The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-10-08
TODAY I'M HISTORY
The Grcat chieaao Eirc.
SATURDAY.. OCTOBER 9, 1910.

inc Great chicago Fifc.
| On Sunday October s. 1871 there broke
Out Il fire i'm Chicago which ragged for scE-
"ral dnys. and is unparalleled in the MS
! tory OF the world Tor = similar contlagra-
liop. The fire originated in small frame
structure in the rear OF l&1 DcKoyen
street, which was used as co%-slable.
| II was discovered about halIpast
o.GlocE IN the evening by a policeman,
when II was very small, and who, hoping
| TO cNtinguish ii without sounding an
alarm, sci himself 10 work 10 do so-a
! fatal miscalculation. as the result soon
proved. y strong southwcstcrly wind was
| blowing al the lime, no rain had fallen
| Tor several weeks previous: and uunsc-
quently all combustibie matter was pre-
pared for ready ignition.
chicago was. AT that Tine. city OF
wood with the exception OF The business
center. The start OF the fire Is said to
have been caused through the accidental
| upscttlnG of a Kerosene lamp while Mrs
,Leary was engaged in milking COW
! THIS barn stood In region composed
| mostly OF ShanllcS and the fire spread
| rapidly. very soon crossing the river TO
| the South Side. and fastening on that por-
tion OF the city which contained nearly
| all the leading BUSINESS houses.
Some buildings were blown UP with
gnnpowdcr TO prevent its spreading, and
winch, IN connection with the strong
OF the flames in The south. The fire swept
! on Monday steadily TO the north. including
everything from the lake TO the South
| Branch. and then crossed to tho North
SIDE. and. taking in everything from tho
| lake TO tho North Branch, IL burned north
| ward Tor distance of thrc" miles. where
IT died out at tho city limits. when there
vas nothing more TO burn.
| Inc total area OF the laud burned over
| was 100 acres. Nearly 10000 buildings
We're consumed; 100000 people were rem
dered homeless; 200 lives were lost: and
| the grand total OF value destroyed is cstl-
mated at 5000 600. or this vast sum
nearly one-haif was covered by lhsur-
| anCe. but under the tremendous losses
many OF the insurance companies were
| forced To the wall and went into liquIda =
| tion. and the victims Of the conflagration
recovered only about oue-hlth Of their
| aggregate losses.
II the great fire was all advent without
parallel in It's dimensions and tho magnl-
| rude Of it's dire results. the charIty which
| followed II was equally uurraled in It's
"Ntopt. All the civilized world appeared
TO instantly appreciate the calamity.
rood clothing. supplies OF every kind,
| money messages OF sympathy, etc, began
! pouring in al once in a stream that ap-
pearcd endless and bottomlcss.
~ was believed by many that The fire
| iad forever bloit"d out Chicago from tho
llsi oil great American cities. but the spirit
oi her people was undauntcd by calamity,
and. encouraged by the generous sym
! pathy and help from all quarters thcv set
| ruined fortunes. and the city came up
| from It's ruins far more pala atial, splendid.
sIro'S ana inperishablc Than before and
| is today the second largest city In the
| country.
In one sense the fire was benefit It's
! consequence was class Of structures
| Tar better than ever before
., thousands OF the people In the burned
| district ticd far out on the prairie, but
other thousands, less fortunate, were
| hemmed in before they could reach tho
| country, and were driven To the sands. a
gronn Of beaCh-hlllocks fronting on Lake
/ Michigan These had been covered with
rescued merchandise and furniture. The
| ilamcS fell ncrcely upon tho hcaps OF
| goods, and the miserable refugees were
driven into the black waves. where they
| stood neck deep In chilling water.
| scourced by shcatr OF sparks and blow
! Ing sand. When Tuesday. October 10.
| dawncd, Chicago had passed through the
greatest and most disastrous conflagra-
| iion on record.
| Tho burning Of Moscow in 1912 caused
! loss OF Sl5OO00.0 900. The great fire of
| London In 1866 devastated a tract Of 43G
acres and destroyed $4,000 dwellings but
| that OF Chicago swept over 200 acres
| and burned close TO %. 600 dwellings The
| area consumed contained about seventy
| three miles Of streets.