The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-04-02
An Incident of the
Chicago Fire
Bv John TURNLEE

CURED on the >th of Octuber. and be
celebrated the event by giving n din
ner l was present and have occasion
to remember the date perfectly. The
9Th Of October that yeat fell on 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 |,
was d farewell to his bachelor friends
for be was to be married the next
evening. and he came into possession
Of 100000 invested in negotiable Sc.
curities
The autumn of 1871 was a very dr.,
season Chicago, the city In which We
were living. had experienced Il series
Of fires While we were dining fire en-.
gines went changing by necessarily.
Lifting a curtain OF a west window, l
saw a great yellow glare. In less than
an hour every one of III had left the
dinner table and zone out Il witness
the beginning of the great Chicago fire
Burroughs wedding did not take
place the next day. for his home. the
home of his tiHIcee and the church he
was to have been married in were all
either in flames OI in ruins What
troubled Burroughs most was Il fear
that his securities nigh, have been de
StrOye1. They were in the keeping OF
his guardian. and his guardian was
among those who We're missing after
the fire tiend bad satisfied its hunger
"A sOOn rs the ruins had cooled Bur
rOughS began ii search for his fortune
1t was not found at the safety DE-
post company where his lawyer. Sam
uei Coolidge. had kept valuableS The
office safe had tumbled from the
fourth story of the building. and CIV
erything In it 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 Il banknOte At any rate.
If he recovered any of his Inheritance
be could do so only after a long proc
ess.
As soon as Burroughs was convinced
Of this he went to his 1iancee 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 q 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 a narrow escape. Miss Eth.
erling. the lady in question. had in her
W 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 to keep up her 20
sition in society.
One day about three months after
he approached me with a radiant
c~Ountenance.
you've found your fortune" l said.
Guess again"
Give it up
i've got d new sweetheart"
You don't mean it
He briefly told me how q girl who
had loved him long had been grieved
at his engagement with Miss Ether
ling and had consented to take him
with his poverty. | congratulated him
heartily, and we parted each about his
W affairs. Burroughs new love d
Miss risdale- was poor as a church
mouse. and | feared that since Kim
ball had been brought up to expect a
fortune they would have a hard life.
We were all yer! busy after the Chi
cage fire. and | saw nothing OF Bur
rOughS for ONE time. On returning
from a 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
Ell 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
have stated. The guests were all seat
ed at the table when | entered. and
Burroughs stood at n end.
He beckoned me to a vacant seat be
side him, but since be was standing
with a glass Of wine in his hand. as II
about to give 4 toast. | remained stand
ing. and u waiter filed my glass |,
was evident from Burroughs manner
and that of his guests that something
important was to be announced.
my friends" he said, perhaps some
Ut you have TOT heard of my good for.
tune. so | will inform you. Recently
the debris left by the fire has been
cleared away for a building to be erect.
ed on La Sale street. Under the ruins
was found Il safe. the contents Of
which were in perfect condition. One
bundle of papers turned out to be my
securities
''The remains Ut q man were dtscOv
cred also and identified AS those Of my
guardian. Samnel Coolidge. he had
doubtless removed thu contents Of his
firms box from the safety deposit
vaults and carried them out into the
street. Driven by the fire into another