The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1871-10-26

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uaa bssc rsssed ua hle1 Z,
IS Chicago 50me th tcu Ge 1
ay friends with vi am laas stopping.
were entirely ba8 est lat hist
/ viii s. back aHtl,e Tho u1v
before tigt ifr I caaye1 IS me.I. Sc S.
such q treas 70 attend amebm GMaa-
so. such beautiful chumhea Inside nl
emit such splendid music. tah vocal
and instrumental Do the afternoon q
friend tNQk uo totldr n4 never
can be thankful enough ar taat ride
We saw al &c best pact aEtbe CITY
which IS now % ruins I admired fs
beauty ana glory 81 much one thing
struck me very mreihly, tto
aaasai character of all tue elegant
buildings, il seemed as though they
were indesuuctiblc. Many of them
were called Ere proof ana &c was the
white heat melting the material of
which thcy crc composed which De-,
stfoyed them, ST that when tbe Hamcs
reached them tbcy fll atmca, causing
a constant roar through che city like .
heavy cannonaje
Believe all that the newspapers say
and yon can never know half the hor
ror of the reality I will leave an de-
scHption to the papers, aud tell only of
our escape. About midnight we were
aroused by a ueighbor pounding on The
front door and shouting that The city
was on fire. The wind was blowing
almost hurricane at the time, and
everything was dIy as finder The
fire was about three miles from us but
coming in our direction with great
speed still we were not particularly
alarmed at the time, and the men all
went to the fire, leaving a boy about
sixteen. After watching tie fire
awhile | went back 10 bed and was
nearly asleep when was aroused
again aud this time got up and made
my toilet with as much care as though
! were about to SO on a shopping ok
petition II WINS chen about half past
one, and the fire was not fat away, and
the air all around us was a perfect
storm of burning cinders Each house
has hose Of IFS own, and the boys were
working it, keeping the roof dronched,
thus putting away the danger from
sparks which was al we feared.
About two o'clock tho water works
were in blaze they were only two
blocks away and in the opposite diroc-
ton from the fire. Whythcy should take
fire before our house we did not know
and never shall When tie water gave
out we were seriously alarmed for the
first time, and almost Immediately The
tall steeplc Of "a Catholic Church in our
vicinity was caught by the fierce blast
ofheated air. and went down With a
crash before the flames touched il. BY
this time the streets were crowded with
people and wagons loaded down, hur
rying away from the fire, We began
to pack up and were calm as possible,
trying to think Of the most imp rtant
things to be savel No wagon could
be obtained at any price, as they were
all employed nearer tho fire and most
Of them across the river Ofcourse we
could save only what we could carry
we packed a large trunk and a small
one and a satchel, besides bundles
tied up in sheets. But the load was TOO
much for us with the gale that was
blowing at the time We had to stop
frequently to get breath, and when
lopr squares away Mr.. s. wnct back
to see if he could save anything more
and found the house in flames, 50 sou
can judge &C the speed Of tho fire.
Charlie finally succeeded inengagiug a
butcher and his wagon, and the things
and the children were piled into it and
Mrs. S., who was worn out, climbed up
on the seat They were taken to his
house, two miles away, which was
supposed to be safe, and the rest ofu
took up our weary march Il was then
about O'Clock, but the city was light
CT than the brightest day Never can
be described the sight fiat tie sky and
city presented, sodom and Gomouah
was IN every heart and on every tongue.
It also reminded me of The doscr ptiou
Of the destruction 81 pompeu, BY rul-
wer All along the line Of our walk
houses were being cmptiod Of tIieircon-
tents, only 70 be burned IN The streets
or 20 DO transported as an enormous
expense for wagon hire 10 Lincoln
Park 70 be afterwards consumed there
Many Of the people were eventually
driven out ofthc Park 70 tbaiala many