Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-09-25
THE RUTLAND HERALD
ANOTHER CHICAGO FIRE.

ANOTHER CHICAGO FIRE.
The disastrous conflagration that two
wears aro next month, spread desolation
through the most flourishing portion OF
the prosperous city of Chicago, only
made room for an increased activity in
her business circles, and a new, more
substantial and more elegant metropolis
has risen from the ashes of the old city,
and the Chicago of to-day is far in adj
vance of what she could have been had
it not been for the fiery ordeal OF DC
tober, 1871. The loss of property and
the vast suffering of the people of the
burned city during the succeeding WIN
ter, with the display of benevolent phll-
anthrophy and the tenders OF material
aid from all parts of the nation, touched
the hearts of the people, and engendered
n spirit of grateful friendship that will
long live in the memories of the people.
The lesson too, which that fire learned
the builders of cities and towns, will be
a blessing to future generations. In the
end Chicago was benefited, the nation
was elevated and architectural science
was vastly improved, and what was at
first view regarded as one of the greatest
disasters of modern times, was but a
Christening by the hand of Providence
for the best good of the children of men.
On Wednesday of this week another
great fire swept through the garden city
of the West, carrying CONSERVATION to
the inhabitants and bringing another sea-
son Of suffering upon many of the poorer
laboring people of the city. The flames
began their work in the hay depot of the
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad,
on Newbury street, in the immediate vi
entity of the beginning of the great con-
fagration of two years ago, and the di-
rection and fury of the wind was almost
identical with it on that occasion, and
before its devouring fury a square mile
of wooden dwellings and tenement
houses was left smoking desolation.
To be sure the buildings in the burned
district had no great intrinsic value but
they were the homes of many families
and all they had. A large number of
poor people are rendered homeless, and
will need assistance to alleviate their
sufferings, which we have no doubt will
be promptly furnished by their wealthy
neighbors, many Of whom "know how
it is themselves, and in all probability
the rapid passing of time will soon find
the sufferers again better off, in happier
homes than they were on Wednesday
morning.
1t is manifest that the class of build
ings destroyed in this last fire, will be
known no more in that locality. The
arc of the river in which this conflagra-
ton took place is west of, and in the i'm
mediate proximity with the rapidly
growing business portion of the city,
and encroachments had begun to be
made on this section by brick and NOR
tar, before the fire cleared off the wooden
buildings. We must now witness an
other instance of the rapid growth of
Chicago, and see arise from the ashes of
wooden tenements, great blocks of brick
and stone, while the smaller dwellings
will be crowded further out upon the
prairie New York has one of the worst
systems of tenements in the world, and
her over crowded dens and easements in
the heart of the city, is her moral and
sanitary curse. Chicago, on the other
hand, has abundant facilities for her
IaDorers and artlZans, to build their cot
tages around the outside of her great
beating business centers, and we shall
always see the wooden dwellings of the
poorer classes encircling her massive
piles of stone and brick, but as the city
expands, these tenements and cottages
will be crowded back farther an farther,
and this fire was but and acceleration of
the process which destiny is carrying on
in the pushing wooden buildings farther
from the centers of business.
Every one who has looked over the
track of this fire previous to last Wednes-
day has noticed another singular fact.
In this immediate vicinity are the great
and extensive lumber yards of Chicago,
and probably there is no hundred acres
of land in the world, that has so much
lumber and wood piled upon it as about
this bend of the Chicago river. The
average stock on this tract is represented
as about 800, 100000 feet, or ten times
as much as can ever be found in the city
and county of New York at one time.
These yards must sooner or later be re-
moved, and with their removal will go
one of the gravest sources of danger
from fire that Chicago has to contend
with. Many people have rebuked the
authorities of Chicago for allowing these
Undertook yards to remain, where under
their usual vigorous breezes, a fire among
them would extend a sea of flame over
the most beautiful and wealthy portion
of the south side. 1t does appear that
they take great risks, and we look upon
this fire as giving such an impetus 10
substantial buildings in that section, that
the removal of these vast piles of wood
and lumber will be necessity, and that
by the removal of wooden buildings and
piles of dry wood, Chicago will find a
protection from danger that win render
her less liable to furnish the text of oft
recurring dispatches that the city is on
fire.
0REDUENCF TO LAW.