The Centre reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1871-1940, 1871-11-03
Fire-prOOf Buildings Not Fire
proof.


in one hour is she made desolaie.
Fire-prOof Buildings Not Fire
proof.
When the news came on Monday
OF the enormous rayages of the fire in
Chicago. il was discredited by many
persons, because among the buildings
reported 10 have been destroyed weie
several known TO be constructed en-.
tiIcly Of incoinbuslible materials, aud
therefore, in the ordinary ac,eptation
of the term, iire-proof. The magnili
cent Chicago Tribune building, for
example. had nothing about il Of wood
except the flooring and fittings, the
walls being of stone and brick. the
floor beams Of iron, arched with brick,
and the roof of iron. OF II similar
character were the Historical Society
building, the great Union Depot on
Lake street, and, il we are rightly IN
formed, the Custom House. That all
these could have fallen before the
flames seemed impossible. Nevcrihe-
lees the lidings have b5en only too sad
ly confirmed aud ia inference would
seem to be. that what are commonly
called Gre,proof building, are not
proof against fire after all.
The explanation OF the phenomenon
ii found IN the unusal circumstances
which gave rise to il. From the de-
scription Of 6 prngress Of the couiia-
grafton, as witnessed by Mr. Abel
Palmer aud Others. standing on the
roof Of the fremont House, il appears
that the heat Was SO intense that a.
could not be endured by human be-
ings at distance of several blocks :;
brick walls weakened aud wayerod
. like india-rubber, aud massive granite
slabs cracked into thousands of pieces.
Another account represents the sur
face Of the river as boiling and giving
off steam. No sooner would the
flames touch one end OF building
than they would burst forth at the
other. The city, in word. Was en-
veloped n sort Of reverheratory
furnace like that employed to melt
metallic ores. Ii is quite unphiloso-
phical, in view OF these facts. TO at-
tribute the failure of the supposed fire
proof methods of construction 10 any
minor defects. Unbroken walls Of
stone or brick, with roofs Of the same
material, would have crumbled away
like sand under such a trial.
I The only perfect protection ofa city
against the fate Of Chicago is the adop-
( { on of a system of wide streets, the
isolation OF great warehouses fdii Of
merchandise, and the absolute prohioi-
ton Of wooden buildings. The fail
ure of the attempts of the Commu-
nists TO burn up Paris proves that
where these conditions are observed a
general conhagratiou is impossible.
There is not enough fuel TO give the
fire an uncomfortable headway, and
herein alone is safely to be looked for.
The St. Louis Republican thus con
cludes I'm able article on the political
situation
II is urged with much reason, that
the country can i'll afford another four
years Of radical rule, with the Union
maintained in it, present abnormal,
unrcstored condition, ku kluX disOr-
ders aud ku klux laws continued, ex-
ecutive interference persisted in, and
the process of GENERALIZATION made com
plete and that if these things are to be
arrested at all the radical party must
he unseated at Washington, just rs II
was unseated in Missouri, by the dem
erats abstaining from presidential
nomination, and leaving the nomina
ton of ticket which they may sup
port to the liberal element of the 9th
or party. Even if the democrats
could hope to nominate presidential
ticket and elect it, with Groesbeck, or.
Hancock, or Hendricks, or Chase, or
anyone else at the head, would not the
victory, it is asked, be empty and bar
rem Would not the radical congress
tie the hands of The democratic presi-
deut, and give us the history of the
Andrew johnson administration over
again? On the other hand, with
Grant and the administration party
overwhelmingly defeated, as M'Clurg
was defeated in Missouri, liberal
and patriotic republican made Presi-
dent, and majority of democrats and
liberals chosen TO congress, would not
the result, though materially different
from a full democratic triumph, be AM
ineslinable improvement on the pres
ent order Of thingsg IL would, it isl
true, involve concession which the na.
tional democracy would find il hard TO
make but would not the happy de-
liverance of the harrassed Southern
states, and their restoration 10 the Coz
equality and dignity they are now de.
barred from, be sufficient compensa-
ton for these concessions And
would not the real restoration Of the
Union which followed the triumph of
the new party be IFS perpetual claim
on the gratitude and confidence of the
peop.ey
Grants suspension Of the habeas
corpus and his military have caused
a terrible state of affairs in South Ca
rolina, aud the white people are flee
ing from their homes. l