Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1871-11-17
Letter from Chicago.

in view of the reports that have gained circuls-
ton in Vermont, that take the liberty Of asking
the use Of your paper to correct the impression
that seems to prevail. that We have been the
losers in the great cona4grstion which occurred
October 9th and lOth
We reached Chicago on the 7th Of October
about O'Clock p. IN, aud friends took US di-
rec;ly to Mr.. Story's house on the vest side, one
mile or nearly so from the western limits Of the
first fire We had an oppor,un ty 70 witness all
we desired Of this awful work of destruction
without feeling any particular danger, though
there we're times when it seemed IS though the
whole city was going to be destroyed. learned
however. the next morning that there had been
a large ire,or st least in ordinary times it would
have been so considered, burning stores, ware
houses, dwellings, &c, which covered about
20 acres, but what occurred within twenty-four
hours puts this FIRE almost out Of the remem-
brance Of al but those who were the direct suf-
ferers,
Scarcely hal We seated ourselves after our re
turn from church on Sunday evening. when the
fre alarm was again sounded snd again the hesv-
ems were lit up. | concluded TO 20 and be an eye
witness at least if / could not render assistsnce.
The wind was blowing very hard from the south
east and everything looked as though we must
have another .arge fire. The wind carried the
sparks 20 other aud still other buildings, tia,
IN an incredibly short time the fire was beyond
the control Of the fremeu The steam engines
pulled and blowel and whistei, moving from
one position to smother, but all seeuei 70 be Of
no Syail, the water having little or no effect in
staying the fury Cf tie flames. Street sfter
street was passed and block after block # these
small wood buildings were consumed until the
river banks we're reached. TIE hope vas now
entertained that the boundary Of the fire had
been found, but tais hope vas soon dispei.el
The river was leaped and onward went the
flames, enyeloping ard licking up block after
block, not Of wood buildings nos, bu, Of those
gigantic structures Of marble and granite, built
after the most modern Improvements Of the day,
considered without question 10 be tTe-proof,
Ine water works having nov oeea destroyed,
there was but little thst could be done except
10 pull down building mere sni blow up snoth-
er there As the destruction Increasingly went on.
4; is Of 10 use 10 attempt a description, in
fact no one can imagine the awfulnass Of this
c0nhsgrsiiJn, even after hearing or reading an
account Of it. | remember well the great IRE in
Troy, when e. large part OF the city Wss de-
stroyed also how the country Was stirred When
the news Of the great hTe ia Portland, Mslne,
aud now We showed iu Burlington our symps-
thy for the sufferers ty contributing Of our
sub,tsnee Tor their relief, Uut these bear 10 con-
parison, nor have We anything on record thst
viii exceed II equal thi- destruction Of pro-
perty and life
A. looked and saw the flames iap up those
MASSIVE warehouse and gain elevators,
churches. banks sud other costly od6ces, shar-
ing the sane fate, while The falI-g 0t the walls
and the roar Of the winds AMI flames was al
most de4feuing, l said % myself stst does this
mean Why all this destruction iisf G0i de-
terminei 10 take Vengeance on tris wicket sui
proud city How differently this visitation Is
interpreted, many looking upon It as matter
of chance; sui Yet many more believe it % be
sent by God As judgment MT s. he 20 Chicago,
for while the tios falls very heavily on Chicago
yet many Of cur large cities So well as the whole
country If more or less Affected by the loss. !
90 most sincerely hope sld pray that not only
our BELOVED sud puVleggd country bu, the
whole world may learn the lesson dessusi 10 be
taught, feeling ald trembling ss vel. whea
they thuk that the Lord docs reign 10 s,l the
universe. When Ee sag that l.lIJ squsrss
or more than ., 200 scres were swept by the re-
morss'ess flames 10 the space cf II hours - 200
o. . 600 buildings. siaong which were some Of
the most beautiful ami costly on this continent,
including over fifty churches. were utterly der
troyed or left ia heaps OF unsigh'ly ruins that
fbs v.1psti,, - ,b.h,;.l.,c. Inc vr,s f,uv
100000 and their contents AZ lesst as much
more. We are oppressed b. the magnitude O.: our
rbis sb-nil b.. ,i'lsi tho 80 ,'.s r.,.i-rsl h,
the ,s1,ror,-g .,,.,sr.i.5' Il. t,,.7,s-s s-l .bsT
s,.in ~ must mske mention III The yrss. los
,f life ,f ..,i.b vs "a, mako - --r,rrT..ti,n h,
dollars snd cents. Again think OF tie number
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N' ~ 1ie' "a ~ O'uS'
uSot's Is OS'ns "a Lo'ei S"'y y .housShas
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lOf arg anu sun Iar rse' s,iu''ures man oeiore
! suu Il 'ney sle no, l" .e a Gorgeous they VIII
De more suos'autiAl anu carefully cons'ructed.
see tnSt my letter is getting too long though
nave ssid nut ht'le' really 10 comparison with
Shat might De sAii- No DOUBT much will be
written th.t VIII interest 'ne pnoho snd yet
volumes VIII nor eXhauS; the subject
among 'ne suuerefs, r. IAeir enilre STOCK snonni-
Iii ,st -oNJ ,,rooort;o- ,s 4, 49,, -;
insured They have slre.Iv commenced their
business again, using the pSTioTs of Mr. Camp
ior their sAiesroom sni their hATn Tor tue store