The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1871-10-12

east, were D6luB consumed 4uIcS-qudA-
ters of a mile Of brick blocks were con-
sumed, as If by magic.
AFTERNOON DISPATCHES.
1t being Sunday when the fire broke
out, proprietors and employees were at
home, utterly unconscious of what was
transpiring. Those who saw the flames
supposed It was the remains of Saturday
nights fire, and having confidence in the
fire department were Unconcerned, but be-
tween eleven and twelve o'clock rumor
got abroad that the fire was in the bust
ness PARTON of the city. Then the peo
pie commenced running, horses were
brought into requlsition to take the pro-
prietors and others to the conhagretion.
What scene met their gael The Board
of Trade, Court House, Western Union
Telegraph and Associated Press Office, and /
hundreds of other buildings, were all i
afame. The air was flied with live Goals,
which hurled to the north and east be- |
som of destruction. The fire engines were |
powerless. All the men could do was to |
blow up the buildings; but this availed |
but little. The Times, Tribune, Post, Re |
publican Journal, and other newspaper |
offices, the Western News Company block |
Pleld & Letters establishment, the Drake |
block, but recently built, Farwell & Co., |
all were soon IN ashes. 1t seemed that no |
sooner had the flames struck wall than |
it went directly through, and a very few
minutes suffced to destroy the most elab- |
orately built structures. The walls melt |
ed, and the very bricks were consumed. |
The wooden pavements took fire, making |
a continuous sheet of fame two miles |
long by mile wide. No human being
could possibly survive many minutes |
Block after block fell, and the red hot |
Goals shot higher and spread further and |
further Until from the north side of the |
lake to the south was q vast sheet of |
flame. From the river to the lake at one |
time, so hemmed in were the people, that |
1t was expected that thousands must per-
ish. The Sherman, fremont, and other
hotels, were emptied of their guests.
The flames reached Wabash and State
street and Michigan avenue, and soon
| McVicker's Theatre caught fire, and In a
| few moments the Tribune building was
in flames. At the last moment the sleep
ing men were aroused and rescued from
the flames.
THE FLIGHT.
By ten o'clock in the forenoon this re-
/ naming block was in ashes. Nor was to
be seen the most remarkable sight ever
| beheld in this or any other country.
There were from fifty to seventy-fve
thousand women and children fleeing by
every available street and alley to the
southwark and westward, attempting to
save their clothing and their lives. Every
available vehicle was brought into reeui-
sition, for the use of which enormous pri-
| ,ooid an1 the cfraafo apd uida-
walks presented sight of thousands of
persons and horses inextricably COM
mingled. Poor people, all colors and
shades and every nationality from Europe
China and Africa, mad with excitement,
struggled with each other to get away.
Hundreds were trampled under foot,
men and women were loaded with bundles
containing their household goods, to
whose skirts were clinging tender infants,
half dressed and baretooted, and seeking
place of safety Hours afterwards they
might have been seen In the vacant lots
or IN the streets, far out in the suburbs,
STRETCHED IN THE DUST.
These are the suffering. "These are
the lambs whom Christ now calls on the
rich world to feed and clothe" God keep
them, if the heart of man shall prove OBJ
durate
One of the most pitiful sights was that
of a middle-aged woman on State street.
loaded with bundles, struggling through
the crowd singing f'The Mother Goose
Melody" "Chickery, chickery, eraky
crow, l went to the well to wash my toe, +"
etc. There were hundreds of others like
wise distracted and many rendered desper-
ate by whisky or beer, which from exces-
sive thirst, IN the absence of water, they
drank in great quantities, spread them
selves in every direction, terror to all
they met.
1t is fearful to think of the loss of life.
It is conjectured, and with good cause,
that nearly five hundred have been burned
to death.
We saw six men enter burning build
ing, and In a moment they were over
whelmed by falling wall. There was
crowd of men around the corner of this
building, trying to save the property,
when the walls yielding, some of them
were buried beneath. These were on the
South side
On the north side twelve or fifteen men
women and children rushed into the build
ing occupied by the Historical Society, q
fre-procf building, for safety In few
minutes the flames bust up. and they
were burned to death.
Among them is the venerable Col S.
Stone, long connected with the Society.
He was eighty years of age. Also John
B. Gerard and wife, and Mademoiselle
DePelgrone, a noted music teacher, also
perished. 1t is feared that DR.. Prear and
family were also burned, as they were in
the building and have not been seen since.
Mrs Edsall whose husband was murdered
last week, then suffering from illness, was
carried away for protection to building
which was afterwards consumed, and it is
feared she also perished.
VALUABLE BOOKS AND PAPERS LOST.
All the books and papers of the Histor-
ical Society, including the original copy
of the famous Emancipation Proclama-
tion of President Lincoln, for which the
society paid $4,000 were destroyed
| 1t is feared that large number of chill
dren and infants of the Catholic Orphans
Society, on State street, were also burned,
as many of them are missing.
On Chicago avenue a father rushed up
stairs to carry three children away when
he was overtaken by the flames and per-
| ished with the children. The mother was
afterwards seen on the northwest side a
raving maniac.
In the same neighborhood family Of
five persons persisted
The list of such fatalities is very long,
and cannot be fully verified till after the
smoke shall have cleared away. There
are hundreds of families on that side who
saved no clothing, and but barely their
lives. Among those is the family Of Per-
ry Smith, formerly the President of the
Northwestern Railroad Company
TWO HUNDRED MILLIONS INSURANCE
LOSS THREE HUNDRED MILLIONS.
A careful survey of the insurances to-
day show that they were written on the
properey destroyed over two hundred