The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-02-20
An Incident of the
Chicago Fire
By JOHN TURNlE

the autumn Of 1871. His birthday W-
CURED on the Sih Of O,.tOller. and he
celebrated the event by giving din
ner. was present AMI have oct,lsion
to remember the date perfectly. The
9Th Of October that year fell Oh sun
day. How ! happen to remember this
will appear as ! proceed with my sto
~. Two other events in burroughs
life were celebrated at that dinner Il
was farewell to his b,iri,.iur friends.
for he wis to I've married the next
evening. and he came into is,Sss.ssipn
Of $jOO.OO0 Invested In hpgutiab bile re-
curities.
The autumn Of 1871 WAS a very DIR,
season. Chicago. the city IN which We
were living. had experienced II series
Of fires While We were ,li..mir tir. I'll.
gtnes went clang'n. u. .ir-SsantIy.
Lifting n curtain of u W. window. !
saw a great yellow sar. less than
an hour every Orr at u> Il left thr
dinner table and gone out 10 Witness
the beginning of the great hra.u hr,.
Burroughs wedding did mol take
place the next da! for his in,ne. the
home of his fiancpe and the church III,
was to have been married In were all
either In flames or In ruins What
troubled Burroughs most was fear
that bis 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 Gre fiend had satisfied It's hunger
soon rs the ruins had cOOled Bur.
r0ughs 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 tnmbled 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 banknUte At any rate.
II he recovered any of his inheritance
he could do SO only after u long proc
ess.
IA 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
bis immediate expenses she turned
No yh.. h,,A me- la -
friends bachelor dinner felt that be
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 q
year. and she needed much more than
that to enable her 70 keep up her 20.
sitjou il society.
One day about three months after
the Gre ! met Burroughs on the street
He approached me with a radiant
| countenance.
you've found your fortune" 1 said.
Guess again."
"Give it up"
"1've got new sweetheart"
You don't mean it,
He briefly told me how q girl who
had loved him long had been grieved
at bis 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 Tisdaie- was poor as q church
mouse, and ! feared that since Kim.
ball had been brought up to expect a
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 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 his
affairs and went to the dinner with
no knowledge of them except what l
have stated. The guests were all seat
ed at the table when ! entered. and
Burroughs stood at one end.
He beck0ned me to vacant seat BE-
side bin, but since he was standing
with q glass Of wine In his hand. a. II
abost to give toast. remained stand
ing. and waiter dlled my glass. 1t
was evident from Burroughs manner
and that OF his guests that something
important was to be announced.
my friends" be said. perhaps some
Of you have not heard Of my good for
tune, % will inform you. Recently
the debris left BY the Ore has been
cleared away for building to be erect
ed on In Sale street. Under the ruins
was found a safe. the contents Of
which were in perfect condition. One
bundle Of papers turned out to be my
securities.
The remains Of q man were discov-
cred also and identified a. those Of my
guardian. Samuel Coolidge. he had
doubtless removed the contents Of his
firms box from the safety deposit
vaults and cerYied them out into the
street. Driven BY the Ore into another
building. he had found an opportunity
to pot them into safe. but. penned In
BY flames, was unable to escape.
II propose his memory. standing and
In silence"
II Ii quite likely that there were
many other cases Of devotion to duty
during that pandemonium. the heroes
ana 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.