Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-11-21
Letter from Chicago,
IcoRREspoNDExcE OF THE sPY.l

CoRREsPONDENCE OF THE SPY.
CmCAGo Nov. 16, 1871.
Dear Spy, There is such an abundance of
news to write about from here, that the puzzle
| is how little rather than how much to cOmmu-
nicate; and in my very brief account | shall
claim no merit, except that Of brevity, condens-
ing into a limited space as intelligibly as posi-
ble, the extensive material of information oh
tanned by observation and conversation, which
no doubt would otherwise generously fill all
your thirIy-two columns. In adding my mite
of testimony to the immense aggregate of eXcit-
ing facts, trust that you will not think me pre-
sumptuous, for it will at least be different from
anything you have received, although one is not
entirely free from selfreproach in attempting TO
write any description amid this chaos of ruin.
Only as one rides and walks among this forest
of desOlatiou, as complete as the destruction of
Pompe and many times larger can an adequate
idea of the great calamity be imagined, and
even then we are merely conscious OF an awful
result, and not of the affecting terrors of an
actual experience. Chicago was emnenty in
teresting before the couaagratiOn, but to-day she
is intensely so; she was beautiful in prosperity
unprecedented; she is grand in adversely unex-
ampled
1t is delightful to notice the cheerful confidence
and very earnest buoyancy of feeling so gener-
ally manifested by the people, but nevertheless
the stern fact of so great a loss is one which can
not be ignored, and the city which took twenty
years to rise, cannot be rebuilt in day. The
most reasonable and impartial judges are frank
to acknowledge thai ten years will be necessary
to fully reinstate it.
During the past year many handsome and
costly buildings were erected, which in style of
architecture and beauty of finish were unsur-
passed by few, if any, in New York. The new
tunnel under the river at La Sale street, fine
work of engineering skill, was fortunately COM
pleted before the fire, else the misery would have
been fearlully increased, as the draw-bridges
that used so playfully to swing were all burned,
thus cutting of communication with the north
side. As we emerge from the catacomb-like
tunnel, with the motley crowd of foot-passen-
gers and teams, what a desolate scene pre-
sentS itself 10 the astonished observer; for
two miles and over, extending to the Lincoln
park, are seen the tangled remnants of a once
proud and populous district, the home Of an
hundred thousand prosperous and happy peo-
| pie Not the least strange aspect is the compar-
ativelY small amount of debris in sight, for the
fendsh element devoured marble, granite and
IRON, as well as vegetable substances Great
| flag stones cringed to the blast heat around and
| allowed the fiery tongue to lap the Goals be-
meath.
In wandering through the picturesque ruins of
days creation, it is not difficult while in
dreamy contemplation of Ethe suggestive scenes,
to overlook the presence of American horSe-cars
and imagine ones selfamOng the old ruins of Eph-
esus and Cairo, Or on the Via Appia and in the
Forum Romanum. 1t is sad to think of the
suffering which must result from private loss,
and which cannot be reached in any
public way Of the many valuable
libraries destroyed, some of the best
in the country, collected in England and
France through a long series of years, and of
the loss of choice foreign paintings, relics and
souvenirs which cannot be replaced OF the
nnumerable incidents few will suffice about
which you probably have not heard. General
Grants brother, with many others, put all their
valuable papers in the fre-proof custom house
for safety, and soon after all the contents were
destroyed; while Others buried property in the
sand on the lake shore, which shared the same
untimey fate. prominent young lawyer hay-
ing many impor tant books and papers in charge,
fed with them 10 the court house. where they
burned among the general records, and under
the great bell that fell upon them. One friend of
mi no laI : L., -
one but upon opening week after the fire. fine as
ashes were all that represented the former ma
tional bank bills. Nearly all the fre-proof safes
have proved like the home insurance companies
worthless; and together they are the means of
the financial ruin of many thousands.
The rapidity with which the fire swept over
the city, is well illustrated by the single instance
of gentleman who congratulated himself and
family at the breakfast table, that although his
business was destroyed their beautiful home was
saved to them, when few minutes later the ser.
want girl rushed into the room and said the
house was all on fire; nothing was saved; the
family just escaping with their lives MANY
such cases happened, particularly in the popu-
lous and crowded north division.
The city presents very novel and strange APP
pearance at present. Ia the burnt district,
which comprised over one hundred and twenty
miles of business blocks and dwelling houses
are seen the odd-ooking signs with the direc
lions where the former occupants may now be
found Those parties who were fortunate to he
insured in sound companies or had other means
10 command are busy in removing the formid-
aDie deDlls and erecting temporary frame struc-
lures upon the former sites, and in lieu of costly
marble palaces we see squattcr. like shantias
over which millionares past, present. and of tbe
future, are represented by single attractions
The usual principal streets are thronged with all
manner Of people and teams, and countless
drays with merchandise in transit, presenting
marked contrast to the mournful SURROUNDINGS
The great heaps of debris are utilized in yarions
ways, some in raising grades of streets to newer
levels, but principally by filling up the front ON
Lake Michigan.
In the south and west divisions unnjured by
the fire there is a curious change in the arrange
nent Of things. On the east side of Micbioan
avenue, where many were accustomed to prone
made in the Lake Shore gardens, there have
risen scores Of mushroom warehouses, which
look like the transient booths for national cat.
| nc snow, rather than the stores of Americas
greatest inland metropolis. Yet even in one
SNORT month many brick buildings have been
erected, some quite creditabIe and valuable far
present use In parks and open squares the
poor sufferers are housed in barraek-likc booths
and fed and clothed comfortably. the
scenes oil which remind one strongly
OF war times. The pride of Chicago was in lis
elegant churches, handsome business BLOCKS
and mammoth hotels; of which among the
crumbled remains scarcely an outline Of their