The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-02-19
Of the
Chicago Fire
By JOHN rURNLEE

Burroughs came OF age In
nm Of 1871. His birthday oc-
!, the Sth of October. and he
!, the event BY giving a din
rss present and have occasion
mber the date perfectly. The
hctober that year fell ON Sun
,u | happen to remember this
oar as ! proceed with my sto-
d other events in Burroughs
celebrated at that dinner. 1t
,rewell to his bachelor friends.
was to be married the next
and he came into possession
400 invested In negotiable &C.
Iutnmn Of 1871 was q very dry
Chicago, the city in which We
ring. had experienced a series
While We were dining fire en-
went changing By necessarily.
curtain of w-sf window, 1
rreat yellow glare y less than
r. every one of Us had left the
table and gone out 10 witness
Inning Of the great Chicago tire.
Oughs' wedding did not take
The next day. for his home, the
pf bis fiancee and the church he
have been married in were all
in flames or in ruins What
I'd Burroughs most was a fear
is securities might have been de
a They were in the keeping Of
nardian. and his guardian was
those who were missing after
!e fienl had satisfied its hunger.
bon as the ruins had cooled Bur
Is began a search for his fortune
bs not found Mt the safety de-
company where his lawyer, Sam
pOidge. had kept valuables. The
safe had tumbled from the
story of the building. and ev-
ing in it had been burned to pow
These two incidents taken to-
r convinced Burroughs that he
Ost his fortune. for the securities
not of the registered kind. but In
ltnre of a banknote. At any rate,
recovered any Of his inheritance
uld do so only after a long proc
soon as Burroughs was convinced
5 he went to his fiancee and Of
to release her. She wept and
ID and vowed that she could new
e any one else. but did not give
efinite answer to his offer. But
a month had passed and her low
5 hard pressed for money to meet
expenses she turned
own. We who had attended our
IS bachelor dinner felt that be
ade u narrow escape. Miss Eth
the lady in question. had In her
light something like $20.OCW. This
her an income Of but Sl.WW q
ind she needed much more than
D enable her to keep up her lO-
In society.
day about three months after
e ! met Burroughs on the street.
approached me with radiant
nance.
i've found your fortune" l said.
,ss again"
e 1t up"
) got "a new sweetheart"
] don't mean it.
briefly told me how a girl who
we'd him long bad been grieved
engagement with Miss Ether
nd had consented to take him
is poverty. congratulated him
Y. and we parted each about his
fairs. Burroughs new lOve-a
poor as q church
and ]. feared that since Kim
Id been brought up to expect a
g they would have hard life.
we're all very busy after the Chi
ire. and | saw nothing OF Bur
for some time. On returning
q business trip l found on my
IN Invitation from him for an
bachelor dinner previous to his
lge with Miss Tisdale. to be Civ
the most expensive hotel In the
l was tOu busy during the day
IN anything further about bis
and went to the dinner with
owledge of them except what l
Itated. The guests were all seat
the table when | entered. and
nghs stood at one end.
)eckoned me to vacant seat be-
i'm, but since he was standing
/ glass Of wine in his hand. as If
to give a toast. l remained stand
nd q waiter tilled my glass. 1t
vident from Burroughs manner
nat of his guests that something
tant was to be announced.
friends" he said. perhaps some
] have not heard Of my good for
20 l will inform you. Recently
chris left by the fire has been
d away for a building to be erect
La Sale street. Under the ruins
found q safe. the contents 0f
were in perfect condition. One
. Of papers turned out to be my
ties.
e remains Of a man were discov-
Ilso and identified as those OF my
Ian. Samuel Coolidge. He had
less removed the contents OF MS
box from the safety deposit
and carried them out into the
Driven by the fire into another
ng. he had found an opportunity
them into a safe. but. penned In
mes. was unable to escape.
ropose his memory. standing and
nee"
8 quite likely that there were
other cases of devotion to duty