The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1857-10-21
LATEST NEWS.
Terrible Fire a Chicago |!
sssQ,s0o WORTH OF PROPERTY DRsfgoYED
wENTY LIVES LOST.

the occurrence Of disastrous Arc in Chico
! go; but full particulars were not obtained
t'il last evening. As the Chicago papers are
iiiled with the particulars of the terrible
calamity tat has bcfallcn their city, much
81 which would possess little interest TO the
general reader. and all of which cannot be
crowded into our columns, we select such
portions a. We think most importan, 10 our
reader. The Pfess saws:
A calamity most appalling in i,S nature
ha- burst up'n car eit,. Exempt as We
Lave b.sn ior ,-ar- past amor our sister
as'es rom confiagrations II a serious charac
ter. fearful exception 10 what has been the
RUE WITH ,'s, IN this respect has Just visited
ns, and len it, sad traces in ruined blocks
and thousands Of dollars IL property in ash.
e. Nut more sadly than all, in the r,eords
scored on grief stricken hearts. The ,ies-
tructlon Of property, In amount before I'm
paraiieled, hut tar more the loss ol probably
not less than twenty human lives, will be
enrolled in our annals against October 10Th,
1897, and make II ever mournlnlly memora-
bile.
About hall pest three O'Clock Yesterday
morning iirr broko out in the m,.ines.
block, l0y and Ill South Water street.
thence spreading right and left and extend.
ing across the alley o. the lake street front
81 the block, until twelve stores az the first
class, -FOUR sud five stnric, high, aud filled
from cellar to ROOT with valuable wares aud
merchandise, were laid Ia smoai,ier,ng heaps
Of rubbish.
Worse than all a fearful los 81 human
lite wa, involved. The nuu,tsr who nor
'shed can be knawn only hy lapse II time
sufficient 10 Indicate the missing. or hv
clearing the seems nj the catastrophe. In
To dark last evsning. nine bodies Lad been
recovered, and six more were dnown 10 be
IN the ruins. u IL not to b. believed, We
are sorry to say, that these figurcs account
i"r the larger share IL the victims 90 the
calamity
u Is not distinct, known how, nor j. IL
definitely stated where the Gre originated.
The most careful inquiry and the cumming
up OF the best evidence in possession up to
the hour Il gong to press. tends to the con-
sictlon that the fire ltts veil which
shroud- the life Of too many d our clerk.
and employees who fine their only homc
and only social life IN bachelor apartments
IN the upper stories VI our Lusine.s blocks.
II 70 IN sad, hut toe painfully strong es,-
dence that the lire, winch originated IN tie
live story building Nos 100 and Ill South
Water street, Mas caused by carelcssncsa er
drunkenness u tho participant in drunken
dcbauch u clers and the abandoned females
they hal made their companions aud assv-
e,ates la Sabbath nlghts r~vel. Earl, al
ter the alarm was given, those first ga the
ground saw f~msle- in q state u dcshsbille,
and some ei them, with other occupants Of
the upper stories, we'll night ia state II
nudity making their hurried escape FROM
the building II should bc added that the
saline phenomena were witnessed ia the
Lake street blocks
Nos. 10Y aud Ill South Water street
were occupied ON the main door By the ex-
tensive hardware establishment " Mesus. |
cormick, Cros- A and Co, who had their
double store filled with large stock VI gen
eral hardware
AZ one time II Wa thought that not i-ss
than t~o hundrsd men were at work en-
Barnums building, three story brick al
l''ning tall ivc-star, an- occupied ~ u.
u. cooke and other-. While many were on
tLe ROT and Ia this building. the Prsss sa,.:
Suddenly fearful crash announced new
phase ~ the calamity. The heavy aud
towering wall IL the adjoining store had
ALLEN outward upon the rosf Of Bartnin'r |
establishment, and had carried ell beiore IL
to the basement. fir-inen and citizens,
wall, rcot and merchandise with the burn
'ng runs from the store adjoining, all |
minglinv, hell"
fearful scene IL terror and ,lislnay Gu.
s',ed Tbs portion IL the wall left stand.
ing hast fortunately preserved tlc front
portion Ut tho store which Ma- densely
thronged b, confused crowd. Man, III
them were prt~trsted by the flying missiles,
many wrr. trainpl.d AMI bru,~ed ia tia.
Hight Of their rompanisi-, Isn't som all Vas
clear Tor space extending about thirty feet |
from the front. The store was very deep, |
and for nearly two-thlrd ~ IL. Who'll. length |
the building wa- . mASs Of ruins now be- /
ginning To burn briskly, ~ the flames con-
veyed IN the iall, fastened Ia feed ON the !
Woodwork and the light and combnstibl- |
portions Of tho wares.
Where were they vii" were lately ~ |
busy, so unheetling u danger Who were
beneath that burning pile Alas, tho qnes
tion u mot yct fully answered.
After narrot,ng . number of incident-
connected with the ire, our authority thus |
recspituiates:
Yesterday was u DAY Il anguish, ~ noe
and Of terror, u cesreIess anxiety, and tn
thoAe who laboresi in tho ruins, oi heavy !
toll and ~ the hour u rest, when sleep |
Tell like mantle, all eyes WHICH dad MT |
wake a. weep, wsru closed YEARLY upou
day memorable in the history of Chicago
49, as 4