Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1871-10-19
THE LESSONS OF CgIC4GO.

tndt are unnlStdkaDly taught IN 1t
calamity. 1t will be well, too, fo
other cities and other builders to hee(
the warnings held up by the light o
| the flames of Chicago. 1t is not alto
| gether true that cheap wooden build
ings, huddled in great areas, have beer
the cause of this tragic destruction
The fire began its ravages in section
whe e the upsetting of a kerosene
lamp was Sufficient to wrap who
stIeets in flames when the dry tinder o
the buildings was famed by brisE
gales. 1t was naturally expected tha
| if the fire reached the so-called fire
proof buildings its course would be
stayed. But the great structures
which had been considered secure
against the flames went down like
pisteboard. 1t is plain that an errol
has been committed in placing trust in
the fire proof qualities even of such
structures as those best represented in
The Chicago Tribune building. Brick
walls, iron or slated roofs, arched floors
with wooden coverings laid in cement,
do not, it is found, nder the conditions
of the Chicago fire, make fire-prOOi
buildings. These may stand asainst
an ordinary assault, but such relative
power of resistance is not complete Sc
curity. Wide and unprotected win
dows wooden floors and finish, and
other seemingly small concessions to
cheapness, lightness, and comfort have
sufficed to destroy the unpregnability OF
the structure. The iron buildings, so
ornate and airy in appearance, which
have been greatly affected by Chicago
bu lders, have about them almost no ell
ement of resistance to sweeping flames
they are, for the most part, thin frames
of metal, with immense openings for
the admission of light aud air and
are finish d inside with lath and plaster,
and filled with wooden doors and
floors. The raging flames have warp
these light iron shells, and curled them
up like elm boards in an August sun,
or Southern railroad bars in the fires of
Sherman's "bummers." Walls, then,
of thin iron, or brick, or stone, cannot
alone make building proof against
fire; and the'mere addition of brick arch
ed floors, iron shutters, and outer doors,
does not, it is clear, sufficiently reen-
force the other precautions. There are
loopholes enough left for the ingress of
the eager flames, which, once inside
the shell, leave t only when it is re-
duced to ashes. Ar not science and
ingenuity adequate to this emergen-
cy? There were absolutely no fire.
proof buildings in Chicago. Why noto
Let us know the reason, and build bet
ter and stronger, taught by Chicago's
hard fate this lesson of the hour.
In the absence ofminute informa-
90 =
Fire Department and water facilities
of Chicago we g inadequate to the
emergency. 1t is at any rate a strik-
ing commentary on the weakness OF
man that great city should be burned
to the grouni on theborders Ofa mighty
lake whose waters, rising above the
original founi ton of its streets, are
ample to submerge the whole State.
rne firenen We're, undoubt dly, wear
led by the large fire Of ) tturday night,
but, in spite of wind = d the infiama-
BILE nature of the materials, such. a thor
oughly organized service and system Of
water distribution as Chicago needed
and might have had, would have been
able to stay the waves of the fry sea
long before they could have reached the
central portion of the city. It IS prob
able that the city builders in their
eagernesss to hasten the fungus like
growth of Chicago, have over looked
the dire possibilities which have Low
taught a lesson to be remembered to
latest generation.
The experience of Sunday and
Monday in hicago will be long quoted
against the Nicholson pavement or any
of its kindred. Further details must
be awaited before a final judgement
can be made up, but it is already ap-
parent that the efiames were enabled
to spread much more rapidly by rea-
son of infiamable pavements' For the
same reason, the means of subduing
the flames were immeasurably curtailed
since nc engine or fireman could stand
for an instant in streets which if cover
ed with stone pavements, would still
for precious halt hours have been pass
able. AS the case now looks, wooden
pavements must be banished to the
limbo of wooden houses; or some fire.
proof means for extinguishing fires
must be invented
Chicago may be taken as fair type
of American material energy. We are
proud to claim her as representative
city, so far asvigor, boldness, self-poise,
industry, and far-reaching enterprise
are the characteristics of the American
Republic. The destruction of three
hundred millions of substantial prop
erty is lamentable disaster; and we
shudder at the statement that hum
dreds of human lives went out with
agony in the midst of the frey furnace;
but the indomitable energy of the great
community still survives. As Chicago
was a representative city in the nation.
so it shares in all the recuperative quail
tiles of the Republic. The city which
has be laid waste was not alone that
of the three hundred thousand people
who inhabited it; it w.s the city of
many mighty States whose messages
of cheer and trains of relief are this mo-
ment speeding to it from every quarter
of the Republic. A nation that has
survived a great rebellion and has
grown stronger and mightier in the
work of replacing the wreck of q four
wears war has an interest in rebui ding
Chicago and in making it stronger, no.
bier, and more admirable than before.
Though this is a great calamity tc
the city of Chicago and to tie whole
country, we shal doub less be surpris.
ed to see how soon both city and coun
try will recover from it. The elastici
tv of a community which built a.'city
by the Lake within the limits of {
| brief lifetime, raised its LIQUIDATION:
again and again from the,morass, drov,
tuunerunder Lake Michigan ,andlturn
ed the course of a river against its ma
tural flow, will be equal to even tn,
present emergency. There will be n,
panic, but the audaciaus and cheer,
confidence of the people-not of Chicag
alone, but of the United States vii
sustain the enormous burden; and mu
tual forbearance, help. and cooperation
will tideOver the disaster. Already ther
are comfortable Indications that th