The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1871-10-17
A CIeyelander's Account.

A gentleman from Cleveland who
had an office in the Chamber OF Com
merce building, in Chicago, gives the
Cleveland Leudrr this account Of what
he saw: The Chamber Of Commerce
took fire at two o'clock Monday morn
ing and in half an hour was in ruins.
About the same hour the gas works
blew up leaving the city in total dark
ness. The Court House took fire about
three o'clock and was burned with two
cells full OF prisoners that were confined
in it awaiting trial. The flames reach
ed the Sherman House about the same
hour, and our informant thinks five
minutes after it first caught, escape from
the building was impossible. A uum-
Der of persons were lost in the Sher-
man, but how many or who, will never
be definitely known. They were guests
of the house who slept until escape be-
came impossible.
The Biglow House burned at about
two o'clock A. NJ, with rapidity that
was positively amazing. Thirty min
utes after it began burning the outer
wall fell into the street A crowd was
standing opposite and as the torrent OF
heat poured across the street they all,
but one, bent close to the ground and
escaped. In the streets and yards on
the margin of the burnt district, hor,
rible scenes appeared on every hand,
women in rich dresses with children
half clad and crying for food, crouched
behind walls and fences, or lay prone
on the ground their faces in the dust
striving to escape sutiocation, and in
this position were trampled over by the
maddened hurrying crowd fleeing from
the fire or attempting to carry valuables
out of danger. Thousands of tender
children and delicate ladies were ALSO
lutely without food or protection, crazed
with terror and nearly dead with fatigue
and famine. One invalid lady with a
young child was being carried on bed
down the stairway of her own residence
when the fires overlook the bearers and
they left their burdens to the flames
The loss OF life must have been terrible.
Hackmen were offered as high as $500
to carry a single load Of valuables
beyond the reach OF the flames. The
fire originated on the West Side, near
the south branch, where Norwegian
woman was milking a COW. The lamp
was kicked over and the fire started.
Many families gathered their valua,
bles and removed to points on the streets
where they supposed they would be
be safe, but in a few moments the fire
would break out again. and they woald
be driven from point to point like ter
rified animals.
Potter Palmer is supposed TO be
totally ruined. Not an insurance COM
pany in Chicago was worth cent after
the fire reached the building OF Field,
Letter & Co.
The suffering is still terrible, our in
formant having found it impossible to
obtain a morsel OF food or even a drink
of water from Sunday night until after
dark Monday evening.
Large crowds OF poor women with
their children and the few household
goods that they could secure, took
refuge in the tunnels under the river.
The fire burning close up to the open.
iugs at either end of the tunnels pre-
vented their escape, and in these horri-
bic pens scores persisted from suffo.
cation.
Along the streets women with rich
dresses halftorn from their persons, and
covered with dust and cinders, lay in
the cutters asleep, overcome with fatigue
and famine, and the terrible prostration
that follows intense nervous excite
ment.
Horses by hundreds were roasted to
death in livery stables, in private barns,
and even in the rtreets. So terrifying
was the heat, the smoke, the roar of the
flames and the rush of terrified crowds
that the animals lost all instinct and
could not be driven from the destruction
that awaited them.