The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1871-11-25
Chicago Incidents.
HOW THE FIRE ORIGINATED.

on De hOYen street, nedr ID IlheI, vi IhO "C9t
side, to milk a COW, carrying with him a kerosene
lamp. This was kicked over by the COW, and the
burning fluid scattered among the straw. This
was the beginning of the great fire. A single ex-
tinguisher on the ground, or active works OF the
police in tearing down one or two s%hanties,
would have prevented the spreading OF the flames,
but the engines were waited for.
THE MOST UNFORTUNATE MAN
| have heard Of is Ogden, brother to William b.
Ogden, whose residence was and is ON the north
side, where everything is burned; for miles and
miles of beautiful residences, costly churches, and
the glorious water works, you cannot ind one
single, solitary house or building of any kind
except this wretched mans residence. hat a
grim Joke it was on Ogden! The night OF the hre
he resided in a beautiful city and among his
social neiehbors. In the morning he was alone
on a desolate prairie, and hardly within sight OF
the splendid city he supposed he lived in and paid
taxes to. His wooden barn was saved, too, and
his ho1ses. and after breakfast he started on his
weary pilgrimage to the distant city. The OLD
landmarks all gone, his journey was accomplished
with difficulty. At last he found where the ousi,
ness part of the town had been. But If he had
been lonely before what an AFFECT outcast was he
here, while his business friends and acquaintan-
ces were exchanging the friendly grip and cheer
full salutation of Halo, old boy All gone?
Start anew. Did you save a shirt? When are
YOU going to m to build ?" &C., &c. No
kind pauper could slap him on the back and say
that. The mark of Cain was upon him and his
burden was greater than he could bear. 1t is
reported that he has made several incendiary at
tempts to burn it and be in the fashion; but it
won't burn though composed entirely of wood
and as dry as finder. 1t is hoped that he may
obtain relief from this extra session of the legis-
lature, and be permitted to blow the internal
thing into the heavens with a hundred thousand
pounds of powder. He certainly cannot endure
this thing long.
TWO DAYS AFTER THE FIRE,
The noise of the hammer. the rattle of the pick
and crow-bar, the prying out safes, the breaking
open Of vaults, and the carting away OF safes and
books, still goes on. Hundreds of private dwell
ings on Wabash and Michigan avenues are con-
verted into Offices and immense wholesale houses.
A plain pine board, little larger than one of these
sheets of foolscap, marks the Offices of firms rep
resenting millions of business. And yet the men
look cheerful, sit down and write to some friends
for the loan of a few thousands till the banks re-
sumo, then back to business again. All the
public records are gone. just imagine every
deed, mortgage, judgment, record OF wills and
probate of wills, all gone!
The Chicago lake crib is two miles from shore,
and yet the keeper had to keep the top of the
building continually wet, to prevent it igniting
on the night of the fire.
A. L. Stewart has acted in keeping with his
well-known character for benefcence in promptly
sending $4,000 to the Chicago sufferers. Were
it not for betraying a confidence, we should add
that he took counsel whether he should not offer
| SO ,UUU ucnlTluR cdrncoGJ " give lOuI iHC oS
much, but fearing it would seem ostentatious,
and hoping to make it up some other way but
being assured that he might, in the emergency,
send $50 900 without danger of offense, did so
Immediately. Merchants who themselves lose
largely by this calamity seem generally to be as
prompt as any others to send aid.
A Chicago girl wrote to her lover in Washing
ton that he would have been surprised to see her
the morning after the fire, I" with a pair of Jim's
old pants on, one slipper, one shoe and a water,
proof cloak" And she remarked, { That would
make a splendid wedding suit, wouldn't it?'
We suppose this girl could never be made to be-
lieve it, but that was precisely the time she
should have been married. Hers would have
been a wedding for the mutual benefit OF the
parties interested and certainly not one for the
mere sake of show, as sometimes happens. A
good many Chicago couples, indeed, did marry
directly after the fire, and partly for the reason
that they didn't have any clothes to speak of.
The Chicagoans don't believe in giving up their
amusements, even if they have to witness per-
formances from the ruins Of their own domIciles.
A Chicago music dealer announces the standard
operas with as much breadth of type as if all the
pianos hadn't been burned up, and there are a
hundred announcements in the Chicago papers
going to show that the fire didn't amount to
much after all, even admitting that there has
been any fire at all. In further demonstration OF
Chicago's love of the Injuries and willingness to
pay for them, i: is stated that the White Stocking
Base Ball Club voted to disband the other day
but the board of trade got together and told the
boys to continue, and their existence as a club
should be guaranteed for at least one year. Truly
this is the old Chicago.
THE POOR
Who were thrown into the streets, or rather onto
the prairie, are very comfortable. Thousands Of
them never lived so well in their lives or were SO
comfortably clothed. IF we have an open winter
there will be work enough for them TO do at once
until spring on the ruins. Long lines of bar
racks have sprung up like magic on the vacant
places, and food and clothing and money have
flowed in generously from other cities. The
churches which were spared were Immediately
converted into repositories of cast-off clothing
and food and bedding, and thither they focke0
and were clothed. Probably not more than hall
OF those thus burned out remained in the city al
all they were carried to other towns by the
various railroads free.
The New Orleans Picayune tells the following
story
A lady was reading to her servants an account
of the Chicago fire. The incident of the burn
ing of the Emancipation Proclamation, which
cost that city S25 ,000 for its Historical Society,
arrested the attention of one old colored woman,
a slave ali her life, who viewed the proclamation
much as the I~sraelites did the Ark of the Cove
nant.
What dat she said, burnt up2"
"Yes, aunty, burned up"
"Den what gwipe come of US again?"
81 don't know may be you'll be slaves al
before.''
"Den dis chile gwine to die right now."
And throwing up her hands in dismay, she left
the presence of her mistress, visiting dire impre.
cations on the head of the man " lohdt S0f on
dat fire."
OF all the printed humors the best is from St
Louis. 1t is the story of an understanding
genius living in that city who, hearing of the
magnificent desolation of our ruins, determined
to visit them as a worthy curiosity. Finding
that he had but ten minutes to catch the mex
train, he started, p~ell-mell, for the depot. He
was stopped by an astonished friend with the en-.
quiry:
Where are you off to in such a rush
"Going to Chicago" was the painting reply
81 to see the ruins"
go, hold on" said the friend, { wait until to.
morrow. There is a party of us arranged fol
the same trip, and we will all go together"
But our putting hero had experienced doses Of
Chicago's enterprise in the past, and was not tc
be cornered again. you may wait if you