The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1871-10-19
THE GREAT FIRE.
and Complete Account OF tht
Terrible COnfagFatIOn.
Fall Description OF the origin, Pro.
Eress and Devastation Ofthe
R1amSa.

During Sunday night, Monday and
Tuesday, this city has been swept by
a eonflagrati0n which has no parallel
in the annals of history, for the guam
| tity Of property destroyed, and the ut
ter and almost irremediable ruin
which it wrought. A fire in q barn
on the West Side was the insignifi-
cant cause of a cOnfiagration which
( has swept out OF existence hundreds
Of millions OF property, has reduced
| to poverty thousands who the day be-
fore were in a state Of Opulence, has
covered the prairfes, now swept by
the cold southwest wind, with thous-
ands tha5meless unfortunates, which
| has stFPeed 9, 900 acres of buildings,
which has destroyed public improve
ments that it has taken years of pa
tient LABOR to build up, and which has
set back for years the progress of the
city, diminished her population, and
crushed her resources. But to blow,
! no matter how terrible, Chicago will
not succumb. Late as it is in the sea-
son, general as the ruin ST, the spirit
| of her citizens has not given way, and
! before the smoke has cleared away
tand the ruins are cold, they are begin
ming to plan for the future. Though
so many have been deprived Of home
and sustenanee, aid in money and
provisions is flowing in from all quar-
| ters, and much Of the present distress
will be alleviated before another day
has gone by.
| 1t is impossible at this moment to
give full account of the losses by the
| fire, or to state the number Of fatal ac-
cIdents which have occurred. So
much confusion prevails, and people
are so widely scattered, that we are
unable for day to give absolutely ac-
curat0 information concerning them.
We have, however, given u full ac-
count Of the fire, from the time Of its
beginning, reserving for future day,
q detailed statement of losses. We
( would be exceedingly obliged If all
persons having any knowledge Of ac-
eidents, or the names Of persons who
| died during the fire, would report
them at this Office. We also hope
| that all viii leave with, OF st No. Is
South Canal street, a memorandum OF
their losses and their insurance, Civ
ing the name of the companies.
THE wRsT SIDE.
aE ossJU COA AEbdCuCu
! TO house on the corner of DeKOven
and Jefferson streets, one block north
OF Twelfth street, emitted q bright
| light, followed by a blaze, and in a
moment the building was hOpelessly
on fire. Before any aid could be ex.
tended the fire had communicated to
q number OF adjoining sheds, barns,
and dwellings, and was rapidly car
ried north and east, despite the efforts
Of the firemen. The hre seemed to
leap over the engines, and commenced
far beyond them, and working to the
east and west, t,either surrounded the
| apparatus or compelled it to move
away. In less than ten minutes the
fire embraced the area between Jeffer-
son and Clinton streets for two blocks
north, and rapidly pushed eastward
to Canal street.
When the fire first engulfed the two
blocks, aud the efforts Of the undaunt-
ed engineers became palpably abOr-
| tive to quench s single bull ding, an
effort was made to head it off from the
1 north, but 30 great was the area that
1t already covered at 1890 O'Clock, and
so rapidly did it march forward, that
/ by the time the engines were at work
| the flames were ahead Of them, and
| again they moved north. From the
west side of Jefferson street, as far as
the eye could reach, In an eastefly di-
rection-and that space was bounded
| by the rivers perfect sea of leaping
| flames covered the ground. The wind
increased in fierceness as the flames
rose, and the flames walled more hun.
! orrflvv F1r khafH 70 Tho rrtNCfe
| impelled them onward. Successfully
the large wooden buildings on Taylor,
Forquer, Ewing and Polk streets be-
came the northern boundary and
I then fell back to the second place,
Meanwhile, the people in the more
southern localities bent all their ener.
gies TO the recovery OF such property
as they could. With ample time tC
move all that was movable, and with
q foreboding of what was coming in
their neighborhoOd, at least, they were
out in safety long before the flames
reached their dwellings. They were
nearly all poor people, the savings ot
whose lifetime were represented in the
little mass OF furniture which blocked
the streets and impeded the firemen
They were principally laborers, mos
of them Germans and Scandinavians
Though the gaunt phantom Of starva
ton and hOmelessness, for the night
at least, passed over them, it was sin
gulRF 10 observe the cheerfulness, no
: to say merrimenb that prevailed
Though mothers hugged their littl,
ones to their breasts and shivereC
with alarm, yet strange to say, they
talked freely and laughed as If realiz
ing the utter uselessness Of expreSsin,
more dolefully their consciousness o
ruin. There were many owners O
J the buildings who gave themselves {,
I the consolation of insurance. But ev
en- that appeared to weaken as th