Litchfield enquirer., 1871-10-19
THa GREAT F1RE.-A correspondent of the N. Y. Times takes a moro cheerful view than most, of the Chicago fire. We make,


 the N. Y. Times takes moro cheerful view, than most, of the Chicago fire. We make, the following extracts:
 One thing deserves to be given your read CTS as the key. fact to thia great fire. The devastation has wiped away the bane of Chicago in the destruction of her old build ings, and these old buildings have in turn revepgefully wiped ont the heart of Chicago. Many stately factory has before this been destroyed by it's cotton waste. For the past thirty years it has been the pernicious practice of Chicago to save it's old-time wooden structures to be moved again and again to temporary leaseholds, and cucumber and impair the streets in their rickety hegiras. This had caused the squares that lay along Iasalte street, and west to the river on Wells, Market and Franklin streets. to be thickly impacted with frame buildings, one behind the other on the same lot, filling massg of the blocks so that cat could scrambi9 on the closely ranged roofs from one street front to the other. Among these wers the old business buildings of Lake street of the earlier day, the old stores and prairie taverns of Lake apd South Water streets Among build. ings of this class burned was actually the old wooden Graves Tavern" that stood on Lake street. opposite the late site of the Fremont House, where, in 1884, your Charles Fenno Hoffman attended his Gar rison Ball, described in his Winter in he Vest There were old structures of the Fort, the lodging-houses that were new when Mark Beaubien was sleeping tavern like damnash'n.' There was actually among the destroyed buildings on the north side Gen. Scott's headquarters in 1881. All this was historical, but dangerous, and the de- struction has fallen. l have given these particulars because the cause of the wide. spread havoc was the burning of twelve or thirteen of these solid squares of old fire- traps in the centre of Chiago, dried into finder by the protracted drouth. The magnificent Pacific Hotel, whose loss Chi cago will long lament, was pioneer im- provement in this region. where property has been held too good for improvements of moderate class, and not ready for the ambitious future structures the owners, the solil citizens, designed fur them.
 Now as to the area burned, and the area that remains. It literally cuts out the heart of the city Geographically, but the figure is not to be taken too literally, for, in this case, the heart wtis the result of the life of the city. and not &he life itself The overwhelming share of tie homes of Chica- go, her best and choicest residence and manufacturing sections remain, and vast area of her best and most characteristic business. Set it down. therefore. that Chicago still lives. Her homes, her industrial enterprises are still largely intact. Very fewof her mannfac- turing establishments were destroyed. The loss falls on her public institution, her lar ger buildings, her centres of trade and ] finance. and upon an army of the larger class of tenants and bank and mercantile 1 employees. With these fsasses many fina l homes have gone. but this is all. Enough 1 remains to build anew upon.