Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1871-1872, 1871-10-16
palm ARGUS.
Mooaay, October 10. lssl.
~. nreaf 0oafagration.

inform auon Is manu. Wo shh Ne~ ~---~~
utterly unable 20 form any corress eonceP-
ton OF an event unparalleled IN sne snnsis
of .hs world. Ose OF the moss signincsn'
.S'.,..n,.hl. iudicssiops of the annihilst-
ias force Of this disaster I" the oomparA-
lively scanty and wholly ansanstaotory
ACCOUNTS Which reach Us oy esegraPhi
showing, - IL does, with painful cisarness,
,h., these fountains Of inselhgeace upon |
which We are accustomed TO rely with per-
feet assurance, have been dried up an6
swept out Of existence BY the all-dsvouripg |
flame. The press OF our sister city has long |
been remarkable for its energy ana enter
prise, end for the liberality with which the
wealth gathered BY successful business was
expended in the collection and dissenins-
ton of nszs from near aud fer. These es-
tablishmsdts, whose full vslse the com mu-
nifty does not appreciate until time ne
this, are whslmed in she same re@orseiess
doom which has engulfed the proud meuop-
oils TO whose growth and gre@'ness 'neJ
have 81 largely contributed Inc clear ana
satisfactory narratives they would have
furnished as, the leaves OF berry history their
columns would contained, are not ours TO
reAd-nor can anything supply their def
Cheney Offices, one aud all, from least 10
greatest are but heaps Of sshes; editors and
reporters, vho gave life snd sonl 10 the grand
machinery, are scattered here and there,
about the vide, wild waste Of ruin, looking
after their homeless families, and for Onoe
compelled 20 think Of themselves rather
thah the public. The mesgrs, di.join,sd
kilograms which fash along the wires
remind u Of the feeble, irregular hsnd-urit-
ing Of dear, familiar friend whom disease
has smitten With . withering touch; whose
nerve and brain are no longer what they
once we're.
Yet. though We sadly miss the pencils OF
these cunning artists, their Substitutes have
sketehsd Cor us the broad outlines Of the
laird picture, ana - oar syss wander over
the lerribls details, II 10 with difficulty We
can bring ourselves 70 bslievs that the whole
10 not the bAseless fabric Of dream which
must vanish into thin air when morning
dAwns. This curious soepticism, which
every reader has felt more or less within the
last forty eight hours, arises not merely from
the extent Of the destruction, bat from i:s
nature. Had an earthquake rent Asunier
the bosom OF the solid earth, and buried Chi
cage an hundred fAthoms deep in an 10
known abyss; or had The demons OF the air
let loose . tornado and torn tho CITY up by
the very roots, ve night perhaps have 40
ospted the result more easily, because Of the
1nusuAiness Of the agency employed. But
when 80 common a. insiru mentality a. fire
performs this miracle OF destruction the
fire which ssads us ohssrful blaze and
heAlthful warmth from our heArthslones
the hre which Ne had thought vas our ODE
dent slave, and whose occasion al outbreaks
We have been accustomed TO subdue BY
the tIrslsss dslugs hurled from the hps OF
the steam giAnt-vhsn Jhis thing We kBOs
40 veil, tbs household servant whom We
sometimes almost dsspise, shakes Oft IL,
Vulgar surroundings ana mounts Aloft into
an Aagel Of omnipotent wrath, We are struck
dumb with AmAzsmsnt AID ave. Surely
we shal never need again TO be reminded
that no art, however marvellous, can 49,
together conquer the simplest forces Of Ia
turs; that ART, though soaring veil nigh .,
the regions OF the divine, 10, after all, hui
an invsntion Of man, Whine the commences
Instincts Of nature are an omAnAtion Of
the CreAtor--the motive power which
holds the universe in The bolIow Of H.s
hand.
Il ia hard then, very hard, to realize
the work wrought by the oonAAgra-
ton The London Of 1906 Was
scarcely more than mass o, clumsy
timber dwellings, uAveIsed by dirty,
marrow streets, which would not be consid-
cred decent Alleys now. Ths Moscow OF
1872 was rudsly and cbeAply built, and with
the exception Of few charchss aud palaces
contained but little substAHIial architecture.
The New YORK Of 1885 was not even the
shadow Of is present self; aud Constant
nople, where great hrss are as plentiful as
beEgArs and dogs, ia Largely made up OF
squAlid huts alike dis ustiBE and worthless
Bat Chicago Was literally the Offspring Of
the nineteenth century = fitting symbol Of
that progressive genius which finds ITS
noolest aud cODpleIsst expression in Demo
CRATIC America. lt is true that majority
Of its structures we're Of . somevhS himsy
character, but ia the csnTrs OF this city Of
wood was a city Of stone, which might vie
in splspdor with almost any capital in the
old world or the new. Michigan and Wa
bash avenues, and others IL the Immediate
viciaity. we're really streets OF palaces, where
the choicest forms Of architectural beauty
we're carved 10 tbs rarest aud most sndur-
ing material The principal business houses
on LAkS, Randolph, Dearborn streets and
else Ehere, had no supsri0rs on either CONT
nent uhils the churches, hotels and public
buildinRs generally we're in keeping with the
rest. And Of all this msgDiheencs, al this
wealth, ell this greatness, there remains uoS
ONLY desert of smouldering cibcsrs, .
forssI OF blsossasd and orumbling walls,
and . pail OF smoke laced with flame hang
ing over the spot whore Chicago sunk IN m
ocean Of FIRE.
Gazing upon, and trying TO realize %
best We can the awful spectacle, there u, 90
far Is human ken can reach, but one bright
side TO iI--yet this brightness 10 90 pure, 80
heavenly vIthAl. that It shines through the
surrounding gloon like . rsip bow ursAthinR
the brow Of the storm. Not only has the
nation kssnly fvlt the blow which struck
down Chicago, but the SmypAihy has been
promptly expressed and IN tsngIbls
shape. The cites Of the central aud
western sections Of the Union have not
ooHiented themselves wIth . lavish display
Of RESOLUTIONS and red tape, but pushed for
ward assistance at once, sod pledged them
seiye, to do whatever more vas required NJ
the sArl,ss, practicable moment. The SUIT
tsrings OF Cnicago thrilled the Whole sister
hood OF ~hIch she formed part, and AL
have gathered Nbout her IN . loving ON
brace, more touching, more instructive than
ten thousand sermons, though those ser
mons dropped frou apostolic tongues.
We may be partpned for feeling . just
pride 10 the action Of 81. Louis, and that
pride is dsepsned and strsng thsned BY the
peculiar circumstances Of the case. For
the last ten years there has been 81 intense
aud bitter rivalry between the two cities,
each sraEginR FOR the commercial mastery
OF that vasi empire wstered by the Missis-
spPi aod iIs tributaries. Our people have
NJ all times felt Ga IL Chicago had grown
rich add strong upon the misfortunes Of
81 Louis, and that they we're forced TO wsge
. fierce contest with . powerful, aud pee
hAps too reckless antagonist. Never was
this rivalry At higher pitch, this contest
sharper or more unreleoting, than Monday
morning .heu the first news Of the colossal
hre arrived here. In an instant, and with