The sun., 1871-10-10
The Great Fire at Chicago.

The Great Fire ut Chicago.
The calamity which has ovcrtaken Chica-
20 affects not that city alone, but the whole
country, and even the whole world. The
moral and material interests of mankind are
20 linked togethc that the misfortunes Of
ono portion are shared more or less by all.
Especially in these days of electric tclcgraphs
and steam communication does a blow struck
at any important point vibraic swiftly
through the whole ly polite, as the scenes
witnessed yesterday in this city testify.
There could hardly have been more excite
mont, or more vivid sense OF loss produced,
II Brooklyn had been burning instead of
Chlcago-if the conilagration were at our
doors instead Of beng a thousand miles off
A ike sympathy was manifested in Cncin.
natl, St Louis and other great centres of
population and the measures promptly
taken there, as well as here, to put this sym
pnthy into the form of subs antiGl relief
proves that il was no nero superficial fc
ing The inhabitants of Chicago are l, cardcd
ns our fellow-citzens, and, as such, catitlcd
to our prompt assistance.
New York. however, has particular reason
for being afflicted in the ailliction of Chicago.
The two cities are so closely connected IN
their business relations that whatever hurts
one hurts in a peculiar degree the other
The larger portion of the trade of the Miss;s
rippi valley which comes 10 New York comes
through Chicago "a an interncdury. The
groat lines Of railroad which bring tn, produc.
tions OF the Western prairies aud forests TO our
warehouses, are fed from Chicago as IN i'm.
mense central storchouse and in return our
importations are largely distributed through
the agency of Chicago merchants to their
anAl destination. The destruction, even tor
n short spac, of tme, Of the machinery by
which this trade il carried on, cannot la,
provo n serious injury to W. Aud wh.n tie
amount Of New York capital invested in
Chicago, and the immense risks at stalk,
there by our banks aud insuranc' c1mpauios
Hfe r,,trsdefvd, il WI be &c = that w. &c all
0tiiGs, can sincerely mourn 6vJf-tne rum 80
pwifly wrought
II IL impossible as yet 10 make an accu
rate estimate Of tho value Of the property
destroyed. Even the area laid waste by the
conhagration is not accurately defined. The
only way 10 form au adequate idea Of what
has happened is to imagine u fire to start in
this city at the foot of Broadway, and tc
sweep from that point in a widening track
embracing Wall st.aot and lis noirhuar
hood tho Astor House, the City Hall. the
now Court House, and other pullic luil .
ings in the Park, aud thus going on until 4
reached from river to river and as far n rtl
as Fourteenth sire Fortunately, few lv,'
have been lost, but thousands have bcco
rendered homeless and What "a more, EAv,
bccn thrown entirely out of employment
There VIII hc need OF aLund6nt hhorality or
the part Of charitable people everywhere, tc
prevent enormous suffering and 1t is TO b'
feared that, with every exertion, a larg,
number will perish of exposure and priva
'ions
Ono good result will be obtained Chicago
whom il Is rebuilt VIII be built much NOR,
substantially and handsomely than j
was before. 1t is impossible that, iu the fac
OF this awful warming, the authorities wi
permit the further erection OF those woodel
shanties which were at once SO disha
and no dangerous TO the city. For
IL not TO be doubted that but for th
iInmonss number of these inllammall
structures, the fire could never have got tn
headway it did, and thus been enabled t.
overcome the moro substantial bnilding
Of brick and stone Exposed as Chicago i
20 fierce winds from both the lake aud H.
prairics, 10 build It Of wood was to iuvil
.s-s
precisely the dcvas. alton that has swept oyc
Il In the infancy of the city it was perhar
impossible to prevent this from bong done
but now that its prosperity is consolidate
and its future assured, the perlous practic
should be prohibited