Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1871-10-26
CHICAGO.

z uCAt uoi uiuS IL n. 'a'
We take occasion here to say tbs
the above named road is one Of th
best managed roads running Wes
and the accommodations are sue
as to win the admiration of all VIII
travel thereon. The road bed
smooth, the cars comfortable, an
good time Is made, thus making j
every way pleasant for travellers
besides the road penetrates som
very nice country. This road ais
makes close connections with tn
! Chicago, Rock Island 4 Pacific r. R
going west to Omaha and thence t,
San Francisco and other point
West. Thus one can take the trail
at New York, Philadelphia, or Pitts
burg, and make the trip to Omaha
or all points West, without the leas
delay, by taking the above namet
route, and the country through
which you travel, and the scenery
along the line is grand, attractive
and interesting to every lover Of ma
ture's handi work. -.''l
AS we neared Chicago, and proba
lbly twenty miles this side. we could
see here and there prairies ON fire
making beautiful sight to behold, al
other points we would notice where
the prairies had previously been on
fire. The fires above alluded to did
mo damages particularly, except
here and there fences were partly
Edestroyed. sc ,.fiar-,c =. sa..
When within five miles of Chicago,
with the city in full view, we noticed
quite number of new dwellings,
and a great many building lots laid
out, where it is proposed to build
quite city, and no doubt the late
fires will prompt many to locate
there, as their small means will not
permit them to remain in the city,
where, but a short time ago they
lived happy and prosperous, little
dreaming Of their present condi-
Etion. 9s @i34 '-i''" :'. '' 'f'
I'D Entering the city, we could see in
1.-THE distance a sight that can only
be realized by personally visiting
the place. While columns, yes vol
umes, may be written describing
the horrors Of the late fire, yet
half Will not be told. Words are
inadequate to give the reader cor
rect idea of the condition and ap-
pearance Of Chicago to-day As
we alighted from the cars we first Sc.
cured our breakfast and then prepar
ed to proceed to the destroyed por-
tion Of the city. AS our readers
are aware, the, fire at Chicago occur
ed on the night Of the Sth Of Oct,
and is without a parallel in modern
times. Breaking out in the South
ern portion of the Western Division
it ragged terribly all night and the
greater part Of the next day, and
baffled every effort made to stay
its progress by the fire department,
and thousands ofcitizens who labor.
ed with almost superhnman cxer
tons. We were told that thousands
Of people made haste to the lake
and there layed fat on the ground,
keeping their clothes saturated with
water, as the only means of safety
from the intense heat. We gave
pretty full description Of the fire in
a previous issue, and it is difficult
to write or say anything that has
not already been in print. we will
proceed to give you few Of
OUR OBSERVATIONS: . .-+9,
Crossing the South branch of the
Chicago River we found ourselves
at the edge and in full view of the
ruins, and could scarcely realize
the fact that where several years
ago we had seen such magnificent
buildings, all were now in ruins be-
fore us. In passing along we no
'ticed cards stuck up of men who
had been burned out, some stating
that they would resume business
again in a certain number of days,
while Others gave notice of their
having opened at No. SO and SO in;
the part of the city not destroyed.
Safes could be counted by the hun
dreds, damaged more or less, as
the visitor would pass along the
street, The walls generally falling
in, left the streets almost entirely,
unobstructed. The first building
we visited was the Court House,
which was grand structure before
the fire, but OF which can be seen
only portion of the wall, except
the one wing which was partially
saved, it being the Jail part and in
which are now confined a number of
prisoners. Nearly all the prisoners
confined in the Jail the night of the
fire escaped, we were told, but most
of them have since been recaptured.
The outside wall like most of the
larger buildings, that were destroy
ed, were built of lime stone, and
the immense heat so; affected the
stone that they crumbled to pieces
as though burned in lime kiln.
We noticed a number of walls stand
ing, that if they had not been
affected with the heat on the out
side would not have to be rebuilt.
We next visited one of the elevators
that had been destroyed, and there
found thousands upon thousands
of bushels of grain still burning,
and not far off we noticed one, and
the only one on the lake shore that
had not been injured by the fire.
The next place visited was the Illi-
nois Central and Michigan Central
Depots, which had been destroyed.
but are again being rebuilt; SO also
the Chicago, Rock Island 4 Pacific
Depot. The Post Office building
was next visited, which, by the way
seemed to stand the test of the fire
better than almost any building we
noticed. 1t TO. is injured so that
but very little of it could be Saved.
Passing a little farther we find
find ourselves on the spot where
several of the principal Hotels had
cfonl - Wa Stnnnal in front of tho