The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-10-17

VOLUME AI.----NUMBER
OUT OF THE FIRE.
4 NEW CHICAGO TO RISE FROM THE
ASHES OF THE OLD.
Aspect of the Vast Wilderness of Ruins
and Ashes--Seenes Of those Terrible
Dayss--BIood-curd Incidents--a
Short shrift and Shorter Rope for the
Meb--UnparalIeled Business Pluck
Relief Pouring in from two Conti-
nents.
For six days the horrors OF the fall OF chicago
have been repeated, with trivial variations and
wearisome iteration, in the columns OF all
newspapers and the speech Of all men. There
is little to be said of such calamity which the
Imagination of every reader cannot build Tor
himself upon the simple statement that great
city has been swept away In day. The cat
alocue of individual ruin Is the directory
of Chicago. Let any man figure to
himself what he would endure If he
were stripped not only of everything that may
make him conventionally respectable" or
eminent, but of the wherewithal to supply the
first conditions of physical existence--food and
shelter-and all his neighbors stripped of al.
that could alleviate his sufferlngs, and he vi.
form O notion. faint and far of indeed, bat far
truer than description, however ample, could
give him, Of what has oefallen and for many
DAYS to come will tefail myriads OF men as ca.
pable as himself to suffer and to enjoy. And
yet the hunger for the last detail that can give
verisimilitude to such picture is natural
feeling, which is neither to be deplored nor
condemned. The measure of relief in such
>Ase depends upon the apprehension OF the ne
cessity for relief on the part Of those from
whom help must CONT. The fullest details,
fragmentary though they be, are all needed to
bring home to US the appalling proportions OF
the disaster.
That Chicago will be rebuilt there is no
question. That it may be better built than be-
fore is hope which it lies with the pioneers
of the new Chicago to realize. And that all
that could be alleged against its controlling
impulses and its pervading spirit may be burnt
and purged away, and all that was admirably
American In Its pluck and its sagacity may be
kept and increased Is the hope of all the
world. In the meantime the sad story Is yet
to be fully told, and the things Still hidden
under her smoking embers to be made mani
fest.
A Correspondence Ramble Through the
Ruins-Graphic Description OF the
Situation on Monday.
from the Cincinnati Commercial OF October III
The Tribune building and the splendid mas
sive stone building of the First National Bank
(both thought 10 b. absolutely fre.prooQ are
mainly erect, but they are gutted inside, and
the flames have crumbled the blocks or stone,
rendering them unsightly and useless. Frag-
ments OF the walls of the Blgelow House stand
up to the height of tour stories, but three
fourths OF the spacious new edifce is gone: AS
for the balance OF the burned one hundred
and fifty blocks In the South Division, they
are absolutely levelled to the earth, not one
stone remaining upon another. The same Is
true OF the entire North Division, where ninety
thousand people dwelt and had innumerable
to the ground. Scarcely anything Is left stand
in the North Division that is as high as q log
cabin chimney. A vast eXpanse OF olack,
Arumbing and smoking ruins, much TOO great
tor the eye TO take in at any one view, Is al
that is Left of the metropolitan pride OF Chi
Very few citizens were circulating among
the ruined streets, but OF the few several
were ladies with escort and wearing wells. Az
only one point party Of )aborer5 were remcV-
ing safe from the rubbish, wnlcn IN PAGES
was still red hot. A few policemen were on
duty lear the courthouse ruins. They looked
Worn.out and disheartened, aud they had moth
ing to watch, except world Of useless debris.
Not two hundred people all told were among
the ruins, the inhabitants avoiding them In
stinctively. No walls remained standing to
fall and crush anybody. One of the most
noticeable feature Of the ruins on Lake street
was the rows OF boards nailed to stakes
and stuck up In the rubbish. announcing,
In lampblack letters, that "Messrs. Blank
and Blank have removed to No. -, West
that ran through this ps-' Of town are 1ung to
the ground, and lie tang,~i and twisted on the
groGnd, tripping pedestrians at every street
corner. The surface OF the Nlcolson pave
ments Is charred and corrugated 10 the deptn
OF two inches, and In some places Is consumed
to the very base. Curbstones were split into
small bits, and broad fagstones are pulVeriz:
ed, If not burnt up. The heavy stone walls OF
the passage leading to the La Sale street tun.
mel are split into irregular fragments, and
sections OF the stout iron railing on top were
so disturbed By the fiery ordeal that they are
upreared In the air and are leaplng ever the
backs Of adjoining sections. Iron and granite
yielded like cnaff in that colossal blast lIlr-
mace.
The site of Crosby's Opera-House Is simply 8
heap OF rubbish with no walls standing, and
the sherman and fremont are equally oblite-
rate(.. Some OF the main streets are choked
up with masses Of fallen brick. Were 1t not
for the smoke and smouidering flames, the
heart of Chicago would pass for Pompeii e1-
humed The wind and showers Of to-day have
cooled the ruins in general so that NO incon-
venience from heat was felt by those who
= etravelled through them this afternoon, but
the smoke is thick and makes grlmy faces.
It is useless to multiply words about the as
pect of the Fourth Division. 1t is wiped from
the face OF the earth, completely, utterly. The
burned squares in the West Division cover
thirty or forty acres, but look Insignificant in
deed compared with the square miles OF con-
Fused and sooty waste on the other side OF the
fRer.
Passing back to the West Side we saw people
on the sidewalks pouring water from the
bunss Of barrels. The water-works are gone.
We saw kerosene lamps burning In the un.
toucheL section of the South Division. The
pas works on that side are destroyed. Ghelr
coal piles are mountains of glowing fire. The
gas works in the Wes, Division are safe and
afford their usual supply. On Canal street,
near Randolph, West Division, In long. mar,
row store room smelling OF potatoes, we found
the Chicago Tribune. Its counter of rough
A. -N-at1 In ~