Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1871-11-25
A Woman's Story of the Great
Fire.

II U SIOTy tHaC L uaNc uccu u|luS uuIiHS
these dreadful days? 1t is dream, night
marc, only SO real that l tremble as write,
as though the whole thing might be brought
to me again by merely telling Of it.
We lived on the North Side, six blocks
from the river-the newly -rcgcnerated
river, which used to be at once the riches
and the despair of our city, but which had
just been turned back by the splendid en-
crgy Of the people, to carry the sweet
waters of Lake Michigan through all its
noisome rccesses. We were quiet people,
like most of the North-Sidcrs, fattcring
ourselves that our comfortable wooden
houses, and sober, CHEEKY, New England
looking streets were far preferable to the
more rapid, blatant life of the South Side.
Well on Sunday morning, October 8th,
Robert Collycr gave his people what we all
felt to be wonderful sermon, on the text:
"Thiuk ye that those upon whom the
tower of Sloan fell, were sinners above
all those who dwelt at Jerusalem" and
illustrated it by picture of the present
life, and our great cities, their grandure,
their wickedncss, and the awful though
strictly natural consequences of our insa-
table pursuit of worldly prosperity, too
often unchecked by principle; and in
stanccd the many recent dreadful catastro-
Plies as signs that not the Erie spectators
alone nor the recognized sinners alone,
but we, every man and woman Of the
United States, were responsible for these
horrors, inasmuch as we did not work,
fight, bleed, and die, if necessary, to estab-
lish such public opinion as should make
thcm impossible.
came out gazing about on our beauti-
ful church, and hoping that no one stone
of the dear church at home had been set
or paid for by the. rascality which our
preacher so cloquentiy depicted, as certain
to bring ruin, material as we'll as spiritual,
and so we passed the pleasant bright day
some of us going down to the sceuc Of the
West Side fire of Saturday night, and cspy-
ing, and from a good distance, tho unhappy
losers of so much property. About 8! in
tho evening our neighboring telegraph
sent fire forth some little tintinnabulations,
aud we lazily wondered, as D played
the piano, and | watered my ivy, what
they were burning up now. At 10 o'clock
the fircbcls were ringing constantly, and
we went to bed rcgretting that there must
be moro property burning up on the West
Side. Eleven o'clock. IL o'clock, and |
woke my sister, saying, " It's very singular;
l never heard an ythng like the fires to-
night 1t seems as if the whole West Side
must be on fire. Poor people, | wonder
whose careessncss set this agoing One
o'clock-two o'clock, we get up and look
Great God !! the fire has crossed tho river
from the south. Can there be any danger
hcre?" Aud We looked anxiously out to
see men hurrying by, screaming and
swearing, and the whole city to the south
and west of us, one vivid glare "Whcre
arc the engines? Why don't we hear
them as usual p We asked each other,
thoroughly puzzled, but even yet We hardly
personally frightened by the strange aspect
OF the brilliant and surging streets below
Then came a loud knocking at the back.
door, on Erie street" Ladies, ladies, get
up! Pack your trunks and prepare to
leave your house; it may not be necessary,
but its we'll to be preparedw 1t was a
friend who had fought his way through the
Lassalle street tunnel to warn us that the
city is on fire. We looked at each other
with white faces. Well wc might. In an
inner room slept an invalid relative, the
object of our ceascless care and love, the
victim of terrible aud recurring mental
malady, which had already sappod much
of his strength and life, and rendered quiet
and absence Of excitement the first pre-
scription of his physicians. Must we
call the invalid? and, if wo did, in the
midst of this fearful glare and turmoil,
what would be the result? We determined
to wait till the last minute, and threw
some valuables into trunk, while we anx-
iously watched the ever-approaching fame
and tumult.
Then there came a strange sound in the
air, which stilled, for a moment, the surg.
ing crowd. "Was it thunder ?" we asked.
No, the sky was clear and full of stars,
and We shuddered as we felt, but did not
say, it was tremendous explosion of gun.
powder. By this time tho blazing sparks
and bits Of burning wood, which wc had
been fcarfully watching, were fast bccom
ing an underwriting FIRE of burning hail
and another shower of blows on the doors
warned US that there was not moment to
be lost. "Call E-"the inyalid) edo
not let him stay minute, and I will try to
save our poor little birds" My sister
flew to wake up our precious charge, and
l ran down stairs, repeating to myself to
make me remember. "Birds, deeds, sill.
yer, jewelry, silk dresses" as the order in
which we would try to save our property,
if it came to the worst.
As 1 came through our pretty parlors,
how my heart ached! Here the remnant
of my fathers library a copy ofa Bible
printed in 1857, on one table; On another
my dear Mrs. Browning, in five volumes,
the gift of lost friend. What should /
take What should l leave? I alternately
loaded myself with gift after gift, aud
dashed them down in despair. Lovely
pictures and statuettcs, left by a kind friend