New-York tribune., 1902-02-11
district burned were crowded and each train
which entered the city filled 10 its capacity.
THE CITIZENS FORTITUDE.
DETERMINATION TO CONQUER THE
TOWNS MISFORTUNE.

Paterson, Feb 10 (SpeciaD.-The fable of the
phoenix is being rewritten here. Already the
shock of Sunday mornings disaster has passed.
and strangers coming within the gates OF TINS
industrial beehive are amazed at the equipose.
the cheerfulness and philosophical spirit of
the townspeople. Dependency and pessimlsm
are almost unknown qualities. Every one you
meet is more confident than another that the
city will quickly get on its feet again, bigger,
stronger and more ornate than ever
To-day business men and lawyers, bankers
and investors stood gazing at the ruins and dis
cussed plans for rebuilding. Men met each
other and smilingly swapped stories of personal
loss-books, records, papers-which could not be
replaced. Nobody was looking for sympathy,
and if there any who imagined that their
tale of woe overshadowed that of their fellows
the moral and mental atmosphere pervading the
town hushed them ere their dirge had yet
begun.
ute to the self-relance of people who were
now showing qualities of which they had hith-
erto deemed themselves incapable, and with
which no outsider had credited them. Pater-
sons repute If the truth must be told, had not
been quite so high as that OF some of its sister
cities. Many had regarded it as money grub
bing place, where the scramble for wealth had
developed abnormal selfshness and had dead
ened the moral and intellectual forces Of the
community. What will go down into history
as THE Great Fire has changed all that,
If the Inhabitants had studied moral phi
since childhood they could not we'll have come
out Of this ordeal better than they have during
the last forty-eight hours. Everybody seemed
anxious 10 know what he could do for his neigh
hor- Self-reliance evident everywhere.
and there were practically no appeals for aid
or charity of any kind.
Everywhere one observed good nature, even
optimism. and this applied well TO the tired
soldier. fireman ana policeman as TO the victims
who found themselves homeless or without
a shelter to conduct their business. There was
no lamentation-no weeping or Wallng ana no
growing. Each person was apparently Vying
with his neighbors in the matter of masking
misfortune with a smile and all were reader
talk about the future than to make
smoking debris and gable walls which stood as
eloquent monuments to structures which nut
yesterday had pleased the eye because of their
beauty. and respect because of their seeming
strength.
This fire of February @. 1902 will not hurt
Paterson. Undoubtedly il must take some In
dividuals years TO recover from the material
loss, especially few of the smaller ShOpkeepers
who had no insurance But the city itself Will
come out of it. five six years hence, better
than ever in every way. Meanwhile there may
be some temporary embarrassments and dlff-
culties but these Will not prove lnsuperable TO
the people who have shown such spirit as has
been manifested here and is being shown now.
The industries of the town are not affected.
Work is going on merrily in the mills and once
The rubbish is cleared away thousands of
nssons, carpenters and builders will swarm
around to cover the vacant spaces with sub
stantial and in some cases handsome buildings.
Morally and intellectually Paterson has met
with stoical fortitude the work of the Destroying
Ar gel. Ere many days the triumph of material
rehabilitation will have begun.