The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1871-11-10
ORIGIN OF THE FIRE.

4
Rightfully or wrongfully,, the great
fire of London, September :. 1866. il
laid to the door of bake-houSe, kept
| by one Farryner. in Pudding lane; near
the Tower; and rightfully or wrongful
ly, the great fire of Chicago, October, g.
1879. will go down to history as charg-
able to one Mrs. Leary, dairyWoman,
| living on De -koven street, between
Canal and Jefferson streets.
According to Mistress RumOr. the
cow-woman was later than usual about
her milking, and to Tighten" the job
she took kerosene lamp to the stable.
While al her work, the beast she was
draining, up with her right hind leg
and hit the lamp a kick, spiashing the
burning fluid against the wall. In an
instant the whole stable was in flames,
and the woman had time only to escape
with her life, leaving the kline to roast.
Another slightly varied version is that
che MIXED at the usual hour, but in the
evening took her lamp and went out to
see if all was right, and fancying that
the COWS wanted sailing, she put the
lamp down Dy the door and went back
for her salt dish. Before she returned
the barn was all ablaZe.
The story told that night, and before
any one had the least idea that a great
confagration was in store, was caught
up by the electric wires the next morn
ing, and flashed wherever telegraphy
extends. Even if it were an absurd ru-
NOR, forty miles wide of the truth, 1t
would be useless to attempt 10 alter
s'the verdict OF history" Mrs. Leary
has made a sworn statement in refuta-
ton of the charge, and it is backed by
other afidavits but to little purpose.
She is in for it, and no mistake. Fame
has seized her, and appropriated her
name, barn, cows, and all. She has
won, in spite of herself, what the Ephe-
sian youth painted after.
Now that our reporters have little
leisure for matters of secondary impor-
tance-for things more curious than es-
sentative sent one of them to the
spot where the fire originated, for what
ever Clouds may shroud the cause of the
fire, the place where it began Is quite
beyond dispute. He had the good for
tune to find the woman herself, and here
is his report of his interview.
In the centre of the block stands
small one story tenement. On every
side are ashes and cinders. Not house
or shed remains west, south, or north of
ii, and half a dozen ash piles tell the
where stood houses on the
east or the solitary shanty (for it is that
and nothing more.) 1t is past explana-
ton that all the rest went and that re-
manned. Especially mysterious is 1T,
from the fact that the barn in which the
fire originated was hardly more than a
rod off. AS the wind was blowing flu
riously from the southwest, one Wonld
SUPPOSE the southwest corner of the
block could easily have been saved.
But there is no end to the freaks of a
We saw a stout Irish woman, some
years of age, standing at the
rear door of this solitary house, with a
babe in her arms, talking with one of
her own countrymen. Without an
our errand, we fell into con-
versation upon the subject that every
body is talking and thinking about,
leading her on to the specific
point in purpose. She was nothing
10th to tell her tale. The dialogue ran
as follows:
Reporter."Are you the lady of the
house ?" Mrs. Leary-'G am, SIR" R.
'sHave you lived here long?" Mrs. L.
on five years." R.-"Do you
own this place ?" Mrs. L.--"I do"
R.-"Did the fire start in your barn 2"
Mrs. LIT did" R.-"What was in
it," Mrs. L.-"Five cows, horse.
and about two tons of hay in the loft"
R.-"Is your husband an expressman 2"
Mrs. L.-"Indade he is not. We all
knocked our living out of those FIVE
blessed COWS, and / never had a clint
from the parish in all my life, and the
dirty Times had no business to say it,
bad cess TO it." R.-"How about that.
kerosene lamp story 2" Mrs. E.-"There
is not word of truth in the whole sto-
nv. always MIXED my COWS by day
light, and never had a lamp of any kind
or candle about the barn. 1t must
have been set afire. Two neighbors at
the end of the alley saw strange man
come up the alley about half past in
the evening. He asked them was the
alley straight through. They told him
it was, and he went through 1t wasn't
five minutes till they saw. the barn on
fire. Before we had time to get the
horse or any of the cows out it was all
gone. and the fire was running in every
direction. The boy turned to and saved
the house. I hope to die if this isn't
every word of it true. If you was a
priest wouldn't tell it any different"
All further questioning was useless.
This woman had nothing more or differ
ent 10 say upon the subject. Finding
that no more was to be gathered from
her, and feeling sorry for the poor wo-
mans loss, our reporter somewhat
tamely and tritely remarked, at was
pretty rough on you, anyway" Rough 7
she exclaimed, "why, my God, man, it
was q terror to the worldW
The fog will probably never rise
from that barn. Whether fired by an
incendiary or a kerosene lamp kicked
over by an irate cow, must remain an
open question. The woman would
naturally shrink from the responsibility,
knowing that she would be severely
blamed for her carelessness, and feeling,
in her ignorance, that she might be
made to suffer for it, either by mob Vi
olence or the hand of the law. On the
other hand, there ia nothing improba-
Bile in her story. One thing is certain
Whether man or cow, matches or
lamp, the greatest fire of all the ages
began in a dairy kept in the very heart
ofthe citY.-ChicGgo Journal, Oct. 81.