Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1915-02-26
An Incident of the
Chicago Fire
By JOHN TURNLEE

the autumn of 1871. His birthday oc-
Cured on the Sth of October, and he
celebrated the event by giving din
ner. l was present and have occasion
to remember the date perfectly. The
Sth OF October that year fell ON Sun
! day. How l happen to remember this
will appear as l proceed with my sto-
~. Two other events in Burroughs
life were celebrated at that dinner 1t
was farewell to his bachelor friends,
| for be was to be married the next
evening. and be came into possession
curities.
The autumn of 1871 was a very dry
season. Chicago, the city in which we
were living. had experienced series
Of fires. While we were dining fire en-
g1nes went changing by necessarily.
Lifting a curtain OF west window, l
saw great yellow glare. In less than
an hour every one of US had left the
dinner table and gone out to witness
the beginning of the great Chicago fire.
Burroughs wedding did not take
place the next day, for his home, the
home Of his fiancee and the church he
was to have been married in were all
either in flames or in ruins. What
troubled Burroughs most was fear
that his securities might have been de-
stroyed. They were in the keeping Of
bis guardian, and bis guardian was
| among those who were missing after
the FIRE fend had satisfied its hunger.
A sooD as the ruins had cooled Bur.
roughs began search for his fortune
1t was not found at the safety de-
pos1t 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 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 banknOte At any rate.
if be recovered any of his Inheritance
ne could do so only after a long proc.
eSs.
AS soon as Burroughs was convinced
Of this he went to his ,fancee and Of
fered to release her. She wppt and
moaned and vowed that she could new
er love any one else, but did not give
any definite answer to his offer Bit
when Il 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 or
friends bachelor dinner felt that he
had made u narrow escape. Miss Eth
eriins. the lady in question. had in her
own right something like $4,000. This
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
the fire / met Burroughs on the street
He approached me with a radiant
countenance.
you've found your fortune" said.
"Gness again"
"Give it up"
i've got new sweetheart"
you don't mean it,
He briefly told the how a 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
own affairs. Burroughs new love "A
Miss ri*daie-was poor as a church
mouse, and | feared that since Kim
ball had been brought up to expect 4
fortune they would have a hard life.
We were all very busy after the Chi
cago fire, and | saw nothing OF Bur
r0ughs for some time. On returning
from business trip found on my
desk an invitation from him for I'm.
other bachelor dinner previous to bis :,
marriage with Miss Tisdale. to BE- Civ (
en- at the most expensive hUtel in the |
city. ! was too busy during the day
to learn anything further about bis {,
affairs and went t. the dinner with i
no knowledge OF them except what
have stated. The guests were all seat
ed at the table when l entered, and
Burroughs stood at one end.
He beck0ned me to a vacant seat be- |
side him. but since be was standing
with glass of wine in his hand. as If ,
about to give a toast. l remained stand (
ing. and a waiter filed my glass. 1t
was evident from Burroughs manner
and that of bis 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 l will inform you. Recently
the debris left by the fire has been
cleared away for building to be erect
ed on La Sale street. Cnder the RUNS |
was found safe. the contents Of |
which were in perfect condition. One
bundle OF papers turned out to be my !!
securities.
1.-The remains Of a man were diseoy-
cred also and identified as those Of my
guardian. Samuel Coolidge. He had
doubtless removed the contents Of his