The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1903-10-09
|CH|CAGO'S
| BIG FIRE
1t Happened 81 Years
| Ago Today
MRS. OlEARY'S COW BLAMED
Brief History of the Effects of the
Great ConfIagration That Caused
Much Hardship.
MRS. O'LEARY'S COW BLAMED

the SIND, anniversary of the great
Chicago fire. 1t is also a day when
the "old settlers of the western me-
tropolis gather into big and little
groups and recount their thrilling ex-
periences on that memorable Oct. 8,
Of 1871, when a whirlwind of flame
swept for miles through the city of
334 900 inhabitants, causing a none
tary loss approXimating $500 100000
rendering tens Of thousands of per
sons homeless and poverty-stricken
and leaving the charred remains of
hundreds in its wake.
The origin of the great fire has been
traced indirectly to the ill-temper of
an ordinary milch cow-"Mrs. o.
Leary's cow" as it now is celebrated
in the annals of Chicago's history
This COW was kept in a twO-stOry
frame barn in the rear of a modest
dwelling at No. 1877 De KOven street,
on the southwest side of the city
Shortly after 9 p. m. on Sunday. Oct.
3, flames were discovered issuing
from the O'Leary barn. Those wiz
attempted to extinguish the blaze in
the barn testified to finding kerosene
lamp shattered into pieces within
range of the cows heels. The world
believes that cow kicked the lamp
to pieces, thus giving life to the great
cOnfiagration which followed.
There was delay in getting the
alarm to the fire department, and in
getting water to the fire after the
alarm. The nearest engines failed to
get to the fire until after it was be-
yond control, in the dry southwest
gale that was blowing and the parched
fUel-a three months drOuth proceed
ed the fiTe-that was ready to help it
forward
Great brands Of fire were caught up
high in the air--Obseryers say from
500 to 500 feet-and whirled off to the
northeast, dropping where they would
and starting new fires far to leeward
of the old. BY midnight the flames
had swept across the south branch of
the Chicago river and eaten into the
business heart of the city. The mayor
remained in the court house as long
as it was tenantable.
This was the supreme moment of
disaster, for that building had been
the stOrehOuse. and was now the
tomb of the public records. The chain |
of title by which every owner held
every foot of property in Cook cOun- |
ty, from the government to the latest |
buyer and lender, came to utter ami |
hilatiOn. About a. m. the postoffice
and sub-treasury were burned, the
latter with some $2,O00,0O0 in curren-
cy and government securities.
The last house to be restroyed was
that of DR.. J. E. Foster, ON Fullerton
avenue, then in the northern limit of |
the city. This house burned 25 hours
after the time, and four miles from |
the place Of the starting of the fire.
Seventeen thousand four hundred
and fifty buildings, with substantial
y all household effects, were burned. |
To help Chicago funds came about as
follows: From insurers New York,
Great Britain, Massa-
chusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania. Cali
'ornia and Rhode Island leading) be-
-ween s45,OOO0O0 and $50 900 900;
rom gifts in money and other valu-
ables, something like s4,00O,000; from
Chicago herself about s140, 900 was
aiken, after all alleviations were al
owed for.
Derrick time" is the name which
itself to the years immedi-
ately following the confagration. The
Relief and Aid society, formed almost
before the flames died out, spent near
v $1O0O,0OO in structures, perma-
lent and temporary.
Between Oct. IS and Nov. 80 the So
,iety put up 1926 houses, using 35,-
100000 feet of lumber. The first
erected after the fire was
}oard shanty put up by William D.
aerfoot, real estate dealer, and was
7egun and finished on Oct. 10. 1t
vas surmounted by the proud sign.
'KertOOt's Block"