3

CHICAGO CONFLAGRATION,

v:

THE ORIGIN AND I

HAIR-BREA1CA

CL Ooxxoot

FOH .SALE BY ST. I,OMtt BOOK ASI> NKUS < O.

, 20 O rJ?S.

LAWRENCE J. GUTTERCollection of Chico.goo.na

THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

AT CHICAGO

The University Library

THE GREAT

CHICAGO CONFLAGRATION.

THK FIRST NEWS. THK SATURDAY NIGHT FIRE.

|From the St. Louis Times, October lltb.J

What -will doubtless prove the most de-

structive conflagration of modern times

has been raging for two days and nights in

our sister city of Chicago, laying waste

alike the dwellings of the poor and the pal-

aces of the rich, magnificent stores, withthir millions of merchandise, hotels and

public buildings, gas-works, depots andwaterworks; everything, in fact, that ;lay

in the broad swarth of the destroyer for

miles. The city, which at the close of the

week was bustling with prosperity and

proud in its greatness, is now. for the great-

er part a lurid waste. A hundred thou-

sand are homeless, and thousands beside

are beggared. It is the

GREATEST FIRE IN MODERN HISTORY.

Considering the magnitude of the inter-

ests involved, the wholesale devastation,the untold wretchedness that it has caused,the effect upon commercial interests anatransportation that must follow, it may beset down as the greatest calamity of a sim-ilar character of which there is any recent.We do not except even

THE GREAT FIRE IN LONDON,for the aggregate losses will undoubtedlybe greater now than then. If our later ad-vicea are correct that upwards of ten thou-sand buildings have been burned; it alreadyapproaches the London conflagration lumagnitude, when but thirteen thousandhouses were destroyed. Our fears are thatit may even exceeait.There seems to have been two distinctive

fires, one occurring Saturday night ofwhich notice was published in the Sundaymorning papers, and which we were led tobelieve had been brought under the entirecontrol of the department.

The lire started in tne large planing millsituated batween Clinton and Canal andVan Buren and Jackson streets, about thecenter of the block formed by thesestreets. The wind was blowing veryfresh and the flames spread with almostincredible rapidity, and in a few minutesthe entire structure was a mass of fire.

The immediate vicinity was built upmainly with small wooden tenementhouses and two-story frame buildings, oc-

cupied as groceries, saloons, te. The in-

mates of many of the houses, startled fromslumber, had barely time to rush from thehouses in the scanty attire of night, leav-

ing their household goods to destruction.In several instances children were hastilywrapped in blankets and quilts to breakthe force of their fall, and thrown from thesecond story windows to the ground.

INDESCRIBABLE SCENES.The scenes in the vicinity of the confla-

gration the brief telegraphic dispatch saidwere indescribable. Half the populationof the city seems to have gathered there.

Tugs in the river were engaged in towingto places of safety the vessels moored inthe neighborhood, while locomotives werehastily pulling out the great number ofcars standing on the track in the path ofthe flames.The loss in property by this flre, which

swept over about twenty blocks, has neverbeen carefully estimated, being submergedby the overshadowing calamitykof the fol-

lowing day.

THE SUNDAY NIGHT VIRE.

HOW THE FIRB ORIGINATED.Late Sundav evening a boy we at into a

stable on De Kowen street, (markedK. on the map,) near tne river,on the west side, to milk a cow, carryingwith him a kerosene lamp. This waakicked over by the cow, and the burningfluid scattered among the straw. This waathe beginning of the great flre. A single

extinguisher on the* ground, or active workof the police in tearing down one or twoshanties,would have prevented the spread-ing of the flames; bat the engines werewaited for, and when they arrived the fire

men, stupefied by exertioa at the fire Satur-day night, worked slowly and clumsily.

THEIR EFFORTS WERE UNAVAILINGThe wind from the southwest blew a gale.

Rapidly the flames shot from house tohouse tnd board yard to board yard, untilthe district burned the night before wasreached. Meanwhile the flames crossedthe river north of Twelfth street on to theSouth side, and made for a brick and stonebusiness block, the railroad freight depotsand manufacturing establishments. Thefull extent of the danger was Chen realizedfor the first time. The fire department, al-

ready tired, worked like heroes Themayor and his city government, who hadsupinely rested, now began to exert themselves, but

THE OPPORTUNITY HAD BEEN LOST.The time when a thorough organization

could have blown up buildings or preparedlor the emergency was neglected- It wasnow a fight for life. A stiff gale had pos-session of the flames, and the beautifulbuildings, Chicago's glory, lay beforethem. Harrison, VanBuren, Adams, Mon-roe and Madison were soon reached. Theintervening blocks from the river to Dear-born street on the east were being con-sumed. Three quarters of a mile of brickblocks were consumed as if by magic.THE FURIOUS INTENSITY OF THE FLAMES.All that men could do was to blow uy

buildings, but this availed but little. TheTimes, Tribune, Post, Republican, Journaland other newspaper offices.Western Newscompany's block, Field & Letter's establishments. a brick block recently built.Farwell & Co. were soon in aehee. Icseemed that no sooner had the flamesstruck a wall than they went di-n.-.tlythrough, and a very few minutes mrtioedto destroy the most elaborately built cruc-ture. The walls melted and the brickswere consumed.The wooden pavements took flre.making

a continuous frheet of flame two miles longby one mile wide. No human being couldpossibly survive rnauy minutes. Block af-ter block fell, and the red hot coals shothigher and higher, and spread further andfurther, unHl the North eide.Lake side andSouth was a vast sheet of flames from theriver to the lake At one time so hemmedin were the people that it WAS expectedthousands must perish.

THE WORK OF A NIGHT.One block in all tne vaet business section

remained at daylighr, the Tribune block.The custom house and Honore block, onDearborn street, had burned, and thosewho had fought the flames here thoughtat last this tuock could be saved. A t>atrolof men, under Sam. Meriili. swept oil' thelive coals, ami put eut fUmes on the side-walks, and another lot of men, under thedirection of Hon. Joseph Medill, watchedthe roof.At 7& o'clock this appeared safe, and

most or the men went to get a rest or food-A number went to sleep in the Tribunebuilding, but there wax a change of wind.The flames reached Wabash avenue, State

street and Michigan avenw, and soonMcVicker's theater caught fire. In a fewmoments the Tribune was in flames, and atthe last moment the sleeping men werearoused and rescued from the flames. By10 o'clock in the forenoon this remainingblock was in ashes. Now was to be seuthe most remarkable sight ever beheld inthis or any other country.THE FLIGHT OF A PANIC STRICKEN MULTI-

TUDE.There were from 60,000 to 75.000 mn

women and children fleeing by everyavailable street and alley to the southwardand westward, attempting to save theirclothing and their Jives. Every availablevehicle was brought into requisition foruse, for which enormous prices were paid,and the streets and si >le walks presentedthe sight of thousands of personsand horfes inextricably commingled; t

poor people of all colors and shadesand every nationality, from Europe, Chinaand Africa, mad with excitement, strug-gled with each other to get away. Hun-dreds were trampled under foot; men andwomen were loaded with bundles and theirhousehold goods, to whose skirts, wereclinging tender infants, half-drested andbarefooted, all seeking a place of safety.Hours afterwards these might havebeen seen in vacant lots or on the streets,far out in the suburbs, stretched in thedust.

FIVE HUNDRED BURNED TO DEATH.It is fearful to think of the loss of life.

It is conjectured, and with good cause,that near five hundred have been burnedto death. We saw four men enter a burn-ing building, and in a moment they wereoverwhelmed by a falling wall. Therewas a crowd of men around the corner ofthe bulding, trying to save the property,when, the wall yielding, some of themw^re buried beneath it. These were on theSouth side. Ou the North side twelve orfifteen men, women and children rushedinto the building of the Historical society,a fire proof building, for safety. In a fewminutes the flames burst up and they wereburned to death.

AN ACCOUNT BY AN EYE WITNESS.

The following eloquent and truthful de-scription of the fire was furnished by agentleman who participated iu the workthroughout. No one bur,

AN EVE-WITNESScan form an idea of the fury and power ofthe fire fiend, as he reveled among the pa-latial buildings and warehouses. On thesouth side, with the wind blowing a hurri-

cane, at times it seemed but the work of amoment for the fire to enter the south end*of the building* fronting on Randolph,Lake and Water streets, and reappear atthe north doors and windows, belchingforth in fierce flames, which often lickedthe opposite buildings Then the flames,belching from the buildings on both sidesof the street, would unite and present

A SOLID MASS OF FIRE,completely filling the street from *ide to

side, and shouting upward a hundred feetinto the air. Thus waa street after streetfilled with flame and fire, and the exulta-tion of the fire fiend was given vent in a

3

roar which can oly be likened to the noiseof the ocean when its waters are driven bythe tempest upon a rooky beach; com-bined with the howl of the blast.

HUGE WALLS WOULD TOPPLEand fall into the sea of flame without ap-parently gtying a sound, as the roar of thertery element was so great that all minorsounds were swallowed up, aad the fall ofwalls was only perceptible to the eye andnot to the ear. If our readers will call totheir minds the fiercest snnw storm intheir experience, and imagine the snow tobe fire, as it surged hither and thither be-fore the fury of the storm, they will beable to form a faint conception of thescene as the flames raged through thestreets of our doomed city. Many of thebuildings situated along South Water(street burled their red hot rear walls inthe waters of the river into which they

PLUNGED WITH A HLS8like unto nothing earthly, throwing up abillow which would gradually subside un-til other walls would follow. The heatwas so intense at times from some of theburning buildings tnt they could not beapproached within one hundred and fiftyfeet, which accounts for the manner inwhich the fir* worked back often againstthe wind. The fire, after reaching thebusiness part of Randolph and South Wa-ter streets, leaped the river on to theNorth side in an incredibly short space of

time, and thence, among the wooden build-

ings on that id<s it reached the lake shore,after touching block after black of happydwellings with its fierce blast. A scene ofmore

POWERLESS EFFORTto fight an enemy was never presentedthan this. The people tried to combat thetire, but the combat was not of long dura-tion, and they bowed their heads in an-guish of spirit, and suffered the fiend tohave untrammeled sway, and well andthoroughly has he done his work. Asthere is notbiug in the history of civilizednations that chronicles any effects towhich this can be compared, so in all fu-ture time

THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE,when mentioned, will bring a pang of an-guish to the listeners of future genera-tions. Ic will be a simile of everythingthat is fearful and terrible. While thereare a great many instances of generousdevotion on the part of rich and poor individing with the destitute, there are pain-ful

.INSTANCES OF CUPIDITY AND SELFISHNESS.One was trj ing to remove valuable papersfrom an office, and asked two firemen tohelp him. which they refused unless hepaid them fifty dollars. The papers weredestroyed. Drivers of express wagonshave taken one hundred, and even fivehundred dollars for an hour's use of theirvehicles from distressed people. Amongthe sad accompaniment* of the calamitywere to be seen hundreds of men and boys

BEASTLY INTOXICATEDaround the streets. The North division,where the saloon keepers stock was turnedinto the street, furnished a convenient op-portunity for the gratification of such pro-pensities, and there can hardly be a doubtthat many of these poor wretches found

their deaths in the flames, from which theywere too helpless to escape.

A MISERABLE DEATH.One poor man had crawled for refuge in-

to a water main, lying In the street nearthe waterworks, hut the fire fiend foundhim even there, before he could get hisbody wholly in safety and robbed him ofhis life

THE ENTIRE NORTH DIVISIONis swept clean from Chicago river toWright's grove, a distance of more thanthree miles, but one house, that of MahloaD. Ogden, formerly the Hon. Wm. B. Og-den'a, remains standing in the entire distriot. A large portion of the population,driven from this desolated ground, are en-camped on the prairie to the north, wherethey have nothing but the canopy of heav-en to cover them, and scarcely sufficientfood to satisfy their hunger.

THE LANDSCAPE.Singly or in clusters are the ruins of

many churches looming againac the sky.among the most noticeable of which arethe North Presbyterian, Episcopalian, cor-ner of Caas and Superior streets, tne Ger-man Lutheran, Robert Collyer's church ofthe Unit>, the New England Congregation-al, the German Reform, St. Joseph's andSt. Michael's (Catholic), and others. Theruins of Sand's, Lill's, Henck'0, and Bush& Brand's breweries are also prominentfeatures. Towards the northeast, the wa-terworks tower lifts its beautiful propor-tions uninjured to the sky, but

THE WATERWORKS.immediately to the east of it, and hun-dreds of feet from other buildings, is acomplete wreck, the engines and mas-sive machinery within presenting ascene of utter destruction and desolation.Near the junction of the north and southbranches of the river were

FOUR IMMENSE ELEVATORS,which succumbed to the flames about 10o'clock on Monday morning, and are heapsof burning grain and timber. Near Rushstreet bridge, on the North side, the Gale-na elevator is but a mass of smoulderingruin. McCorniick'a Reaper works, to thaeast, and the sntrar refinery beyond, havealso been swept away.

A CEMETERY INVADEDThe fire even entered the old cemetery

at North avenue, and licked up the treesand shrubbery, cracking and destroyingthe tombstones in its way.

THE MOST REMARKABLE FEATUREof all, is the fact that the brick of build-ings was burnt to ashes the same as if

wood, so that for the most part the rubbishdoes not present a formidable appearance,there beinsrbut here and there a projectionof wall. Hundreds of acres are almost asclean as nicely cleared fields Stone work,both sand and limestone, melted down, forthe most part, into one disintegrated mass.

THE ST. LOUIS TIMES' SPECIALTELEGflAPHIC ACCOUNT.

TUB ORIGIN OF THE GREAT FIRE.The nre on Saturday evening, as has

been already stated, occurred in the plan-ing mill on the corner of Elalstead and Ca-nal streets. It spread with alarming ra-

pidity, and before it was subdued badswept away a large portion of South Chi-cago. The damage, however, was compar-atively within bounds, most of the build-

ings destroyed being frame and of smallsixe.

THE GREAT FIRE.The origin of the Sunday night fire has

already been stated. It was occasionedby the explosion of a kerosene lamp in abarn near DeKoven street. The flames atonce enveloped the stable and spreadto adjoining wooden buildings, which weresoon in a blaze. A strong wind prevailedat the time, and all efforts to subdue thelire were unavailing. In a few minutesit had reached a large rooting establish-ment, where over 1000 barrels of tar werestored, and this it was whioh gave it its

fearful velocity. The conflagration be-came general and roared like a vast fur-nace. Iron buildings, which were suppos-ed to be fire proof, melted down in a fewminutes, and solid stone churches sank be-fore it as if blown up by powder. Icounted

TWENTY NINE RUIXS OF CHURCHES,many of them as fine structures as any inthe country, and which cost not less on anaverage than $75,000 each. A few barewalls only are left to tell the story of theirformer grandeur. Leaving the corner of

Congress street and Michigan avenue, anddriving along the lake and through the upper portion of the cic 7 to Lincoln park, forfive miles, the eye rests upon nothing buta shapeless mass of wreck and ruin. Thegreat cathedral, the bishoo'a man-sion, Potter Palmer's hotel pal-ace, hundreds of elegant and expensivestores and dwellings all fell before theflame storm, which consumed in twen-ty-four hours five hundred millions of dol-lars worth of property.

A SINGULAR CIRCUMSTANCEis the entire absence of rubbish aside fromthe walls left standing. Scarcely a stoneor brick or a scrap of iron can be seen onthe ground. It is all reduced to powder.The fire passed by and around the water

tower fronting the avenue, without evenshattering a pare of glass, and attackedthe rear building, burning out all the woodworks and injuring the engines so as torender them powerless. This cut off thesupply of water, and left the great city en-tirely at the mercy of the merciless fiend.

THE HEAVIEST SUFFERERS.I had a lengthy conversation with

M. D. Ogden, Esq , the largest lumberdealer in the West. His residence aloneescaped, and now stands solitary andalone in a wilderness of desolation, cover-ing an area three miles long by one milewide. It is a double frame structure, twostories high, with a Mansard roof, and es-

caped without beiug even scorched. Theflames came sweeping down Dearbornstreet, leaving scarcely one stone uponanother, and was caught by a counter cur-rent of wind just at his house, and chang-ing its course, shot in another direction,leaving naught in its wake but wreck anarain. In other portions of the city Mr.Ogdcn was less fortunate. His vast lum-ber yards were swept away, includingthree and a half million feet of pine andother lumber, and entailing upon him aloss of fully two millions of dollars.

A SAD SCENEHis nephew, Win. Jones, is among the

many victims who were devoured by theflames. He removed his family from hisresidence, and had parted with his wifebut a few moments, when his horse andbuggy were seen dashing along the streets,and it is preruined that the young manwas thrown out and burnt before he couldescape. To add to his losses, Mr. Ogdenreceived a telegram yesterday announcingthat hia lumber mills at Pestigo, on GreenBay, Wisconsin, had been destroyed,together with the town, buruingalive thirty souls, including his partner,wife and three children, his nephew andwife and his superintendent and family ofthree. The dispatch added: "The woodsare all ablaze and we fear your pinerywill be destroyed." Mr. Ogden bore upbravely under this scries or appalling dis-asters, merely remarking. "If this be true.I shall lose 13,000,000 mote and ba a ruinedman." This is buc one of the many terri-ble stories I hear hourly.

POTTER PALMER'S LOSSESare immense. Two miles of magnificentstores on State street are in ruins and hisgrand hotel, tbe Pacific house, is gone.He had invested millions of dollars in

building up Chicago, and to do this hadmortgaged heavily the larger part of his

improved property. It was but a shorttiine before the fire, that he secured a loanof $650,000 at 7 3 10 per cent;, and he hasnothing left to meet his heavy loans hutbarren lots and what little improvedproperty may have been spared in thesouthern part of the city, euiirely inade-quate to make him whole. He was largelyinsured in home companies, most of whichare bankrupt and unable to meet theirlosses.

THE GRAIN BONFIRE.The elevators, which completely envi-

roned the city, and which contributedlargely to the trade of Chicago, were sweptaway in a few moments. There are bucfour left standing, two owned by Munn &Scott, one by Flint & Thompson, and theCentral elevator on the lake. Three mil-lion bushels of grain are still burning,making monstrous bonfires, which, withtbe acres of coal on fire, cast a dismalglare over the ruins at night, and presenta heart sickening spectacle.

THE LOSS OF LIFEcannot at present be computed, but it hasdoubtless been fearful. Already over ahundred charred bodies have been dugfrom the ruins, and hundreds of frantic

persons are scouring the city in search oftheir loved ones, who have been missingsince Sunday. An old French woman, whobarely escaped with her life, told me to-

day that she counted no less than fortypersons, men, women and children, in theriver at one time, all of whom met a watery grave.

A FEARFUL REPORT.The servants at the Tremont house were

in the top story of the hotel at the time ofits conflagration, and as none of them havebeen seen since, it is feared that they wereburned to death. There were about fortyof them.

WHAT 18 LEFT OF THE CITT.The entire business portion of the city is

destroyed. The pride of Chicago, State

street, with its large atone rows, Randolph.Madison. Monroe and Washington streets.

with their grand hotels, massive insuranceand banking establish uients and wholesalehouses, are laid In ashes. The West sidestands as before, but, with fw exceptions,contains nothing but frame buildings.Portions of Wabaah and Michigan avenuesand the North end remain,with some hand-some residences, but the valuable and ele-

gant portions of the city are a mass of

smouldering ruins. The postofflce andcustom house suffered less from the con-

flagration perhaps than most of the build-

ings, everything of an inflamma-ble nature was consumed, butthe walls are intaot and the edifices caneasily be rebuilt. The same is true in

part of the Tribune building. Its exterioris nearly Intaor, bur it is otherwise inruins. It is stated to day that the four andwix cylinder presses are but slightly in-

jured, andean be put In running order in

a few days. The Trem nt houae, Reverehouse, Pacific house, Duulap house. Mas-sasoit house and other hotels destroyed,and board of tr*de building were literallyrazed to the ground. The only prominentbuildings regaining are thn Michigan Ave-nue hotel, Laclede hotel, Demson house,Heeney <k Campbell's planing mill, theVulcan Iron works, Keboe's blocks,Hoerber's block, the convent, St. John'sCongregational church, the Park Congre-gational church. Turner hall, Salem Ger-man Lutheran church. Jesuit cathedral,

college and school house, three elevators,the railroad machine shops and CAT worksand Burlington hall.

A HEART RBNDING SCENE.I went out yesterday to the prairie,

where the houseless and homeless suffer-

ers toek shelter, and I never before wit-nessed such a hearc rending spectacle.Spread out upon the ground were some sev-

enty-five thousand persons, most of themwithout a blanket to cover them, and alt

suffering from cold and neglect. They in-

formed me that their Bufferings had been in-

tense, and that during the night over adozen of tteir number had died. One poorwoman waa vainly striving to give nour-ishment to an infant about four weeks old,whi e by her side lay the dead body of alittle girl of three jeara They are beingconveyed to the city and afforded shelter,raiment and food as rapidly aa possible.

GAS A>D WATER.A portion or the city h* been in dark-

ness three days, owing to th destructionof the gas worfcH in the east and sooth por-tions of the city. The western workunre the proprity of C. K. Garrison, Esq.. of

NewYoik, and a brotner of the St. Louistaiaily of Garrison*. Pipes are now beingLaid through the tunnel to couueoo the eastend, anrt gas whl be turned oa in a fewdajs There being but one residence onthe South aide, it is not probable that theseworks will be rebuilt for some time tocome.Labor will be speedily commenced on

the waterworks, ami it u expected that theengines will be In running order in a fewweeks. Meantime, the tire enmnes arebeing employed in forcing water into innpfptsa for daily couauuiu'iou, ami fteblestreams are ruuniug lu uiuot part* ot theburned district

THE NEWSPAPERS TO GO ON.The Journal, Mail and Tribune have ap-

peared, in abb.evlated form. They areoeing published at Edwards' printinghouse until new buildings can be erected.The Times will be out in ita uausal dreeeand size a noon as tne type can be shippedfrom the East.HOW CHICAGOAXS TREAT TUB MATTER.Reuts have advanced enortuoualy on all

empty and tenautabie houses, the owner*being quick to take advantage of the ter-rible situation. I was shown a small aix-room dwelling today, for which $75 amouth is demanded, that could have beenrented at $12 six days ago. The sameapiric is manifested by dealers generally,exorbitant prices being: demanded fer allthe necessaries of life. The few hotelsleft standing are asking $8 per day. and in-ferior accommodations at tnat. This is all

wrong, and in loudly condemned by thebetter class of citizens, who justly thinkthat ''charity should begiu at home."

THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION.Despite the terrible condition of affaire,

which haa swept away in a few brief hoursthe fortunes of half the community, therela a fixed determination on the part ofmost of them to tight over the battle oflife on the old stamping ground. Spacehas been obtained on the Michigan avenuecommons for business firms, who are baayerecting email frame offloea, and from al-

most every private residence may be seenthe signs of well known wholesale and re-

tail dealers.A few of the more enthusiastic talk of

making Chicago more formidable thanever in five years. The railroad managershave agreed to furnish their full ahare of

means, and Boston and New York capital-ists have telegraphed that they will ad-vance $5,000,000 if necessary. This will gogreatly towards repairing the injury, butid far short of $500,oot).000, the aggregatelosa.

THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE'S SPK-CLAJL TELEGRAPHIC ACCOUNT.

I have just returned from theghastliest promenade ever seen IBthe world. From Congress street to

Lincoln park, and beyond to Wright'*grove, four miles of what waa last

week the business and moat vigorouscity of the West is now one

WIDE SPREAD DESOLATION,marked by rcorched and calcined chitu-

ueys, by mounds of glowing brick andstone, ail covered like a wintry plain witha fail of whitening athen. The vastneeaand luonoto j of the view is as weaiiaomeaud aeureneing as that of

1 UK DESEBT.Formerly every quarter of the city had

it disilDCiive character, and along thebanks of Lake Michigan to the south ot

the river, ruse the staielv mansions of themen whose energy and industry madeChicago what it was Few streets in anycit.y could present eo uniform a display of

wealth and tante in their residences aWabaah and Michigan avenues. IB the

apoe bounded on three aides by the lakeand the Chicago river, and on the south byVanBuren street, there were embracedsome of the finest business houses on the

continent, and a higher average of beauti-ful and

COSTLY JLRCHITKCTCR*than had ever bn applied in the world to

of trade. Along the river, on

their friend* all who desire to c^ . The bestpeople devour.y trust that'tae term orseverest etreAS and panic is over.

the ground to theniaanfaetnring

bv the

by the

of theon the awindow

navel

ofvariety and

obliterated in a day

THE CHICAGO EVENTNG JOFRNAX'SACCOOfT.

The Chicago Evening Journal of Tues-

day, October 10th, the first paper of that

ita appearance after the gen-of the newspaper press,

the following items of interest-

relative to the great fire:

LEVELING HA*DnagrationTae loveliest gardenenue, which was Just below my

window, is as squalid and miserable withthwi)d trampling of the hoof8 of thisdisaster a* any back-yard of a soap boileron Canal street. The wretched tenementhouses which shelter the laboring poorare nawfdeaa aad

WHITE DT THEM ASHESand their chimneys form a shapelessmonument; there is equality at toast be-tween a hovel and palace in their

SHKOUDS OF DESOLATIOX.What most impresses one in the aspect

of the burnt district, is its utter loneli-the debris which encumbered

streets the day after thehas in a great measurecleared away. The sidewalks are

littered still by the ruins, buts perfectly free throughout thetfce center off the city, there is

NOBberofCTTRIOITS SPECTATORSehaig among (he raggedwalls.

>.carrying

with them.i fare crowding

stock into shops that burst, and far down Michigan ave-

, in that safe stretch of lake side thatbeyond Michigan terrace, the last and

loveliest sacrifice to the flames, you eeethe names of banks and insurance compa-nies haarJy

BCKAWXKD eiC TCI SHDTGLKSat the doors of decorous pri-

Tneyhave

The great flre of Chicago laid waste over1800 acres, upwards of 18^00 buildings andrendered about 85,000 persons homeless.As to pecuniary loss no flre which ever

occurred in the world has been attendedwith that suffered by Chicago, as in nocity was there ench an amount of valuablemerchandise, or so many expensive build-

ings destroyed. Most of our merchantsh*4 received their winter stocks of eoods.none of which they were able to save. Theloss in merchandise alone at thto last greatconflagration win be double that sufferedby London and Moscow combined.But the great heart of Chicago is not

broken, nor her spirit of enterprisecrushed. Siie will arise from her ashes.with an energy that will eclipse all herformer efforts, and speedily regain her former position.

One thing particularly strikes the pas-sengers through all the streets-the ab-sence of everything of a combustible na-ture. Brick, stone and iron abound, andmake np whatever is left of the mos:magnificent and costly structures.Dirt, in the .ordinary sense ofthe term, has vanished; all is

clean, but oh how desolate. Another thingis the uniformity of the destruction. Themarble palaces and cheaper brick and mor-tar blocks lie in common disorder. Thereis no distinction, except in the presence ofiron pillars, and marble door and window

WHAT IB tErr.The only buildings left intact 1

the river and the lake and the ri

houses, and the first of them went up allat once, and as quickly as a house of cardsunder my window thia evening. A dozenmywill probably be

to beHO BRAVADO,

street are Hathaway 'a coal cfiice.

of the T*n*Meim elevators on thethe land block, at the cor-

of Randolph and Market. Not a ves-jf any wooden structure is left inand the walls of the majority of the

in the district described are lev -

the ground. In some instances,wans have not

altogetherfallen.

resolute, ti^ly

These superbmen do not se

merchants and bnaineasm to think therething fine in their attitude, but the world

not deny them

COUBT HOUSE.desolate, up-

ihe

OKDKBXT AFD TRAHQCTL,are fed and the naked are

te churches and the publicthe We,: -

The railways convey to council

on the scene, rear the walls of the Mart

J trial of ..

ic business. >'ot-buckled" but thenp from where we write, a ruined -ment of departed aiestneaa, The old:remains with the tessellated pavem.but the glorv of the tribunals *"fl

chamber are things of the past.

LAKE STREET.From the Trement to the great Union

depot is not far, but its wealth of mer-chlndise and stately edifices were knownfar and near throughout the West, but the

i-ye dims and the pulse goes slow when theriiin of this noble mart meets the sight.

SOUTH SIDE.Theseenein Uusseetion of the city is

too appalling to be dwelt upon with otherwSrdsthanthose which will in the mostadequate manner convey an idea of the

reality, which seems beyond the power of

tongue or pen to relate. The streets that

are burnt over are Madison, Monroe,Adams, Jackson, Van Bnren, Congress^ndMichigan avenue, where it was checked,the Michigan avenue hotel being saved.On Wabaeh it burned through to Harrisonstreet. The last house burned on the eastside of Wabash avenue. On the west tide,

Dr. McChesney's (the Wabaeh avenueMethodist) church was not burned at thenortheast corner of Harrision and Wabashavenue. On State street. 356 was the last

number burned. This wasthe sooth limitso far west as the track of the MichiganSouthern railroad track. The long freighthouses (in and out freight) were burnedwith all their contents; cars and every-thing as far south as Taylor, aad west ofthe east track. Taylor street, the northlimit of a great lumber district, was notcrossed to the south. Thus, in short, thereis only one buildine within the limitsabove described which is not hornedto ashen, and this seems tohave recaped through a mira-cleit is numbered 91 to 99 Harrinonstreet, on the corner of Northstreets which run north and sooth areMichigan avenue Wabash avenue. State,Dearborn. Clark, LaSaile, Well-. Sherman,Griswold and Market streets. This sectionof the city contained the glory ofour architecture, and the palatial resi-dences of some of our most wealthycitizens. The names of individual ownerscannot but the prominentbusiness structures were the depot ofthe Lake Shore, and Chicago, and BockIsland and Pacific railroad. on Van Buren.from Sherman to Griswold, and sooth toHarrison; the Pacific hotel, which wasready for the roof , and occupied a block;the custom house, which is gutted, theheavy whitened walls alone standing;Honored blocks, finished and .unfinished,on Dearborn, from Monroe to Aaam&*heTribune building, the Times office,the Post building, the office of the Staata

ing and numerous publications. TheHieganc structure known as the Lake SidePress building, on Clark, the Young Men'sChristian association library, the RepublicInsurance building. Farwell hall. Mc-Vicker'a theater, th Cliftonthe academy of Design, Conn A.

Ten Broeck'a Manufacturing company "u

building, on Adams street; the Palmerhouse. St. Mary's, St. Paul's Catholicchurch. Universaliat, Second Presbyterian,Trinity Episcopal church. First Presbyte-rian church, Michigan avenue, Terracer> w. the Chicago clut>. Potter Palmer's newhotel, unfinished. Robert Law's coalyard, Rogers & Co.'s coal yard, thelargest firms of the city, the Jewisheynagogue.northeaet corner of Fourth ave-

ijrnd Harrison streets, the JTew dabhouse,would

being saved. The apex of thedesolation, which is an horizontalat the corner of DeKoven andstreet, and from there the burnt

andsweeps northeast, widening andI wiSs>ing for a distance of some nvemiles,while the distance to the lake is almostbetween Jefferson, and the river east andwest, and Van Buren and DeKoven. thefirst street north ofand sootn, and from anycan be seen a dozen or more tall ehmarking the site of as many enormous

can he named aecurateir. The ChicagoDock company'* ware house, on Taylor

JMI ThA """" " " " " *ware

the Pitteburghand Fort Waynestreet,railroad,

BAJTK VAULTS.One of our reporters made the tour ofthe

banks (that were) this morning. The indi-canonswer* that all the va*l:a were safe.The currency and securities, which couldnot be replaced (not counting the UnitedState* bonds, which could be) looked inthose vaults musthe several hundred mil-

destroyed. This includes all the realate, not only in Chicago, bat in Cook

3 writing, only one vaolt hasled, that of the Commercial

wy found in a perfect state ofn. There were an sorts of

wild rumors afloattion of this and that bank,vaults and safes. Manyiamong the debris of the bunt dtotrict, ap-parently in a good state of

REAL ESTATE TIT__All the records of daeds and

are i

estate,county.with its numerous suburban towns.Fortunately the abstracts of titles in theoffice or SL.jrta.l i Hoard,aie known to be &afe.A leading member of th

gives it as Ms opinion that the title to allthe property in the county can bereestab-ttahS by means f th**c abstracts. TheLegialatore will probably pass some enab-ling act to cover the ease.As to the value of real estate, it is now

entirely indeterminate, because it is im-possible to divine where the future busi-ness center will be. The latter will de-pendnpon the location selected by the

house, leading business houses, which are already

THB FOUR EXCEPTIONS.There are only lour buildings

on the Sooth Side below Vi'

Those four are the custom hoose. the <

the Firstthe Tribunecompletely burnedMng except tai

tttfoas. Wedmbtpletely burned oot, nothing re-

except the walls and parts of par-We doobt if aay of them CAH ever

except the custom house.walls seem to have stood

Map of the Great

Theblco'i shading shows the extent of day night conflagration, at thejunct:the fire, which covers an area of a mile in DeKoven and jeffersnn streets; B thewidth, by five miles in length, or over 3000 house; C, the postoffioe; D, the HIacres. A is the starting point of the Sun- Central railroad depot; E, Board of 1

fire in Chicago.

'

building: F, G and J, the Mattepon, Tre- Central renervoir. Of that portion in light. inont and Sherman hotels; H, the Michigan shade, only a part is built up. LincolnSouthern railroad depot; I, the St. Louis, parkjoina the extreme aoith> which was

. Alton and Pittsburgh depot, and K. the tbe upper limit of the fire.

10

tne fire teat without flinching. The mason-ry of the ether three haa been very ae-

noualy impaired.BANKS.

There is not a bank left in all Chicago,unless it be some^little house remote fromwhat was the center of business. The ac

tual losses of the bankers cannot be com-puted, even approximated, in any onecase. One thing we are authorized to state

positively. The banka will resume regularbusiness in a few days

It should be added that the Union StockYards National bank is the only nationalbank now in working order in Cook coun-

ty. The Cook County National bank suf-

fered less than any other, because thefartheest south of any. It was located in

the northern corner of the Honore block.The Union National was the ttrat to go, al-

though the Northwestern and Corn ex-

change, located in the chamber of com-merce, went about the same time. Indeed,it was not an hour afoer those on the

ground thought any bank in danger, before

all, unless it was the First National and theCook County National, were in flames.

THE JAIL.There were on Sunday evening confined

in the jail about ninety prisoners, all ofwhom were given free exit when it be-came apparent that the court house wouldburn, the jail doors being thrown wideopen at about 2 o'clock yesterdaymorning. All of the prisoners em-braced the unexpected opportunity to

escape, and immediately left for variousparts of the city with the exception of

George Dresser, who went at once to theWest Side police station and gave himself

up, where he is now in custody. Mr. Dress-er, it will be remembered, is the man whorecently, while acting as keeper in theBridewell, was the occasion of the deathof a prisoner by throwing him from thecorridor into the yard.

THE COURTS.There is not a law office nor a law libra-

ry left in Chicago, except the few smallduplicate libraries at the residences of theleading lawyers. There is not a papershowing that there is a suit pendingin any of the six courts of icc-ord in Cook county, including theFederal court. There is not an in-

dictment in existence in the countyagainst any one, not a judgement, not apetition in bankruptcy in the Federalcourts. Even the duplicate 11lea that thwlawyers kept in their offices of importantoases are all gone.

FROM ST. LOUI8.And now comes Sc. Louis, great rival of

Chicago in enterprise and business, andgreater than Chicago in noble generosity.$160,000 in money and ten oar loads ofcooked previsions are brought hereby Mr. Blow, on behalf of that city, andten more cars, loaded with miscellaneousprovisions and supplies, are reportedIrom the same city. If Chicago ever hasthe opportunity which may heaven for-

bid she will prove herself a worthy rival,even in these good works.

A GLANCE AT THE RUINS.

The Chicago Evening Journal of the nth

contained the following philosophic viewof the ruins of the great fire. It saya:

Now that the smoke of the burned dis-

trict has cleared away and the general

confusion, at first so confounding, has veryconsiderably subsided, we are able to take

a bird's-eye view of the general loss, whichwe give below :

PUBLIC HALLS AND BLOCKS, ETC.Aiken's museum, Andrews' building, An-

drews' & Otis' building, Arcade building,Arcade court, Berlin block, Blake's build-ing, Blaney hall, Boone block, Bowen'sbull.' ing, Burch's block. Calhoun block,Foltz's nail, Chamber of Commerce build-ing, Chicago Mutual Life Insurance build-ing, Chicago "Times" building, City ar-

mory, City gas works, Court house. Citywaterworks, Cobb 's block (No. 1), Cobb'sbuilding, Cobb's block (No. 2), Commercialbuilding, Commercial Insurance company'sbuilding, Crosby's building and Crosby'sOpera house. Custom house and postoffice,Democratic hall. Dickey's building, Dole'sbuilding, Drake's block, Ewing block. Ex-change Bank building, Farwell hall, Fe-nian hall, Firemen's hall, Flanders' block,-Etna building, Fullerton block, Gallup'sbuilding. Garret! block, German house,Turner Hall, (Clark street), Germaniahall,Hartford Fire Insurance building, HealthLift building, Holt's building, Honoreblock, Illinois Central Railroad Land de-partm-nt building, Jacfcsou hall, Keep'sbuilding, Kent's building, King'a block,Kinzie hall, Larmon block, Light Guardhall, Lincoln block, Link's block, Lloyd'sblock, Lombard block, Loomis build-ing, Lumberman's exchange, McCarty'sbuilding, McCormick's building, Mo-Kee's building, Magie's building,Maj or block, Marine Bank building, Ma-sonic temple, Mechanic's building, Mer-cantile building, Methodist Church block,Metropolitan Hall block, Monroe building,Morrison building?. New Turner'** hall,Newberry block, North Market hall, Nor-ton block, Odd Fellow's hall. Old Board ofTrade buildings, (South Water street)Oriental buildings, Ocis block, (LaSal)nstreet), Otis building (State street KPardee'abuildiug, Phoinix building, Pomeroy'sbuildiag, Pope's block, Portland block.Poalflice building.Purple'd block, Raymondblock, Reynolds' blo^k, Ru-e's building.Scammon'rt building, Shepard'a building,Sherman House block, Smith, Nixon VDitson's ball, Smith. & Nixon's block, Sonts'hall,Speed's block, Staats Zeitung building.Steele's block, Scone's building, Tajlor'ablock, Teutonia hall, Trade Assembly hall.Tribune building, Turners' building, Tvlerblock, Uhlich's block, North Division CityRailway stables, Baer's b'ock, Herting'nbuilding, Union building, Volk's building,Walker's block, Warner's hall and olock,Washington block. Wheeler'u Duilding,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 ia process of erection, repre-senting a valuation approximating millionsof dollars.

11

CHURCHES.North Baptist, Olivet Baptist (colored),

Swedish Baptist, North Star Baptist, Mari-ners' Bethel, New England Congregational,Lincoln Park Congregational, Church ofOar Savior (Epis.), Church of the Ascen-sion (Epis.), Cooper's Independent, St.

Anegarius (Swedish Epis)-, St. James(Epis.), Trinity (Epis.), Trinity Mission,Evangelical Association of North America,Evangelical Second church, Free Evan-gelical, English Lutheran (Ontario street).First German Evangelical Lutheran St.

Paul's, Evangelical Lutheran Trinity, FirstGerman United Evangelical Lutheran St.

Paul's, Illinois street Independent Mis-sion, Jewish church of the North Bide,Kehileth Benai, Shalom (Jewish), FirstMethodist, Wabash avenue Methodist(scorched), Grace Methodist, Grant placeMethodist, Dixon street Methodist, VanBuren street German Methodist, Cleyburnavenue German Methodist, Grace Scandi-navian Methodist, Huron street Bethel,Bethel African Methodist, Quinn's AfricanMethodist Chapel, First Norwegian Evan-gelical Lutheran, Swedish EvangelicalLutheran, First Presbyterian, Sec-ond Presbyterian, Westminster Pres-

byterian, Fullerton Avenue Presbyte-rian, North Presbyterian, Orchard Street

Presbyterian, Bremer Street IndependentMission, Newsboys' Independent Missionand Home. Erie Street Presbyterian Mis-

sion, Burr Presbyterian Mission, TammanyHall Mission, Catholic Cathedral of the

Holy Name, 8t, Mary's Catholic Churchand university, the Catholic Ecclesiastical

palace, St. Louis' Catholic, St. Joseph'sCatholic, St. Michael's Catholic, Church of

the Immaculate Conception, St. Rose of

Lima Catholic, Convent and Academy of

t. Francis Xavier, Convent of the Sistersof Charity (North side), Convent of NetreDame, House of the Good Shepherd, Con-vent of the Benedictine Fathei s, Conventof the Benedictine Nuns, Convent of theRedemptionist Fathers, SwedenborgianTemple of the New Jerusalem, North ttwe-

denborgian Mission, Unitarian Church ofthe Messiah (R. L. Collier's), Unity Church(Robert Collyer'e). St. Paul's Universalist.

BANKS.Chicago Clearing house; First, Second,

Third, Fourth, Fifth, Cook County, Com-mercial, City Manufacturers', Merchants',Mechanics', Loan ana Trust, Northwest-ern, Traders', and Union National banks;International Mutual Trust company; Mer-chant*' Savings, Loan and Trust company;Farmers', Merchants, and Mechanics';State Savings institution; Real Estate,Loan and Trust company; Union Insuranceand Trust company ; Hibernian Bankingassociation; Chicago Building and Loan as-

sociations; Swedish Commercial, Nationalbank of Commerce, Marine bank.

PRIVATE BANKERS.J. M. Adsit, A. C. & O. F. Badger, Bald-

win, Walker <fc Co., H. Clausenius & Co.,

Tllman,Wrenn<fcCo., Cushman & Hardin,Folansbee &8on, Henry Greenebaum <t

Co., Greenebaum & Foreman, Lunt, Pres-ton <fcKean, Mayer, Leopold & Steiner,Meadowcroft Brothers, Nicboff & Co.,Louis Sapieha. J. R. Bhipherd <fc Co., Laza-rus Silverman, A. O. Slaughter, George C.

Smith <fe Bro., Snydacker & Co., James B.

Storey fc Co . Wilkins & Stone, Ferd 8.

Winslow, Collins <k Ullnmn.HOTELS.

Adams house, American. Brevoorthouse, Briggs house, Central house, Cityhotel, Clarendon house, Clifton house, Con-tinental, Eagle, European (Dearbornstreet), European (State street). Everett,French (Wells street), French (Klnziestreet). Fort Dearborn house. G*rden City,Girard, Hatch. Hess, Garni, Howard house,Haber house, Illinois house, Jervis house,Palmer, Bi^elow, Ogden house, Laclede,Mansion house, Massasoit house, Mattesouhouse, Moulton house, Metropolitan hotel,Michigan (Central Railroad hotel, Bethelhome. Nevada, New York, Orient, Poto-mac, Raymond house, Revere, Rock Island,Schall, Sherman, St. James, Tremont,Washington, Western Eagle and Wright's.In addition to the above should be men-

tioned at least a dozen other buildings incourse of erection aud completion, repre-senting a valuation of several hundredthousand dollars.

RAILWAY DEPOTS.Great Union Central dept, (including the

Illinois Central. Michigan Central and Chi-cago Burlington and Quincv), SouthernMichigan and Rock Island, Northwestern(Wells street).

TELEGRAPH COMPANIESWestern Union, Metropolitan, Great

Western, Atlantic and Pacific.

EXPRESSES.Adams', American Merchante' Union,

United States, Brink's.

NEWSPAPERS, ETC.Evening Journal. Tribune, Times, Re-

publican, Post, Mail, Ledger, Democrat,Agerdyrkning and Oeconomic, AmericanChurchman, American Messenger, Ameri-kanischer Botachafter, Baptist Quarterly,Baptist Teacher, Catholic Weekly, ChicagoCity Directory, Commercial Bulletin, Com-mercial Express and Produce Reporter,Daily Law Record, Daily Programme,Daily Record, Dispatch, Druggist*' PriceCurrent, Dry Goods Price List, EveningMail, Journal of Commerce, Legal News,Office Directory, Railway Review, RealEstate Journal, Union (German), StaataZeitung, Child's Paper, Child's World..

Dagslyet, Daily Commercial Reporter andMarket Review, Der Deutsche Arbeiter,Der Hausfreund, Evening Lamp, Hem-landet. Hemlandet Ratta, Home Circle,Volks-Zeitung, Catholishe Wochenblatt,Little Corporal, Live Stock Reporter. Mac-edonian and Record, Methodist PublishingHouse, National Baptist, New Covenant,News from the Spirit World. NorthwesternReview, Publishers' Auxiliary, RailroadGazette, School Festival, Sunday SchoolWorld, bvatiska Arnerikanaven, Advance,Art Review, The Arts, Bright Side.Courier,The Chronicle, Congregational Review.Fremart, Herald of the Coming Kingdom,Land Owner, Inside Track, Liberal, Inte-

rior, Juxbruder, Life Boat. Lyceum Ban-ner, National Prohibitionist, Observer,Pharmacist, Prairie Farmer, Religio Philo-

sophical Journal, Skandinavian, Spectator,Standard Reporter, Western Odd Fellow,W< item Rural, Soldiers' Friend, WestlicheUnterhallings Bleater Workingman's Advocate, YtuagReaper&and the following

MAGAZINES.Lakeside Monthly, Manrord's,Horce Jour-

nal, Medical Examiner, Bureau, Chicago(Mrs Rayne's) Missionary, MFStio Star

3Ionthly, Sunday Scholar, Sunday School

Helper, Sunday School Teacher, Voice of

Masonry.LIBRARIES

Historical Society, Law Institute, Metro-

politan Hall Library association, YoungMen's Christian association. Union Catho-lic, together 'with many others of greatvalue.

CITY SCHOOLSDearborn, Jones, Kinzie, Frpnklin, Og-

<len, Newberry (scorched). Pearson Street

Primary, Elm Street Primary, NorthBranch Primary, La Salle Street Primary,Third Avenue Primary.

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLSHoly Name, St. Mary's, Sn. Joseph's, Im-

maculate Conception, First Lutheran, First

United German Lutheran, 8t. Paul's Sec-

ond ana Third, Italian school, German andJEnglish.

ACADEMIES AND SEMINARIES.Academy of Sciences, Christian Brothers,

Holy Name, St. Francis Xavier, Bryant fc

Chase Commercial, Dearborn Ladies' sem-inary, Dyhrenforth's Commercial, Gold-beck's Conservatory of Music, Law depart-ment of the University of Caicago, RushMedical college, Colleg of Pharmacy, Ho-meopathic Academy of Medicine, CharityDispensary, Hahnemann Medical Dispen-sary, Bennett Medical and Surgical college.

HOSPITALSWomen and Children's, Protestant Dea-

coness', Smallpox, Alexian Brothers',United States Marine hospital, Jewish.

ASYLUMS.Newsboys' and Bootblack's Home, Nur-

sery and Halt-orphan, St. Vincent, Houseof Providence, St. Paul's Presbyterian Or-phan asylum, St. Mary's and St. Joseph'sOrphan asylum, Charitable Eye and Earinfirmary.

MINOR LOSSESWentworth, Wonlworth & Co., Briggs

house. Loss on furniture, fixtures andhorses in Briggs house, $100,000. Insur-ance; Franklin, Philadelphia, $5000; Re-public, Chicago, $5000; American Central,St. Louis, $5000; Commercial Mutual, Cleve-land, $2500; Atlantic. New York, $2500;

Reaper City, Rookford, $2500; Occidental,8an Francisco, $5000; Excelsior. New York,$5000; Home. Columbus, Ohio, $5000; Fulton,New York, $5000; State, Caicago, $2500; NewEngland, Boston, $5000; Irving. New York,$2500; Merchant*', Hartford, $3000; NorthBritish and Mercantile, London, $4000. To-tal, $59,500.The loss of the Chicago iron works, No.

146 to 152 (inclusive) North Water street,Dewey, Jones & Sanders, proprietors, is es-timated at from $50,000 to $55,000; insurance$10,000.

J. B. Hendriokson, 201. 205 and 211 SouthClark street; loss, $40,000; insurance, $7000.William G. HoluieH, on Lake street,

books and stationery; losses $30.000 to$35,000H. R. Cabery, Masonic goods and rega-

lias, 60 State street, loss $10 000. InsuranceAllemania of Cleveland, $1600; German of

Cleveland, $1500 ; Commercial of Chicago,$3000; Home Mutual of Chicago, $2000.

A. B. Case, music printer, 168 Clar

street, loss $8000; insurance $3000.J. W Crams, Clifton house barber t^hop

and bathing rooms, corner Madison andWahash avenue, loss $1200: insurance $500.

Equitable, Chicago; loss total.Cook & Monroe, loss on srock and ma-

chinery, $2500; no insurance.M. Donahue, insured in th Great West-

ern of Chicago for $1000 on household fur-niture; his total ios is about $3000E. D. Swain, dentist, No. 129 State street,

office furoi'ure and instruments, $800.Gillet, McCullooh & Co. were at, 61 Michi-

gan avenue, proprietors Gillet's chemicalworks, fltvorinsr extracts, baking powder,<fco., the largest in the West; loss $80,000.

THRILLING INCIDENTS OF THEGREAT L>ISA.8i:EK.

We copy from the New York Sun the fol-

lowing thrilling incidents :

A YOUNG LADY'S STORY.Mies Rollins had a most narrow escape

from a fiery death. She was surroundedby the flames, and dashed through a spacewhere the wooden pavement had kindledinto a blazt). She tells the followingstory :

When the second fire broke out in theSouth division, nearly all the people be-came insane with terror. I never e<*n tellof the universal horror of those hours.They wem years.. I don't wonder ttiatmen seemed demented and womyn hysteri-cal One of the little girls that attendedmy school became lost. I found her cry-ing as though her heart would break. Sheis but seven years old, and sheconldnottell what bad become of her parents andfamily. There were many such cases.As we went on further the throng increas-ed, until the screeta and tidewalks wereblack with people. It was like a fieshet,and poured in the one direction of safety.By and by we found the fire getting aroundus as though escape would be cut off. andwe would be entombed in one erand pyreof flame. "Go the other way; we areheaded off !" was now and then the cry,andthe multitude would turn back strugglingin a new direction. I saw some womenand children and one man, exhausted. Hodown In the gutters to die in the hopele*s-ne*sof desneratiou. Others would seizeand urge them along Smoke and cinder-*and flame and tcoruhing heat filled theair

CHILDREN fcCRKAMED IN TERRORand begged for water. HOHJM would catchup water from puddles uear hydrants amimoisten rue mouth "This is the day ofjudgment! this must be the end of theworld!" exclaimed more than one. Thedegree of sympathy that prevailed waswonderful. Theie seemed to IM one in-stinctive throb of feeJing, and the stronghelped the weak. I believe that thieveshad a great deal to do with the fire. It

they did not start it in the first place, theykindled llames in fresh places. I savrhouses that bad been deserted entered byill-looking fellows, who ransacked bureausand closets. There was no time to speak tothem. Once or twice when they werespoken to they professed to have been sentby toe owners to save things Many peo-ple in the haste of their escape abandoned

everything, even to jewelry and money. I

saw one fellow's pooicet half full of Jewelryand watches I spoke of it, but in an in-etant he lost himself in the crowd. I sawa colored man with a lady's chatalainechain suspended awkwardly at his vest.The little girl I had walked until the hotpavements blistered her little f*et. Thenwe carried her. "Is papa and mammaburnt up! is Neddie burnt up dead!" shepireously asked. L%te at night we foundthem all safe It was nearly morning be-fore we obtained shelter and food. Inever want to set eyes upon Chicago again.

MR. LOfKWOOI/8 8TOBY.Miss Roliins's story is not so thrilling as

that of the gentlemen, especially Mr Lock-wood, who, in company with Mr Wallace,escaped across the river in a boat, thebridges being useless. Thence they crossedthe lumber district, which had commencedto blaze. In one instance thev had to leapover the burning timber Upon a roofthey clambered to get a breath, and restand view. They said :" We had an awful sight from here.Four dray horses were penned up in aeat yard, on either Ride of which werealls of lumber blazing, crackling and

snapping fiercely. The air was intenselyhot and the smoke stifling. The poor ani-mals had got loose and ran to and fro,their nostrils expanded, their eyes aglarewith terror, and uttering all the time wild,despairing cries, pawiug the ground, roll-

ing in the dust and rearing in fury. Wesickened at the sight and hastened away,for our own salvation was none too cer-tain. Arriving at the Court house, wepushed through the multitude and finallyobtained a place in the tower. Here webad an extended vision of the devastation.The night was hideous with scenes andsounds more infernal than human. Belowus in the square among the crowd we re-cognizedA MAN WHO PREACHES IKF1DKL SERMONS,or rather tirades from the steps, and fre-

quently was stopped by the people on ac-count of the great disturbance he incited.Now he was wringing his hands as if Inagany, and wailing and shouting: "Whereis God now! Where is God now! Show usthe an gelt!" & j.

Thia he continued until an oilicer collaredand thrust him into the basement, wherehis raving were less audible.The crowds could be seen in the streets

huddled together, stupefied with fear,gazing like demented ones upon the awfulpanorama. The lurid glare gave every-thing a crimson hue, and the movingfigures in the avenues seemed like imps ofbrimstone. Horses were terrified, andsnorted and neighed as they were trem-blingly forced to go. The cries of childrenand parent* seeking each other in vainwere more than heart-rending. Very fewof the rougher classes were intoxicated,and even these seemed awed into decor-um. On and on with remarkable speedcame the flaming procession. It leapedthe river, and strided on with unopposedfury. The multitude now began to leave.All the hotels had been emptied, and flightwas imperative.

A BORRIliLE TRAC,E1>V.Just now occurred a scene that froze our

blood. At the intersection of Randolphand Market streets was a large building(CalUm's> used for offices. The janitor re-

sided on the fourth floor with his family,consisting of a wife and four children. Bysome means they were unable to escape.Surrounded by the fire, they ascended tothe roof. The babe was in the mother'sarms, and another child, a little boy, clungTO her skirts. Two girls were clasped iutue arms at the father. Their shouts werebut faintly heard over the howl of thewinds and the roar of the flames. At last

the heat became so intense that the womanwas overcome and lell to the roof. Thefather wildly threw out his hand and stag-

gered, writhed, and punk by his wife'sFide. That was all of that tragedy. Wesickened at the sight, and hurried down tothe street, which by this time was prettywf 11 deserted. Then along the banks ofthe lak-5 we wandered, more like dead thanliving men. W heard aud saw mourningand agony and suffering that all the booksin the world could not hold the account of.

We were comfortably fixed in lite oneweek ago; now we arw penniless. Wehave no doubt that incendiaries did part ofthe work, and for robbery and ravage."The shoes and clothing of all the party

attested the severity of the ordeal throughwhich they had passed.

THE TERRIBLE 8OKNBS OF MON-DAY.

The following is from the Chicago Tril>-

une of October 12th:

SCENES ON WABA.SH AVENUB.The scene presented on Wabaeh avenue

on Monday, for a period extending from 4o'clock A M. till late in the day, was a mostextraordinary one, calling to mind mostvividly the retreat of a routed army. Thelower part of the avenue had, at an earlyhour, been occupied by residents of burningquarters, who sought safety for themselves-and their chattels by depositing them outhe grass plats skirting the sidewalks. Fora leng distance these plate were occur, ied

by families, mostly of the lower classes,with their household goods. They sup-posed that they had dUcovered a place of

security, but their confidence iu this regardproved unfounded. As the fire commencedspreading up the avenue a wild scene ofconfusion ensued. Tne street was crowdedwith vehicles of ail descriptions, manydrawn by men, who found it impossible to-

procure draught animals. The bidewalk*were filled with a hurrying crowd, bear-

ing in their arms and upon their backs andheads clothing, furniture, fco. Ladieadressed in elegant costumes, put on with aviewof preserving them, and with costlyapparel of all kinds thrown over theirarms and shoulder?, staggered along un-ner the unwonted burden. Poor womenwith mattresses upon their heads, wweighed down with furuituie, totteredwith weary steps up the crowded street.

Nearly every one wore a stern expresf-ien..and moved on without a word,as if they hadbraced up their minds to *ndure the worstwithout manifesting any emotion. Occa-sionally, however, the wall of women andchildren rent the air. bringing tears to theeye of those who witnessed the inamfe-

tAtlons. Poor little children shivered in thecold night air, and looked with wide openeyea upon the scene they could not com-prehend. Ludicrous Incidents were of oc-

casional occurrence, lighting up with asort of horrible humor the terrible realities

of the situation. Women would go bywith dogs in their arms, their pets being

1

all they had saved from the ruins of theirhomes. An octogenarian ran in a yard,with a large cat enfolded in his feeble em-brace. Men dragging wagons wore greenveils over their fac< a to protect their eyesfrom t -e blinding dust. Drunken menstaggered among the crowds, apparentlypossessed of the idea that the whole affair

was a grand municipal spree, in wnichthey were taking part as a duty that shouldbe discharged by all good citizens. Truckspawed up street loaded with trunks, onwhich sat ladies in costly garb, and withdiamonds on their fingers. But one daybefore they would have scorned the idea of

riding in anything less imposing than aluxurious landau or coupe; but their pridewas leveled in the presence of the univer-sal imminent danger, and they were thor-

oughly glad to get the humblest cart in

which to place themselves and their valu-ables.The great portion of the people knew

not whither they were going. All theyknew was that the horrible nre was behindthem and they mast move on. The streampoured southward for hours the broad av-enue being tilled from house to house withmen, women, children, horses, mules, vehi-

cles, wheelbarrows everything that couldmove, or could be moved. Truckmen andexpress drivers were hailed from the stepsof houses, or eagerly pursued by the occu-

pants, with the view of securing their aidin removing household goods to places of

safety. In many instances the appealswere unsuccessful, their services havingbeen previously engaged by other parties;but when they ware disengaged theycharged the most exorbitant prices, rang-ing from $5 to $100 for a load, and turningup their noses at offers of amounts less

than they asked. This class of peoplemade great profit out of the calamities oftheir fellow-citizens. Their pockets maybe heavy to-d*y, but their consciences, if

they have any. should be still heavier.Tne instances of generosity were, how-ever, far in excess of those of greed andselfishness. People from districts whichhad not already burned, or who had se-cured their own goods, turned in with awill and worked to aa-ist their friends, andfrequently rendered aid to persons whomthey did not even know. Good angels, Inthe shape of women, distributed foodamong tne sufferers, and spoke kind wordsto those who earned to labor under theseverest affliction Human nature, Godbe thanked, nas us bright as well as itsdark sides.In addition to the crowds pressing south-

ward throngs of people moved northwardto see what

'

they could see. And thesecounter currents frequently caused a jamthat was almost inextricable. But aftergreat effort, interspersed with considerableload talking and no small degree of pro-fanity, the dead-lock would be removed,and the opposing surges would again make

slow progress.When the church on the corner of Wa-

bash avenue and Harrison street took tire

it seemed as if no limit ceuld be placed tothe southward march of the monster. Animmense throng was collected in the vi-

cinity of Harrison street and Hubbardcourt, and word was passed among themthat Laird Collier's church was about tobe blown HP. The intelligence spread withrapidity of lightning, and then ensued aterrible race for life. The masses fledprecipitately up the aveuue, helter-skel-ter, pell-jneil. It was everyone for him-self, and tae devil take the hindmost. I/--tie consideration was had to age or sex.Fortunately, however, no one was seriouslyinjured in the fearful rush, and the peoplepoured in disjointed masses towards thevarious side streets, many not deemingthemselves safe until they nad placed sev-eral blocks between themselves and thepoint from which the danger was expectedto proceed.And so the day wore on, the living kaleid-

oscope making constant changes, but everpresenting the same aspect. Excitement,sorrow, grief, terror, panic, madness, col- ,

ored everything, relieved simply by a fewtouches of ladicrousness that were abso-lutely grotesque in their relation to theall pervading norror.E8CAPB OF PEOPLE IXTO THE WEST DIVI-

SION.So soon as the people west of Clark street

began to se tkat there was no hope, andthat,the fire was really bound to go north-ward to an indefinite point, they turned alltheir minds to getting over in the West di-

vision, where tusre was comparative safe-ty from the flames and plenty of vacantground on wnich to encamp. So, sinceChicago avenue bridge was useless, thewhole tide turned toward Division, which,from Grove to Halsted. was untouched,aud promised to remain so. Ic was notmany minutes before a steady stream ofcarriages, drays, express wagons and ve-hicles of every description were rushingpell-mell across that bridge, interlockingand breaking, while the southern streetsleading up to Division were jammed * i,h

wagons, which occasionally caught nre.The expressmen and draymen, stimulatedby the immense prices they were receivingtwenty to fifty dollars a load drove

their heavy teams recklessly forward,breaking down the weaker teams and forc-

ing their way acrees the river, in order toreturn as soon as possible for another load.Sometimes they themselves came to grief,and then, unfastening their horses, triedto find another wagou.THE ROADS WERE FILLED WITH PEOPLE

crazed by excitement and liquor, or stupe-fied with smoke, and no regard at all waspaid to them by the drivers, so tnat at all

those points numerous accidents were con-stantly occurring. One man was drivingup Clark street with a heavy load, whenhe fell from his feat

AXD IS8TASTLY BROKE HIS KECK.The team was loaned with trunks

marked "Barton Edsall." Mrs. Edsall wastaken from her house in a half insensiblecondition quite early in the morning.

THE WANDERERScrossing Division street either scattered

15

thennelves north or went straight -west,while many encamped themselves uponGrove Island, which lies between theNorth branch and Ogden canal. When thetrain* moved a little westth^y found theirway blocked by the cars of the Northwest-ern road, which had been run up there toavoid fhe fire, and people were compelledTO make long detours to get through them.Many unable to force their -way throughthe confusion of Division street, which wasalmost equal to that at the crossing of theBeresina. turned into the side streets, andmade their way to North Avenue bridge,where they were able to get Out withoutgreat difficulty, though much hampered bythe railroad trains after they got acrossthere; not only teams, but foot passengers,carrying in their arms children and gomelit' le articles of furniture or wearing ap-parel, wended their weary way in the samedirection. One woman had nothing but asilk sack, and another was accompaniedby a child, who had in its arras a couple ofeats and a little dog, and cry ins: itself, sobsout, "Don't cry, mammy." After gettingout upon the prairie, they settled downwherever they could flnd room, some sit-

ting in rocking chairs, and others uponblankets on the ground. None of themsaid anything, but all sat looking intentlyat the fire, which was immediately beforethem. Many who had teams went as farwest as the Artesian well, where they en-

camped around the large pond, wMch sup-plied them with water. Tbere they re-mained in the most forlorn and uncomfort-able condition, which was aggravated bythe rain, which began falling at 11 o'clockon Monday n'ght, and which caused achange from the warm and comfortabletemperature of the day to the piercingdullness of yesterday ainrnin* .

LATE ON MONDAY EVENINGChicago avenue bridge caught nrts and soonfell into the river. It waa even then al-

most impossible to get over at Divisionstreet on account of The teams which wereeven t hen crossing Every where i he wild/e*t confusion was prevailing. Familieswere separated and the members werevainly seeking for one another. One po-liceman picked up a three months' old childwhich had been lost in pome way. Sincethere was no use in faoing the fUmes, theengines arranged themselves along thewest bank of the north brauob, and did t hebest they could all Monday in playing oathe ea*t and west sides.The flre went further and further north,

taking both siciee of North avenue, andcontinuing beyond that

TILL IT REACHED WRIGHT'S GROVE,and Ogden's grove, where it did not pro-gress so easily amid the wet timber. Therain which begas falling oa Mondnv evening dampened the grass, and sensibly re*tamed it. Then it worked back again andgot hold of the coal heaps and lumber-yards laying soutn of Chicago avenue, andmade a clean sweep of atl tha* was leftthere. 8- brilliant was th light on Mon-day evening that it was feared by some ofthose on the west sid* that it would cro<*s

over there and obliterate wh<*t was left ofthe city.

A FRIGHTFUL SCENEWhile Madison street, west of Dearborn,

and the wot side of Dearborn were sll

ablaze, the spectators saw the lurid lightappear in the rear windows of Speed'sblock. Presently a mas, who had appar-ently taken time to dress himself leisurely,appeared on the extension built up to thesecond story of two of the stores. Hecoolly looked down the thirty feet betweenhim and the ground, while the excitedcrowd first cried jump; and then some ofthem more considerately looked for a lad-der. A long plank was soon found andanswered the same as the ladder, and wasplaced at once against the building, downwhich the man soon after slid.But while these preparations were going

on there suddenly appeared another manat a fwurth story window of the building^>elow, which had no projection, but flasnfrom the top to the ground four storiesand a basement. H s escape by the stairwaywas apparently cut off and he looked de-spairingly down the fifty feet between himand the ground. The crowd grew almostfrantic at the sighr, for it was only a choiceof death before him. Senseless cries of"Jump! jump!" went up from the crowd-senseless, but full of sympathy, Tor thesight was absolutely agonizing. Then, fora minute or two he disappeared, perhapseven less, but it seemed so long a time thesupposition was that he had fallen, suffo-cated with smoke and heat. Bat no, heappears again. First, he throw* a bed,then some bed clothes, apparently; why,probably even he does not know. Againhe looks down the dead, slreer wall of riftyfeet below him He hesitates, and well Lemay, as he looks behind him. Then hemounts to the window sill. His wholeform appears, naked to the shirt, and hiswhite limbs gleam against the dark wall inthe bright light as he swings himself be-low the window.Somehow how none can tell he drops

and catches upon the top of tae windowsbelow him. of the third story. He stoopsand drops again, and seizes the frame withhis hanus, and his gleaming body once;more straigbtens and hangs prone down-ward, and then drops instantly and acourately upon the window sill of tae colrdstory. A shout, more of joy than applause,goes ap from the breatuiess crowd, andthose who had turned away their heads,not bearing to look upon him as he seemedabout to drop to sadden aud to certaindeatb. glanced up at him once more, with aray of hope, at thin daring and skillful featInto this window he crept to look, proba-bly, for a stairway, but appeared againpresently, for here was the only avenue 01

escape, desperate and hopeless as it was.One* more ne dropped his body, hangingby his hand.The crowd screamed, and waved for him

to swing himself over the projection fromwhich the other man had juat bean res-cued. He tried to do this, and vibratedlike a pendulum from side to side, batcould not reach far enough to throw him-self upon Us roof Then he hnng by onehand, and looked down; raising the otherhand, he took a fresh hold, and swungfrom side to side again to reach the roor.in vain Again he hung motionless by onenand, and slowiv turned his head over hi*shoulder and gazed into the abyss below

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18

HOKKIBLE SCENES.

(From the N. Y. Tribune, Got. 14 J

The lamentable tragedy at the HistoricalSociety building is the darkest episode ofthis day; the people in the edifice confi-dent of its strength gathered their mostvalued possessions and crowded the cel-lars in assurance of perfect safety.Among them were citizens of note, thevenerable Col. Stone and wife, Mr. and Mrs.Able and two daughters, Mr. and Mrs. Car-penter, Dr. Lead and family, with severalothers notso well known. While the fiUhtened group were moving a trunk, the librarian caught sight of a flame, and, snoutingto the rest, rushed from the fatal place.The others, at least twenty in number,were not seen to emerge, and tbere is nodoubt that they perished, a the buildingwas soon tottering in utter wreck. Tiie

original copy of the Lincoln Emancipationproclamation perished among the mostuberished memorials of this society.Death came to the crowds in the open

air as well as in the buildings. A groatfollowing of ruffian?, emboldened by theabsence of the police and half maddenedwith liquor, assaulted several saloons onthe verge of the tire and held the groundagainst the advancing flame. When themoment of ne<fd came they were too drunkto get away. In this portion the tire cameon with su:h incredible rapidity thatmothers threw their children down fromThe windows and then flung themselves.Throughout the day and night every footof advance was a complete surprise. luChicago avenue, a noble thoroughfare onehundred feet wide, the people were conn-dent of escape, and took little or no pre-caution. Here, as on Wabash avanue,when the tire did come, panic aided thedevastation. Thoughtless women piledmattresses and fragile goods iu thestreet, and the dropping sparks tookbut an instant to maUe the avenuea glowing pathway of fire. Theaide streets were built whollyof wood, and the thin walls burned like

shavings. This region, over by the lakeand the great Lincoln park, seemed tooffer safety. 83 a great rush was made forthe park, and the refugees made them-selves comfortable in the delusion of secu-

rity. After ravaging to the limits of theci(/y, with the wind dead against it. the fire

naught the dried grasses, ran along thefences, and in a moment covered in aburning glory the Catholic cemetery andthe grassy stretches of the great park.The marbles over the graves cracked andbaked, and fell in glowing embers on thehot tuif . Flames shot up from the restingplaces of the dead, and the living fugitives,screaming with horror, made, for a mo-ment, the ghast iest spectac e that everfell upon living eyes. The receiving vault,solidly built and shrouded in foliage, fell

under the terrific flame, and the deal burstfrom their coffins as the fire tore

through tie walls of the irightfuloharnel house. In the broad light 01 to daythe place is the most ghastly I ever saw,not even Cold Harbor exceeding it in aw-ful suggeativenes*. Above the gravescharred stones stand grim sentinels of the

dead, no more memorials of anything butdisaster. Every inscription has disap-peared, and even the dead are robbed bythe flames. The park turned into a wilder-ness of fire, the crowds doubled backwardand made for the s-rcnues leading west-ward and to the south, to reach which theymust ores* the river. Many of the bridgeswere in flames; the rest were alreadychoked with the heavy wagons which,tearing their way tnrough, cruelly aggra-vated ihe distress of the thousands of footsore women and weary men. Fully 30.COO

people were afoot in this quarter, andthis mass densely wedged into barricadedstreets, b3tween trampling hordes, keptup a ceaseless stream far into the night.With the night, new volumes of fUmeshot out on the air, and new crowdswere hurled among tae fifing masses.There was no hope of saving rhe city,the struggle was simply for life Half-cladwomen fled moaning througa the streets,and at this time, it is asserted, robberieswere perpetrated in some of the remoteprivate residences. A vast throng reachedthe prairie, and sunk exhausted on theground; the air was filled with a torrid heatand even at this great distance immenseparticles of cinders fell in showers. Thedreadful agony of separated families cameto add its horrors to the calamity. Babieswere found alone in the multitude, andcountless little people crept aoout cryingwildly for their parents. A blessed ramcame down slowly, and the fire, stayed ini ts advance, rolled backward and flamedup with greater fierceness in the immensecoal piles in the very center of the town.Then a new agony earns upon the people.Tlie only untouched portion of the townwas brilliantly illuminated, and for a timeic seemed as though not a roof was to beleft in the great city.

CONDITION OF THE CHICAGOBANKS.

The following statement is made up fromthe latest returns received at the office orthe controller of the currency, The out-standing circulation is secured by UnitedStates bonds, deposited by the banks withthe treasurer of the United States. De-ducting from the liabilities the capital andaccumulated profits winch the banks oweto their own stockholders, it will be seenthat the assots are more than $lp,030,ooogreater than the remaining liabilities.

The following are the assets and liabili-

ties of the national banks in Chicago. June10, 1871 :

ASSETS.Bills receivable 19,566.733United States and other bondsand Stools fi,7I6,637

Duefrom other banks 5,39J,290Real and personal property 729,323

Expenses to be paid 462,635Checks and cash items 1810.091

Money 6,480,462

Total $41,178,171LIABILITIES.

Capital $6,950,000Accumulated profits 3,323,727Circulation outstanding 5,811.288

Deposits 19,269340

19

Bae to banks 9,089,699Bills payable 244,112

Total $41,178,177Number of banks, sixteen.In response to tbe call of the controller

for reports from tbe banks, showing theircondition on the 24 inst., but fl*e Chicagobanks have forwarded their official state-

ments. These oame to day, ami possiblymore may be received to-morrow. Afterthat date it is not expected at tbe depart-ment that any further deposits will be re-

ceived. Partial returns will, however, bepromulgated by the controller's office, to-

gether with the usual promulgation of Na-tional bank reports.

THE FUTURE OF CHICAGO.

What will be the future of Chicago !

This question is on the lips of everybody.Strangers ask it of Chicaoans, and Chi-

cagoans of strangers. Here is a city ofthree hundred thousand inhabitants thathas suddenly lost several hundred millionsf dollars and two-thirds of its facilities

for living and transacting business. Thecountry at large has subscribed enough inprovisions and money to bridge over thefirst period of physical suffering. The in-surance companies and banks will paysomething, but noti more than a twentiethof what would rupay the losses. The 1mmense agncultual region tributary to Chi-

cago is unharmed, and productive as ever.Coioago has bought its grain and suppliedits demand for merchandise. The profitson this work for thirty years has beenswept away. Ic was these profitsthat built up Chicago, and if it is

rebuilt a similar accretion, year by year,must again ba the agency. The capitalcan not cotne from anv other source. Thetension of credit at Chicago mis alwa.vsbeen extreme. The city is largely in debtand so are its citizens. The appeal for aheavy loan from government, without col-

lateral, IK absurd. It Is commerce tintbuilds large cities, and no subsidies cankeep them afloat. Much of Chicago's busi-ness must be, at least, temporarily divert-ed to her rivals. But whatever the condi-tions, she most start afresh and by herown energy regain her position, makegood her losses, and be content to knowthat this will be a task for many years.Tnere is no magic to accomplish it in atwelve-month.Another ugly fact must be faced In

C&ioago. due** built of wood must be de-stroyed by tire. All ov*r the globe thislaw has no exception. Thorefore, Chicagomast tear down as well as build up. Untilahe uses brick, stone and iron in her edi-fices capital will be afraid of her, and herhistory will be replete with disaster.Where the prevailing winds are so boister-ous there is a dont>le need of solid bulld-in<rs, and a splendid fire department Thewise and thoughtful will be more anxiousto know how this city will be re-createdthan at what rapidity.The winter, with its snows and rigors, is

near at hand, and after the tremendousexcitement* of the fire must rime the re-Action of facing the realities of a plodding.

every day existence Everything heremuftt com"! down at once to a basis of

utility. Embellishment must be sec-ondary to use. Tbo butterflies of the citywill take flight, and the totally impover-ished will be tempted to seek other scenes.Tbe classes who have still some propertyleft will strive to render it valuable again,and to them we must look to rebuild Chi-cago, aided by suoh energetic strangers asmay seek their fortunes here, replacingthe bankrupt and disheartened. Tiuiealone can determine the extent to whichCaicago in ashes can hold ita customersand keep them contented. For a year, atleast, the charitable of other cities mustbe ready to contribute te the destitute of

Chicago, and an organization should beperfectnd here whiott could be officiallyrecoieniz'd, and whose requests for aidwould be cheerfully accepted as right andproper.

REMARKABLE ESCAPE A ROOFCKOWl>ll> WITH WOMEN FALL-ING IN.

[From the New York Sun, October 14th 1

Mr. and Mrs. William1

Spiring, an Eng-lish couple, who have just arrived from

Chicago, homeless and friendless, toldtheir story thus :

W left Salt Lake list week, and startedfor London, our former home. We havebeen living in Salt Lake nine years. Westopped to spend Sunday at Chicago. Inthe fire of Sundiy niht we were drivenfrom our hotel with scarcely any clothing,barely getting out of the building, losingour trunks, oiothlng, and $500 in money, all

we had. We wandorad about the city all

day Monday in the rai a in search of foed.We obtained from some charitable peoplesufficient clothing to keep us from expos-ure. The suffering was intense, as neitherfood nor water could be provided until

Tuesday for the homeless people. Afterthat Uhey were provided for by the author-ities. On Tuesday the mayor issued a pro-clamation announcing he would issue

passes over any road to all who wished to

leave the city. We availed ourselves of

this opportunity and went to Pittsburgh,whence the Pennsylvania Central passedus to New York, where we arrived this

morning. Tney directed us at the mayor'sofllce to come out here.There was a sad scene at the office of

thi mayor of Chicago the morningfollowing the issue of nit proclamation.Before 6 o'clock in the morning a lantecrowd had gathered In the street, andformed in line, awaiting the arrival of the

mayor to get their passes out of the city of

DtSOLATED HOMES AND WRECKED FOR-TUNES.

Befor the mayor arrived (to o'olocfe) theline filled several streets. From this timeuntil 6 P M pacsas were Issued as fast as

they could be written. At 6 the deliveryof passes ceased, leaving thousands of

half-naked and starved men, women andchildren, covered with ashes and black

with smoke, to sek a night's lodging be-

neath the sky. Churches, schoel houses

nod dwelling* were thrown open for the

shelter of tbe suffering. Still thousandswere compelled to camp upon the prairie,with darkness for a covering and the earth.for a bed. Many died from hunger, thirstard fxpoeure.Expressmen, hackmen and drivers of

every conceivable vehicle, goaded theirhorses through the throngs of men, womenand children, trampling them down in theirmad haste to depot-it their loads and re-turn for more plunder. An expressmanmade this reply to a son and daughter whohad carried their sick father in their armsfrom a third story to the street, and whooffered this expressman $15 to carry him afew blocks out of danger:

Jjim't talk about $15 to me. Say $1000and I will talk to you."They had no more money, and, tried to

carry their father, who urged them toabandon him and save themselves; butthey would not, and wereOVERTAKEN BY TUB FLAMES AND PERISHED.The horrors as well as the exient oi the

fire were no doubt aggravated by incen-diarism and pillage. The police had to distrioute arms among the citizens to protecttheir property. Two men who stood guard-ing their ;<oods were stabbed by roughs.One died The murderer was caught andhanged to a post. Many were hangedand shot. A man was discovered with abundle of straw and a kerosene can in hisarms in the rear of some buildings. He wasshot down. On an, inbound train, whilethe fire was raging, a fellow said he wasglad of it, and hoped that the whole citywou!4 burn. The passengers became soexasperated that they attacked the man,and the conductor pur, him off the train.All the prisoners iu the armory were re-leased before the fire reached the building,but we did nht hear whether those undertbe court house and in the north side sta-tion were released, but we presume theywere, or we should bavo heard it men-tioned. We saw twenty -five or thirty ser-vant girls rush to the roof of one of thelarge hotels to leap into the streets below,but the whl root fell In and

THEY WERE BMGULFED.The fire oiut>tea ihe liver by large em-

bers and burning boards several feetsquare, which were born* across by theffnle Never did a fire burn so rapidly.The flames rolled two hundred leet into tbeair. Curling back, they would dart acrossthe street, and in an instant another blackwould be in flames. Imagine the un-burned streets at night filled with furni-

ture, men, women, children and teams, lit

only by the lurid glare of the pursuingflumes. No sounds but groans and ciiee,miugled with the oaths of drivers and theroar of the sea of fire, whose hungry waveswere liobine them UD.

THE GRJtt^l' USIJLB* MOVEMENT.

Never before in the history of any great

public calamity was there exhibited tuch

a large hearted, spontaneous effort to re-

lieve the distress of those who suffered.

London has subscribed, through its com-mon council, $1000, and private individuals

$35,000 more.

The great bankers of London gave $5000

each, amounting to $35,000 in all

Liverpool has given $20,000, the Ameri-can chamber of commerce contributing

$15,0.30 of this.

At Berlin, Frankfort-on-the-Maiu andParis, subscriptions are going on. Alto-

gether, the contributions from abroad will

amount to over one million of dollars.

New York has given over two millions,

of which Alex. T. Stewart gives $">),000,

Robert Bonder $10.000, and the leading

bankers, $5000 each.

Boston contributions amount already to

$300,000 in cash, with the prospect of more.

Cincinnati has contributed $200,900, ex-

clusive of clothing and supplies.

8t. Louis merchants have given $140 000

in cash, besides $60,000 in supplies.

The Pittsburgh common council appro-

priated $100,000. beside forwarding large

amounts from its citizens

Philadelphia will give about $200,000;

Baltimore, $100,000, New Orleans, $50000;

Memphis, $25,000, and ail tbe smaller townsin proportion.

Up to Saturday, the lith, there h*d been

contributed by the various cities andtowns of the United States, an aggregateof $3,660 820, which has doubtless b ;en

swelled by this time to upwards of $i 000,-

000. Adding the foreign subscriptions the

total will not fall short tf seven or eightmillions of dollars in cash, beside the

value of a million in food, clothin?, & .

From all over the country the relief af-

forded has been prompt, and spontaneous.

Committees of distinguished citizens are

now in Chicago from St. Louis, Cincin-

nati and Pittsburgh, personally superin-

tending the disbursements of their boun-

ties. Nothing has ever occurred ia this

country to call out such generous and

profound sympathy with genuine distress,

which, deplore the occasion as much as we

may, cannot but fill the heart of everytrue American with pride.