The Centre reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1871-1940, 1871-10-27
The Chicago Fire.

WAANA Hhn htaitN utRipNtA taN NAtg VI
Chicago. We give below sad but inter
esting incidents OF the fire, which may
we'll ho termed national calamity
Sad. indeed. are the incidents told Of
the fire. Women in the pains of child
birth, and patients who had been moved
from beds Of sickness 10 save their lives
which ut the best were nearly spent.
were all exposed 90 the rain and the cold
nav winds. Several deaths occurred nj
I4neoln Park, and three women brought
children into the world only 90 die
Trains we're loaded 30 their fullest ca
pacity, taking people away who, IN many
instances. have NO place 10 60, yet they
cannot stay here and every train is
Obliged 10 leave flye times as many pas
sengers as tehy carried away. Every pre-
caution was taken 10y the authorities to
guard the people.
/ A journal describing the scene during
the contlagration, says The sky was
+ lighted up for miles around, aud the
river looked like STREAM of blood.
/ Hardly had the families which occupied
the district time to escape with their
I lives, aud as 90 saving their household
/ furniture. which 20 most Of them was
their all, il was not 30 be thought Of
Women, half-elad, ran screaming in
+ the streets, baby in one arm. while
/ little children chung to them with terror.
| At every attempt TO stay the flames the
\ tiremen were driven back batiled and dis
heartened, yet they worked manfnlly
and disputed the ground inch by inch
Over the furniture which strewed the
streets all went running in the widest
confusion, each person bent only ON
saving himself aud family aud caring
nothing for his neighbor. Many in their
wild enIeayors Ia escape were knocked
down and traInpled upon, and some even
killed. Many cartmen and draymen
naturally stroye TO their utmost to save
their horses, But in cases OF fire horses
seem 10 lose all the instinct which under
ordinary circumstances would save them
I from danger, and stand stock still in
/ their stables, their fianks and sides shak-
/ ing IN the agony Of terror, and utterly
( refuse 10 be driven from their stables
which, poor beasts, they have always
considered their place of safety where
I no harm can reach them. On this aw-
ful night, above even the roar of the
/ flames and the crash OF falling timbers,
could be heard the shrieks of the horses
ringing out in the night air They
would not he driven away, but, sigpefe1
with fear. fell down in their stables and
were roasted alive, and the sickening odor
Of burning flesh was added 10 the indie
scrihahle and nauseating Odor which ac-
companies burning buildings when water
has been sliowered upon them.
4 spectator, a ,itizen Of Chicago, in
describing the scene, says We could
think Of nothing else but hell The
flames in some places like huge waves,
dashing 10 and fro, lcaping up and down,
turning and twisting. and pouring now
and then \ great column of smoke and
hundreds OF feet in the air, like solid
perpendicular shaft Of molten metal.
In other places ID would dart out in long
stneaks like mammoth anacondas, with
kissing, fiery tongues. Then the ser
pentine shapes would stoOp down over
the blazing path into the yet unbnrni
buildings. which seemed pierced and
kindled instantaneOusly. There were
also billows Of flame that rolled along
ike water, submerging everything in its
course. Now and then as some cxplo-
sive material was consumed. the place
would seem like the crater Of vast vol.
eano. pufis OF smoke and flashes OF
light and millions OF sparks and cinders
scattered in every direction. Sometimes
the air would br full Of them. and gusts
Of wind would float them hither aud
thither like tiocks OF tire-birtls. Occa-
sionally there were cinders of more
than two feet in length. Showers of
these were falling raining
down everywhere. Our faces were stung.
and our clothing now aud then set on
fire, until we got wet umbrellas and held
them as shields over US. There was a
terrible fascination in gazing npon the
scene. II was nnearthiy, hideOus, ter
rifle. Our eyes seemed riveted so that
we could not withdraw them. There
we're miles of fire. mountains Of flame,
waves Of light, flashes, clouds, brilliant
scintillationS. With the aid of glasses
we conld see the streets thronged with
people flying for their lives Children
were carried. screaming with terror.
women were shrieking, men shouting,
aud all running We saw some old
and sick and helpless carried on stretch
ers-some apparently dcmented or stu
pefied were dragged along. Close 90
their heels, in hot pursuit, came the
belching, roaring cracking flames. In
some places they actually advanced as
fast as "a mau nan. The most awful Of
all was the thunderous roar that seemed
10 roll upward and outward from the
centre of the huge holocaust now there
wonld be n report like the boom Of dis
tant guns, again came a swapping like
the rafting OF musketry. Horses rushed
like maniacs through the streets. One
splendid team, attached to coach, rrn
over the Van Buren street bridge. which
had been charred and weakened just rs
the mad horses had passed the centre il
gave way, and they plunged down through
the lurid glare into the scarlet river be-
low.
The following reliable and graphic de-
scription of the fire has been furnished
by gentleman who participated in the
work Of subduing the flames during their
continuance
None but an eyewitness can form an
idea OF the fury and power Of the fire.
iend as he revelled among the palatlal
buildings and warehouses on the south
side, with the wind blowing a hurricane
At times il seemed but the work of a
moment for the fire TO enter the south
ends of buildings fronting on Randolph
Lake, and Water streets, and reAppear
at the north doors and windows, belch-
ing forth in fierce flames which often
licked the opposite buildings, and then
the flames issuing forth from the build.
ings on both sides OF the street would
unite and present n solid mass Of fire,
completely filing the street from side 10
side, and shooting upward hundred
feet into the mir above the housetops in
their mad career. Thus was street after
street filed with flame, and the exulta-
ton of the are-hend was given over TO
in roar which can only he equRlled by
combining the noise of the ocean when
It's waters are driven during "a tempest
upon the rocky beach with the howl of
the blast. Hugh walls would topple and
fall into the sea Of fire without apparent
ly giving a sound, as the roar OF the
fierce element was so great that oil minor
sounds were swallowed up, and the fall
OF the walls was only perceptible 10 the
eyes. II the reader will recall 10 his
mind the fiercest snow-storm in his expe-
rience and imagine the snow TO be fire
rs il surged hither and thither before
the fury OF the wind, they will be able to
form a faint conception Of the flames as
they ragged through the streets Of our
doomed city MANY of the buildingR