New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-10-26
THE BURNED CITY.
A WEDDING AFTER THE FIRE.

VIsED SURROUNDINGS,
IYRoK AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT OF THB TRIBUNE
CHICAGO, Oct. 1S.--Amons all the pictures
OF Chicago a. 1: Il" which have been photographed
with the pen for Easem eyes, wonder whether any one
hes seen the chronicle Of Fire wedding"a wedding
whose whole aspect and circumstances altered
by the IRE be nexricaby connected with 1t forever
aftsr In Che minds Of the lookerson There such
wedding our poor desoAed North Side the other day.
and to who It, at waS at touching and so
amusing that might interest the readers
Of Eak TRIBUEE, who must now know nearly a. muon
about the ordinary aspects Of the calamity as we 90 our
selves The house outside Of the burned district on
the north contained most motley crowd lor severe"
days after the fire, for the owner had received every
body, high and low, till the house would nave luz
nished excellent material for new Oecau
eron" or Canterbury Tales" II the n[e n~U
only unearthed q modern Bocoacco or Chaucer
As 1t was, wonderful stories few about rather onoVO
Gus as TO tone, but evidently diverslneo az W ouon
"Have you seen the three-daysold OaDy III tne ualu
They picked 1t up with the mother In the FarK' AnS'
German covered up with eatcoats on the corner was
found almost dead with cold and exposure Anree
men have inst come in who have had but four soda
crackers between them since Sunday ana TINS Is meo-
nesday morning" And so on, till one OF our oourerS
brought story before which tue Others paieo 'he
Intellectual fires friend had just told hun OF meeting
a woman during the fire Monday, who was struggling
along under heavy bundle wrapped in sheet Offer
ing TO helm her she sad Do you know what Is In herei
God help mel the bodies Of my two chidren-Who were
sufocated IN the fire. but could not leave them to
burn" The atmosphere was full OF startling ana plooo
curdlng rumors, and every hour brought new excite
p,ept Incendiarsm was said to be rampant frghtful
and summary vengeance reported as meted out to
even supposed evildOers. The house had twelve re-
voyers loaded aud capped arranged on the paor win
dows every night and thought Of sleeping In
house not guarded by patrol
&c. when it was whispered about that sweet Minnie
n a latiy Ofo hOat nd WI no " been
married according strctest OF the shonaOes,
nsuperOrst had been burned would really carry out
her intention and take the holy on tue l2th the
house was in a state Of the widest excitement How
could they get license; how find Clergyman The
trousseau was burned the intended guestswere burned
out the caterers and florists had neither flowers nor
food. How could fashionable young Lady make up her
mind married without these tbingsi But she did
And what was more, being girl Of exceeding sweet
and womanllness she did not seem to care wht
about her spcndors. Thursday ana with 1t
tremendous sweeping and busting Of the house OF re-
fuee; for let me tell you that running fire OF running
guests does not leave house swept AMI RaInished but
quite the contrary. license had been obtained, ana
Miunies own burned out clergyman had come to
marry her but what should be done for decorationsi
The large house-paIlor had never been furnished
and there was not mantcpiccc in the ROOM But
1t seemed the fire had developed as much feminine
ingenuity as 1t had destroyed feminine property. Thco-
dOre Winthrop sand that il the order lad been given In
goody company would have answered to the call, and
sonow can for decorators Of burned property brought
perfect rush Of talent to the rescue. In the unsGty
chimney hole placed an inverted soapbOx, covered
with crimson cloth. On this sat tai slOpjar cribhod
from bedroom, filed with lovely crimson and green
Autumn leaves. To be sure q sOr-lr IS not per Sc
handsome ornament; but then some refugee hal left
magnificent stays head and antlcrS, Which, set up IN
front Of the Objectionable crockery left nothing to h"
desired. A white craydt, lost by some city exquisite
who probably found impossible to save both that
aud his neck tied Autumn leaves into truc.lovers
knot OF colossal size, and hung high in the pier.
Branches Of richest color flied all sorts Of inches and
corners, and the declared ma gnihcent. Some
one however, suggested that there sOr; Of table
or altar for the minister's USE But fortune favOrs the
brave; pair Of library steps produced from some
where and sheet pinned around them. Another treas
ure-trove was scarlet in illuminated work, with
the motto Cast thy upon Hin, for lie careh Tor
thee" Our little white altar with this pinned 10 the
front face and surmounted by big Bible ami prayer
book made a very canOncal appearance indeed
Then the room ready ana we had a rehearsal.
But alas what bride and groom Of the present day
could kneel bare floor and get up AGAIN gracefully
In vain blocks OF wood boxes and books were red-One
was too high another too low At last bright thought
neutrality-suspicious. For 1t must be said that in
burned Chicago there 40 carriages and pairs Of
horses 20 one house as these first mostly saved
that beggars ride where beggar never rode before Four
cushions were brought from the barn. and Afghan con-
verted them into lovely hassOck. Asitis Tor wa mpOs
sble in these days to have wedding without showing
the presents" vine-wreathed table in
held most elaborate display. beautiful jewelcase
contained what was set forth the brdegrOOm's gift
get Of exquisite pearls, which you had to look at very
nearly to discover that they nodded from fine white
ravengs OF cotton cloth other cases contained sets Of
pickIc-forks preservespoons and FORTH cut out in
pasteboard, with holdings and monograms In lead
pencil Valuable jewclry plenty only unfortunately
the lava earrings had been dug out or too often,
and the canoes looked black and queer round the
edges A pewter tablespoon, German-silver fork,
and some valuable aids to housekeeping
the broom and dustpan line completed the array which
certainly unique and interested the spectators much
more than the usual show. when It dressing
the bride serious difficulties occurred Her wedding
dress and veil had home from Field Letters.
Never mind she had white cambria morningdress,
which lOoped q nice petticOat would make her
slender figure look lovely and her married sister had
saved her own weddingvei. Some simple white
flowers from a neighbours yard took the place Of
orange blossoms and set Of pearls borrowed from
friend who had brought them out OF the fire in her
hands As for stockings Ia ndkerchefs, &C. the various
guests provided these from among Them SO the pretty
bride looked, after ALL sweet as rose, and the long
ladaway tue vail became her soft fair locks charm
The groom dressed in borrowed clothes from head to
foot the first bridesmaid while the brother who
gave the BRIDE complained that he being five feet
mHe, Obliged TO borrow the dress suit Of man who
stood feet six In his stockings and that consequently,
he was Obliged To take reef in his habiliments
" prevent falling over on his nose. AT last all
was ready. | wonder II Just such an assemblage
ever met together at wedding before. There were
about forty guests all but Of whom had been driven
from their houses by the actual presence Of Are-the
bride groom had fastened their wedding so as to 20
away together among friends who could shelter and help
them Tue minister who married them had promised his
CONGREGATION that he would stay among them and work
with ms hands II necessary being bcrcft OF all he had IN
And this all that was left OF one OF the
richest congregations In the richest city OF the West
But never have SEEM among rich or poor, Bweeter
and holy seeming wedding. and when, after the