The Monmouth inquirer., 1926-10-07


watefw0rKs and soon the entire mechanism was
disabled and the water supply cut off. With it
went the last hope for checking the hames-H
indeed there still was any hope.
AS the fire swept on toward the lake Gen.
Phil Sheridan, commanding officer of the depart
ment of the lakes, whose headquarters were In
Chicago and who had taken charge of the situa-
ton, tried to check the spread of the fire by
blowing up buildings along Wabash and Michigan
avenues. A few structures were saved in this
manner, but against the gale that was blowing,
but little could be accomplished. So from early
in the evening of October until late at night
on October s the confagration ragged, vast ocean
of flame, sweeping the city in mile-long
pillows and breakers.
Before it fed horde of humanity in a fren-
zied search for safety along the lake front. But
the refugees soon found that standing in the
water was unsafe and they sought to escape by
mad rush to the south The horrors of the scene,
as well as some of the udicrous phases of it, are
described by an eyewitness follows:
The scene was INDISPENSABLE. The great. dazzling
light, the fash and roar Of the contagratlon ana
the desperate fight of the crowd Iney
stood transfxed, with mingled feeling of horror
and admiration, and while they often exclaimed at
the beauty of the scene, they all devoutly prayed
that they might never such another
To the roar which the simple process of COM
bustion always makes. magnifed here to SO grand
an extent was added the crash of falling buildings
and the constant explosion of stores of oil The
noise of the crowd was nOthlnB coinpaASu " thAS
saw men, women and children. every variety
of dress with motley collection OF eneets wnicn
they sought to Some had silver, some val
liable papers, some pictures carpets, beds, etc.
one little child had her doll tenderly pressed In
her arms An old Irish woman was cnerlshing
granting pig There was singular mixture OF the
awful. the ludicrous and the pathetic
bridge drays express wagons, trucks, and
conveyances of every conceivable species and size
crowded in indscriminate haste Collisions
bannened almost every moment The long
line of men dragging trunks was here, many OF
than, Juggling over the ground with loads which
a horse would strain at. Women were there stag
gering under weights upon their backs. Now and
shen stray schooner came up and the bridge
must be opened. Then howl Of indignation
along the line audible above the tumult-
nv Monday determined efforts already were
henr made to bring order out of chaos Two
thousand extra police were sworn in to stop the
plundering state troops were called out and
Sheridans regulars took charge. Relief bureaus
were organized by the city officials. Immediately
other cities came to the rescue of their stricken
sister Carloads of food and clothing were sent
nv ST Louis and Cincinnati, Chicago'S trade
rivals To counterbalance the scenes Of horror
md baser human passions which had swept the
citv during the fire was the Of sympathy
and heIp which came from all parts of the
country. 1t was in the form of money and pro
visions and offers Of all kinds to help.
For several weeks the problem of living among
the ruins was real one 1or even people OF
wealth. The thousands of homeless people found
shelter in hastily constructed shanties and lean
tos and did their cooking In the Open Gradually
however conditions were bettered and Chicago
emerged from the devastation and began the task
of rebuilding The debris from the fire was
dumped into the Lagoon that formerly separated
the tracks Of the Illinois Central railroad from
The lake front. filling it up and paving the way
for later improvements. Within year the new
Chicago had sprung, phenix-like from the flames
and exactly two years later the great glass
domed building of the Interstate Industrial ex
nosition erected where the Art institute now
stands, marked the rehabilitation of great
city after one of the greatest disasters in history