Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-10-29
WAS IT PErROLEuM-

ABOUT ten Gay previous 10 the Chicago
fire an article appeared in the American
edition of ChGabers' Edinburgh Journal,
stating that in the neighbOrhOOd of Chicago
there are enormous deposits of oil-bearifg
limestone, of which numbers Of the houses
in that city are built, and an Eastern paper
suggests that if this be correct the fact viii
account for the resiStless force with which
the fire swept onward, defying the utmost
efforts Of man to check its progress. ~
In support Of this theory, is given pas
sage from the letter of a newspaper cores
pendent, in which, describing the effect of
the fire in a cemetery, he SAYS that athe
marbles over the graves cracked and baked,
and fell in glowing embers on the hot turf
Another Chicago correspondent describes
the fire at a certain point as "spitefully,
beating back against furious south wind
with fierceness which made all South
Chicago as fearful as If the hour of final
doom had indeed struck" adding, ain
several quarters during the morning there
were amazing instances Ofthis beating back y
Then we are told that one of the largest
drygoOds houses, built of stone, of course,
seized by the flames in the rear, was seen
to go down in fifteen minutes. Then, again,
the large hotels, all of stone, were alright
spots in the burning" Another correspOn-
dent SAYS:
"All accounts increase more and more the
evidence of the most terrible intensity in
the progress of the fire. The case of the
COurt-House, with the whole front of the
block open on the south and the same on the
north, suddenly bursting into a light flame,
as if from oil easily ignited by intense heat.
is as much in point as any. The fact was,
that the burning heat, which Clipped the
heavy stone TO such a singular extent, cause
ed simultaneous combustion of large areas
of exposed surface before any flames were
actually communicated, or upon the first
touch of flame at any one point"
And, again, we have this in regard to the
New England Church.
"This church went in way strikingly
illustrative of one feature Of the advance of
destruction of which have already spoken.
A gentleman who was an eyewitness of
the spectacle told me that TO all appearance
the church was successfully defying the fires
south and east of it and single house north
of it, when, as quick as flash, sheet Of
flame burst over the whole structure. COM
ing together over it i'm a heaven-piercing
ascent of fire, as if the very soul of the
structure had leaped into the sky. The
building simply heated to the point of COM
bustion, and so took fire all over in the same
instant"
This agrees with the testimony of many
other observers, that the flames of the stone
buildings seemed to ignite over their entire
surface, and pour from wall as well as from
window, sheet of lnrid flame. We think
the appearance of many walls vet standing
goes to sustain the view above taken. The
stones are cracked and Clipped off to aneX-
tent never seen elsewhere; but whether this
was due to the presence Of lime or oil is not
clear. However that may be, it is pretty
well settled that few more expensive build
ings viii be constructed in Chicago with
the stone (from Joliet, we believe) hereto
fore used. As already stated, the Tribune
building stone-front is to be exchanged for
brick, and We think the new Chicago viii
be eminently 'brick city"