  12.i 

Michigan  av 
McAuley,    Yoe  &  Co,   wholesale- books,  etc,  198 

Michigan  av. 
Merker,  A  B,  American  and  Scotch  Iron   Pig,  376 

Wabash  av. 
Manhatten,  S  M  &  C,  386  Wabash  av. 
Mathews  &  Mason,  659  Wabash  av 
Mosebark  &  Humphrey,  boot  and  shoe  store,  lu5(i 

Michigan  av. 
Miller  Bros,  warehouse  North  Pier,  629  Wabash  av. 
Manufacturers'  National  Bant,  454  Wabash  av. 
McNeal  &  Urbans,  safes.   Canal  st,   bet  Madison 

and  Washington  sts. 
McLeon  &  Collins,  56  Stale  st. 
Morrison  &  Colnell,  58  State  st. 
Merchants'  Agency,  104  State  st. 
Mclntyre  &  French,  stoves  and  tinware.   State  st, 

cor  Jackson  et. 
Markley,  Ailing  &  Co,  hardware,  339  State  st. 
Miller  Bros  &  Keep,  hardware  and  cutlery,  28  and 

3U  State  St. 
Meadowcrott  Bros,  5  North  Canal  st. 
McDermott  &  Co,  painters,  98  South  Desplaines  st 
Morton,  A  V,  dry  goods,  16:j  West  Lake  st. 
Mallory  D  D  &  Co,  oyster  depot,  114    West  Ran- 
dolph st 
Munson  &Co,  jobbers,  14  Raudfilpb  st. 
McLean,  A  B,  26  South  Chnton  st. 
Myers,  S  H,  43  West  Randolph  st. 
McGrath,  J  J,  paper,  133  and  135  West  Madison  st. 
Morrill,  J  F  &  Co,  ISO  Randolph  st. 
McDonald  &  Bro,  I5  South  Canal  st. 
Mabley  &  Co,  clothiers,  122  West  Madison  st. 
Malefyt,  A,  carriage  ^manufactory,  205  West  Mad 

isou  st. 
Merchants',    Farmers'  Band    Mechanics'     Savings 

Bank,  60  Halsted  st. 
Merchant  &  Holden,  lime,  50  South  Clinton  st. 
Merker  Bros,  f  ocketbook  Manulacturing  Co,  etc, 

56  Canal  st. 
Mott,  J  R,   headquarters  of   Board  of  Trade,  51 

South  Cannl  st 
Marwell,  Wheeler  &  Co,  1000  Indiana  av. 
Mayo.  A  B,  jeweler,  468  State  st. 
Mechanics'  Savings  Bank,'  164  Twenty-second  st. 
Mandel  Bros,  123  Twenty-second  st. 
Mercantile  Agency,  373  Wabash  ave. 
Mitchell  &Hathaw,  boi)kseller,  68  South  Canal  st. 
Mason,  C  &  Co,  boilers,  cor  Clinton  and  Carroll  st. 
Misch,  George  A  &  Bro,  cor  Canal  and  Lake  st. 
Manz  J.  engraver  on  wood,  165  W  Madison  st 

1¥ 

National  Loan  and  Trust  Co  Bank,  107  West  Ran- 
dolph St. 

National  Publishing  Co,  181  West  Madison  st. 

New  England  House,  cor  Harrison  and  Clark  sts. 

New  Haven  House,  cor  Halsted  and  Randolph  sts 

Northwestern  Manufacturing  Co.  20  and  22  South 
Jefferson  st. 

Norton  &  Fancher,  tin  and  Japanned  ware,  65 
Canal  st. 

Neeley,  Albert  E  &  Co,  River,  bet  Twenty-second 
and  Twenty-third  sts. 

National  Bank  of  Illinois,  70 i  Michigan  av. 

Northwestern  National  Bank,  526  Wabash  av. 

North  American  Insurance  Co,  511  Wabash  av. 

National  Elgin  Watch  Co,  cor  Green  and  Wash- 
ington sts. 

Northwest  Paper  Co,  87  West  Lake  st. 

Neage,  Rutland  &  Ordway,  Michigan  av,  opp  ho- 
tel. 

Niedert  &  Co,  commission,  28  Market  st. 

Noble,  W  T  &  Co,  looking  glasses,  etc,  595  State 

St. 

Northwestern    Mutual    Life   Insurance    Co.  19  S. 

Green  st. 
National  Bank  of  Commerce,  543  Wabash  av. 


o 

Orvis,  O  D,  frames,  chromos,  etc  (wholesale),  381 

Wabash  av. 
Ortmayer,  Lenis  &  Co,  49  West  Randolph  st. 
Ogden,  Sheldon  &  Scudder,  lire  insurance,  62  South 

Canal  st. 
Oglesby,    Barnitz   &    Co,    paper   warehouse,   818 

Randolph  st. 


Pearce  &  Benjamin,  Hyde  Park  House. 

Page,  M  E  &  Co,  145  North  Desplaines  st. 

Pardridge,  C  W,  dry  goods,  123,  125,  127  State  st. 

Phelps,  Dodge  &  Palmer,  wholesale  boots,  etc,  861 
Indiana  av. 

People's  Fire  Insurance  Co  of  Springfield,  389 
Wabash  av. 

Philadelphia  Collar  Co,  696  Wabash  av. 

Publishing  Co,  A  B  &  L,  55  West  Randolph  st. 

Prairie  Savings  Bank,  95  West  Randolph  st. 

Prairie  Farmer,  9B  Randolph  st. 

Porter,  F.  Thayer  &  Co,  furniture  warerooms,  90 
West  Randolph  st. 

Phelps,  Thos  &  Co,  dry  goods,  32  Randolnh  st. 

Prestous,  J,  piano  factory,  259  East   Randolph  st. 

Page  Bros,  &  Co,  35  and  37  South  Canal  st 

Prairie  State  Savings  Bank,  95  West  Randolph  st. 

Phoenix  Insurance  Company,  51  Canal  st. 

Puuh  Bros,  machine  works,  cor  Clinton  and  Van 
Buren  st . 

Protection  Insurance  of  Chicago,  235  West  Madi- 
son St. 

Peoples  Insurance  Company,  30  West  Madison  st. 

Parkhnrst.  S  B,  132  West  Madison  st. 

rarkhurst  &  Wilkinson,  70  South  Canal  st. 

Price,  Rosenblatt  &  Co,  176  Twenty-fifth  st. 

Pinkerton's  Detective  Agency,  55  We-t  Washing- 
ton St. 

Pittsburch,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Ticket  Office, 
under  Sherman  House. 

Post,  101  West  Randolph  st. 

R 

Rathbone,  John  P.  &  Co,  stoves  and  hoUowware, 
30  and  32  South  Canal  st. 

Rathbone,  John  F,  warehouse  office,  32  Canal  st. 

Ritchie  &  Duck,  48  South  Union  st. 

Ross  &  Gossage,  dry  goods,  Madison  st,  near 
Peoria  St. 

RufTuer,  F  W,  82  West  Madison  st. 

Richards,  D  M  &  Co,  48  Carjienter  st. 

Raynolds,  C  T  &  Co,  1222  Prairie  av. 

Keissig,  Chas,  florist,  114  Michigan  av. 

Ray,  DeForest  &  Fisher,  architects,  218  Wa- 
bash. 

Richards,  Crambaugh  &  Shaw,  848  Wabash  av. 

Rothschild,  S,  178  Twenty  fifth  st. 

Reiuharrt  &  Foreman,  733,  Wabash  av. 

Rand.  McNally  &  Co,  printers,  108  West  Ran- 
dolph St. 

Rock  River  Paper  Co,  56  North  Jefferson  st. 

Richards  &  Gooch,  staple  groceries,  597  State  st. 

Rigby  &  McHenry,  135  Twenty -second  st. 

Republican  Office,  21  Clinton  st. 

Rice  &  Thompson,  photograph  goods, 

Reed's  Temple  of  Music,  81  Sixteenth  st. 

Sammons,  Clark  &  Co,  mouldings  and  frames,  197 

and  199  Clinton  st. 
Sweet,  Dempster  <fc  Co,  59  and  61  West  Washington 

St. 

Spragne,  Warner  &  Co,  28  Canal  st. 

Sherwood,  N,  teas,  812  State  st. 

Smith,  J  L   &  Co,   Illinois  River    Elevator,   over 

Madison  st  bridge. 
Shay,   J  B,  dry  goods,   Tnompson's  block.  West 

Madison  st. 
Scales,  J  C,  184  West  Lake  st. 
Spalding  &  Merrick,  tobacco,  11  Michigan  av. 
Schwab,  McQuade,  &  Co,  618  Michigan  st. 
Sherman,  Hail  &  Cook,  625  West  Washington  st. 
Sherman  House,  cor  Madison  and  Clinton  sts. 
Stark  &  Allen,  jewelers,  363  Wabash  av. 
Sherman  Marble  Co,  217  Wabash  av. 
Stine,   Kramer    &  Co,   notions,  hosiery,  etc,  619 

State  St. 
Summcrtield,  C  &  Co,  776  Wabash  av. 


106 


DtRECtORT  TO  PKlNCIPAIi  BtTSINESS  HOUSES. 


Sherwood,  Henry  M,   school  furniture,  103  to  107 

South  Canal  st. 
Seeberger  &  Breakey,  716  Michigan  av. 
Stephens,  Chae  W,  photographic  stock,  064  West 

Madison  st. 
Schmitt  &  Tahner,  254  Fourth  av. 
Slade  Bros,  66  Lake  st. 
Small,  John  H,  stationer,  27  Canal  st. 
Singer  Manufacturing  Co,  213  South  Halsted  st. 
Simpson,  Norwell  &  Co,  1317  Indiana  av. 
State  Savings  Institiition,  589  Wabash  av. 
Schuman  &  Co,  leather  findings,  30  West  Madison 

St. 

Star  and  Crescent  Mil'i,  Randolph  st,  near  bridge. 
Schnlters,  P,  office  92  and  94  South  Canal  st. 
Sawyer,  C  B  &  Co,  boots  and   shoes,  854  Indiana 

av. 
Star  Chicago  Batting  Factory,  162  and  164  Twen- 

tienth  st. 
Schaaf,  J,  1130  Wabash  av. 
Sonne,  Chas,  813  West  Van  Buren  st. 
Scammon,  McCagg  &  Fnl.er,  464  Michigan  av. 
Surdam,  S  J  &  Co,  405  Michi^'an  av. 
Stover  &  DoUinger,  groceries  and  teas,  97   West 

Madison  st. 
St  Caroline's  Court,   Elizabeth,    bet  Washington 

and  Randolph. 
Snell,  Taylor  &  Co,  365  Wabash  av. 
Stuart,  J  C,  liquor  importer,  190  West  Madison  st. 
Swansea  Silver    Smelting    Works,   49,  55    North 

Jefferson  st. 
Sharp,  S  W,  49  West  Lake  st. 
State  Street  House,  413  State  st. 
Snyder  &  Ingraham,  last  factory,  cor  Clinton  and 

Jackson  st. 
Smith  &  Nixon,  pianos,  287  Madison  st.« 
Stanton  &  Co,  grocers,  85T  Wabash  av. 
Sandmeyer  &  Klassen,  461  State  st. 
Staats  Zeitung,  newspaper,  101  West  Randolph  st. 
Silverman.  Lazarus,  banker,  562  Wabash  av. 


Tribune  Office,  15  Canal  st. 

Tilotson  Bros,  1S2  Michigan  av. 

Thatcher  &  Co,  52  South  Park  av. 

Thayer  &  Tobey,  furniture,  90  West  Randolph  st. 

Taylor,  N  H,  engraver,  wood,  55  West  Madison  st. 

Thompson,  Steele  &  Co,  49  West  Lake  st. 

Tolman  &  King,  drugs,  53  West  Lake  st. 

Terry  &  Belden,  wholesale  hardware,  57   Lake  st. 

Thompson  A  Sherwood,  621  Fullerton  av. 

Tnttle,  Thompson  &  Wetmore.  459  Wabash  av. 

Tittsworth,  A  D,  millinery,  97  West  Madison  st. 

Tremont  House,  cor  Michigan  av.  and  Congress  st. 

Terwilliger,  J  M,  McNeal  &  Urban's  safes.   Canal, 

near  Washington  st. 
Times  Office,  105  We-*t  Randolph  st. 
Tappen,  McKillop  &  Co,  Canal,    near  Washington 

St. 

U 

Union  Screw  and  Bolt  Co,  cor  Jefferson  and  Van 
Buren  sts. 


United  States  Brick  Machine  Works,  cor  Monroe 

and  Clinton  sts. 
United  States  Insurance,  96  West   Washington  st. 
Uhlich  House,  cor  Twenty-second  and  State  st. 
United  States  Express  Co,  Washington  near  Oana 

St. 

Union  National  Bank,  543  Wabash  av. 


Van  Schaack,  Stevenson  &  Reid,  wholesale  drugs, 

cor  Eighteenth  and  Wabash  av. 
Van  Cott,  A  B  &  (  o,  461  Wabash  av. 


w 


Western  Star  Metal  Co.  17  South  Canal  st. 

Western  News  Co,  99  West  Randolph  st. 

Welsh,  T  C,  91  South  Peoria  st. 

Webster  Bros,  West  Washington  Union  Park . 

Williams,  J  M  &  Co,  171  West  Washington  st. 

WethereU,  H  W  &  J  M,  369  W;ibash  av. 

Weber,  T  W   &  Co,  714  Wabash  av. 

W^ells  &  Faulkner,  wholesale  grocers,  l65  Michi- 
gan va. 

Wiswald,  Hasrue  &  Thompson,  boots,  etc,  131 
Twenty-second  st. 

Warren,  Keeney  &  Co,  notary  publics,  381  Wabash 
av. 

Whitcomb,  J  S  &  Co,  real  estate,  336  Wabash  av. 

Wells,  W  D  &  Co,  618  Wabash  av. 

Wrenn,  Ullman  &  Co,  bankers,  674  Wabash  av. 

Wolf,  F,  liquor  importer,  32  West  Madison  st. 

Whitney  Bros,  1454  Prairie  av. 

Willard,  P  H  &  Co.  KiT  Throop  st. 

Walter,  Wm,  101  Washington  st. 

Wippo,  Chas,  furniture,  99  West  Madison  st. 

Walter,  Victor,  206  Third  av. 

White  &  Rossmau,  stoves,  146  West  Madison  st. 

Welch  &  Bnms,  143  Canal  st. 

Whitefield  &  Co,  cor  State  and  Eighteenth  st. 

Weed  Sewing  Machine  Co,  196  West  Madison  st 

Wilmarth,  H  M  &  Bro,  222  Michigan  av. 

Woods  Museum  Co,  Globe  Theatre,  etc,  Desplaines 

St. 

Wheeler  &  Wilsons  Sewingjtfachine  Co,  33S  West 

Madison  st. 
WethereU,  H  W  &  J  L,  369  Wabash  av. 
West  &  Co,  150  Twenty-second  st. 
Woodman, C  L  &  Co,  grocers,  61  South  Clinton  st . 
Windett  &  A  B  Baldwin,  79  Aberdeen  st. 
Windheim,  W  F,  434  West  Jackson  st. 
Wiser,  A  H  &  Co,  144  Soutli  Peoria  st. 
White  &  Rossmau,  146  West  Madison  st. 
Webster,  Chas  L, confectioner  87  South'Halsted  st 
Wood's  Hotel,  cor  Hubbard  court  and  State  st. 
Wood,  W  A,   harvesting   Machines,  office  at  St. 

Carolines  Court  Hotel . 
Willoughby,  Hill  &  Co,  clothing,  cor  Madison  and 

Peoria  sts. 
Walsh  &  Hutchinson,  millinery,  616  Wabash  av. 
Wright  &  Beebe,  commission,  20  Market  st. 


THE    PRINTERS 


have  been  scattered,  their  type  and  presses  entirely 
consumed,  but,  with  a  few  exceptions,  are  all  get- 
ting on  their  feet  again,  and  will  be  in  running 
order  this  week.  The  following  firms  can  be  found 
at  the  places  named: 

Horton  &  Leonard,  JO  North  Jefferson  st. 
J  S  Thompson  &  Co,   cor   Washington  and  Canal 

Howard,  White  &  Crowell,  11  South  Canal  st. 

Blair  &  Sinclair,  South  State  st. 

Millard  &  Decker,  24  and  26  Jefierson  st. 

Span  ding  &  Lamonte,  906  Michigan  av. 

Rounds  &  Kane,  9  North  Jefferson  st. 

Jefferson  &  Wroe,  463  South  Clinton  st. 

Otiwa},  Brown  &  Co,  107  South  Peoria  st. 

Rand,  McNally  &  Co,  108  West  Randolph  st. 

Cameron,  Amberg  &  Hoffman,  14  Randolph  st. 

Clark  &  Edwards,  S  E  cor  Randolph  and  Halsted 
sts. 

P  L  Hanscom  &  Co,  Madison,  cor  Peoria  st. 

Culver,  Page,  Hoyne  &  Co,  13  and  15  North  Des- 
plaines St. 


J  M  W  Jones,  68  South  Canal  st. 
Guilbert  &  Clissold,  65  South  Canal  st. 
Daley,  Cowles  &  Co,  103  South  Clinton  st 
J  W  Middleton,  Lake  Park. 
Hand  &  Hart,  52  West  Madison  st. 
Oakley  &  Son.  64  Washington  st. 

The  following  firms  have  dissolved  partnership: 
Dunlap,  Reid  &  Brewster,  Ottaway  &  Barlow, 
Mitche:!,  Lawrence  &  Fordham.  Bassett  Bros, 
sold  out  well  to  Rand,  McNally  &  Co.  Rounds  & 
Kane  will  hereafter  confine  themselves  to  their 
extensive  type  foundry  business,  aud  leave  print- 
ing severely  alone. 

The  Chicago  Type  Foundry  has  come  nobly  to 
the  rescue  of  Chicago  printers.  Tons  of  type  are 
arriving  daily,  aud  every  facility  is  afforded  prin- 
ters having  fair  credit  before  the  fire  to  again 
resume  business.  Messrs.  Marder,  Luse  &  Co. 
lost  everything  except  their  good  name,  which,  as 
an  aid  in  re-establishing  their  extensive  business, 
they  have  found  better  than  riches. 


ITsTDEX   TO   ^DV^ERTISERS. 

A.  H.  Andrews,  office  aud  school  furniture In.side  first  cover 

Thos.  PhelDs  &  Co.,  dry  goods [\     '.  <.         >i 

Walter  A.  Wood,  mowing  and  reiiping  machines "  i<        .> 

C.  H.  Beck  with  &  Sons,  wholesale  grocers ...luside  last  cover 

Chase.  H.'tntord  &  Co.,  oils,  paints,  glass  etc t .' "         'i  a 

John  P.  Rat hbone,  stove  and  hollow- ware ,',  .        "         »<  i. 

HaleA  Bro.,  faraiture .'.  ..'.'.Outside  last  cover. 

Dennisoti  ifcCo.,  Tags "  n  >. 

Thayer  I'i'.  Toby,  furulture  company 2 

Van  Schaack,  Stevenson  &  Reid,  wholesale  druggists '.'....'.......  2 

Illinois  Central  Railroad ..[.....  ..\^.      4 

t ;rane  Bron. ,  North wcs-teru  Manufacturing  Company [[ g 

Chicago  Type  Foundry !!......!..  .'!.?."r       8 

H.  Hunt  &  Co.,  Printing  press  machine  shops g 

J.  Bauer  &  Co.,  pianos        ....'.........'     10 

Stark  &  Allen,  manufacturing  jewelers 12 

Summons,  Clark  &  Co  ,  picture  frames  and  mouldings '  12 

SI.  Carolines  Court  Hotel 14 

Kirk,  Coleman  &  Co.,  iron,  nails  and  steel,  etc 14 

Collins  ifc  Burgle,  stove  manufacturers 16 

Union  Screw  and  Bolt  Company '.......'.....,  16 

D.  B.  Fjsk  &  Co.,  millinery  and  straw  goods ..."".'.'  18 

J'lhu  H.  Small  &  Co. ,  stationers "■'■■.......'.  18 

Page  Bros.,  &  Co..  leather  and  findings '."'.  2o 

George  A.  Misch  &  Bro  ,  stained,  moiiJded,  cut  and  ground  glass 20 

M.  Gla^sbrook,  importer  ot  human  hair 22 

Diebold  &  Kinzie,  sates .............  22 

Hall's  Pati-nt  Safe  aud  Bank  Locks.  •'.................  24 

Cogswell  &  Co..  jewelers "  26 

Lord.  Smith  &  Co.,  wholesale  druggists 26 

Sliandrevv  &  Dean,  life  insurance 28 

Weed  Sowing  Machine  Company .'.'.'.....  28 

Hayes,  Gibbons  &  Co.,  millinery,  aud  straw  goods 30 

Hodge  &  Homer,  builders  hardware 30 

C.  C.  Collins,  clothing [  32 

Cobb,  Andrews  ifc  Co.,  booksellers  and  stationers '\  32 

Mai  hews  &  Mason,  tailors 34 

Clifton  House ....  34 

Home  Shuttle Sevdng  Machine ""'  sg 

Aiken,  Lambert  &  Co.,  gold  pens,  tine  jewelry,  etc.   33 

Boston  Square  Dealing  Clothing  House 40 

A.  B.  Van  Cott  &  Co.,  jewelry 42 

Edward  Ely,  tailor ......  42 

Walsh  &  Hutchinson,  millinery 44 

N.  Sherwood,  teas 44 

Victo.  Sewing  Machine,  (Thos .  Barrows  &  Co. ,  Western  Agenta) 46 

Chas.  W  Stevens,  photograph  goods '.  4^ 

Barnes  House ' .'  43 

Charles  Wippo,  furniture _\  50 

E.  A.  Bowen,  elan  writer 5n 

Mabiey&Co.   clothiers ...'.'.'.  52 

John  Hughes  &  Son,  plumbers *.....  52 

John  B .  Shay,  dry  goods ,..'. 54 

Z.  M.  Hall,  wholesale  grocer ..'.'.'.'.  56 

John  Davison,  Chicago  0»kum  Works 56 

Henry  W.  Niedert  &  Co. ,  commission  merchants 58 

Fuller  &  Fuller,  wholesale  drugs 58 

Wright  &  Beebe,  commission  merchants 58 

Harris  safe  factory 60 

Reed's  Temple  of  Music '.'.  62 

White  &  RoBsman,  stoves        62 

Henry  M.  Sherwood,  school  furniture .....  64 

H.  L.  Dahl,  merchant  tailor 64 

Western  Star  Metal  Company 66 

J.  E.  AJdnch  &  Co.,  turniture '.  66 

Hartford  Kre  Insurance  Company 68 

Uaskin,  Martin  &  Wheeler,  salt  and  cement 70 

Baggot  &  Almy,  gas  fitting  and  plumbing 70 

Goss  &  Phillips,  sash,  doors  aud  blinds  72 

Adams  Express  Company 74 

Globe  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company 74 

Foley's  Billiard  Hall 76 

W.  Barrow,  wig  maker 76 

Gray  &  Barrow,  hair  goods     ..!....... '. 76 

Lake  Shore  and  Michigjin  Southern  Railroad 78 

Heath  &  Milligau,  white  lead,  zinc  and  colors  80 

Culver,  Page,  Hoyne  &  Co.,  jobbiig  stationers 82 

Michigan  Central  Railroad .    84 

Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad 86 

Jefferson  &  Wroe 88 

W.  F   Hunt,  rags  and  old  metals 88 

Pittsburgh  and  Ft.  Wayne  Railroad 90 

Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  Railroad 90 

Herring's  Safes 92 

Sweet,  Dempster  &  Co.,  hats  and  caps ....     " ...  94 

J.  Manz,  engraver 94 

Gage  Brothers  &  Co.,  wholesale  millinery '.  96 

Dodd  &  Guth,  shirts  and  underwear  96 

Siddon's  Fire  Proof  Iron  Roofing 98 

Halsey  Bros.,  Homeopathic  Pharmacy 100 

Edwards,  Bluett*  Co.,  clothing 108 


RAISED  FROM  THE  RUINS ! 

WITH  AN  EYE  TO  BUSINESS.  <' 

50,000  worth  of 

BOYS'  CLOTHE 

Just  received  and  will  offer  them  to  the  Public  at 

I.ESS  THAN  OIiD  PRICES. 

CAI_I_    AND    SEE    US. 

EDWARDS,  RLUETT  &  CO., 

45  &  47  MADISON  ST.  cor.  Clinton, 
376  STATE  STREET,  near  Harrison. 

(  Formerly  at  96  &  98  Kandolph  St.) 


M©lfHA.Ii^l 


'^|B,M^j^^  |, 


Mani-ifactrire 


F 


.A.ND 


BANS  LOCKiS, 

PATENT  INSIDE  BOLT  WORK  ETC. 

The  only  Safe  that  could  be  opened  after  the   great  fire 
without  cutting  the  door  to  pieces. 

lyOne  Hundred  and  Thirty-seven  in  the   fire   all    pre- 
serving: their  contents. 

^  J.  M,  TERWILLIGER.  Agent, 

0ffice:-27  South  Canal  Street,  CHICAGO. 


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