Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1871-11-01

y
ular forays on the provisions. B'th sides
thought their dignity rrqu red they should
speak English instead OF their native tongue.
Keep your fingers von dem nertz.ls off. or
you'll gH hit on you " Yes bet yoa
got a heap O. style don't it These cpllo-
auies sometimes give us moments Of conjecture
as to the final do im OF our language. found
Dekoven street at last, a mean ittle street of
shabby wooden houses, with dirty door yards
and unpainted fences falling to decay 1t
bad no look of Chicago abouti it Take it up
bpd.ly and drop it out on the prairie and IT'S
name might be Lickskillet Station as well
as anything else. The street was unpaved
ana Uttered with Old boxes and mildewrd
papers, and dozen absurd geese wander d
about with rustic familiarity. Slatterny
women lounged at the gates, and hare-legged
children kept up an evidently traditional
warfare of skirmIshinS with the gees" On
the south side OF the street not house was
touched. On the north only one renamed.
All the rest were simply ashes. There were
no ptles OF ruin here The wooden novels
lett no land narks except here and ere a
stunted chimney too squat 10 fall. The
grade has been rtIs.d in piares and left un-
touched in others, 50 that now, as IN the
north division, the roads seemed like VIA
duets, and scorched and blackened trees
seemed growing out Of sod led cellars But
of ali the miserable PLAIN stretc ,iay put 'e
fore me to the burning coal heaps in the
northern ditsance, | was only Intet e~ted IN
the narrow block betW cen Dekayen and
Taylor streets, now quite Il lt and coIl, with
small gntter boys marching through the
lots, some kicking with bare feet 10 the
light ashes Tor suspected and sporadic Goals,
and others prudently mounted on stits.
which sunk from time to time ia the
z l~sa Q.
70 descend ignominou-ly and pull ITEM out
THIS was the Mecca OF my IlgrimaSe, t.r
here the fire began One squahd little
howell alone renamed intact IN all that
vast expanse. 4 warped and weaJher-heatrn
shanty OF TWO rooms, perched on thin piles
with tin plates mailed half Way down them
Ike dirty pantaIets. There was no shabhier
hut in Chicago or in lirperary. But it
stood there safe. while city had peri-hcd
before it and around it IL was preserved
by it's own destructive significance II was
made sacred by the curse that rested on it.
curse more deadly than that whIcu darkcuei
the lintel7 Of the house of Tnyests F,r out
OF that house. last Sunday night. came
woman with lamp 20 the barn behind the
house 70 milk the COW with the crumUlci
tcmTer, that kicked the lamp, that suled
the kerosene, that fred the s.raw that burned
Chicago. And there 70 this hour stands
that craven little house. holiU- On tightly
t. its miserable existence.
/ stood on the side walk opposite, as In
duty bound, calling up tie appropriate
emotions. 4 strange, wrinkicd t4cc on
dwt trhsh body came up and SAID, 80 Tltt'-
"A dreadful sight ! a-sCnted, and hc con
tIuued in a melancholy Groom '' Forty
year I've lived hCrc-and there w4>n
RICK house but wan, ami tldt Wa, tie Lake
sIoc House, and y Is gone now au aF Nr ll
b'htvt ne. >...r, lIyer -,ca fire l-lk- tHat.
believed t.m .H.rauEtIv tut Went away.
Nv emotlu. NOT bong satisfactory from
mont vicH ot the ~tauty wen. around O. the
near. aud there found the man ot the mouse
sitting with tW0 of bus friends Hie vile.
Our Lady Of the Lamp rrehtcd wi'h
heayIer disaster {, an that which P7y che
carried 20 the bedside of Ero~--ar 1T the
windo" knitting approached tie Mtu u
tie H.use and gave him gold day uc
danced up with sleepy fugitive eyes
asked him What he knew about the origin
li the fire lie glanced al has friends au1
-7Id, c'yuv, BE kucw very htte he wa
Wakei up about 2 O'Clock hy the alarm, and
ought from at me t. save his house a-
every scutercc he turned 90 his camIaulat-
tud sad, '' can prove IJ hy them. Il which
hcy id. assent. he 81, med fearful that
all Chicago wa- coming down upon hm t,r
pr. ulrt end integral Eaymeut u. S2U't.i 90
UuU his cow had kicked Over. HIS uel.htor-
>ay TINS story l> an invention dating trum
the second DAY 80 the fire here VS. some
thing unutt,rab'y gror,-que in TINS ultimate
atom feeling sense oi responsibility tui
q cat strOpue SD -tupendou-, and STRIVING by
"A fiction, which must have heavily tax q hi-
hIgtcst powers Ot Imagination. tn escape "a
reckoning hr was already tree from.
Like hi- fellows Tie midse and the u..
Ihfou-Et mluutcuc~ to VIII.
INCIDENTS OF TIE GREAT FlRE-A Chr
csso correspondent Of the Providence J3ulft4.
writes
While removing goods from the houses it
Is TO uncommon slght % see thieves G. king
aItlclcs from the loads. walking ewty WIT
them rs deliberately as If they Wcrc tie
rghtiul owners. Twice Discovered a re
son walking luto the front uall, taking away
with hlm articles of value | followed tie
person, recovered the articles, placing them
hack gain In the hal, when in IA ew mo-
III, MS me appeared again and took the same
things, his departure at this time for The
sidewalks was summarily FASTENED ~ the
torcIblc assistance OF n willing boot, and th
effect seemed q be So satisfactory that uu
return Of the individual wa, seen. II hc
had / am afraid indignation would have
caused him 10 be tItd 10 some lamp post a.
food Tor che d,yourng flames.
Ny brother assisting a neighbor took
charge OF the silver plate and paners ot Va uC
belonging 70 the family, hurri d y placed
them under the seat OF a light bugsy auu
with the assistance of the cOachman started
for the west side The coachman soon left
him { take care Of his own family Ate
drawing 1t alone some distance he was tx
hausted and lett the buggy in a vacant lat
near the street On returning the next |
morning II was found unmoest' q. the valu-
ables beng exactly when lett, safe am
secure
4 lady friend Of mine became separated |
from her husband IN the crowd, and war
driven with her infan: Of two months old ~
her arms, to seek refuge on the north piel |
extending into the lake near the light house |
several hundred people had already gathered |
here, and more and more came crOwdtug on.
but the Il tmes suon found teen even here.
the wind blowing 4 gale towards them,
brought the fire nearer and nearer, produc-
ing CONSERVATION and terror indescrIbahle
Many sufocated and tainted, and were push
ed off into the water to make room for 9th
els. All hope was lost 1t seemed sur,
ueath By fire or water. At last they were
safely taken cut to a propeller ON the lake
by tug boat.
The terrible suffering Of these few hours
can hardly be imagined. Many may think
that the accounts they read are exaggerated,
but it seems to me that no anguage can
hardly be strong enough To describe tie ter
ror OF those few days. saw on the pralrIes
men, women ana children driven by this
same ire d ID, wItuvuJ shelter or food. aud
IN many cases hardly clothed, their only pro-
tection for Two nignts being what cpd Id he
mprov sed iron the furniture and articles
tney had saved, and most OF them were wet
through by the ram which soon quenehtd the
fire.
The church with which / was connected
was burned, and OF its $50 mem bers and coo