The Portland daily press., 1871-10-21

=, n,,a tried In believe them. Very little sel-
~ amu and no violence did l see there
Woiabhors stopped to recognize neighbors,
noonv word was exchanged which
brouoht comfort to despairing hearts.
"Haye YOU seen my VIE and children?"
would be asked, ana tne answer gwen: YES,
thou ore safe at Lake View by this time.n
.Wyon,t YOU look out for my baby?" for Will
lie or Johnny, as the case might be- Out
would come tablets or papers, or names or in
ouiries would be noted down, even by the
man who was making almost superhuman eff
forts to save few goods from his burning
house.
some triend-it was days before l knew
Who-tooK my parrot and forced a little pot
Tie OF Tea and bag OF crackers into my hand
as wandered, and l was enough myself to
give II to friend, whom found almost faint
ing win neat and fatigue, and who declared
tudt nectar and am )roSia never tasted better.
AL last found myself opposite Unity Church.
Dear Unity! will her little circle of devoted
ones ever come together again, and worship
sometimes, and work for the poor sometimes,
and sing and play in her beautiful under par
Tors sometimes, and love each other always?
| know not. but know that wept and beat
my hands together, and ragged h0pelessly,
when | saw that the beautiful homes ON the
west 81 le side of Dearborn street were gone,
blaze. while the graceful and noble Congrega-
fional church, next to Mr.. Collyers church,
| had caught fire. Nothing could save our
prlde and 10Y, our darling tor which we had
made such efforts in money and labor two
short years ago, that the fame of Chicago
munificence rang anew on our account
through the civilized world.
was grievng enough, heaven knows, over
my private woes; but L awOke to new miser-
les when saw onr pastors great heart, which
had sustained the fainting spirits of so many,
freely give way to lamentations and tears as
his precious library, the slow accumulation of
20 laborious and economical years, tell and
famed into nothngness in that awful fire.
turned away heart-sick and resumed nv mis-
cradle search after the face which now felt
almost sure should never see again. A new
| sight soon struck my eye. What in the world
was that dark, urId, purplsh ball that hung
before me, constantly changing its appearance
| like some hendish face making grimaces at
our misery? l looked, and looked, and turned
away and looked again. May l never see the
sun, the cheerful daily herald of comfort and
| peace, look like that again. 1t looked devil
ish, and | pinched myself to see if l were
| not losing my senses. 1t did not seem ten
| minutes since 1 had seen the little, almost
| crescent moon look out cold, quiet, and pitt
| less, through rift in the smoke cloud, from
| the deep blue of the sky.
Two dear children, whom l had taught
peacefully on Friday, in our cheerful school
room on Chicago avenue, met me, crying, "Oh !!
| have you seen mother? We have lost her. f."
| This appeal brought me to myself. 1 felt
| that had something else to do than wonder
| and grieve; so persuaded the lost lambs to
| so with me to friend on Lasalle ST., where
felt sure we should find help and comfort
and which everybody supposed would be safe
Indeed, a very curious aud rathersabsurd fca
ture of this calamity was that nobody thought
his house would burn till he saw it blazing
and also felt perfectly sure that this was the
last of it, and that he and his family would
be sale a little further up; so the North
Steers never began to pack up till the fire
crossed the river and then the lower ones
moved about to Erie ST., six squares from the
liver, then stopped. Then they were driven
by the flames another half-dozen streets, los
ing generally half of what they saved the
first ime; then to Division ST., then to Lin.
coin Park, where heaps and heaps of ashes
are all that remain to-day of thousands Of
dollars worth Of eatables and furniture.
Exhausted and almost fainting, weeping
and sorey distressed, finally landed in
friendly house, far up on Lasale st. AS
stepped inside the door, E--appeared, quiet
composed, and almost Indifferent. Burnt
Oh, no.. he was all right. Did suppose he
was fool enough to stay and be burned
There was D--too, if 1 wanted to see he
in the paror. Did feel reverently thankful;
Ask yourself.