, 1875-01-01

large part Of tho city Was laid bare by TINT
diaastcr 1t was quickly rehnilt, hut on
borrowed capital and the inntx Of TINT
SG0, 100000 of borrowed money inflated |
prices unnntura1ly at the same tino that 1t |
stimulated to extraordinary activity. 1t !
brought several thousands Of additional |
workers here, whose earnings for the next |
twelve months svelled Our retail trade 10 an |
unwontcd magnitude, only to leave many Of
the retail traders struggling for continued e1-
istenco under tho vastly increased com
petition for customers which cnBue1 when
large number of those workers left the re-
built city for other fields Of activity. Tho
competition for tho labor nf these men and
its products, induced by tho general deter
,nination to "get back within the twelve
months following the fire, caused the prjco
Of buildings to run up 50@1o0 per cent
aboro the cost at which they could have been
erected in more 1eisurely times and the in
vestnent in rcnl estate Of no small part Of
the money that flowed into Chicago
like 70 much water induced rise
in the price of land that was too rapid to DO
permanent. When the burnt district hnd been
rebuilt, there was leasenefl demand for tho
products Of the brick-yarl, the lme-ki1n, tho
| foundry, tho {,laning-1nill, the nail-factory,
etc, which involved tho discharge Of many
| workers. They went elsewhere to aeek en-
I ployment; and this fact WAS soon felt in
lessened demand for cottage residences, for
Accommodations in bonraing- houses, for gro
| ceries, for dry-goods, boots and shoes, beer,
/
thousand and ono other things in which the
wages of those workers had been spent.
This made store property less valuable. md
especially as it Was accompanied by wide
spread vacation Of premises occupied for
business purposes outside tho burnt district
during the progress of tho work Of rebuild
ing There was thus double lifting Of tho
pressure for room in large part OF the city,
there being ut once moro Of it and less want
cd. The NATURAL consequence WIS shrink
age in rents, and, though but few build
ings were left unoccupied, the receipts
from them were 30 mitch reduced that
in very many cases, they we're no
sufficient to pay the taxes in addition to tht
interest on the money which had been rait
out for the erection Of the buildings. Hence
not few real estate owners became embar
rassed as the time for payment drew near
and the effect was soon felt in weakness il
reai estatc, due to greater pressure to scu
in order to meet maturing responsibilities
And this was supplemented by rush o
other people to Eell, who were not forced t
do 20 by any other ccuse than the teudenc
in human naturo TO put down load whe
tho shoulders Of others are weakening undo
| the burden which they have to carry.
This depression was not great in itself.
WAS only temporary, purely local, and ne
general, even in Chicago, being a simple n
action from undue excitement at home. Bu
right in the midst of it, came the pan''
!, which, originating elsewhere, swept ov'
Chicago in its course around the con,1nercj
belt Of the Northern Hemisphere. That
caught 50 many of our business men in
!" partially crippled condition while 20 few
them yielded to tie storul, tells even mo
strongly in favor Of the city and its peopl
than the unparalleled success Of series
years OF unbroken prosperity.
Our iron manufacturing interests hnre II
Z the eIccts OF the panic most heavily, owir
to tile cessation of railroad building and Il
reduction Of railroad supplies in the Yves
Next to them come the yessel-owner5, nj
hnve operated at losing rates all through Il
i. scasons of navigation, because tue inactivi1
Of the carrying trade in iron and iron ore hi
forced them to compete with each othe
- down to tho starvation point, for the gra
and lumber traffic, espec;ally na the
mana for grain transportation las been
minishod by tho fact that tho wheat aud poi
to crops of Europe are unusually plentif1
nd Tic whole army Of workers and trader
whose prosperity partially depends up
these, have felt the effects in dragging
business. This has not, however, bcen s11
plemeuted by slackening in the demand
merchandise in tho country around III.
deed, our Wholesale merchants havo be
quite prosperous chiefly because tho tarmi
sections Of the country hayo been conpa
OF lively well of, and able TO buy in unaim
Of ishe3 volume, while the city retailer has s.
,aa fercd from decrease of business, md the
st. fore has scarcely patronized the wholes
he dealers so well as in former years.