The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1871-10-14
Il. 80 BuilAlags, Covering 1900
Acres Of ground. destroyed!
10000 PEOPLE HOMELESS !
SHOT AND HANGED BY
THE PEOPLE.
City without Light or Water.


involved the loss of St. Paul's church, the
roof of which covered five acres in extent,
besides burying nearly ten square miles IN
territory of shops, stores and dwellings; and
the great fire in New York In 1896, there has
been no fire on record comparable to that at
Chicago the present week. While the former
resulted in greater loss of life, the latter was
more destructive of property. Billions will
of the whole country are almost PROSTATE.
Banks are doing no business, country mer-
chants are failing; shipping of western pro-
ducts has ceased, and the deepest gloom pre-
walls everywhere.
Chicago is in ashes! The city is literally
in ruins. Its marble palaces its grand hotels
its magnificent theatr es; its splendid newspa-
per establishments; its great wholesale houses,
covering acres of ground; its beautiful
churches its iron buildings. : in word, its
entire business blocks in space of from one
to three miles wide and six miles in length
northward of Harrison street, are a mass of
ruins
We were there personally and looked over
the ruins for SIX hours, and our pen shrinks
from attempting to describe the horrors of the
scene.
Charred remains of men, women and chill
dren were to be seen at many places, and des
olation everywhere. The Custom house stands
monument of former grandeur; the walls of
the court house still remain looking like the
ruins of ancient Balbec: streets covered with
the various kinds of wooden pavement, are
burned out, Potter Palmer's splendid hotels
are heaps of ruins, and in fact the great busl.
ness center of Chicago has been swept out of
existence, and multitude of people are left
upon the streets, without house, home or
bread, nothing but the earth to give them
beds, and canopy of heaven to cover them
We give below from the Tribune extra, detail
ed accounts of the great fire, and can assure
our readers, from personal observation, that
they fall far short of the actual TRUTH
THE SOUTH sIDE-THE BEGINNING.
AT about twenty minutes past midnight the
work OF destruction began in the South Division.
While the flames were nearing the South Branch,
at Harrison street, as we'll as sweeping north.
ward toward the burnt district of Saturday
night, and before any communication of fire had
been handed across to the east tide of the river,
blazing messenger sailed on the wings of hur- |
ricane, Overlapping distance of fully quarter
Of mile, and lodged against the dry clapboards
OF three.story tenement house, situated near
the gas works, about midway between Adams
and Monroe, and Wells and Market streets. |
The momentary contact Of the fre-brand with !
rate the frightful carnival Of destruction. The !
dry siding took fire like lucifer match, and be-
lore there was time to turn around the entire |
structure was enveloped in flames At this time |
the neighborhood known as "Conley's Patch" |
and the most squalid, poverty.stricken, crime. |
stained portion of Chicago-contained but few |
people awake or close at hand, the greater part |
being absent at the scene of the fire across the |
river, while the women and children were in bed |
and asleep. A cry of horror and alarm was at
opce raised, but not soon enough, it is almost |
certain, to save themselves The frightened |
wretches came crowdiag out Of the blazing tene.
ment' pat sooner than We write it, all escape
from the lower part was cut off, and there is ev.
cry reason to suppose that from five to ten hui
man beings perished in the flames at this point.
.. RIGHT AND LEFT
tho fire spread, travelling among the dry tene.
ments thiokly distributed, xt q rate OF speed
faster than man could walk. Within sixtv
seconds the space of one block had been trav.
ersed, and the south line Of Monroe street was
reached for nearly the entire distance between
wells and Market streets a lurid mass of
flames was hurled bodily across Monroe street
toward the north. tapping up the stables of john
v. Farwell y Co.. and the American Merchsnts'
Union Express Company before more than bali
a dozen OF the hundred odd magnificent horses
GOULD DO rescued, the remainder Of the noble and
valuable animals being either burned or suffocs.
ted within two minutes
ACROSS WELLS STREET. ~, ]
~ this time the fire had crossed TO the east
side OF Wells street, aud was rapidly working
eastward, sweeping every thing in it's course. It.
Is impos-'bls to estimate the number of lives lost
/" this locality, the area of which was wholly !
COVERED with wooden frame structures, all Of
them crowded t. the utmost with poor peo. |
pic Ia The terror and confusion which pre-.
VM,sd hundreds OF women, with their brood. OF |
cni'dren' were seen wandering about in "A state
OF hopeiess bewtlderment, many of them doomed |
beyond doubt, to be overtaken and surrounded |
and lost in the wilderness of fame.
NoRTnwARD AND EASTWARD
the h1mes progressed. crossing Madison street,
ana extending east to La Sale street at tho same
'iine. stone, brick, or wooden structures fell |
aiike' and with almost the same degree of rapid. |
NY, ana IL had now become apparent that the en-
,'re business portion, to the lake shore WAN |
doomed. No one could doubt this AZ soon AZ |
!.esn display OF light further south announced
'he fearful fact that the West Side fire had
LEAPED THE RIVER.
AT Abouts quarter 10 l o'clock the regular