The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-01-29
An Incident of the
Chicago Fire
By JOHN TURNl EE

the autumn OF Isl, lis hir:hCly oc.
CURED on the S;h OF Otnhar and he
celebrated the event 10y gi,ln. Il lin
ner. was present AMI have occasion
to remeinl-r the date perfectly. rhe 4
Sth Of Ortol'er that yeaI fell on 81
day. How I happen to rrmen',"' th'>
will appear Ms Irtnepd Win NJ, -,
~. Two either events N Pn'rln&,is
life were re.t;ra,"d III tiiai c.niri IL
was farewell 10 his im..li,.iui f;irndS II
for be was 10 lir mui1..,i ~, next II
evening. and h tn'i;r i;ir.' j. session
curities
The autumn of 1871 was very dry Il
season. Chicago. the city in which we
were living. had experienced Il series
Of fires. While We Were dining fire ell
gfnes went changing by ilcessantly. |
Lifting a curtain OF w''"' window.
saw great yellow glare less than
an hour every one 1T Us I'D left the
dinner table and gone out ~ Witness
the beginning Of the great l,' a." dire
Burroughs wedding dli no, take
place the next day. for his hume. the |
home of his fancee and the church he
was to have been married in were al |
either in flames or In ruins What |
troubled Burroughs most was n fear |
that his securities might have been de
stroyed. They were in the keeping Of
bis guardian, and his guardian was
among those who were missing after
the fire fend had satisfied its hunger
A soon as the ruins had cooled Bur
roughs began search for his fortune
1t was not found at the safety de
posit company where his lawyer, Sam
uel Coolidge. had kept valuables. The
office safe had tumbled from the
fourth story Of the building. and ev-
erything In 1t had been burned to pow
der. These two Incidents taken to-
gether convinced Burroughs that he
had lost his fortune. for the securities
were not of the registered kind, but In
the nature Of banknote. At any rate.
II he recovered any Of his Inheritance
he could do so only after u long proc
esS.
AS soon as Burroughs was convinced
of this he went to his fiancee and Of
fered to release her. She wept and
moaned and vowed that she could new
er love any one else. but did not give
any definite answer to his Offer But
when month had passed and her low
er was hard pressed for money to meet
his immediate expenses she turned
him down. We who had attended our
friends bachelor dinner felt that he
had made narrow escape. Miss Eth
erling. the lady In question. had In her
! own right something like $4,000. This
! gave her an income Of but $1,000 a
year. and she needed much more than
that to enable her to keep up her pO-
sition in society.
One day about three months after
the fire | met Burroughs Oh the street.
He approached me with radiant
countenance.
you've found your fortune" ! said.
"Guess again."
| give It up"
| 1--WE got new sweetheart"
"YOu don't mean It"
| He briefly told me how q girl who
had loved him long had been grieved
| ut his engagement with Miss Ether
ling and had consented to take him
with his poverty. congratulated him
heartily. and we parted each about bis
own affairs. Burroughs new love-a
Miss Tisdale-was poor as church
mouse, and ! feared that since Kim
ball had been brought up to expect
fortune they would have hard life.
We were all very busy after the Chi
cago fire. and saw nothing Of Bur
roughs for some time. On returning
from business trip l found on my
desk an invitation from him for an
other bachelor dinner previous to bis
marriage with Miss Tisdale, to be Civ
en- at the most expensive hotel In the
city. ! was too busy during the day
to learn anything further about biz
affairs and went to the dinner will
no knowledge of them except what
have stated The guests were all seat
ed at the table when entered. ant
Burroughs stood at one end.
He beckOned me to n vacant seat be
side him. but since he was standing
with a glass of wine in his hand, as Il
about to give toast. remained stand
ing. and waiter filed my glass. II
was evident from Burroughs manneI
and that of his guests that something
important was to be announced.
"My friends" he said, perhaps some
of you have not heard of my good for
tune. so | will inform you. Recently
the debris left by the fire has beer
cleared away for building to be erect
ed on La Sale street. Under the ruins
was found safe. the contents OF
! which were in perfect condition. One
bundle of papers turned out to be ms
securities
"The remains of man were discov
cred also and identified as those Of my
guardian. Samuel Coolidge. He hat
doubtless removed the contents OF his
firms box from the safety deposit
! vaults and carried them out into the
street. Driven by the fire into another
building. he had found an opportunity
to put them into a safe. but. penned In
by flames. was unable to escape.
81 propose his memory. standing and
! in silence"
II Is quite likely that there were
many other cases of devotion to duty
/ during that pandemonium. the heroes
! and the heroines of which were buried
! under the ruins. not to be exhumed
Burroughs and his wife. their chill
dren and their grandchildren are living.
! a happy and united family. Miss Eth.
. arffno dio,1 a disa npofp tod ola r,oid