Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1871-10-17

Great Fires i!
CHICAGO.

! confagration occurred in this city
l' last night and early this morning,
{ breaking out about midnight in Lii
u II Holmes planning mill, on Canal
street. The wind was blowing very
q fresh and the flames spread with al
a most incredible rapidity, and in few
minutes the entire structure was a
u mass of fire. The immediate vicinity
@ is built up mainly with small wooden
tenement houses. The inmates of
y many of these had barely time to save
themselves. In several instances
children were hastily wrapped up in
blankets and quilts to break the force
of their fall and thrown from second
story windows to the ground.
Shortly after o'clock the progress
\ the control of the fire Department.
. The space burned over embraces four
blocks, bounded on the north by Ad-
! ans street, west by Clinton, south by
Van Buren, aud east by the Chicago
river. Some four or five buildings
within the limits named remain uuin-
jured. Vincent Nelson & Co.'S grain
: warehouse, one of the largest in the
city, escaped any serious damage.-
This is due to the fact that piles of
anthracite coal lay between the burn
ing buildings and the elevator, and by
the continual application Of large
quantities of water on the coal piles
they were prevented from burning
i The grounds burned over were cover
cd with lumber yards, coal yards,
! wood yards, aplaning mill, box factory,
vinegar factory, etc, and large num-
Der of dwellings and saloons of the
poorer class. A close estimate of the
entire loss places it at from $500 900
to 100000, with probably one half
of that insurance. m
THE SECOND FIRE
CmcAGo, Oct S-11:30 p. MA |
fire commenced to night at 9:45 in the
west division and is now raging with
undated fury. The fire commenced |
near Taylor street, midway between |
Dclcvan and Jefferson, is spreading
in every direction, covers at least four
blocks at this hour, and still seems be-
yond control The blocks are built
up solidly almost exclusively of two
story frame houses occupied as resi-
dences, boarding houses, saloons, gro
ceries, etc. The loss is already large,
ard it is now feared that it will prove |
more destructive in its character than
the one of last night. 1t is impossi-
bic to learn but very few of the
names of the suffers. The entire list
will probably embrace severl hundred. |
No approximate estimate can yet be
made Of the total loss, as the progress
of the flames have not yet been ar
rested. JOHN " -'.+ '
CHICAGO, Oct. Q, 1915 A. Mo
night is the most awful in the annals
of the city. The fire, which com
menced before 10 p. NJ, has already
swept over space at least three times
as large as last night, and is still rush
ing on its path of destruction with
greater fury than has marked any
stage of its IrIgress. The engines
appear almost powerless. Fire Mar
shall Williams has just telegraphed to
Milwaukee for all the engines they
can spare. The conaagration has al
ready devastated at least 20 blocks,
mostly composed of the smaller class
of dwellings, inhabited mainly by
poor people. Not less than 800 build
ings have been entirely destroyed and
more than that number of families
rendered homeless. The wind is blow
ing gale from the south, and showers
of sparks and burning barnds are
sweeping over the city, threatening
destruction on every hand. -. !
Since this report was commenced
two additional alarms have been struck, !
and the tower Of the Court House !
caught fire from a flying brand, but
was extinguished by the watchman in
the tower. No description can give
an adequate idea of the terrible scene
The fire started in a row Of low
wooden tenements on Delavan street,
between Jefferson and Clinton streets,
as was the case last night, spread with |
terrible rapidity. Before single en-
CINE could get on the ground half the
block was in flames and burning flu
riously. The entire department were
soon on the spot and at work. For
time it seemed probable that they
would succeed in confning it to an
area Of four or five blocks. The
wind, however, which was blowing |
fraobIv ,vboy fbp Ere started increas-