The record-union., 1894-01-10
THE FIRE AT THE WORLDS FAIR.


set for consideration of the Hornblower
nomination.
THE FIRE AT THE WORLDS FAIR.
French, Belgian and Russian Exhibit
orS the Heaviest Losers.
CHICAGO, Jan. 9.-Various are the ex-
pressions TO be heard to-day wherever
citizens congregate, in regard to the fire
at the Worlds Fair last night. The feel
ing this morning. when most of the in
habitants first learned of the conflagra-
ton from the morning papers, was one of
keen regret that the symmetry of the
marvelously beautiful Court of Honor
should have been marred by the red
tongued fiend, whose malice has hereto
fore brought sorrow and suffering TO Chi
cago. Others took a more philosophical
view of the situation. saying the fire but
anticipated the work which time would
have as surely done.
Stlll others expressed the wish. barring
the facts that the exhibits are not all re-
moved, that the flames had been given
their will without let or hindrance and
that they might have swept the grounds
from end to end, including the Midway,
leaving nothing behind them except
ashes and the indestructible portion OF
had fitting finale. UneXampled in the
magic OF its rearing and unmatched in its
supernatural beauty, its end would have
been equally unparalleled and its grand
eur would have been treasured in mem
ory, unblemished by the gnawing teeth
Of time, instead of falling apart. piece by
piece, and becoming a melancholy re-
nnder of vanished lovelineSs.
The scene at the eastern end of the
of l,is 0f.
utter desolation and destruction. Where
at sunset last night CLEANED the white
columns of the peristyle. tanked by the
music hall and casino, and capped and
ornamented by the imposing Quadringa
over the central arch and the rows of fig
ures along its cornice, the peristyle is
no more and the music hall and casino
are heaps of ashes, save for the great
golden statue of the Republic, standing
in unmoved majesty at the eastern end Of
the BASIN
The view from the grand plaza in front
of the Administration building, between
the Agricultural building on one side and
tine great Manufacturers Hall on the
other, and the view out over the blue
waters of Lake Michigan, are unob-
Structed, and what was yesterday per-
feet architectural whole is now an un-
slightly and sorrowful aggregation OF un-
balanced architecture. Thus does one
little change mar the symmetry of the
artistic whole; thus is shown with what
inspired knowledge of artistic unity the
builders of the " orld's Fair worked.
The beauty Of the grand count is COM
pletely taken away as an artistic whole,
and the plans for its preservation are put
completely to route, unless it shall be de-
ternined to rebuild the destroyed por-
tion-a thing not at all likelv.
But the flames did not stop at the Peri
style, the Music Hall and the Casino
They leaped to the Worlds Fair giant,
the great arched hall of the manufactures
and liberal arts, and before, with the
most strenuous efforts, the fire depart
ment was enabled to check them in eat
ing away the lofty roof vast hole WAS
made therein, and the tire-brands from
above falling upon the boxed and Grated
goods below, together with thousands of
tons of water, did a vast amount of dam
age. One Of the great arched girders
forming the largest span of any building
in the world, overheated by the tapping
tongues of flame, buckled and fell 10 the
floor below, crushing the beautiful
French pavilion, in which were housed
what remained of it's valuable exhibit.
over a space of 800 feet on the east side
and 800 feet on the west side the roof was
entirely burned away. Beneath this por-
ton were the French, Belgian and Rus
sian exhibits, and they suffered the most
1t is impossible as yet TO estimate the
loss on the exhibits, as they are all boxed
and will have to be unpacked before it
can be known what damage was done by
water to the textiles, and by the breakage
to ceramics and other fragile exhibits in
the work of hasty removal. The heaviest
loss, however, is in the French section,
whose exhibit originally was worth ST.
500, 600. Among the losses in that section
totr e
china exhibit, Gobelin tapestry exhibit
mosaic ana inlaid furniture exhibit, Dore
bronze vases, costume exhibit and
French publishers exhibit
The loss on the burned buildings is
total, as the insurance had expired. The
Manufactures building cost 81, 100, 900; the
Music Hall, $500, 600; the Casino. 500, 600:
the Peristyle, Sl50000. These figures,
however, cannot be taken in estimating
the value of the destroyed buildings. as
they were practically worthless, the cost
of The demolition and removing in the
case of all, except the Manufactures
building, being equal to if not greater
than the salable value. and the value of
the Manufactures building was chiefly
confined to the great steel arches. which.
with the exception of the one mentioned,
are still intact.
1t was about 3 O'Clock this morning be-
lore the fire was thoroughly under con-
troll, and the nreInen continued on duty
many hours longer, turning streams upon
the smoking or glowing tlmb bers here ana
there, to guard against the possibility of
a renewed outbreak.
THE LOSS WILL CAUSE SERIOUS UNEASI-
NESS.
LONDON, Jan. 9.-The DaiIy NesoS. COM
menting on the fire at the Worlds Fair
grounds at Chicago, says in reference to
HigginbothanIS S remark that the ire was
the cheapest way in which the casino
peristyle and music hall could be got rid
of: "The fire was the cheapest way of re-
moving some fair buildings. This does
not apply to the destruction OF the liberal
arts building, in which was stored a large
portion of foreign goods exhibited at the
fair The loss Of these goods will cause
serious uneasiness in many parts of the
world and is great misfortune for sew
eral reasons. The chief virtue of the
monster exhibition is not TO get it's fair
burned. 1t owes so much TO the gener-
Gus sacrifice of those who contribute to it
that it is under a peculiar obligation to
take care of their goods. They spend
money freely, bear the cost and risks of
transit, and they ought to be able to feel
that all uncertainties end there"
Loss IN THE FRENCH SECTION.
CHICAGO, Jan. 9.-The French Com
missioners and special agents appraised
the total loss in their section by last
nights fire at 200.
GREEN GOODS ACT.
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