USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Discovery and conquests of the Northwest, with the history of Chicago, Vol. II > Part 7
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jammed with vehicles of every description, all driven along at top speed. Not only the goods which were deposited in the streets took fire, but wagon loads of stuff in transit, also kindled, and the drivers were o- bliged to cut the traces to save the animals. There was fire overhead, everywhere, not only on the low, red clouds, which rolled along the roofs, but in the air itself, filled with millions of blazing fagots, that carried destruction wherever they fell. Those who did rescue anything, from the burning buildings, were oblig- ed to defend it at therisk of their lives. Expressmen and owners of every description of wagons, were extortion- ate in their demands, asking from twenty to fifty dollars for conveying a small load a few blocks. Even then there was no surety that the goods would reach their place of destination, as they were often followed by howling crowds, who would snatch the goods from the wagons. Sometimes, thieves got possession of vehicles, and drove off with rich loads of dry goods, jewelry, or merchandise, to "out-of-the-way places."
As early as three o'clock, on the morning of the 9th, the fire attacked the North Side. It has not been def- initely known where it first began, but it is certain that the Water Works, a mile distant from any por- tion of the blazing South Side, were among the first buildings visited; and their speedy destruction, cutting off the water supply, all hopes of extinguishing the fire fled. Two large elevators on the north bank of the river were also in flames immediately afterwards, and the wretched inhabitants living east of Franklin st., beheld with dismay the approach of the destroyer both in front and rear. Suddenly the entire popula- tion seized the most valuable things they could carry, and fled, either to the lake shore, or westward across the river, or directly before the pursuing enemy, north- wardly out Clark or Wells Street. Says Mr. Colbert: "A terrible panic ensued. There was sudden scream- ing and dashing about of half-clad women, gathering
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The Great Fire of 1871.
up such valuables as could be suddenly snatched. There was frantic rushing into the streets and shout- ing for vehicles. There was anxious inquiry and anon distressed cries for absent protectors-a large portion of the men being on the far side of the river, and in many cases unable to reach their homes. Then there was a pell-mell rush through the streets, some of the wild faces pushed eagerly in this direction and others quite as eagerly in the opposite; and children scream- ing; and shouts resounding; and brands falling in showers; and truckmen running each other down; and half drunken, wholly desperate ruffians peering into doors and seizing valuables, and insulting women; and oaths from lips unused to them, as hot as the flames which leaped and crackled near by; and pray- ers from manly breasts where they had slumbered since childhood; and every other sign of turmoil and terror."
Those who took refuge on the sands of the lake-shore, found it a treacherous asylum. There was no escape to the northward, for the narrow passes, farther in that direction, were a sweltering current of hot air pouring over the crested margin of the lake, like the vomiting of afurnace. Meantime the heat soon began to be almost insupportable where they were, and in this extremity, at places, they were forced into the shallow water of the lake to protect themselves from burning, till they could be rescued in boats.
By four o'clock in the afternoon of the 9th, the fire had burned out. Its progress against the wind on the South Side was arrested by the efforts of private citizens and a small military force under Gen. Sheridan; but on the North Side it burned as long as buildings stood before it, and died away on open prairies for want of fuel.
Inits early stages, after the flames had crossed the riv- er, and were rapidly devouring the business portion of the city in the South Division, Lind Block, on the west
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The Great Fire of 1871.
side of Market Street, between Randolph and Lake, by dint of great exertion on the part of some tenants, successfully resisted them. The well known house of Fuller & Fuller occupied the central portion of this block; and in reply to the writer's inquiry how it was saved, Mr. O.F. Fuller stated that while the fire was burning on the West Side, and approaching towards them, they took the precaution to provide an abund- ant supply of water on each floor of their premises, and constantly applied it to the most exposed portions of the building when the fire reached their inmediate vicinity, having previously cut away wooden signs or any other combustable material outside. During the greatest heat the outside walls of the block were too hot to bear the hand on, but still every man re- mained at his post inside on each floor, subject to the order of a sentinel, whose business it was to call them away if the building ignited. Three times a retreat was ordered, under an impression that combustion had taken place, but happily this impression was a false alarm, growing out of the lurid glare from adja- cent flames, reflected from the windows of the building, and each time the men returned to their posts, where they continued to ply water to the heated windows, while it was raging.
"Fire to right of them, Fire to left of them, Fire in front of them."
Said Mr. Fuller: "The fire, viewed from roof of the Lind Block, at this time, presented phases of thrilling niterest. At two o'clock a.m., Market street and the approaches to Lake and Randolph street bridges were crowded with loaded vehicles hurrying to the West Side, and this retreat grew into a stampede when the Garden City hotel, and the buildings on the East side of Market street, from Madison to South Water,
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ignited. After burning fiercely for but a brief space of time, they fell in quick succession in the general ruin."
The next morning when the light of the sun was piercing through the smoke and flames that now en- shrouded the entire business portion of the South Di- vision, there stood Lind Block, a solitary relic of its former grandeur. Beyond it, toward the East, the eye could catch transient glimpses of many a grim old ruin in its ragged deformity, amidst the accumu- lating clouds of smoke that rose to the sky in dissolv- ing forms, and told the tale of destruction. Besides Lind Block in the South Division, the house of Mahlon B. Ogden, in the central track of the fire in the North Division, was saved, while all else around it was left in ashes.
Mr. Ogden, shortly after the fire, informed the writer that he remained in his house as long as he could without being surrounded by fire, when he, with his family, retreated with the crowd; but that he kept the roof of his house cov- ered with wet carpets while he was in it, and it be- ing in the inside of a square, with trees all around, as if by a miracle, it did not burn.
No attempt will here be made to record personal incidents of the fire. These are almost infinite, and their records may be found in the several large vol- umes published immediately after the fire, but thefol- lowing account of the action of the city authorities, taken from the Report of the Chicago Relief and Aid Society, is an historical document which shows the elastic force of the people of Chicago, in their prompt- ness to grapple with the duties before them:
"The homeless people of the South Side were for the most part received into the abodes of their more for- tunate neighbors, or taken to the hearts and hospi- talities of those to whom a day before they were utter strangers, without formalities or ceremonies, for a
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kindred sorrow which had left no human interest un- touched had done its work.
"Those of the North Division had betaken them- selves for the night to the sands of the lake shore, to Lincoln and other parks, and the prairies. Comparatively few had found shelter for the night.
"Those of the West Division who were left homeless were for the most part sheltered in churches and school-houses, and on the prairies northwest of the city. Comparatively few of those who had fled before the flames, had tasted food since early Sunday evening, and hunger came to them to add its terrors to those of exposure, and in many instances appre- hension of death.
"Then came the greatest terror of all, the con- sciousness of the fact that families had been seperated; husbands and wives, parents and children were miss- ing. The flight had been so rapid, and in alldirections the thoroughfares had been so obstructed, and in some cases utterly impassable, by the crowding of vehicles and masses of people, and the city itself a wave of fire-it is no marvel that under these circumstan- ces, thousands for the time were lost sight of, and be- came lonely wanderers, and that hundreds perished in the flames.
"The seeds of permanent or temporary disease sown, the bodily suffering and mental anguish endured, can never have statistical computation, or adequate de- scription.
"The bodies of the dead, not less than three hundred in number, who perished in the flames, were given in- terment at the county burying ground.
"The city authorities were prompt, in their endeavors to bring order out of the chaos which, in some meas- ure, we have assayed to describe. The Mayor tele- graphed to neighboring cities, first of all, for engines to help stay the ravages of the fire, and for bread to feed the homeless and destitute."
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1 he Great Fire of 1871.
A council of city officers was held, who issued and signed the following, which was the first proclamation from the Mayor and Government:
PROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS, In the providence of God, to whose will we humbly submit, a terri- ble calamity has befallen our city, which demands of us cur best efforts for the preservation of order and the relief of suffering:
Be it known, That the faith and credit of the city of Chicago are hereby pledged for the necessary expenses for the relief of the suffering.
Public order will be preserved. The police and special police now being ap- pointed 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 as special policemen without further notice.
The Mayor and Comptroller will give vouchers for all supplies furnished by the different relief committees.
The headquarters of the City Government will be at the Congregational Church, corner of West Washington and Ann streets.
All persons are warned against any act tending to endanger property. Per- sons caught in any depredation will be immediately arrested.
With the help of God, order and peace and private property will be preserved.
The City Government and the committee 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.
R. B. MASON, Mayor. GEORGE TAYLOR, Comptroller. (By R. B. MASON.) CHARLES C. P. HOLDEN, President Common Council. T. B. BROWN, President Board of Police.
October 9, 1871, 2 p. m.
Promptly following the above proclamation, and growing out of the exigencies of the day, or the hour, as it came, others were issued; and no better account of the action of the municipal government can be giv- en than that which is contained in these several offi- cial papers, and therefore, without comment, which would be needless, the text of these proclamations, which in some instances were only fly-sheets, is herein given.
BREAD ORDNANCE .- NOTICE.
CHICAGO, October 10, 1871.
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The following ordinance was passed at a meeting of the Common Council of the city of Chicago, on the Ioth day of October, A. D., 1871:
AN ORDINANCE.
Be it ordained by the Common Council of the City of Chicago :-
SECTION 1. That the price of bread in the City of Chicago for the next ten days is hereby fixed and established at eight [8] cents per loaf of twelve ounces, and at the same rate for loves of less or greater weight.
SEC. 2. Any person selling or attempting to sell any bread within the limits of the City of Chicago, within said ten days, at a greater price than is fixed in this ordinance, shall be liable to a penalty of ten [10] dollars for each and every offense, to be collected as other penalties for violation of City Ordinances.
SEC. 3. This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage.
APPROVED OCTOBER 10, 1871.
R. B. MASON, Mayor. Attest:
C. T. HOTCHKISS, City Clerk.
MAYOR'S PROCLAMATION-
ADVISORY AND PRECAUTIONARY.
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 Buren 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 Ann and Washington streets, to be sworn in as special policemen.
Citizens are requested to organize a police for each block in the city, and to send reports of such organization to the police headquarters, corner of Union and West Madison streets.
All persons needing food will be relieved by applying at the following places :- At the corner of Ann and Washington; Illinois Central Railroad Roundhouse. M. S. R. R .- Twenty-second Street station.
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 school-houses, and at nearly all the churches.
4. Citizens are requested to avoid passing through the burnt districts until the dangerous walls left standing can be leveled.
5. All saloons are ordered to be closed at 9 p. m. every day for one week, under a penalty 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 or greater weight, and affixed a penalty of ten dollars for selling, or attempt- ing to sell, bread at a greater rate within the next ten days.
7. Any hackman, expressman, drayman, or teamster charging more than the regular fare, will have his license revoked.
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All citizens are requested to aid in preserving the peace, good order, and good name of our city.
Oct. 10, 1871.
R. B. MASON, Mayor.
In addition to the action of the city authorities, Lieut. General P. H. Sheridan, whose military head- quarters were here, at the earnest request of Mr. Mason, the Mayor, and many prominent citizens of Chicago, consented to declare martial law for the pre- servation of order throughout the city, as well as to protect from fire what remained of it, and on the 11th of October a proclamation was issued by him to this effect. Two days previous to this, while the fire was still spreading on the North Side, he had ordered a company of frontier soldiers from Fort Leavenworth, Kan., to be sent by rail to Chicago, and as soon as they arrived they were detailed, in squads of about twenty each, to guard the various places along the outer edge of the burnt district that needed protection. Throughout the South Division burnt, were many bank vaults still buried beneath heated bricks and stone, in an uncertain condition. At night the sol- diers detailed to guard these were quartered on the premises of Messrs. Fuller & Fuller, which had been saved from the general wreck as already told. And in conversation with Mr. Fuller, the informant of the writer, as to the fidelity with which they executed their trust, the praise which he gave these noble sol- diers should not be omitted. They were strictly tem- perate, many of them teetotalers, and some of them old weather-beaten veterans, as noble in sentiment as they were brave and faithful, and an honor to the country in whose service they had enlisted. The debt of gratitude which Chicago owes them challenges this acknowledgement.
The extent of the fire may be summed up in the following statement, which has been carefully taken from various records of the event: On the West Side, the burnt district measured 194 acres, and the num-
The Great Fire of 1871.
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ber of burnt buildings was about 500, most of them being of an inferior class.
10
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In the South Di- vision 460 acres were burned over, on which stood 3,650 buildings, which constituted substantially. the banks, wholesale stores, hotels and the general heavy business blocks of the city included, with many of its first-class private dwellings; added to which was a dis- trict in the south- west portion, where many poor people lived. In the North Division 1,470 acres were
burnt over, and 13,300 buildings destroyed, leaving but about four per cent of the buildings standing in the entire division, and those of the poorest class. The total number of acres burnt over was 2,124, and of buildings destroyed about 17,450. About 100,000 people were rendered homeless, which included guests at hotels and boarding-houses. Of these, some thou- sands were gathered in squads on the prairies outside the city on the morning of the 9th, and not a few made the earth their bed on the night of the 10th. Every train of railroad cars that left the city for sev- eral days was loaded to its utmost with fugitives. The most of them had no means wherwith to pay
ST.
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The Great Fire of 1871.
their fare. In such cases, the railroad companies, with exemplary generosity, carried them free till the Relief and Aid Society had organized, to make provis- ion for the sufferers. On the 20th relief began to come in from the country towns near by. Never before had their sympathies been so awakened. Mothers, in their imagination, heard little children crying for bread on the open prairie, and saw whole families ly- ing on the ground, bereft of everything but natural claims on humanity, thenext trains that went to the city were loaded with free bread, milk, blankets, and such other things as the body stands most in need of when stripped of everything but its wants.
To detail all the means used to relieve the immedi- ate wants of the victims would be inconsistent with time, and space to record them. It was one of those great waves that roll over mankind, burying them so deep beneath its crest as to drown out selfishness for the time, and open an unfrequented path to many hearts. Dormant passions and affections were awak- ened into being, that else might have slumbered and died ere they had blossomed into life and beauty.
Like a flash, the cry of distress went through the world, and gathered force as it traveled. News of the destruction of armies in one great chasm of death had been told before till recitals of such events palled upon the senses; but this was a great social disaster, visited upon effeminate grace and beauty, quick and sudden, dashing ambition to the ground, and withering life's sweetest hopes; sundering the dearest associations and robbing the heart of home treasures, so highly prized by the most refined people.
From St. Louis, Cincinnati, Detroit, New York, Boston, and nearly all the large cities of the United States, and from many cities in England, Germany and France, came prompt relief. The most of the cash sent from these places was taken into the custody of the Chicago Relief and Aid Society, and by them
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dispensed to the sufferers with as provident a care as could have been expected under such a pressure.
The amounts contributed from the world, (thegreat field of charity for this occasion), was $4,820,148.16. Of this amount $973,897.80 was from foreign coun- tries. The number of lives lost in the fire can never be told. It has been estimated to exceed 300. The charred remains of many were found, but no such number as this.
The amount of property destroyed in the fire, by a careful estimate by Elias Colbert, was $196,000,000. Not more than one-fourth of this was covered by in- surance, and of the amounts insured, not more than fifty per cent was paid, some insurance companies not paying more than ten per cent, while others paid in full.
The heads of families and business portion of the hundred thousand victims of the fire may be divided into several classes. The portion of them whose wealth was in stocks or bonds had lost nothing but their ink-stands and writing-desks, and the opportuni- ties now offered for speculation, seemed to give prom- ice of an abundant harvest out of the situation. Of the merchants who had both capital and credit yet in reserve, to begin anew, a prospect opened for busi- ness perhaps never before equaled. To those mer- chants who had lost everything, little consolation could come, and yet many of these, availing them- selves of an untarnished reputation, immediately be- gan again on credit, and not a few of them made a success of it. Out of the recoil that came from such an overwhelming calamity, quickly sprang up a buoy- ant feeling in the minds of everyone. No timid coun- sels prevailed. Redivivus was the watchword. Dimen- sion stone, brick, mortar, lime, marble, red sand- stone, granite, cement, iron pillars, girders, floor tile. sand, glass, joist, scantling and boards were at a pre- mium. Autumn hung on into the winter months,
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and fire-proof buildings sprang up rapidly amidst the desolations of the burnt district. The rebuilding of the burnt district was a wonder of no less magni- tude than the fire itself. The business portion of the city presented not only the appearance of newness, but the buildings were of the most approved pattern of architecture and convenience. Meantime, while these were in course of construction, every empty place on the West Side, and far out in the South Di- vision, was rented at high figures, and frequently might be found the most enterprising merchants doing business in some dingy, cavernous quarters on the West Side, that for years before the fire had grown moldy for want of tenants. For several months, Canal street, between Lake and Madison, was the center of business. Here the newspapers set up their presses, and by dint of courage and resolu- tion to be found nowhere outside of Chicago, soon re- produced their respective sheets, undiminished in size and unctious with grit. All the while capital flowed into Chicago, and the building mania was at fever heat. Nobody seemed to think it could be overdone. They did not stop to consider that the improved class of buildings which were being substituted for the old ones would afford convenience and room for a greatly increased amount of business. Add to this the extra room for business where private houses had been burnt, close by the business portions of Chicago, which would never be replaced, on account of their proximity to the turmoil of a commercial em- porium, and it is not strange that an unnecessarily large area was left open for the wants of business.
These conditions caused a temporary lull in building up the burnt district after the work had been going on two years, for which reason there were still (1881) many vacant lots where the moldering walls of old buildings, burnt in the fire, stand as reminders of the event; but no great length of time can now transpire till the recent increasing demand for more stores and offices, as well as a demand beyond the present supply for private dwellings, will not only fill up vacant lots in the burnt district, but enlarge the area of the city.
The Great Fire of 1871.
FIRST BUILDING IN BURNT DISTRICT.
W.D.KERFOOTSBLOCKFIRSTIN THE
BURNT DISTRICT
REAL ESTATEOFFICEW KERFOOT
8) Washington. Street!
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The Railroad System of the Northwest.
THE RAILROAD SYSTEM OF THE NORTHWEST.
Cheap and expeditious transportation over-land, by means of railroads, has not yet been long enough in use to determine, practically, what changes in the great world of progress, are destined to grow from it, or rather what new elements of aggrandizement and accumulation of wealth and influence are to come from it. Dating from the earliest historical records, as they faintly glimmer through the uncertainty of Orientalism, we find the Phoenicians, about 700 years before the Christian era, bringing wealth and fame to their nation by means of their commerce, in which branch of industry they were, as far as known, the world's pioneers.
Their country was situated at the western extrem- ity of the Mediterranean Sea and the northeastern extremity of the Red Sea, which locality gave them a great advantage over any other people in the distri- bution of their merchandise. This stimulated their manufacturing interests, as well as their fine arts and scholastic sciences; and for several centuries this peo- ple, though their whole country was not larger than the State of Illinois, represented the intelligence and handicraft of the world .*
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