Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1871-11-03

in every dlrecuon seeking fat JOBS gangs
of laborers, armed with picks and shovels,
were at work clearing the fallen materials
from the roadways great crowds of citizens
and strangers wended their way north, sonth,
east and west, all sad-visaged and grief
stricken at the great calamity which had be-
| fallen their pride and boast; United States
soldiers, local militia and volunteers in uni
| form and in private clothes, armed with mus
kets, paraded the streets, and attracted al
most as much attention from country visitors
as did the ruins themselves clouds of smoke
rose from and hung over the debris beneath
which, although not visible during the day,
the fire still burned. and at night showed its
presence everywhere. Then the spirits Of
Chicago were well-nigh broken.
Now, a wonderful change is visible. The
streets, although sidewalkless, are crowded
almost as of Old with busy throng on foot,
on horses, on vehicles. Every one seems to
have something to do, and some GRAND to
| fulfil in being on the street. The lettering,
lofty, splendid ruins which threatened at any
moment to fall and crush beneath them all
within reach, have nearly all been pulled
down, and exist now only as mementos of
the greatest fire on record in the shape of
photographs. Piles of brick, stacks of lum-
Der, and heaps of mortar are visible every
where. Gangs of lusty laborers have cleaned,
| and are cleaning whole tracts of the burned
| district; the buzz and whirr of the saw, the
ring of the trowel, and the kink, kink of the
mason's chisel are heard on all sides; tempo
rary brick and frame structures have sprung
into existence, and are occupied by merchants
and others who carry on almost every con-
ceivable trade and calling. Foundations are
being laid on which will stand the magnifi-
cent piles of architecture which will adorn the
new Chicago; excavating for foundation
| room of buildings, to be erected as soon as
spring shall permit, is being carried on on a
huge scale. Contracts are being made and
real estate transferred, and, in short, business
has resumed its old sway, and the motto now
is, ego ahead" everywhere.
The clouds of smoke and gloom which
overhung Chicago have cleared away. AL
though the 'ssmell of burning" still exists,
the great fire is now being looked upon as
thing of the past, and the Future whose shin
ing edge is visible over the horizon, is all
that is regarded by our citizens.
Yet trip among the ruins as they now
present themselves is worth the pains. Some
thing interesting, amusing, even comical, can
be found everywhere. The principal and
prominent characters on the streets are the
relic peddlers. This relic business is carried
on on gigantic system. At first the articles
offered for sale brought high price, but
ing to the fact that hundreds of boys, girls,
| Nltu anu WODtH lilltdteu tiie ptu-
dlers, and hunted for relies, the market be-
came glutted, and the goods became cheap by
rivalry. Another cause of the fall in prices
was that unprincipled relic-p eddlers carried
on the manufacture of 'rclics saved from the
, fire" at home O nights on their family cook
stoves, and turned out some fine specimens.
One of these enterprising merchants was OBJ
served smashing some glass and an old door
f lock to pieces on the street the other day, and
| lo.,< IL, I,
piled that he was going to take them home
and make some ''reIlicks." On either side of
the streets of the burned district, and almost
without break are lines of these merchants"
Mostly, the counters on which they display
their goods are constructed of layers of brick
surmounted with plank, plate ofiron or a
sheet of rusty boiler iron, behind which,
, squatting either on their launches or on a
brick bench, preside the vendors. One man
with more advanced ideas of comfort placed
one huge dry goods box on the top of an
) other. The lower one he uses as ware
house and the upper one, out of which one
side has been moved, as his store, in which
, he has constructed seat and counter. In
this box he sits from morning till night, and
serves his customers.
On every side are to be found safes which
have been dragged from the ruins and
opened have been left by their former owners
to take care of themselves. On these safes
the rival dealers have busily operated with
, paint-br and placard. On one is the an
,, nouncement, "Jones' safe, not worth a -,
''This is one of IS safes, BAH" "Out
of this safe $4,000 was taken in greenbacks.
Forty hours in the fire." "Heres a fire.
!. proof" and so on. Several safe dealers keep
men standing all day beside safes of their
y make, which appear to have stood the fire,
with instructions to elbow all they've a mind
to" as regards the salamander qualities of the
representatives in question. Some fulfil
their commands to the letter, and add their
!, vocal music to that which abounds on all
sides, produced by the host of fruit and relic
peddlers, movable restaurant, keepers, cider
sellers, newsboys, bootblacks, draymen and
teamsters, until one would think he was in
. the midst of vertable Bedlam.
The view of the ruins of the churches and
other heavy buildings in the North Division,
: from South Water street, between Dearborn
and Clark, is solemnly imposing, and should
be seen. The intervening river looks most
melancholy. Its sides are studded with black
piles, and near the spots which before the fire
were graced with fine bridges, heaps of rusty
iron curled and twisted in every imaginable
form, burned platforms and huge blackened
piles, some of which oscillate with the action
of the water and all of which point in various
directions, as if looking to each other for aid,
are all that are to be seen. Moored as near
to the shore as possible are barges, schoOners
and other vessels, who receive old iron as re-
= covered from the ruins and take it away to
the blast furnace, whence at no distant date it
will probably return in new shape, and doubt
less help in the construction of New Chicago.
South Water street, which not long ago
was alive from early morning to dusk with
countless teams, and never ceasng throng
of sellers and buyers, so intimately known
as the great grocery and provision part Of the
West, and so famous for the fearful stenches
which arose from decaying and decayed vege-
table and animal matter in its cellars after
dark-is almost still as death, but has not
parted with its thousand and one distressing
odors. Buried beneath the bricks, iron and
stone which composed most of the business
structures which lined it on either side, are
thousands of pounds of teas, cofIees, spices,
and sugars thousands of barrels of flour and
prepared grain; countless kegs and cans OF
fish of all kinds, millions of eggs, thousands
l-p L.. l.. r..