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destroyed the 20 year old Court house,The Sherman house and a lot of buisnesses on Clark street.

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St. Michael’s Church, Old Town

Chicago Water Tower and Chicago Avenue Pumping Station

St. Ignatius College (now St. Ignatius College Prep, on Roosevelt)

Holy Family Church

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October 8 is the 142nd anniversary of the beginning of the great Chicago fire, which finally burned itself out on October 10, 1871, having killed 200-300 people and reduced 3.3 square miles of the city to rubble. The fire burned a 4-mile long strip approximately 3/4 of a mile wide, beginning near Roosevelt and Canal Streets and, fanned by strong south-southwest winds, all the way north to Fullerton Avenue. Contemporary maps of the burned district can be seen in the Images section of the Chicago History Museum's Great Chicago Fire website: http://www.greatchicagofire.org/great-chicago-fire. These buildings were among the few within the fire zone that survived:

St. Michael's Church, Old Town

Chicago Water Tower and Chicago Avenue Pumping Station

St. Ignatius College (now St. Ignatius College Prep, on Roosevelt)

Holy Family Church

St. Michael's Church and the Pumping Station were both gutted in the fire, but their exteriors survived, and the buildings were rebuilt using the surviving walls.

The fire was an enormous calamity at the time, but the rebuilding laid the groundwork for modern Chicago. The return of the city to the world stage was celebrated in the Columbian Exposition in Hyde Park, 21 years later in October of 1893.

Several contemporaneous accounts of the fire exist. Search the Library Catalog using this subject heading: Chicago (Ill.) - Fire, 1871.

About Margaret Schilt

Margaret Schilt, Associate Law Librarian for User Services, has been with the D'Angelo Law Library since 2000.

This entry was posted in Law. Bookmark the permalink.

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October 8 is the 142nd anniversary of the beginning of the great Chicago fire, which finally burned itself out on October 10, 1871, having killed 200-300 people and reduced 3.3 square miles of the city to rubble.

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Mental Floss Magazine by Matt Soniak
Time Magazine by Jennifer Latson

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During the reconstruction period, Chicago experienced a massive growth in population as well as economic growth.

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During the reconstruction period, Chicago experienced a massive growth in population as well as economic growth.

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https://factslegend.org/20-interesting-great-chicago-fire-facts/

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O'Leary suffered the condemnation of the city that blamed her for it but later they were cleared of any wrongdoing. 

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O'Leary suffered the condemnation of the city that blamed her for it but later they were cleared of any wrongdoing. 

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Source: Time Magazine and Mental Floss Magazine

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Destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles of the city.

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Destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles of the city.

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On the Saturday evening of October 7, 1871, a man named George Francis Train stood on the stage of Chicago's Farwell Hall and, in the midst of his speech, made a statement that added to his fame as an author, world traveler, and lecturer an extra dimension of uncanny prophecy: "This," he said, "is the last public address that will be delivered within these walls! A terrible calamity is impending over the city of Chicago! More I cannot say! More I dare not utter!"

No one in that hall at Madison and Clark had any clear idea of why he said what he did or on what he based his words, but in little more than twenty-four hours after the audience trooped into the streets events were under way that would prove him a remarkable seer.

Indeed, on the very night Train spoke, it seemed that he might be a day early in his prediction. Out in the West division of the city, fire broke out in a planing mill and it was so fierce that it devoured nearly every building in a four-block area, caused at least one death and many injuries, and engaged nearly half of the city's 185 weary firemen. In its story about that fire, the Chicago Tribune noted that the summer had been an unusually dry one, with very little rain, and that in the first week of October there had been no fewer than twenty-seven fires-and it sounded a warning almost as chilling and ominous as Train's: "Everything is in so dry and inflammable a condition that a spark might set a fire which could sweep from end to end of the city."

On the very next night-the fateful night of October 8-such a spark did set such a fire.

Whatever the specific cause, it began in the barn behind the home of Patrick and Catherine O'Leary on De Koven Street, near Halsted and what is now Roosevelt Road. In the next thirty horrifying hours, it spread with incredible swiftness toward the north, east, and west.

It destroyed four square miles of the tumultuous city, including its central business district and governmental buildings, slum areas and neighborhoods of the wealthy, mansions and hovels, theaters, churches, sporting houses, and railroad depots-much, much more for a loss of nearly $200 million in property. It was a fire in which there were 120 known dead and as many or more forever missing, and which left 100,000 homeless; a fire which brought out the noblest in men and the basest and which would forever provoke mysteries and unanswered questions that still create disagreement and controversy.

One such controversy still revolves around the question: Did Catherine O'Leary's cow really start the fire? Did she indeed kick over a lamp that set afire dry hay stored in the barn? In the hours just after the big blaze began, there seemed to be little doubt that this was precisely what happened. In fact, Mrs. O'Leary herself, according to contemporary records cited in a monumental and detailed monograph about the Great Fire by Howard A. Musham in 1941, admitted as much.

The first person she told the story to seems to have been a Robert Critchell, an insurance man who questioned Mrs. O'Leary and reported that she told him-"in a rather ungracious way," he later wrote in a memoir, Recollections of an Insurance Man -that the initial accounts were true, that she had gone into the barn to get milk for milk punch, and that the cow, in a moment of irritation, had kicked over the lamp.

Another contemporary witness was Jacob Schaller, a youth who worked for the O'Learys delivering milk to the neighborhood. Schaller related that on the Sunday of October 8 he had done his chores, bringing the usual fifteen pints to customers. On the next morning, with the city aflame, he spoke with Mrs. O'Leary. She told him she was distressed because she was sure her cow had perished. She placed her arms around the boy and when he asked how the fire started, she told him that she had company and needed milk for Tom and Jerrys. Because the day's supply had been sold, she went to the barn and sat down to milk the cow. She had gotten about half a pint when the cow, obviously resentful at being milked a second time that day, raised up her right hind leg and gave a light kick which hit the lantern and knocked it over and set fire to the barn.

Another account had Mrs. O'Leary saying she went to the barn to look after an ailing cow. She put feed into the bin. The cow became skittish, kicked over the lamp by accident, it exploded and set fire to hay and barn. Yet another had Mrs. O'Leary sitting on the front steps of her own house the second day of the fire-the house, ironically, was never touched by flames-rocking and moaning, "My poor cow, my poor cow. She is gone and I have nothing left in the whole world." What she told then was that she was in the barn to check on her sick cow and while she was returning to her cottage for some salt the cow kicked over the lantern she had set down nearby.

As the hours of disaster continued, and as the wide extent of the damage became apparent, Mrs. O'Leary did little talking-indeed, remained silent until official inquiries in November. And by that time she virtually denied everything she had said earlier. One can hardly blame her, considering the fire's ruin and devastation. Nor can anyone blame her many descendants over these one hundred years for denying-usually to newspaper reporters at least once every decade-that she or the cow had anything to do with the fire.

Other theories of the fire's origin have persistently been put forward. The old Chicago Times published by Wilbur Fisk Storey-the "father of yellow journalism" and more than a little demented-ran a front-page story in the weeks after the fire alleging that agents of the Paris Commune had been dispatched to set the city ablaze. Others-especially one of the more notable O'Leary offspring, "Big Jim" O'Leary, a multimillionaire gambling boss on the city's South Side by the time he died in the mid-1920s-insisted the cause was spontaneous combustion. Still others claimed that small boys had been smoking in the hayloft or that one or the other of the O'Leary neighbors had come sneaking into the barn looking for milk for punch or for whiskey and had dropped a lantern. Varied groups, from the Ku Klux Klan to Indians, have been accused of conspiring to touch off the holocaust; that amazing George Francis Train, tracked down in Denver several days after the fire and asked if he had based his prophecy on knowledge of a specific plot, alleged he knew of none and that he had inserted the statement about the dire fate that awaited the city strictly for dramatic effect because Chicago had a wicked reputation and anything that calamitous would be no surprise. (In this centennial year, Chicago's fire commissioner, Robert Quinn, received a strongly worded letter from one who identified herself as a Women's Liberationist calling on him, once and for all, to smash the "libelous charge" that anyone female-Mrs. O'Leary or her cow-had anything to do with starting the blaze. It was quite evident, the lady insisted, that that horrid male chauvinist, Patrick O'Leary, had thrown a lighted cigar butt into a stack of hay in the barn. Quinn set his researchers to work and ultimately replied to the letter-writer that although many causes had been cited over the years, the least likely was the Patrick-O'Leary-cigar-butt theory.)

In retrospect and from this historical perspective, it is really not important, intriguing as the mystery evidently continues to be, to determine the specific cause. For the tragic irony is that however the fire started, it could very easily have been stopped, early except for some errors, the most perplexing of which involved the sounding of the alarm.

The fire, according to the best authorities, started between 8:30 and 8:45 p.m. One of the O'Learys' neighbors turned in an alarm from a nearby box, but according to later testimony the apparatus was faulty and the alarm did not register at the Courthouse at Clark and Randolph. Meanwhile, from the Courthouse tower, the man on fire watch there, Matt Schaeffer, spotted smoke and flame and called down the tube to William Brown in the fire office to sound the alarm for a fire company to proceed to the fire. The horrid error was that Schaeffer gave Brown the wrong location, summoning a company a mile away instead of one that was only three blocks from the O'Leary barn. A few minutes later Schaeffer realized his mistake and directed Brown to sound the right box. But for reasons never explained, Brown stubbornly and stupidly refused and again sounded the wrong alarm. By 9:21 p.m. the flames had advanced beyond the O'Leary barn to sheds, barns, and wooden houses. The watchman of the nearby Little Giant Company saw them and roused the men, who hurried to the scene. It was almost forty-five minutes after the fire began that these first firemen got there-an obviously fatal delay.

Once started, the fire grew fiercer and fiercer. The firemen were valiant, they were brave; but in most cases their efforts were futile. Equipment broke down, hoses burst, the water supply was lower than usual because so much had been used in fighting the West Side fire the night before.

Moreover, vicious kinds of winds whipped the flames-they were called "fire devils," made of self-generating whirls of flame and heated air-and they were forceful enough to send brands and sparks and masses of flame forward in a single stretch for half a mile.

Neighborhood after neighborhood fell, building after building-Conley's Patch as well as Terrace Row, such mighty and magnificent establishments as the new Palmer House, the Tremont Hotel, the Grand Pacific, Crosby's Opera House, the Sherman House. By 1:30 in the morning on the second day of the fire, the Courthouse itself, standing where now the present City Hall and County Building stand, was ablaze, and within half an hour, its bell still clanging, down came its tower and much of the famous structure.

Many believed that the main branch of the Chicago River would be a natural barrier to the fire's northward march, but that hope was in vain. The first brands carried by the fire devils did comparatively little damage. But then several hit a kerosene tank railroad car on tracks near the present site of the Wrigley Building. After an explosive burst, other buildings caught fire, more firestorms were generated and the flames swept northward.

On every street leading toward the main branch of the river and to the "blessed lake shore" surged the people. There were crazed men and brave ones, noble ones and craven ones. On Lake Street, still the street of merchants, and along Randolph Street, whose bridge, still intact and whole, offered egress to parts as yet untouched by the blaze, the press of men, women, and children was suffocatingly close. They carried boxes and packages, bundles, babies, housewares, toys, picture frames, chairs. They crashed through fences and ripped down awnings. Some yelled, and some plodded along silently. Some pushed their way down the street and some were shoved and trampled. And here and there someone, eyes glazed and face streaked with smoke grime, cried out, "Chicago is doomed! God has punished us all!" On other streets leading away from the center of the fire were men with coaches, omnibuses, and wagons. They offered to carry anyone who could pay-$150 was the asking price-toward the lake shore or over the river bridges to the city limits beyond Lincoln Park; some of these men were honest, but some were scoundrels, ready in an instant to dump their passengers if others offered more money.

There was looting. Even while flames streaked through department stores on State and on Wabash, vandals broke in and left with bolts of cloth, suits, silks, dresses. A block from Field, Leiter and Company, where Marshall Field and his associates had fought in vain to save their "marble palace," men and women stomped along the streets through stacks of oil paintings, books, musical instruments, mirrors, glassware. From the windows of dry-goods stores thieves hurled silks and fabrics to accomplices on the crackling sidewalks. Mayor Roswell Mason had already issued the first of many emergency proclamations, ordering all saloons to close; there was little need for such precautions now, for already many of the drinking places in the burning sections had been invaded by looters who smashed bottles and guzzled liquor and overturned whiskey barrels. Not only stores but private homes were broken into; on Michigan Avenue's fashionable Terrace Row, William "Deacon" Bross, Illinois' former lieutenant-governor, came upon a rascal fleeing from his half-demolished house and wearing half-a-dozen of his suits. Beetle-browed Bross made only a perfunctory move to stop the thief, saying, "Well, go along, you might as well have them as let them burn." Down State Street's cobblestones staggered a woman, her scrawny arms laden with stolen dresses and finery, and over and over again she shrilled, "Chickey chickey craney crow! I went to the well to wash my toe!" And at the foot of the Clark Street bridge sprawled a boy, dead beneath a marble slab; on his hands were two white kid gloves and in his pockets were stuffed dozens of gold-plated sleeve buttons.

Finally, almost as if of its own choosing, almost as if weary of having spent all its awesome fury, the Great Fire began to subside. By late afternoon of October 9, it started to taper off and then rain-"merciful rain" someone called it-started to fall in the evening. And in the early hours of Tuesday, October 10, despite sporadic spurts of fire here and there, it was over. On that Tuesday morning, Chicago stared bleakly at the devastation.

From outside the city came laments from the sympathetic and cruel cries of exultation from civic rivals. In a poem epitomizing the grief and pessimism, John Greenleaf Whittier droned "Men clasped each other's hands and said, 'The city of the West is dead!'' A New Orleans newspaper predicted: "Chicago will be like the Carthage of old! Its glory will be of the past, not of the present, while its hopes, once so bright and cloudless, will be to the end marred and blackened by the smoke of its fiery fate." And a Reverend Granville Moody of Cincinnati expressed sentiments echoed by moralists everywhere: "It is retributive judgment on a city that has shown such devotion in its worship of the golden calf."

Yet even before the flames had mercifully burned themselves out and wisps of smoke and the acrid smell of smoke filtered through the devastated city, there were counter-cries of optimism.

John Stephen Wright, publisher, historian, civic zealot, was asked by an associate amid ruins at Wabash and Congress: "Well, Wright, what do you think now of the future of Chicago?" Wright's reply: "I will tell you what it is. Chicago will have more men, more money, more business within five years than she would have had without the fire." And his friend walked off, muttering that Wright had gone mad.

Joseph Medill issued his call to recovery with a front-page editorial in his Tribune: "Cheer up! In the midst of a calamity without parallel in the world's history, looking upon the ashes of thirty years' accumulations, the people of this once beautiful city have resolved that Chicago shall rise again!"

George Frederick Root, who had already composed two songs about the holocaust-"Lost and Saved!" and "Passing Through the Fire!"-now dashed off another that teemed with hope and concluded: "Out city shall rise! Yes, she shall rise! Queen of the West once more! "

Deacon Bross was prime among the city's boomers and boosters. He sped to the East Coast to give dramatic interviews and to persuade bankers, financiers, and industrialists to extend liberal credit terms. To audiences, wherever he found them, he called out, "Go to Chicago now! Young men, hurry there! Old men, send your sons! Women, send your husbands! You will never again have such a chance to make money!" The Great Fire had leveled social and economic distinctions, had made everyone equal in a renewed race for riches. "Now is the time to strike! A delay of a year or two will give an immense advantage to those who start at once." Despite the destruction of his own home and the theft of much of his property from the burning dwelling, he was buoyant about the city's future: "I tell you that within five years Chicago's business houses will be rebuilt, and by 1900 the new Chicago will boast a population of a million souls. You ask me why? Because I know the Northwest and the vast resources of the broad acres. I know that the location of Chicago makes her the center of this wealthy region and the market for all its products. What Chicago has been in the past, she must become in the future-and a hundredfold more. She has only to wait a few short years for the sure development of her manifest destiny!"

The Reverend Robert Collyer, in his sermon the first Sunday after the fire, struck a similar theme to his flock outside Unity Church: "We have not lost, first, our geography. Nature called the lakes, the forests, the prairies together in convention long before we were born, and they decided that on this spot a great city should be built!"

Henry Greenebaum, a pioneer banker, sent letters to Eastern and European investment bankers in which Chicago's position as the focal point of the nation's commerce was emphasized and which stressed opportunities for profitable investments in a city that, despite all its recent misfortune, had prospects for recovery as swift as its growth had been in the decade before the Great Fire.

Two fellows known only as Shock and Bigford became officially the first merchants to set up shop in the burned sector with an old mahogany sideboard on Dearborn Street across from the destroyed Post Office where they sold, at what they advertised as "old prices," cigars, tobacco, grapes, apples, and cider.

William D. Kerfoot gathered friends and colleagues on that very Monday while parts of the city were still ablaze and clapped together on Washington, between Dearborn and Clark, a wooden shanty he called "Kerfoot's Block" and whose crudely lettered sign above the entrance seemed to typify the tone of resurgence: "W. D. Kerfoot. All Gone but Wife, Children, and Energy."

There were massive relief measures, public and private. The Chicago Relief and Aid Society-forerunner of United Charities-distributed food and clothing. A week after the fire was over there were over five thousand temporary structures of wood, mostly two-room frame cottages equipped with bedding, stoves, and coal. Some two hundred permanent buildings were already under way.

Funds came from a variety of sources. Eastern bankers did extend considerable credit. The Illinois legislature appropriated $3 million, primarily for restoration of bridges and viaducts. Even persistent trade rivals aided: St. Louis sent clothing and supplies and cash amounting to $500,000, and Cincinnati not only established free soup kitchens on the West Side where 3,500 refugees' were fed daily through the rest of the year but also sent $160,000 for varied purposes. In all, some $5 million was contributed in the months following the Great Fire, one-fifth of that amount from twenty-nine foreign countries.

Major merchants were especially busy, led by Marshall Field and Levi Z. Leiter, whose splendid establishment at State and Washington, which they had rented from Potter Palmer for $50,000 a year, had been utterly destroyed. They set up temporary quarters in a horse-car barn at State and Twentieth and set in motion plans for a new wholesale building at Madison and Market, completed within one hundred days, and a new retail store on the previous site.

Banks and commercial houses recovered in short order. Within forty-eight hours after the fire's end, twelve of the twenty-nine burned-out banks has established makeshift quarters. Before the week was out these were ready to pay depositors 15 percent. And in four days more, all stood prepared to make unconditional payments.

A month after the Great Fire, Joseph Medill was elected mayor on the Union-Fireproof ticket and in his inaugural address he vowed action that would make another such catastrophe impossible. Ordinances were passed calling for greater use of such fire-resistant materials as brick, stone, and iron, an improved water supply system, a larger fire-fighting force, limits on frame structures, prohibitions against false wooden fronts.

But as building continued at a feverish rate many of these ordinances were deviously defied. Many contractors sidestepped technicalities, advertised all-brick "fireproof" buildings that were mainly of wood except for exterior walls of stone. Hardly any action was taken against such transgressors because the need for housing was so intense and the city lacked sufficiently trained inspectors to root out the ordinance violators. Medill warned frequently of the possibility of another tragedy, and sought valiantly but in vain to punish major wrongdoers. His words were rarely heeded and construction-bad, mediocre, and good-continued swiftly. "There are no ruins left," exulted the Times early in 1872, "save an arch in Dearborn Street standing like that of Titus in Rome." That summer, a British visitor noted, "Every hour of every working day there is built a brick, stone, or iron warehouse."

He might well have said the same of office buildings, theaters, cottages, and hotels. In the case of the four biggest hotels, the Sherman, the Tremont, and the Grand Pacific all were up again early in 1873, and the grandest-the Palmer House, in 1875-was considered by most a virtual masterpiece among the world's hotels, with large rooms, an assortment of dining rooms, a barbershop in whose floor were imbedded silver dollars. A minority report was that of Rudyard Kipling who not only disliked the city ("inhabited by savages") but described the Palmer House as "a gilded and mirrored rabbit warren" whose ornate lobby was "crammed with people talking about money and spitting about everything."

Before the Great Fire, Chicago had no free libraries. But now an abandoned water tank at La Salle and Adams was set up as the city's first free tax-supported library with some seven thousand books mainly from Great Britain where Thomas B. Hughes led a campaign in which Queen Victoria, Charles Darwin, John Stuart Mill, Benjamin Disraeli, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Charles Kingsley participated. The library opened officially on New Year's Day, 1873, and remained there until 1897, when the present structure went up. Around this same water tank was built a two-story building that served as a temporary city hall until 1885. It came to be called "The Rookery," because it attracted pigeons, a name retained by the imposing office building that later went up on the site and stands yet as one of the city's notable surviving architectural landmarks.

On the first anniversary of the Great Fire, hundreds of new buildings were up. Most of the streets had been repaved and there were patches of park and stretches of saplings along some streets. Real estate values, of course, soared, especially in the business area, and old fortunes were revitalized and some new ones created. "This is a peerless metropolis," later wrote an ebullient Lakeside Monthly essayist, "that has proved itself such in its indomitability of spirit, in its solidity of structure, in its development of a sleepless vitality, an unaltering faith and an irrepressible progressive impulse."

The amazing resurgence was not without its less laudable aspects. By October, 1872, there was one saloon for every 150 inhabitants-and there were dives of all low kinds, brothels and gambling houses in districts called "The Levee," "Little Cheyenne," "Satan's Mile," "Hell's Half-Acre," and "Dead Man's Alley." And on the night of July 14, 1874, a fire started not far from where the Great Fire had begun. It swept north and east over a shoddy slum area and licked at the business district. Only a lack of winds as fierce as those stirred in the fire of 1871 kept the city from undergoing the same-or worse-fate. As it was, the damage came to $4 million.

But even this blaze, like the Great Fire, yielded positive results. A generation of bright young architects was inspired to thoughts about the use of iron and steel supports and of innovative construction methods. Many were made aware of the end of one architectural epoch and the start of another. The fires of 1871 and 1874, a writer in Industrial Chicago aptly put it, "were fortunate events for the Garden City as a whole, and none profited directly by them so much as art and architects, for the flames swept away forever the greater number of monstrous libels on artistic house-building, while destroying the few noble buildings of which old Chicago could boast."

There were still more than a few "monstrous libels on artistic house-building" in the post-fire city-especially some mansions of the very rich that aped European styles at their worst. But the imaginations of youthful architects were stimulated, and among forerunners and later participants in the years that came to be known as Chicago's "golden era" of architecture was William LeBaron Jenney, whose Portland Block in 1872 at Dearborn and Washington and Leiter Building at Wells and Monroe in 1879 embodied new structural principles that would come to fruition in his famous ten-story Home Insurance Building, America's first skyscraper. In 1879, too, Dankmar Adler, a rabbi's son, completed the Central Music Hall at State and Randolph and took on a new associate named Louis Henri Sullivan, and together they prepared to step into that decade of immense creativity along with such fledgling architects as Daniel Burnham, John Wellborn Root, and William Holabird, all ready to add their concepts to the creative decade of the 1880s.

No account of the decade after the holocaust can be authentic without recording that certain important elements of the city were not destroyed and that, for all the horrors and ruins, Chicago remained in a strategic position in a section of the country that was on the verge of intense expansion.

Chicago was still in a vital location, directly on the line of the great national highway between the two oceans that bounded the country on the east and west. Three-fourths of its grain stores had been unaffected by the blaze, and 8o percent of its lumberyards, some six hundred factories, rolling mills, and machine shops lay outside the burned neighborhoods. Railroad depots had been wholly or partially destroyed, but eighteen trunk lines with direct connections to thousands of miles of track were almost all intact, along with twenty miles of Lake Michigan dockage. And a prime asset, the Union Stockyards, had not been touched by so much as a tiny flaming ember and continued to thrive and grow busier and busier.

And if 40,000 of the pre-fire population of 334,000 fled the city in the days after the Great Fire, thousands came to replace them-and thousands more, for news of the calamity and the way in which the city had rebounded from it had spread to many lands. By 1881, 503,185 people were living in Chicago, and by 1890 its population would be 1,099,850-beating Deacon Bross' estimate by ten years-and of these, 41 percent would be foreign immigrants, mainly from Germany, Ireland, the Scandinavian countries, and Great Britain.

So the Great Fire was followed by the Great Recovery. The decade was frenetic and busy and thriving and fruitful. The predictions of the boosters and the boomers were more than amply fulfilled. Visitors of high and low degree came from all over the world. Some deplored Chicago's lusty ways, its excesses of style, its definite aggressiveness. But few could find fault with the evidence of resurgence from what was then considered a disaster of massive proportions. Most who came as skeptics left as confirmed believers. And by the decade's end, a British novelist and journalist, Lady Duffus Hardy, spoke what was in the minds of many. She wrote: "We expected to find traces of ugliness and deformity everywhere, crippled buildings and lame, limping streets running along in a forlorn, crooked condition, waiting for time to restore their vigor and build up their beauty anew. But Phoenixlike the city has risen out of its own ashes, grander and statelier than ever."

This article was adapted from a speech during Chicagoʼs recent Fire Centennial Week by the author, ABʼ36, a Chicago newspaperman for over thirty-five years and a lifetime Chicago buff. Now editor of the Chicago Sun-Times Showcase magazine, he has written many books including the recently published (with Robert Cromie) The Great Fire: Chicago 1871 (G. P. Putnam's Sons).

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On the Saturday evening of October 7, 1871, a man named George Francis Train stood on the stage of Chicago's Farwell Hall and, in the midst of his speech, made a statement that added to his fame as an author, world traveler, and lecturer an extra dimension of uncanny prophecy: "This," he said, "is the last public address that will be delivered within these walls!

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 It leveled more than 3 square miles of the city, killing 300 people and leaving another 100,000 homeless.

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 It leveled more than 3 square miles of the city, killing 300 people and leaving another 100,000 homeless.

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Time Magazine

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Two days later blazed died out, after burning nearly 3 and third square miles of the city. The Great Chicago Fire killed 300 people left some 100,000 homeless and destroyed $200 million worth of property.

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They reported seeing burning natural gas as theorized by the comet camp.

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The wind caused the fire to spread around 2000 acres in Chicago

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The wind caused the fire to spread around 2000 acres in Chicago

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smithsonian

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The Chicago Fire of 1871, also called the Great Chicago Fire, burned from October 8 to October 10, 1871, and destroyed thousands of buildings, killed an estimated 300 people and caused an estimated $200 million in damages. Legend has it that a cow kicked over a lantern in a barn and started the fire…

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Some people have suggested that pieces of the Biela's Comet (a periodic comet which disintegrated around the time of the fire) might have fallen to Earth and have triggered the fire.  --Time Magazine (We still don't know how the Great Chicago Fire Started: Oct 8, 2015)

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Time Magazine

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The firefighters had a hard time to stop the fire due to the wind

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Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1789-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities external link and the Library of Congress. Learn more

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anH
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ii ? .1 I ' ,,n \on?nR vl MTri
f "k ?b" %p?lr ,t -J-4? 3.le*r*-r \
w.-f.rtp b, B'>RETtf ?; DV .KN*K ?RT!I*
Pn?n. or7-t<r* '
k *KiK,< T *'*??M?uro* b?7t?~ km,
? ?" i v'1; "?>-'AT "ct??bor > I,, ,?
ik j< '{ I'r R*akina' rh-i"!i. c-Tutr
and*, am***. h% Mi?? <?. <? RKuffSD.an-t
prr?i...-d ?md?Bc*..?ta| rn h.r Kefrp
i.-'XT" ?*"" ? i- Howard. ? .n Wrw f| W.?l?
\z7, - R 1 \* **?.-?-'? "anl.ri.ge. 1... ; V !
?. L-| Pr-.kl'a. V Y
M'K-.A *'hool yon
? ? I , ?' kkMNMlnmioat ?i.im'"4
,7j"_ 1 *? * "?*> heohiair;M fr<-mi
?b- Pr rrtf.|,,f I7A4 I ?.-im 1
AW DEPaRT^EST i'F uiLURUS
?* (UkLklit.
Ml Ti-rm "f thi? ??-Heo? ..r.-rn WEpvf;*
L*W " 5<?
Th-r- cular Facnr.? - ,11 h? aeeiat-d by-??a.?.?t
?-ti fr- Mi ?t>r ail. ? ho ha*? h"-ii rh^axed L-c
tnre during f ho (ortti. ???*"? w i*ec
,r*r- "WW*tT I" advance, or- nar
Bl le t, T^- narfer^PWart. ?-j|| It.- |? v^.l?!!,To
?? o*- I'tw Bniiditvg tr'tu Ims c rtor+ ?>*? ,]?, ,.r
mM 'ThKHY,
? ,Tm SKfUrt and rr-n.jnr<*r.
KDiCAl L> K PA HI7 M K K T
TO
(.*n??IT01* COLLEGE,
Corner of * six! Nhh "tr-t? N. W.,
'WASHINGTON, D C.
Th* n?*t re~nlar < ?nme . f Leer nr*? <n tM? 'n?tt
SfcUk1 S273E& 332"-?^
FACULTY
-~*?r!L^uT.0ljM2. M ?I>"' ^ rr?aci?l??
i^^rEr^ri c,n''' c"n,'rai gy ?a-i
FL 'Im.aHIio HOWAKO. *. O.Prof?.wrtf
?jra^ra-UKsr--f ^ wn,4rhi|'<''-?
?^*.^Tl!^nD Fr-"~r
J.BUBY THOMPSON, M. ? , pr f-m- nf
F HoLaTO!?' * Prof^?: of
Wt"w^ Criu?^ *?'-??
* ?' Cl^rro
i To^KS**'11 l>" Pr0,?or uf Ch??-?r>
:iST,v&rr
F?r rirr-i!?r? ami oth?r iii1< rmati^n nn'r >,
;?^t?T. * bTT?JSo,
??? E ??r?*t n-?rthw?
? '"E^t'll, AM) CLA!*5ICA1 IS
i r uwba ,N
v V A ?' K -uN. P,iH-ii*l
'i,'w *"tk ?*?*1I1?-. north?h(. ?*> ]y
MEDICAL DFPAHT*rST OF Hf^\RT>
**? IBIIVEKSITY. AK1'
UIMOV S PALMEK M D . |)'?n M4 a ?t s e
Jw TARERjonNsoN m ri
HHh ., ?ii<l N^w Y'>r% ? *nuf . ??"fUer
?3rr? ?,r ' ^1-~<'~r"r >*-<lir,|C^. tT|r?.?
'uh,
F \fTliTT
SIIaAS L lAlKld t M If P No 739 Pm.
mujt< W w . 1 L ? F
ztf-lruc, " tzn "f r,?*c'P'?
D corner of
^V5?en p * ? ??? a
?i ii'lA* H ?tV?iic V*-1, - riHuo"'
h?ii p, # * H. DTK!'Nji. A M .* D. tJiHTfrnif?
S?LTi! **?T PnncipJ^ ?mi I'ractico of
. ?AELE^B_fC?tVlg. a. ?..M. l) . No. ln3
Th?<i.Wu? St?, nun Pr(.f??.?r of Ma
AtrJABDEUT AVGI sTA; A. fe.. M D . Ho
?Srtol' aZmS. " r*W"' ,<f "d
??oiro?y CHEJfKT, A. M . I. B . Lrivm us jfi
^?E: I.A r BAkBOWS.ll lecturer on O^
WILL I AH H !?* A MAN. L-ct?ir?r m B-.tar. v
??tylA OLIlBEBti, UtliiM w I raetical Puar
* .ONE CLUHi'AL LacTCttE
lUili' mL *,*' ?,eWk ? ? ?>t <>??? of
Jj-. r fM?r?,..rb> ib^ L?nir?r on Oprh^Hm |n*T
7- , r-V" m' br th- ttHMrroiw'
fm ' In the D?wprc?warv , aod Oroh?o A?w
Itocobd^^ with the i^Virotton J rpnao A?jr
Tallin? far Cnaical lu-tmrn .r ami Prartico
th.-ity.wKi^.ff.^lrd aU
#s- ???
PHABJIACBrTirAL !*CMO<?L
Br?' TT'rd R-ralar C??r*o ?ill r,?.im-,,ce I Vto6?r
. L Le*",u'r" *i'?> on <*h?aii?trv
?t?ria Mr<iica, Prarriral Fhirmf r *d<i Botaat
?g-t.?U JOHN A.r?)LE.!V-r^ar>.'
I^AW SCHOOL OF OEOIWETOWrt O^LL Wi
wBS.'Blyr.SJtt ^.100'ri11 c?*tn^cr on
wajBigpAj, OctuLor On-i mi: L^c
thTTrr? M ,aV' V 7?f,!;,ck ? m I*??rrr? lor
J?lLTTI^ o,"* *llJrr-*w ?'wprrnn* Co?rt;
fiarloa I H "fi J fl ii f ? I a v Aa*~ ton
jyrt^r 'f VWlVltMli MnMud Mtmtt. F.-r
nrVi *'z j rTT1^'n'> ?Pf '7 to < H ARLRS
jV,. ' * * * A N. tWretery. a ho will br at th- Hall
oariy, fr<-in 4 to <! o clock p. ai. a?13 )ui
* "i^e'm (*?(iKs K^ Yecwe LAur*:.-.
Il<iti!i* i A^D nAT "ill rt-op-i.
A Y. pl>-ml?-r ?h. at 94S 51 ?tr-?t>,
?a?corn-r of 10th ? Th ro?*h inatrnction by
JTirtfc-rn teachrr* Prof, naor Mimm. ???aoL-r of
<?ra J. W Croct>r. John Hiti,(gw^| c ,..-..i >;
rwl l !<?-nrf f??r nrrnlar >t>i?-9-i??w*
/MPLIMB1AN COLLEGE.
v_ _ washingtyjv, j? r
T?io PBEPARAT.iBY riEPARTBENT or thi.
OoUa?r <>p?-ii? Sypt-mb?-r 13. ISi
^?ri.E<;i VTE-VP,-?hrr M
THEi'L?Hil? AL?oTr.^r S
MEiili'AL?tictober St.
Law?<tctotw?rii.
. vT*f "'n Wl#hin* to enter Mrh-r nf the <1??art
" "'? ????'? W te prrwnt at th-c >nmiiMMi nf :h?
r M if : ^ ELLIJIU. Prtuhit-ut
? "*'r lnf"rm1i",n ,n ?'r? of WM STICK
? **>rfi?ry iml Tr-a?nrer. avlA-th m Jmt
^\JR> |HI RR W ILL htOPB* HKR *? H,.oL
1 on M<?>llA>. i th of S'ptfiuln-r l.'i?* ||
Wr-ft.Un^n I3>h an.l l?th ?"]? f ttw
1>4 1AIBIU FEMALE WnrTi Ti- "
* f?EAB BALTIMORE *?,.
Th!- IrM it ate h?? he-n in operation fr thirty
B-,JOD"1 reputat!on. With th
?ml-M Imiit-rj t , mn-ty. it ha* r< pr-?-i,r
""V? ,'a' "V' '"''d" of |w smmtm prill'-.pally
Noiitli *ihJ t- nthw?t It? | .cation pr- emu,-ml,
?wati?:fn!. a. '??traLaad ea?ily rrach".! by r.?ilr.?l
lr.? k<.Itiue r- aj.4 W ??liins'..u > ity. F ( irruUr*
.'!r,^ ?* MH> R " ABrHFR.
j?L KIHcott City P.O., M4.
fcciESiiiv#'_l*s?TBi< rioy in v.ji vl and
k li-TKI MKJiTAL MIMC L A"'
a?A** EL ' A KCSI havlnr reaanvM the Jntiraof
tiVu'?rA,;ui.Wi11 l?m 1,*",eJ ??""ler "f
? a. .
WHJ S<;T TRY THE REST WAY PIR^T omd
A?r- >M't tj ?C. C\ WE8TON ha'4 Tn?
irprof^A1"' M "j'wis* ,hr4t">nn'11 <oirw tan^hl
my rri?i. A M ^ohn*ou. *n*\ is pr-par -O to tp?i h
Principle ofhT..ri^od .i?pi?
?^th.-l fnr airMtmu. He make, the teachiiT if
VoT'flfrtKt "a ,h'" 0r'*n a >*"*>,,
?^**9 1 ID
WATCHES, JEWELRY, Etc.
Jfc^FlBS WATCHEK,
gm tt?'Ll> JEWELRT,
tahi ? . SULIP SILVER GOODS
?yk rVIkKRY sbmctaclbbT^
fcr W?e 1!^ ? i1!? PLATED ^ABE.
?tr-t ,041 P ~ nLw n J*.7- '-ff, ;t%*1 ? ?o?T?? of lltb
jyM-tf a. o ?< on
FOE DIAMOND*. *c., ^
Call on ?"
?E3?J. L HOOD.
. ?? *??* tfc* l*?*? o??orttion Jewelry Mora t?
AJWay a?<l Sarau-?a lha paat tw?i:/ flv0 ?aar?. aixl
w1U_dow ?rn off -Jje bmi ratiatle WATCHES. BTck
JEW" ELBT, Etc.^frca M to W per cast, below th*
a ? " ? o ? i , ? i?.. a <mb IV iw w/ jr"? v^irt. wcivw m
meoai pric-a S B. ? Moat of th-?? flne gooda hB* ?
kn? l tallied la tickauf* for real rata la, and will I ?
aoid for caah wlth.>n? ragarrf to prlc, at
>ar No PENNWTLVANIB AVENCF.
Ot?? No.J INIW Bo.
4M < FALL STOCI ^ 439
T T B Sr A f T T B St.
P API BHANG I NOG, Br.,
N? w ?paw, eahracinir Ollt P*per?. Plain T*Bt? f?r
Ftoiehiuf, Plain or Paonali.-i#, with Gilt Rod.
iBotati. u for Ptaatmc. with a fall tine o!
Statin Preach, and lower gra4e? of Paper*, with ap
pr< pr.ate Bordara.
_ ??a4a?. PictBr* FraaM, Pictara
C"'!"1 and TaaaaJa. Blaga, NaiU. *c.
atoo-bhMmbai <4 Paintiaaa. Encra*lnc?
?nd < hn m>?. !>-?..ration Papi rh.tnctBC of ,T?r
drarr'p<loa aaecntad le a ?up.-ri r mannar. Wrd< r>
ifraJ^.lwrtSijft' 8U*'1** ?* *ktmr'
?/* Tertna I'wk
Piea*r r? oirmbrr uattc and nnmher
J. MAkhRlTER.
th atreet. betae-u D aud E <tr??ta
N-w No. 43?.
The Painlinn. Knirrm* iu*? and Chrowioa on nnr
wall* will he offered for the Beat week at A* par cent.
le?a than market prKaa.
I^EJCKSI BBICKB ft_BBJCBa in
i?S 0?6 BBICE8 of all ElBia <m
aat? at lawaat market ratea
aMITHMiN a DCNS,
api l i?J3 Foar-BBd-B-Half auaat,a. l
AMUSEMENTS.
WALb'.t I'UKA
Mr. .1. G. Pmpri -t >r
Mr J?h-iT ?.-r.i M*tAj-r
till >iut <?> Onl) iikI lh? X-> *????<( the
P*KRLkS* Mi'RIj U'Crt I.
T'.wt tii< at ''.i ?iied Vr'UiNr the 4?t. and her
rum ><t ?N l> B* Ij'.t'1. t- with th?
WdNPKRrn M*JtwTOVS.
Ik* w IM nii>etf-e -1th wnturr, who f?r
*r\-n numb* rwwilni Nibfc> i tisilr*, N. Y., from
iwt M d< w?. with ?bi-i ?
?o?PKVnTMY ?MI-'MNO. )
vosnrtn i i.y ??oTv>yr*. ? DANCtW.
WONDERFULLY ATTRACTIVE.S
hs the i-mirtthibiHCir fr< :u the H >ir,dav
"i"?i Theau-t, Bnl: iimrr, in :he Hoi:lauttc KtlUary
Drtnui,
THE FRKNCH SPY.
Adm.e-ion. ?1. 75. ."v. mid *.'? rente.
Bo* SAeet at Eliia' Mn?ic Store. m' S
^FW NATIONAL THEATEH.
Sole L?eaeeand M??<?p-r. Mr. J.G.SAYILLB j
?f nil ami l.wt Week nf
IB. ( HiKIT.S ?AY?rWS.
AH la?? ? pr- riamtn- i f eeeiiiK the niimt poliahat
K?T Of th? t TO??
Monday ?nt? TritniT evenings
Mt. Matthew*' C"tr?-dy in ?wo act?. en'itled
A OF ART*.
Warrv jM)rr.Ai? original role)..,., Mr. Math*w?.
<Vi.cludmir with >he vr?j anrii?iiii{'Varce of
LITTLE ToDDLER IIS.
?rt>?uxnii>h_ Mr MA*kew*.
( aa originally pi rived I) lum )
In rrhe*>-nf a:i?l f? he pr-iln'-d dnriuc the w?ek ?
>OT Si " HA FOOL AS Ht LOOSS. 1UE VlAR,
?HC I1?VP. *
Bo* ^heet ip?-n daily fr<m 9 a re. ?o 4 p. m. oc4-2t
L
IICOLX HA LI.
MONMY ETEVIKi. OCTOBER 9, ? *71.
hc^dt.lkohm ttrnrm <lib.
(Of R"?t<>n jsd Feaaon.)
EI?WASD *?*INI?L.
Tfli M V KYAN,
WILLIAM TRrLYTM,
WCLF F R'VS.
CARL MRISEL,
/Aaaiated by th. I?i*tincui?hed Vocaliat,
nKN. X *. VKSTON.
!*>.>r* open at T; Concert at 8 o'clock.
K- erv ed Seata. 91. to be obtained only at Park
erV at>?i before 5 |>
Afcmin-ion, iSreyit*. It*
Old Ho./ ON BXUlBlTlOB iNiw h.
4*6 > AND HA LB { 439
Tri St.N _ AT f T TH St.
?bUMMUTlgl.
Ho. *M ytnitli atreet. betw<<-u Daod ( atreet*
eitht d?<?re above Odd Fellow* Rail,
Choice Oil Painting*, Engravinra Chr rroe. Ac.
Alao, Largeat Shi tk Paper H^nringa. Window
Ehadea. Picturw. Fra-ue*.Picture Oorda kid TaMwh
U n*a. Nail*, Ac.. u> the District
?~rERMSCASH
Pleae- r-n:?mb-r Name and IIamber. apS-ly?
Ppor, sHELLrtftrs
FASHK'NABl r DANCING ACADEMY,
MEW MEDICALVUirDINO.1004 rit.nwIM,
will 'pen ter the Seaeon of 1W1 j,
On 8ATVRi>fc"-'. September 9. a, 3 30j?. m.
DAYS AND HOURS OF TUITION.
JUYENILECLftSS.TrESDAYS.THUBSDATR,
and !?ATl'RI>A W. 3SJl> t.> 6 p. m.
LADIES' CLASS. TUESDAYS, THUB8
4
DAYS, arid SATURDAYS. 6 t" 6 p m.
UINTLIMW'S GLASS. TUESDAYS and
THl RSDA YK. 7*9 to ? a. m.
Especial ChMa of Latiiea and Gentleman foe th*
Boaton," Tweak iy and Tharaday, 9 to 10a at.
Benuion every hatusday.7 to 10 p. m. For Ladie*
a?d Gentleanen on!y; children will not ha admitted.
Ladies desirtsrK to attend theae Reauiona will he re
auired to ma?? application for "C mplim- ntary
S^w?t? ("ard of Artiniaalon,'' by poat, to PROF.
SHELDON. 9rt iJih ureet N. W. If unknown to
rrof. S., a aniua) .e reference ahonld accooipaar th*
note ol application. NOTICE.?All puptli entering
the claaaea daring Septemt>er will receive M leaeuna
to the quarter. Pi irate tuition and tuition in ackoola,
private faittllee or private rlanaea at any hour agreed
up- Reeldeuce. Ho. 9X9 13th atreet, between I
and R arreeta. an 13 tf
LADIES' GOODa Ac.
M.
811 L,WE^ 811
LAD1CS DBESS TRIMMINGS.
R?fnTini ditHr all the lateat ntylee in DREnS
TKIMSIIS<*v VIk', a flue aa^-rtmeut ol KM
BROIDEBIKK'i^AOESand MILLINERY GOODS.
At LOWE'S,
oc7 *t Ell MARKET SPACE.
<$ <}RAND OPENING
AT
H. BUD, IN
MASONIC TUMP LB.
CORNER NINTH AND F STREET?,
of an entire Bear and Selected Stock of
MILLINEliY and FANCY GOODS
FI."WER*. FEATHERS. RIBBONS,
FRENCH PSTTERN B^NNBTS AND HATS,
And all the LATEST N?>v JCLTIES of the Seaaon
LADIES' HOSIERY, GLOVES AND CORSETS
at the lowaftt market^ratee. _____ ae? tr
WILLIAK S HOUSE IN PARIS,
No. 7 CITE TREVIS,
Haa hi-en re-efta^'.iabed, and he will be able to rtloi
tri'Bi thia day. tin- fttieat nnsorunetit of
REAL LA4 T. GOODS.
BONNATSatid ROl'ND HATS,
FLnW ?RS and PAA TTIERS,
GRl'S GRAIN RIBBON^,
SILKS, VELTETS, DRESS TRIMMINGS,
TLOAKS. SUITS ^LADIES UNDERGARMENTS,
the J B p. CXJRhET. HAIR BRAIDS made to hia
own order. Ac.. *c.
DRESSES and CLOAKS mad<* to order.
One price only. M. WILLIAN,
ael.i 907 Pennaylvania avenue.
JUST RECEIVED?A fine aaaortment of Berg
man 'a
RERL1N ZEPHYR EMBROIDERED SLIPPER
PATTERNS,
?c.. Ac., which I am prepared to a-dl at the loweet
pricea. Call auu he couvinced.
M. P LEECH, 714 7th atreet,
au99-tr between Quad H.
A FULL LINE <XT
C? B S E T S.
At reduced pricea. Call and aee, at
8. HELLER'S,
anil tf 712 Market Space.
SELLING AT S. HELLER S.
7i.f NAtin Space,
A complete aeaortlDeot of NATURAL CURLS and
ilAIR PRAID*4. Alao. a flue aaaortment of IM1
TAT10N HAIR CHIGNONS
S. HELLER.
aulC-rf 713 Market Space.
i to now,
&
H.B. 7lD
11 ABLE IMT1E1I,
FASIIION^VBLE CLOTHIERS.
CUSTOM DEPARTMENT.
COATS. VESTS AND PABYB
TO OBDBB FROM
8ERMAI AND FBBNCH
GRANITES, PIQUSB and TRICOTS.
ENGLISH ABD FRINCH
DIAGONALS AND BASK IT OOATIBGS
DEVONSB1BB EERSEYB.
CHINCHILLAS AND BBAYERS.
IRISH FRBIS.
CARR-S WEST OB ENGLAND MELTOBS.
SCOTCH ABD AMERICAN
SDITIBG8 AND CHBTIOTI.
GERMAN. FBBBCH. a jib
ENGLISH CA8B1MBBES
CHOICE AMSBICAB CASSIMBRBS,
CLOTHS axo DOB8KIBS.
VELVETS. CASSIMBRES,
WbBsTED a? SILK VBSTINGS.
KEADE-MADB CLOTUIXQ,
A VEBY LABGE AND PLEASING STOCK.
rURSlSUIXG GOODS,
EVEBITH1NG NEW AND BOVEL.
a*? S. W.OOB OF 7n ABDD8TBBBTS.
EVENING STAR.
Washington News and Gossip.
THE *EXTE?< E OF PATH ASTER
HODUK.
The sentence ot Major J. Lodyvd Hodge,
paymaster U. S. A., is iu the following words:
'? To be cashiered; to forteit all pV and allow
ances tuat may bt_- due at th" date of 'he i romul
gntion ot thin M-nttnce; to be impn-oned at hard
tabor for the term of tea years. m Mich j ealtf ;i
t*ry a? the proper authority may direct, ami
tkt rtafter la Iir further urn prison*^ in lnt
!wiry until k* *h**U re/nwi to tin StU't tk*.
<mount of th* rmO< zi'> uf nt, (? J45,4<T7.(SI>> uml
that tkr crim', ftem* an<i pine* cf nhoir mil pitn
ithmtnt qf tlx vccutrdir* publiit'uu in tto ntteijxi
yert i a (A< city oj Wo & ir.tjtim, ? ii C."
The above sentence has been approved by the
President-, bnt the imprl-orment limited to ten
year-, the jarsoner being relieved of *ba? part of
the sentence which is in ilallcubove. The (>ci
itentiary at Albany is designated ? the place of
MMtWMt.
IliunMiifl Relief for the Chir?K*
MUmciii.
President Graait haw taken prop-pt measures to
relieve the sufferers by the terrible lire in Chi
cago, a* will be seen bf the tollrvring order telo
graplieU by the Secretary of War to Gen. Sheri
dan tktv morning:
WAR D?TARTMEET, Oct. 9th, 1.
L**VL Gen'l f*. II. Sk'nian, Oiicatv>:
W.,e President direct* that you issue ssc.h pro
visions and clothing to the suft'erers by the
present tire in Chicago as yoc may have at vorr
disposal tkere. an 1 you are empower?,1 to call
?pen the military efficers as St- Louis for far
ther supplies it'you deem it best.
Wm. W. Cklenap. Secretary -of War.
Subsequently tt.e Secretary ol War received
fiie following:
CmcissATi, Ohio, o<rt, 9,-1871.
(To (i*n*ra! Rrllmap, Sccr*taiy \ of IIV/:
At an Immense mtw meeting held here for
*ie relief of Chicago, hundreds of thousands of
'dollar' have been subscribed. This meeting
?requests that the Secretary of War furnish tents,
blankets, and tood from the government d??i?ot
at- Jc&ersonville. lnd. C. M. Rowland,
I'rrtidrnt Chamber *f C'-mmrrce.
The Secretary replied that he had aireAdv
authorized Gen. Sheridan to fiirnMli the neces
sary sipplles.
r?tTi:R>'AL Revenue.?The receipts from this
souroe to-day were *74:t.61rt.'.!*5.
Tub editor ok The Stab K? been ill for
some days, at his house, with bilioue lever, but
*9 now recovering.
Xni Commissioners to revi?e the United
States statutes have resumed Uicir icnnions iu
?this dty.
Hev. F. S. Evans has been apr-tinted a first
class clerk in the Finance Ottite, of the Post
?Office Department
Admiral Porter is m;*cb ^better, and on
Saturday rode out lor the Am.'time in several
?mentis.
||B. George W. Dowi* h? h?en appointed
special agent for the western, -northwestern and
?Goshjp bands of Shgslmne Infl.ans in Nevada
and Utah Territory.
11 a.i. Jknivs B. WiiEKi.KB. Fngineer Corps,
has been ap|?inted Professor ?f Engineering at
the We?t Point Military Academy, vice Profes
sor Davis U. Mahan. deceased.
?QrARAWTiHE Ended?A dispatch has iven
received at the Post < tttoe department from
New t >rleans, which says the yellow fever <|iiar
anttne at Galveston, has been discontinued.
Mr. C. BoRfiEf, the new Bxizilllan Minister,
was presented to the President to-day by Secre
tary Fish. Mr. Borges is tin-successor of Mr.
Magalha?ns, who represented that country here
tor some years past.
November Cocroxn.?The Secretary of the
Treasurer has directed the treasurer and assist
ant treasurers to pay the K?ivember coupons
upon the rebate of interest to October 25tb, and
on ?ud after that day to pay interest due Novem
ber 1st. without rebate. _
Fua>kli> Steel. Ksy.etGeorgetown, whoso
name is connected with the fraudulent issue of
?Chippewa land scrip, it apj?ear* acted simply as
the attorney of St. Paul parties In receiving the
applications, and is sot charged by the report
TOth being implicated in the frauds.
President Okart was tv. his office to-day.
and received quite a large a umber of visitors,
among whom were Senator*. Rice, Sawyer and
-Spencer, Judge Strong, of lue Supreme Court,
Rear Admiral Lee, Gen. Chipman, Acting
?tiovernor Stanton and other-. The President
will leaTe here for Boston on Friday evening.
?Four Dem?h eatic Coawaafs-MEN Elected
from Texas Hon. Samvei J. Randall re
ceived a dispatch this morn iiac from A. S. Walsh,
chairman of the Texas democratic executive
committee, dated Austin, Oct. "th, saying:?
'??Victory. The democrats carry every Con
gressional district. Majoritv.probably 3/100."
Coec.ressmaw Ulliot, of South Carolina,
sa* the President on Saturday to urge the re
moval ot United States Marshal Johnson. The
President will not make any change until aft.t
a conference with Senator Saw>er. Ex-Con
preK'nian Hogc is a candidate lor the marshal
tliip.
Appointments by the President?The
President has appointed the following commis
sioners to the centennial exhibition at Philadel
phia:?W. F. Prosser, Tennessee; N. C. Meeker
and J. Marshall Paul,Colorado Territory: Rob't
Lowrv. Iowa; Alexander R. Boteler and An
drew *J. Sweeney, West Virginia; John A. Bax
ter aud Henry Chase, Vermont.
PoeTmasters Appoiktkd?The President
has ii>ade the following appointments of post
masters :?John H. Burnham, Hartford, Conn.,
vice Edward W. Whitaker, suspende<h Charles
W. tk.ddard. Portland. Maine, vice Woodbury
Davis, deceastnl; David L. Briugle. Salisbury.
>? c^ Win. P. Forsythe. Jetteraen. Wis ? Mrs.
Electa E. Smith. Sterling, 111.; Caleb Taylor,
Wenona Station, III.; Frank T. Hatch, Shreve
j?ort, La.; A. C. Vandewaler, Pana, 111.; and
Albert T. Phillips at Kokonio, I?d.
Representative Wm. B. WAeiiBTRN will
not resign his seat in Congress Kutil after his
election as Governor of Massachusetts. He
intends to take his seat at the owning of the
session in December, and will remain in it,
probablv, until the holiday a<lJouniment, in
order to'dwiiose of some important unfinished
bBtiness before the Committee on Claims. The
special election lor member of Congress to till
the vacancy will not take place until some time
in December.
A Goverwmkwt Clerk Decline* Promo
tion !?A second elaas clerk in the Post Office
Department declined promotion to a third clam
clerkship on 8ahir4ay last, giving aa reasons ror
his extraordinary action that he Is a single man,
has no Intention of getting married, and hia
present salary la more than sufficient for his
Mpport; that, as his father is employed in the
department, bis own promotion might give rise
to unpleasant gossip and the charge of favoritism;
and that, as a follow clerk In his division contem
plates marriage and has long hoped for promo
tion. an increase of salarv would he more ac
ceptable to his ftiend than to himself. For these
reasons he respectfully, but firmly, declines
promotion at present, saying that the time may
come when he will stand in need of a larger
salary, in which case he will not hesitate to
accept clerical preferment. Leet this voting man
aaav be suspected of lunacy, we would state that
he Is regarded as one of the most reliable am]
efficient elerks in the department by the Post
master General, who tendered him promotion
solely oa the ground of merit. Thin in probably
the only similar case on record.
Kt-Klcx Peisonees.?Eight Ku-Klux pris
oners from North Casolina, sentenced by Judge
Bond, have passed through this city, In charge
of a strong guard of federal soldiers, on their
way to the Albanv penitentiary. The prisoners
csme by the Norfolk boat, and Irom thence were
taken to the President street depot, from whence
they were sent off. Among the number wan R.
A. Shotweli. of Rutherfora connty, N. C., who
goes to the penitentiary for six years, and is also
xentenotd to pay a One of ?.%,ooo. Amos Owens,
snotber of the number, has about the tame sen
tence, while a number of the others has been
heavily lined and will be let off with a few
months' imprisormcnt-? Veil. Sun, 9tK.
?'*1' W'FTX
GREAT FIRES 131 CHICAGO!
Sad Loss of Life and Terrible De
struction ^Property.
441 toying Hell of Fire."
A series of the mo< destructive conflagrations
which ever occurred m this country, or perhaps
in any other, have laid the city of Chicago in
a-ht*. A fire broke out at 11 o clock on
Saturday wgh: in a planing Bill between
Clinton and Van Bunn aud Jackson streets,
f.ie * ind wa? blowiig very fre-h an.l rapidly,
i?? a ttw vimiten tiie entire structure was u
nias* <it tire. The immediate vicinity is built
up mainly of sirall woodentewementhouses an.l
S"ooS'yr?c
TI,? A ?r Terror.
I lie inmates ot many of the best han<p<
in 4lumbtr' *** barely time to rush
in their scanty right attire leaving ?i?ar
houses ar l poods to detraction ' In ^ev^l il!
t^br^k^h'^ffiV wr*M>?* blankets and 'juilts
to break the tall, were thrown from the second
story window to the ground. When the alarm
sounded tor this fire another of considerable
A.lflliT eWa* b1ur,li*1K on Welw street near
?l i Se,\ora' engines necessarily kept at
work upon this tire, The rest of the ^agin?* in
7!l w?re,on the ground, but before they ar
rived the tire had spMad ?Ver so large an ^ a
and was so rapidly extending that their efforts
?\ 51 va,ue- Between Carrol street and
he n\er there were-w-verallumber vartht, which
were entirely destroyed. '
The I'lre Made a 4 1 cm fcwea
from \ an Buren street north, two blocks to
Adams street, as si west to Clinton, three blocls
* lorn the river, between Van Baren and Jack
son streets, theballdings were baming, and the
woo<!-work of the western approach to the
Ada ins-street bridge was destroyed. A large
toai-jard, containing a thousand tons of aoft
coal .standi ngbetwee n the trac.ks of the Chicago
and Alton and Pittsburg and Fort Wayne rail
roads and the river, caught fire and burned
inriouslv. Tfce de|?t of the Pittsburg, Kort
Wayne, Chicago, Alton and St. Ixniis railroad
t* situated u?i Forth Adams, and between Canal
rj|.fir*IMi 1JI? TIVer- ?ne ?f U,e buildings, a
m i - "1!.trut tnre oc<',,?,ie<l an express
ofm e. wait 1*1 tl&incs at midnight
..1^?^ -TMU?r<lAy m?r'?ng the fire was
rag i.g as fiercely as ever, and the block of
bu.ldings4w: the north side of Van Buren street
was wrapt in if anus The glare from the burn
ing buildings lighted the streets for half a mile
away, so that one mi^ht see to read. The entire
tire department WM ?n tLe gr0Bnd an<, makin
almost superhuman effort* to check the flames.
i ne space burned over up to yesterday morn
ing was covered with lumber, coal and wood
yanls, planing mills, a vinegar factory, and a
arge number ol dwelling-houses and saloons of
the poorer class.
A Woman Burned to Death.
Mrs. Margaret Hadley, livingon the north side
""ddenly surrounded
by the ttames, was unable to escat*e. Her re
mains, burned to a cinder, were tound yester
day awrning near her home.
. ? Af#.th,,r ?"'?* U?l Mght.
ovk?ftS?.nlvl'J, !*I5 Mi?ht' ,Uu><1 * >i
"*> says "a fire, which appears as larire as
Uum,*'t laM night, is now raging in the western
division with unabated furv. It commeneed
near Taylor street, between belaware and Jel
,7 18 spreading in everv direction, and
novers at least tour blocks. At this hour it still
seen** lieyo.d> control. Tne blocks are built up
soiidly and almost exclusively two-?torv frame
bouses, oc?upied as residences; boarding-houses
saloons, groceries. Ac. The loss is already large'
and it is mow thought it will prove more <nt
wstrous In its character than the one last night "
IhnnftHanUrM Kami Ilea Drives frnm
'J heir Homes.
At &3? this morning the flames had reached
the vicinity of the telegraph office, and the ope
rator. were compelled to leave. Railroad trains
,0 boring cities for additional
tire u.igines, and the entire city was in a state of
great excitement. A dispatch dated 1 45 thi.
mormug saysr-.-The fire has a*r^dv swe?
oy?r a space three times as large as that ot l^t
hi? i'" rt ru>binK on In greater f ury than
ba marked any stage ot its progress, the engines
appearing almost iKiwerl. es. Fire Marshal^il
h;i?j? has just telegraphed toMilwaukie for all
tSie steamers they can spare. al
The conflagration lias already
.. D*VA?TATltD TWISTY BLOCKS,
mostly compose dot the smaller class of dwell
and inhabited by poor ]>eople. Not less
hafiihree hundred buildings have been entirely
destroyed, and more than that number of tam
llies rendered liomeh-ss. The wind is blowing a
. f**e fr"m ,bc W)u,b, and showerifof
"r,"."K I'ran^" are sweeping over
tXL I JL ^ ?'?'"ruction on every hand.
ITk tower ol the court-house caught lire from
tHivig brands, but was extinguished by the
watrthmen of the tower. y e
Tiie.Fire Department Powerleaa.
description c*n give an idea ot the terrible
siejie. 1 he fire started iua row of two-story
?Ojslen tenements on I>eekoveil street, between
JUIerson and Clinton streets, and as wa!s the
< ase last night, spread with terrible rapidity
Betore a single engine could be got on the road
hai/ the block was in flames, and burning rap
fhe entire department was soon on the
WO,r^ For a time -^ffled
w."uld s,icceed in contining it to
J ??k ?f l'^0<'ks- The wind, blowing treehlv
?hen the tire started, increased to a gale, and
the flames seemed to spread in every
pMrtanei'i't onul1* beyond oontrol of the de
or Pir? a Kile I^ag.
" *? \u: ',.H' 11 re. was r^^g witJl le>il,tie8S
tury, and had reached West Monroe street, a
?ii?taiice of more than a mile from where it
started, and covered a breadth of nearlv a mile
Jican the river to .lefterson street. The district
, .,h,,, ,im<' embraced an immense num
J-cr U lumber yards and the freight depots of the
< liieago and st. I.onis and Pittsburg, Fort
av*:e, and Chicago railroads, and the property
oeatwned coiinted up many millions of dollars.
A dispatch says: ?? The task of arresting the
tlanws now setnis five-fold greater than an hour
ago. and no one dare venture the opinion a* to
S?" "J w,,en " "top. The flames are
and| increased fury in every direction.
? MK*CY ' AK alo>k savh thecitt
tiPtn utter destruction. A fearful panic pre
"tree,H> ?bere the i^ople are
.i.hing to and tro, weeping and wailing. The
fire is approaching the telegraph office, and it
will I robably soon have to Ik- vacated."
/.< .^!,n^r.t.he ,,iKl't tbe panic among the people
co,.tinned to increase, and the alarm bells were
ringing unceasingly.
^eaaelw in the JKiver C'anKht tire
an.l it seemed probable that thev would all "be
saying thU morning a dispatch camc, j
noAniso. hell or fiee
envelojis twenty blocks of the city, and is al
ready within a block of the Western Cnion Tel.
egraph office, wliere this dispatch is written
SSK'W"1" ? w"1^1*l,", " "*???:
. i UHFV KFKORTS ARE PoWKCI.tSS,
Vli Lt?!LlaipON,ib!? to-te11 where il "?? stop.
The bridge across \ an Buren street is burned.
2. h Cpr8?0nt?H"* track of the Chicago and Alton
TV?>n? railroad, with the freight
booses, have been swept away. Thousands of
? ? tbe streets, rurfiingout of the r dwell
thfr Uv^ny tostance8 bare'y lu "me to save
The last dispatch froat K?* Vork this
morning said: ?? There ia no telegraphic
commnnication with Chicago. The flames
office, which was aban
^ 2:15a. a., Chicago time, and since
which do telegraau. have been received."
Later particulars will be foand ia oar tele
graphic columns.
Loaor*u.owCHAi.ijsroaD?[Promthe Turf
Helmbold, at the late Saratoga meeting To
dolisrs that Helmbold can beat I?n?fellow far
W. B. Base oca.
Miss vima Bxam la eagMed in showin* a
[Olit K>1 mrl.l tk.i -i . ?p_??owing a
?? ? cuassu id aaowiag ?
atical world that ate can made 1 la clay, bj
Ing a bast of Mr. Petor Cooper daring the
open seteoa of the A met lean Institute Fair.
The operation forma a vary eatetlalnlag tahlsan
to the crowd of spectators, who do not know
whether aoat to admire the Mtaao patience
with which the venerable philanthropist aees
his head taken off, or the neat and handy way
la a hi A the yeaagartftK awvae ateaffa her
calico blouse, and pets and careaaea the clay
fa? Into good nature, just m If It ware a Sen
ator.?A*. T. Tribune.
wSirj!W?M ?mtia? ?W?? * N#W Tork
TELEGRAMS^ TO THE STAB.
This Afternoon's Dispatches,
ASSOCIATED fHKss RSPORT8.
THE FIRE FIEND!
CHICAGO IN ASHES!
AN UNPARALLELED CALAMITY!
THIRTY-FOUR IWt kS DESTROY ED 4.\D
THE FLAMES STILL R1GIXG.
Ten Thousand Buildings Burned.
THOISHDS OF PEOPLE HOMELESS.
Thrilling Scenes and Incidents
IMMENSE DESTRUCTION OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
PROPERT*.
N*w York, Oct. 9?We learn l'rom the of
ficers Of tlie Western Union Telegraph Com
pany at Yalparaiso. forty-four uulesso.ithwest of
Chicago, that the Sherman House, Boar<l of
Trade, custom-house, all the railroad depots,
and the Western Union telegraph building at
Chicago are all in ashes.
Tbiitj-lnnr Bloeka Bunied.
CikcixsATI, Oct. 8.?Thirty-four blocks have
been burned in Chicago, and the tire is sUll
raging. The following building* have been
burned, viz:?^The Sherman House, Chamber of
Commerce, Court House, Western Union Tele
graph building, and all that part of the city.
Appeal for Food for the Nnflfrrerw.
Tbe following message, signed by the Mayor
of Chicago, was sent to the Mayor of St. Lou in
this morning: " Send us tood for the suffering
Onr city is in ashes. Our water-works are
burned."
All the BuftineftN Portion of the City
Destroyed.
* Chicago. Oct. 9, K> a. in.?The entire busi
ness jortion of the city is destroyed, including
all the banks, express, telegraph and newspaper
offices, except the Tribunr't. Six elevators and
the water works have been burned. There is
no water in the city.
lO.OOO Bniklings Burned aid the Fire
CMU1 Baglac.
Not less than Ift.ftOO buildings have already
been destroyed. The fire has burned over a
distance of five miles, and is still raging. The
wind is blowing a gale.
It will be almost impossible to get any reliable
detailed particulars for some Lime, as there is
only one telegraph wire working, and that only
to the suburb*.
The Whole t Mj on Fire aid no Water
to be Had.
Niw Y<>*k, Oct. 9.?The fire is still raging at
Chicago and spreading south. One of the rail
road su|>erintendeiits telegraphs that the fire hx?
reached Wabash avenue ami is spreading rapid*
ly. His location is three miles south of Wabash
avenue, and he expresses an opinion that the fire
will reach him before night. No water is to be
had.
Fleeiag Before the Flames,
Washikotoh, Oct. ft, 11:3ft a. m ? Mr. Wilson,
manager of the Chicago office of the Western
Union Telegraph, telegraphs as folio*s: "Kvery
banking house and railroad depot in the city is
?turned. We are trying to get offices established
in the Supply Department, but the fire is com
ing down Wabash avenue, and we expect to be
burned out here l?efore night."
O
LATE I*.
01E-T11RD OF CHICAGO I* RII1S!
Tbe Fire Mill Ra^iagl
LOSS Si FAR FIFTY MILLION OF DOLLARS!
DETROIT IN FLAMES !
Nkw York, Oct. 9?Noon?The tire in
Chicago is still raging; and a large fire has
broken ovt in Detroit.
Nkw Yokk. Oct. 9?12:30 p. n Fully one
third of the city of -Chicago is already in ruins,
ami the lire is still raging.
Water.
Ciscikhati, Oct. 9?The following is from
?l. S. Wilson. Su|?erlntendent of the Western
Union Telegraph Company, at Chicago:
"Chk a?), Oct.9, 10a. m.?There is no water.
The tire is now coming south on Wabash avenue,
and w ill probably rea? li hen-, where atea.norarv
temjiorary telegraph office has been established,
before night."
Blow in if I p the Honaea.
Ciscivsati. Oct. 9.?Tlie mayor of this citv
has telcgrai?!ied to the mayor of Chicago, offer
ing tin- >et\iv-es of our ?re department, if need
ed. It is reputed that manr houses have been
blown up in the effort to stem the conflagration,
but without avail.
A mass meeting is lieing held, presided over
by <}ov. Hay<*-, tor the relief of the Chicago
>uflerers.
Excitement is New York.
Nkw York, Oct.9.?There is great excitement
in Wall street and throughout the city over the
Chicago tire.
Aeeouut of the Fire hj an Eye Wit
newt.
Btffalo. Oct. *).?The following particulars
of the treat tire at Chicago kave been obtained
from J. N. Chrittenden. an operator of the
Wei-tern Union TelegraphCowpanvin Chicago,
who has Just arrived at Engk wood, 111., seven
miles southeast of Chicago:
Mr. C. left the city on an engine at 8.30 this
a. m. The fire commenced about 9 o'clock last
aight near the corner of Jefferson and Delevan
streets, and swept everything betore it, taking a
northeasterly conrse throtigh the central part ol
the city. The court-house, W. U. telegraph
office, hotels, banks, and apparently everything
within half a mile west of the court-house, ami
as far south as Polk street, and, probably, west
of State street, and perhaps east of that/are at!
destroyed. The fire now rages on the "north
side," east of Wells street, extending up to Chi
cago arsenal in a northeasterly direction.
It Is being checked to the'windward, on the
south and west sides. The wiad seems to hloa
bard and to be changing toward tbe south. -J
think the lire reaches toward the Great Central
depot, aad that is probably destroyed. The
Lake Shore and Michigan "Southern and thi
Bock Island railroad depots, the city water
works. the Tremonl House, Sliersan H.oass.
and Crosby's Opera House are among the build
tags destroved. The elerratora on Main and
Blvcr streets, most have been horned, as tbe
fire was ranging on both sides at 7 o'clock, when
I was there- Thousands of people are homeleos.
The losses will exceed fifty millions ef dollars.?'
Extent of the Fire.
Nrw York. Oct. 9.?One report just received
from Chicago says tbe fire Is burningaa Car soutt
as Harrison street, as far north as Chicago a ve
nous, and badly on the west side.
Ciitcixkati. Oct. 9?The following telegram
has been sent to O. H. Palmer, treasurer of the
Western Union Telegra^Hi Company:
" Chicago. Oct. 9?One-third of the city is ir
ruins. All the hanks, insuranoe offices, ware
houses, and elevators have been destroyed
Fully 10.00ft buildings have been burned. The
fire is still raging, and the wind is blowing a
gale. (Signed) Raitkiv, Manager."
Help hr the fialbrera.
CHOSHATI, Oct. 9?The Mayors of nearly
all the western cities have proffered relief and
assistance to tbe Mayor or Chicago.
The Chief Engineer of the Cincinnati Fire ,
I*' i artment. wit? three engines an 1 boar cart*.
ha* riain4 tor t tucage.
A mas* meeting of railroad presidents. prom
ittu gen.
erally, U now ??< ing held at the Ch.imbar of
in*:it merchai ta and r'.tirews of Cincinna
I O nmn rce to take meusures lor the relief of the
|sufl? r*.
Prajfr far the 4Mirte4 City.
Baltimore. Oct.?.?At one v'dMk m-.tav a
dispatch frnin Chicago relative to the gr~at tin
i ?ii read in the Ota it a! Epi?> o|>a! Convention.
On motion 01 Dr. Adams. ot W isconsin. the wf
ular btiMne*-?at> wnapemled.and the convention
united in prayer tor the atlietrd city.
St. Laaii VnqMkthiir*.
| St. I/oris.??f t. y.? Mat 01 iinmn has recelv?d
a ut?a|i' from Chicago. anking food for the
?nff< rin^ people of that oity. He has called a
n..i?? n.eei ng of eit>ren? xt the MerrkHtf
BnlWU, at 12 o'clock, which mill be largely
I attended. The sympathy here is universal, s'l
classes expressing the deepest feeling and sorrow
for the ^tenng people. M?ror Brown bat a
-facial train ready to start with Arc eng.ne*.
The >treets in itont of the newspaj>er office* a?*
thronged. A later dis|>atrli has just been received
ir? iu Chicago, asking for tire engines and m.*n.
'I bey will be *1/ ai on The dispatoh alao
<?yi the fire in still ragln furiously.
LATEST.
THE CHICAGO HORROR
MORE THAN HALF THE CITY
IN RUINS!
150,000 Homeless People.
K*c.liwood, (10 mile* from Chicago.) Oct.9,
11 a. m?The work of devaluation continues.
than one half of the city in alrea ly de
stroTfd, and the flames continae their ravage*
almost unop|>o*ed. At about one o'clock thin
morning the tire crowd the river at the Adam*
street bridge, soon destroyed the gas works, and
then spread in every direction At this nonr
almost every building from Harrison atreet
north, to the Chicago river ia destroyed;
including all the insurance offices, bank*,
hotels, telegraph office*. tad newspa
per offiees. witli the single exception
of the Trttm** office, which is fire-proof. The
? ourt House, Sherman House, Trcmont House.
Palmer House, new Pacific Hotel, in a Blgelow
Hotel, and, intact, everything clae, are swept
clean. This district embrace* all the heavy
business houses in the city. The
RAIN OF rir.K AM) BBlMK.*Tri!(E
upon Sodom and Gomorrah can hardly be 00m
T r . i to the <leva*tating rain of the fire Item! on
1 hicago. More than one-half of the population
are now rushing through the streets in vehicle*
obtained ate normo us prices .on f<a>t.and in every
other way, with their choli-est household treas
ures in their arms and on their backs, in utter
confusion. not knowing whither to go. Fearful
suffering must follow, and alnwet immediately.
Fully one hundred and tift> thousand |MTM>n?afc
at tliis moment homeless and bou?elem, not
knowing where to lay their headsor get anything
o satisfy their cravings of hunger.
Nlrkralaf D?tall* ?r this Caparal
S axto Domino, Oct. 1, You , Oct.
SLawmut arrived at Hamana Bay om the 16th
ult., and proceeded iaattfattlT to Caidera to
relieve the SvsUn, which has gene to J
Prtnce to inquire into the eaae of the
which Is still dewtoad there Thi
sailed on the 30d for Porto Rico ?
The Kansas was ezpaotod to arrive shortly to
maka soundings ia Samaaa Bay. Am iaamai
church at Bamaua has haaa completed. mmt ia
read; tor service. The health af Americans on
ihip and on share ooaOaaaa good
Xkw Yokk.'ojS. T^dMockT arc"vary tvMed
and panicky, and have fallen la3 par cent aince
morning, the daalina being eaaaed by taa A
Chicago. Governments and tat*
and heavy; Virginia aUea. 80; do. hw, 0c Nona
Carolina*, ?*; do. naw, ?; gold he^at H%l
Ster'lng eschar? ? *- ? - -*
Kiw You,
unsettled the
higher, wWh
firmer.
New York. Oct. A special dispatch from
Knglewood, timed 10 this morning, says the fire
has been partially subdued by the fire depart
ment* from Milwaukee and other cities, in con
junction with the Chicago firemen. It Is not
known whether aav lives are lost, bat the
streets are tilled with people, many of them
mourning missing relatives and friends. Wash
ington. Madison, Market, Clinton, Jefferson.
Buffalo, and Griswold streets and all that part
of the city is a blackened maw. Thousands of
people In vehicles are on the roads from the
villages to aid the people in Chicago. The fire
men and policemen arc working like herooa.
The fire ba.? extended over a circuit of three
miles, and both sides of the Chlrago ri/er are in
ruins.
Great exertions were made to save the < ourt
House and gas house, but in vain. The latter
exploded with three reports, but no lives wer?
lost. The city to-tii^ht will be in darkness.
Thirty or torty vesaelsin the river are now burn
ing, and main more are destroyed.
The finest blocks of dwellings and finest build
ings in the city are in ashes. Every man in the
city ia called on to do duty. Nearlv all the
bridges across the river are burned. All ia ter
ror.
KAKTHitt AKE TO-DAY !
lemy Mhakea.
Sai.km, K. ?!., Oct. ft.?A shock of earftiquake
was felt here this a. m . lasting several seconds,
and jarring houses, etc.
Delaware Rkarked.
Xkwoastli, 1>kl., Oct. a?There was a per
ceptible shock of earthquake here at 9:?li this a.
in., actoaipanied by a roaring aonnd. causing
?reat alarm, aud shaking every house in the
city, bnt causing no damage.
wilnalngtaa TbMgkt It was Wily m
Ponder Mill Iiplaalaa.
Wti.mn<4Ton, D*l.. Oct. s?.?A shock felt here
at !.':30 caused some excitement, but no great
alarm. I>ecause all thought it an explosion at
Pujont'. powder mill. Natwdy was hurt and no
carnage was sustained.
The tieaeral Eplsraaal faaveatlea
Batimoke. Oct. S??In the K]>lscopal ooiiven
ti?m (tltth day) the morning service waa con
ducted by Rev. I?r. .lackwn. of Conn.; Dr. Van
I)ei:sen, ot Central New Vork.ainl Hlshop Kast
burn. of M ass.: after which the Houscof Deputies
was called to order, President Cralkln the chair.
A resolution expressive of the grateful sense
of this house of the services to the church of the
Right Rev. Carlton Chaae. D. D., Bishop of New
Ham|?hire; Rev. Thomas Mills Martin, one of
deputies ot the dlocease of Indiana; Rev. Renj.
Katon.of Texas, and Rev. Christian Hatichel,
D. D., ot South Carolina, all deceased since the
last session of this bodv, waa ordered to be en
tered on the record.
A message was received from the House of
Bishops that "this General Convention, the
House of I>epntle* concurring, does hereby rec
ogrize the union with the General Convention
ot the new dioceae to be erected within the
limits 01 the Dioceae of Pennsylvania, ratified
by the action of the j>rc?ent General AasemMv,
to takeeft.-ct (Yomaad after the eighth day of So
veml r next, and that the name ofthe skid dio
cese Is to be <u*er mined by the i>rimar> convent;on
thereof, nith the consent ofthe Bishops of Penn
sylvania; also, a message }>roposing the appoint
ment of a joint committee <>1 the two houses to
prepare a present to the next general conven
tion?a version of the liook of common prayer in
the Spanish language."
?
The laininaa) I ranilv
New York, Oct. 9?In the Ingerooll case to
?lay affidavits were read on the part of the de
feu<lants, from John Hardv. clerk of the Com
mon Council, and Joseph B. Young, clerk ot the
Hoard of Supervisors, that they knew of no
monies either over paid or fraudulent!v paid or
due to Mr. Ingersofl by the Council, Mayor or
?Supervisors. The oounael for the defence read
Haverney's affidavit, and contended that aa it
was founded entirely on information and belief
the eoort could not grant the plaintifl standing
11 court?The counsel intimated that they would
go on with the argument until O'Gormon, cor
poration counsel, could be plaoed on the stand,
or his affidavit be obtained. It was claimed that
t was eaaenti&l that the common council and
"uperrlsora should be joined in laeaa, m they
are charged with ooUuamn.
After awaiting the arrival O'Gormon, and ha
not appearing, the caee was peetponed till
Wednesday.
B chmoud, Va., Oi
rmmn eimpi t?mt.
I..?*no ?T^8rt?i#
CV valtor Nb?.WM ItalmwMiaimer ?*? Fran v.
will *hortiv relWTe Count Cmtoraa a* mm* to
tto court ot St. Jam.*- . .
Vi R"aii i e*. Ofi r-The report of tto??
pom itM nt ot I>roovn df 1/Har* a* French Min
uter to Am*n*. to aarUotOatorwIy daatol }*
LH ttv? tot *? "J*
Vrotillr* firrrMBfiit It is i>-|? W ii ihn m.
Victor Ij fruir ni-itc# the ltt? M. La^toecht
ia tto Minna r> <* tbe Interior. ud that V. Fw
catd wUI fill tto n>*.iton ot MnWt of Fiaanoo
ftru turn., vtrttrd by thf tranafer n< to l^frtK
Ur*WB%tr*Uoe toy n.otm -Mmmmr tul*"
Mrs m Ir?laa4.
ftrnui. Ott J.-Ttorf ? aa quite a dca?>n
Ktrotfc n by tb(J4rtMr> of the h?mc rrrtc notlcv
at l>rogtoda totirtoT. Fight ttoaviiHl mmi
?am- bed In procei*b>n No di4?rUbcv> are
rrfoitol to tort atiett<Vd tto abtr.
CofUah mm mm.
th(kem? Jhwrn?- Tkt .\ewcatlU S rtb*, rfc.
Umvii. ??ct *?It I* propoaed to erect.a
rational mm mortal (the exact character of wbi-b
mimt Malrd.) to tto Utr ? bar tea Dtekeaa. TV
project originated at Portsmouth, l>?ctoao*
name place
Central Sir John Fo* Bitrgerine. baronet, a
?Hi ran of tbe *a|?>h-onic war*, died v(K?d?>
at the adraao d as* nt ? vt an.
It to propuaed thot m ca*e tto on.litou kntl
npoa tor the settlement of tbe diaputc between
tto workmen and their employer* at New-artle
arr not accepted to the lattrt thai thf iwtw or
point* objected to aha.I In* submitted to arbi
nation. tbe drctaktn ot lb* arbitrator* to be
final. |Tbe MiMaRCiB<iit, dnt tto engineer*
vtrike wa* virtuallv at an en.I 1* substantially
correct. The |>otlre of Newcastle threaten to
initiate a strike lor an liK-n or of pay.
?
Am Exp'ortatt Party.
St. P*rt.*Vt. l-at?' advice* re
ceived trow tto nriitarv ei|M*ditfc>a ?-?cortmg
the Northern FaciHc railroad nrrewif |?it?
from tin- Missouri river westward tutu Montana
?taie* that no attempt t<a*I been mtdr by the
Pond Indian* to oppose the progress ot the par**
except by burning tbe prairie gra*s. Tbe ex
{?edition Uiua far baa tie?-ti MKrir RHMMtk:.
An eicePeut route ha* been diacovered im tb<
railroad iip the Heart river, through om I
country. The present aitrvey will cam tbe line
a* lar weat aa Uie moirh ot tto Powiler rim,
!? tbe \ellowstone wiky. whore it will ivibno i
with tbe survey* which have been pr<>gre?.iug
during the pa?t* neaanti in Montana. Tlie ei|?
ditioti. which embrace* aome **? m 'n. to ex
pected to reach Fort Rice about November lat.
?
ratal ItoiMiat llVay la Hrhaaaoii
Kk nmoiiii. Vi., <k*. ??Martin oliey rkrn
and instantly killed Robert Pettawa> last even
injt 1 be difficulty originated in a taniily wum
ter.In which Pettewa .'a wife ia aaid to" have
tot ii talking about Alley and a woman with
whom to had lieen living. Alley went to pette
wav'? touae fur aattolto'ioa, a <|oarrel euaooi.
and Petteway -'.ruck Alley in tto fa>?. Tin
latter drew a ptotol and tired tbr*? t.me* at P?
tewav. one ?bot taking < ffert tn hi* hoart AlV v
ha* been an enginetr for many year* on tto ?*.
Ait K. R- Prtteway waa a carpenter.
had familb*. Tto maritorer liaa bevn arreaw l.
lamaaaai Mill SeakaalaK.
(Ill or TNK TAMMAMY r.lBU AT TMki MUCU
KR'a II E> H
I>uring two year* and a half John H Revaer
I received *2.3ai.?ieig.?i2 from tto New York eitv
I and county treaoury At Priday nigbt 'a lueetint;
of tb<- comnilttee ot M.*venty. it ww aunouncod
I that Mr. Keyaer had aiwigned to Mr. .la<-k?on H.
Schulta. of tto citiaen*' ooVamtttoe. propertv to
tto value ol aAMi.aai tor the purpoae ot rering
from it* proceed* all turn* paid to huo iu exoea*
ot hi* juxt claim* for corporation work.
KtV*IR VRITI* A I.tTTI!*
to the prexa.dettning hi* position He ?avw ho
La> i to lit tent ion ot almconding. and haa never
recHved any trom the city, hut that
he ha* earned every dollar that ha* l?eu paid
There are among tbe warranta purporting to
hare been iaaued u> him s??i.iaai which he never
received, aad it in hto name are forgnrie*. la
Charge* have been made, to baa,to vimlicatAic
own character, aaaigtied bia pro|>ertv to cover
any claim* againat him. confident that it will
tarn out that thecity, in fact, ia tadctrtedtahtm.
Tweed to not hi* partner, bat hto principal em
pVovea *bare a percentage of proflta, which iatto
aecret of the tirm title of Reyaer & t'?.
TH* CnHHI TTII or IIVWTV
have )>repared an addrew to tto workingm>-n.
Netting forth clearly and coix-iarly the metiwd by
which tto' ring robbed tbe city treaaury and
deceived the worklngmen into aupporting them.
The memtor* of the committee aay that an effort
I* being made to east the blame and odium for
the taUe and forged vouctora u|?n tto late
coanty auditor Watmn, who cannot reply, but
tto committee have overw helming pn??f? again-!
men now Hrtng. and at the proper rime they will
to forthcoming, and men whom tto niinauimi
would hardly auapect will be found baring a
band in tbe city treasury, and diriding tto
apoito.
Hokbiulk <'a*k <>r If truck ann Sri. it>??
aa4 Jnhdrlttg.?< ?u Saturday moruing
.luliu* Stcinman. aged 30, a lagei beer *bo|>
kee|>er in New York. mur<lere<l hto wife, -tuba, a
native of Ueiabaden. aged 21, by crutthing her
head with a club aad *moothnig iron, and cut
ting tor throat with a ahe&th knife. He then
hanged himaelf with a clottoa line at tto abop
door. The bodie* of both were cold when di"
covered. She had been a saloon waiter, aad be
became jrakw on account of a habit ?hc had oT
going out at ntght.and ataving until a late tour.
wtore.be never knew. When found dead abe
wa* Mtting at tor auppcr table in tbe t?ack room
of tbe xaioon. dreaaed in black trimmed with
green velvet, her arm* oa tbe table and her bead
reclining on them, face downward. <)ii tbe right
aide of her bead waa a ghaatly wound, from
which Rtill oozed blood, clotting 'the thick fold*
ot her black hair. In the adjoining front room
hung tto hnaband by a single cord from a Xaple
in the front or street door. Iu* fane turned
directly toward the dead body of hi* wile. He
waa barefooted, with a pair of old pant* and a
white *hirt on, open at tbe neck. The coroner
took charge of tbe premise*
Axotbbr Kucyclicau.?The Pope ha* iuot
been publishing another encyclical letter,which
in mi I stance say* that the faithful mu*t perae
vere in keeping up good courage, and think*
that "liome. tto rudder, tbe aUMMlard ix arer of
the Church militant," will wun be restored to
the control < : th< < h-i:ch. Tbto to not tocaaae
he b? lieve* that formutoble armie* are te assist
him. or thaT there ia to to a universal crusade in
hia favor, but tocause to is -guided Im tto un
changeable nature of God's providence >n everv
M?'r
The Kiv xote or Labor RErorm.?Tho
Uelfgates to tbe Intrrnauoiial Cooper*' Union,
the object of which i* to secure mutual brweftt
and protect ion. and toelevatethe workin^ipau'*
condition Intellectually and rnorallv. met laooa
rcntipn in New York on the Htii instant. AI ttif
evening meeting the president aaid that educa
tion waa tto tot-note and waU-haord ol tto
whole labor reform movement.
Abomtto* or A*t?rccRA<T iw .1 *r?* ?
Tbe .Ia|>anesc government ha* is*ue?t a <lncree
wiping out tbe p0*itM>B0f I tiamio. Thi*re<lnces
peorle who have Iw-en rul?r? for ovi
to the position of tlie common |>e(iple, aid im
mediately annexes their territoriea to the gov
ernment.' There i* no longer anv aristocrats
nor religion exc? pt through tbe M ikad ?.
SPECIAL NOTICES
The I'allaaiBC mill be re.id ?|tii
latere*!
I inler data of April ?b. 71,1?r H-nryJ R
0*? bliari street. BalrlaM>r?.aa iwiwit pliraiciao
write* regarding CRYBTAL DlKO\ (Hi
*? It ag"rd? me mud pleasure to l*-ar U^tiin >n> a*
t. the efttcacy of par Crratai lliaem ry. Sam*
rears ainc*>, wBile In India 1 aafleraii from a ae?arm
fevar peculiar to th?> e nntry . Ou a>. ? ?? uc a
aaich of hair r*i tto left aide << m> toad to?ur p*
lectl> white. wiitH Ut at all a*?->ting tto ri aiaiuder.
To remove thi* ar)?ightl) appearance, I uad recourse
to tariooa prapara?<?>s, U>th tn Sarop* Mil thia
eoantrj, tut tBejalj had uat irraat d?l?<ci?tto) dyed
tbe hair black. Bow .with y?ur Crystal Dtocover> .
1 caa gatthe desirwl ?had<?the natural ' ??!<* of tav
ban b?ingdark brown. I anaatdur roar Maooaory
tha beat preparation I kan* >1.
Toura. truly. HUSKY J "
Cleaa.ctoar. baimliaa. it turaiabe. tbe ualj aaft
preparation to rive new life to the Hair, wtoa de
ea?e<l or irray It ? ill st j th" hair falling and re
ar * dandruff 8- by manr of tto prin. pal drug
gtota and at dew??. M aad D atreeta. I W
oc7 tr ARTHrSKATTAb'B.lhaooverar.Sc.
"Till OUT OOOD IA DCS''

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Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, October 09, 1871, Image 1

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Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1789-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities external link and the Library of Congress. Learn more Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC V - 38--N"-.

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Mrs. O'Leary and her cow.

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time magazine

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source: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033699/1871-10-10/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=10%2F08%2F1871&sort=date&date2=12%2F31%2F1871&words=fire+Fire+FIRE+firing&sequence=1&lccn=&index=16&state=&rows=20&ortext=fire&proxtext=&year=&phrasetext=&andtext=&proxValue=&dateFilterType=range&page=1

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Mrs O Leary and her cow

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The fire started in the barn behind Catherine O'Leary West Side. O'Leary was in the barn around 9.p.m. milking her cow, when the cow kicked over lantern and sparked the inferno. O'Leary herself consistently denied this account saying that she never milked after dark.

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Time Magazine

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The chicago Fire burned from October 8th all the way to October 10th 

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The chicago Fire burned from October 8th all the way to October 10th 

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The Chicago Fire of 1871, also called the Great Chicago Fire, burned from October 8 to October 10, 1871, and destroyed thousands of buildings, killed an estimated 300 people and caused an estimated $200 million in damages. Legend has it that a cow kicked over a lantern in a barn and started the fire…

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300 people killed

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Started in the early hours of October 9th.

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Started in the early hours of October 9th.

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Source: Mental Floss Magazine

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Killed 300 people and leaving 100,000 homeless 

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Killed 300 people and leaving 100,000 homeless 

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Time Magazine

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Started in a ally and spread through blocks in the neighborhood (Mental Floss Magazine)

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Smithsonian magazine

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More than 3 square miles of Chicago was leveled out fire to the fire.
Source: We Still Don't Know How The Great Chicago Fire Started by Jennifer Latson.

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The fire kept spreading through blocks in the neighborhood

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The fire kept spreading through blocks in the neighborhood

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The cow

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The fire leveled more than 3 square miles of the city.

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The fire leveled more than 3 square miles of the city.

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Source: Mental Floss Magazine
Matt Soniak.

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Sullivan walking past his house to smoking a pipe by a barn.

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a comet

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The fire was in progress for more than 24 hrs from the  New York Tribune

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The fire was in progress for more than 24 hrs from the  New York Tribune

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Mrs, O Leary was milking her cow around 9pm when the cow kicked over a lantern and this caused the fire to start.

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300 people killed,100,000 people homeless, $200 Million worth of property damage.

Source: Mental Floss Magazine
Matt Soniak.

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the fire leveled more than 3 square miles of the city

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O'Leary and her cow

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buildings were made from wood and flammable materials

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chicago fire newspaper current periodical serial government publication library of congress journal magazine

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Chicago Fire - Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room (Serial and Government Publications Division, Library of Congress)

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Chicago Fire (Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room, Library of Congress).

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Around 9 pm on Sunday, October 8, 1871, a fire started in a barn in the alley behind 137 DeKoven Street in Chicago. Two days later the blaze died out, after burning nearly three and a third square miles of the city. The Great Chicago Fire killed 300 people, left some 100,000 homeless, and destroyed $200 million worth of property.

In all of American, and even world, history, no bovine is more infamous than a cow, belonging to Patrick and Catharine O'Leary, that was accused of starting what Fire Marshall Robert A. Williams called a "hurricane of fire and cinders." Even as the fire cut a swath through the city, neighbors and newspaper reporters quickly placed the blame on the O'Learys and their cow. In the early hours of October 9, newspapers first reported that the blaze started when the cow, as Catharine milked it, kicked over a kerosene lantern.

After the fire was put out, the story evolved and more blame fell on the O'Learys. Some papers reported that Mrs. O'Leary had been on welfare, and that when city officials discovered that she'd been selling her cows' milk on the side, they cut her off. The fire, it was implied, was an act of revenge.

Other newspapers maintained that the fire was an accident, and that a lantern had simply been knocked over, either by the cow or by Mrs. O'Leary.

That November, the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners started an inquiry into the cause of, and response to, the fire. In interviews with the board, Mrs. O'Leary testified both that she never milked the cows in the evening and that she was asleep in bed when the fire started, having gone to bed early complaining of a sore foot. Daniel "Pegleg" Sullivan, a neighbor who was the first person to raise the alarm about the fire, also testified and confirmed Catharine's alibi. After two months and 1100 pages of handwritten testimony, the board members couldn't say much about the origin of the fire, except that it started in the barn. "Whether it originated from a spark blown from a chimney on that windy night or was set on fire by human agency," they said, "we are unable to determine."

Despite the board's conclusions, or lack thereof, the damage to Catharine O'Leary and her cow were done. The story of the cow and the lantern circulated quickly and widely and took hold in the public imagination and the history books. Mrs. O'Leary lived out the rest of her life as a virtual recluse, reportedly only leaving her home to attend mass. Every October, reporters came to her looking for a quote for their fire anniversary stories and she shooed them away, invoking the name of her son James, who grew up to be a gambling boss known as "Big Jim" O'Leary. "I know bad people," she'd say, as she showed the men the door. She died in 1895. Her obituary and death certificate listed the cause as acute pneumonia, but neighbors and friends said the real cause was a "broken heart" from the unfounded blame she received.

Tall Tales

A century after her death, Catharine and her cow were cleared of any wrongdoing, and another suspect was discovered. Richard Bales, an Assistant Regional Counsel with the Chicago Title Insurance Company, became interested in the fire when he wrote a paper about it for a college course. His company maintains the only set of land records that survived the blaze of 1871, and he used them to dig further into the legend of the O'Learys' cow and the cause of the fire. In 1997, he published an article, and later a book, on his research.

One thing he found was that the fire probably wasn't intentionally set. The O'Learys' barn was full of animals, some of them belonging to neighbors and some used for Catharine's milk business. There were five cows, a calf, and a horse. There was also a new wagon nearby in the alley, and none of the property or real estate was insured. "Had [Catharine] been in the barn when the fire broke out, it seems unlikely that she would have run back into her home and allowed her property to both literally and figuratively go up in smoke," Bales wrote. "Instead, she would have cried for help and attempted to extinguish what was then just a minor barn fire and save the building and its contents."

The cow also appears to be blameless, and several reporters came forward decades after the fire to admit that the story of the cow kicking the lantern was a fabrication, or at least came from unreliable sources. Reporter Michael Ahern, who was working for the Chicago Republican at the time of the fire, admitted in a 1921 column in the Chicago Tribune that he and two colleagues made the cow story up to add some color to their copy. After that, another reporter, John Kelley, wrote to the O'Learys' grandson saying that he was the one that wrote the first instance of the cow story under Ahern's byline, since his colleague's drinking habit prevented him from writing and filing the story.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Daily Journal explained that on the night of the fire, one of their reporters had gone to the O'Learys' neighborhood and heard the cow story from some neighbors there, and the paper ran with it without looking into it further. Recollections of the fire published by one of the O'Learys' neighbors say that the story started with some neighborhood kids who hadn't been in the barn or near it, but spent the night telling anyone who would listen about a cow kicking a lantern anyway.

The Real Culprit

The most significant thing Bales found in his research was reason to suspect that the fire was started by "Peg Leg" Sullivan, the man who first noticed it. When he testified before the investigative board, Sullivan said that he visited the O'Leary house around 8 pm and found Catharine in bed and Patrick ready to join her. He headed home, but then kept going past his house and stopped in front of a neighbor's house to smoke a pipe. He looked up and saw fire coming from the O'Learys' barn and ran into it to try to extinguish the flames and free the animals before seeking help.

After mapping out the various homes and properties, Bales doubts Sullivan's version of the events. First, the buildings were arranged in such a way that, from where he stood to smoke his pipe, Sullivan would not have been able to see the barn because another home would have blocked his view. What's more, as one might guess from his nickname, Sullivan had a wooden leg, and couldn't move very fast. Yet he claimed that he ran from his smoking spot to the barn-a distance about half the length of a football field-and escaped the barn before the fire consumed it, then ran to alert the O'Learys and the authorities. Given his condition, the distances involved, and the speed with which the fire spread, Bales argues, Sullivan could not have done what he claimed to without being injured by the fire.

There's also the matter of why Sullivan walked past his own house to smoke his pipe in front of his neighbor's house. Bales thinks that was part of an alibi. Claiming to smoke his pipe where he did put him outside and close enough to the barn that he could claim to have seen the fire, but out of view of his neighbors, the McLaughlins, who were having a party that night and would have been able to see him if he was standing in front of his own house.

Bales argues that Sullivan was in or around the barn that night-his mother kept one of her cows there and he may have gone to feed it-and, by accident with a careless flick of a match or a stray ember from his pipe or by bumping a lantern, started the fire. When he realized he couldn't put the fire out on his own, he ran for help and came up with a cover story to escape blame.

In 1997, convinced by Bales' argument and evidence, the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance exonerating Mrs. O'Leary and her cow.

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Did a Cow Really Cause the Great Chicago Fire?

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Around 9 pm on Sunday, October 8, 1871, a fire started in a barn in the alley behind 137 DeKoven Street in Chicago. Two days later the blaze died out, after burning nearly three and a third square miles of the city.

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Late one night, when we were all in bed, Mrs. O'Leary lit a lantern in the shed. Her cow kicked it over, then winked her eye and said, "There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight!" - Chicago folksong
There is no known photograph of Catherine O'Leary, and who could blame her for shunning the cameras? After those two catastrophic days in October 1871, when more than 2,000 acres of Chicago burned, reporters continually appeared on Mrs. O'Leary's doorstep, calling her "shiftless and worthless" and a "drunken old hag with dirty hands." Her husband sicced dogs at their ankles and hurled bricks at their heads. P.T. Barnum came knocking to ask her to tour with his circus; she reportedly chased him away with a broomstick. Her dubious role in one of the greatest disasters in American history brought her fame she never wanted and couldn't deflect. When she died 24 years later of acute pneumonia, neighbors insisted the true cause was a broken heart.

Mrs. O'Leary claimed to be asleep on the night of Sunday, October 8, when flames first sparked in the barn next to the family cottage on DeKoven Street. The blaze traveled in northeast, tearing through shanties and sheds and leaping across Taylor Street, the heat so fierce that fireman Charles Anderson could hold his hose to the flames only when shielded by a door. His hat curdled on his head. All spare engines were called to the growing conflagration, prompting one fire marshal to ask another: "Where has this fire gone to?" The answer was swift and apt: "She has gone to hell and gone." Residents noticed that a freakish wind whipped the flames into great walls of fire more than 100 feet high, a meteorological phenomenon called "convection whirls"-masses of overheated air rising from the flames and began spinning violently upon contact with cooler surrounding air. "The wind, blowing like a hurricane, howling like myriads of evil spirits," one witness later wrote, "drove the flames before it with a force and fierceness which could never be described or imagined."

Although the wind never exceeded 30 miles per hour, these "fire devils," as they were dubbed, pushed the flames forward and across the city. By early morning on Tuesday, October 10, when rain extinguished the last meekly glowing ember, the city was ravaged: $200 million worth of property destroyed, 300 lives lost and 100,000 people-one third of the city's population-left homeless. The Chicago Tribune likened the damage to that in Moscow after Napoleon's siege in 1812. In a peculiar twist of fate, and one that would not go unnoticed by the city's press, the fire spared the O'Leary family's home.

Before the Great Chicago Fire, no one took notice of Patrick and Catherine O'Leary, two Irish immigrants who lived with their five children on the city's West Side. Patrick was a laborer and Catherine sold milk from door to door, keeping her five cows in the barn. Even before the fire died out on the city's northern edges, the Chicago Evening Journal implicated her, reporting that it began "on the corner of DeKoven and Twelfth Streets, at about 9 o'clock on Sunday evening, being caused by a cow kicking over a lamp in a stable in which a woman was milking"-a scenario that originated with children in the neighborhood. Similar articles followed, many perpetuating ethnic stereotypes and underscoring nativist fears about the city's growing immigrant population. The Chicago Times, for one, depicted the 44-year-old Catherine as "an old Irish woman" who was "bent almost double with the weight of many years of toil, trouble and privation" and concluded that she deliberately set fire to her barn out of bitterness: "The old hag swore she would be revenged on a city that would deny her a bit of wood or a pound of bacon."

During an inquiry held by the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners to determine the cause of the blaze, Catherine testified that she went to bed sometime between eight o'clock and eight-thirty, and was sleeping when her husband roused her with the words, "Cate, the barn is afire!" She ran outside to see it for herself, and watched as dozens of neighbors worked to save adjacent homes, fixing two washtubs to fire hydrants and running back and forth with buckets of water. One of them had thrown a party that night-Catherine recalled hearing fiddle music as she prepared for bed-and a woman named Mrs. White told her that someone had wandered away from the gathering and slipped into her barn. "She mentioned a man was in my barn milking my cows," Catherine said. "I could not tell, for I didn't see it."

The board also questioned a suspect named Daniel Sullivan, who lived directly across from the O'Leary's on DeKoven Street, and who had first alerted Patrick O'Leary to the fire. Sullivan, known as "Peg Leg" for his wooden limb, said he had attended the party and left about half past nine. As he stepped out into the night, he said, he saw a fire in the O'Learys' barn. He ran across the street hollering, "Fire, fire, fire!" and headed straight to the source of the flames, reasoning that he might be able to save the cows. "I knew a horse could not be got out of a fire unless he be blinded," Sullivan testified, "but I didn't know but cows could. I turned to the left-hand side. I knew there was four cows tied to that end. I made at the cows and loosened them as quick as I could. I got two of them loose, but the place was too hot. I had to run when I saw the cows were not getting out."

After nine days of questioning 50 people-testimony that made up more than 1,100 handwritten pages-the board members issued an inconclusive report about the fire's cause. "Whether it originated from a spark blown from a chimney on that windy night," it read, "or was set on fire by human agency, we are unable to determine." Nevertheless Catherine O'Leary remained culpable in the public's eye. None of her contemporaries bothered to ask the obvious questions that indicate her innocence: Why would she leave the barn after setting the fire-even accidentally-and go back into her home? Why would she not scream for help? Why would she risk losing her cows, her barn, and possibly her home without trying to save them?

One of Catherine's sons, James, was two years old at the time of the fire, and would grow up to become "Big Jim" O'Leary, notorious saloon proprietor and gambling kingpin. Over the years he granted numerous newspaper interviews, complaining that, "That musty old fake about the cow kicking over the lamp gets me hot under the collar." He insisted that the fire was caused by the spontaneous combustion of "green" (or newly harvested) hay, large quantities of which had been delivered to the barn on the eve of the fire. But the summer of 1871 had been one long and merciless heat wave in Chicago, with scorching temperatures extending into the fall, making it likely that the hay was thoroughly dry before being stored in the barn.

Patrick and Catherine O'Leary sold their cottage on DeKoven Street in 1879 and moved many times, eventually settling in on South Halstead Street on what was then the far South Side. In 1894, the year before Catherine died, her physician did what she'd always refused to do and gave a comment to the press:

"It would be impossible for me to describe to you the grief and indignation with which Mrs. O'Leary views the place that has been assigned her in history. That she is regarded as the cause, even accidentally, of the Great Chicago Fire is the grief of her life. She is shocked at the levity with which the subject is treated and at the satirical use of her name in connection with it.... She admits no reporters to her presence, and she is determined that whatever ridicule history may heap on her it will have to do it without the aid of her likeness. Many are the devices that have been tried to procure a picture of her, but she has been too sharp for any of them. No cartoon will ever make any sport of her features. She has not a likeness in the world and will never have one."

Patrick and Catherine O'Leary are buried in Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery in Chicago, next to their son James and his wife. In 1997, the Chicago City Council passed a resolution exonerating Catherine-and her cow-from all blame.

Richard F. Bales, The Great Chicago Fire and the Myth of Mrs. O'Leary's Cow. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2002; Owen J. Hurd, After the Fact: The Surprising Fates of American History's Heroes, Villains, and Supporting Characters. New York: Penguin Group, 2012; Carl Smith, Urban Disorder and the Shape of Belief. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

"Fire and Death in Chicago." New York Herald, October 10, 1871; "The Chicago Fire: Vivid Accounts by Eyewitnesses." Cincinnati Daily Gazette, October, 11, 1871; "The Chicago Fire! The Flames Checked At Last." Richmond Whig, October 13, 1871; "The Great Fire That Wiped Out Chicago." Chicago Inter-Ocean, October 9, 1892; "Lesson of the O'Leary Cow." Biloxi Daily Herald, July 5, 1899; "Mrs. O'Leary Is Dead." Baltimore Sun, July 6, 1895; "O'Leary Defends His Mother's Cow." Trenton Evening Times, December 1, 1909; "Alderman Tries to Exonerate Mrs. O'Leary and Her Cow." Rockford (IL) Register Star, September 12, 1997.

About Karen Abbott

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What (or Who) Caused the Great Chicago Fire?

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Late one night, when we were all in bed, Mrs. O'Leary lit a lantern in the shed. Her cow kicked it over, then winked her eye and said, "There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight!" - Chicago folksong There is no known photograph of Catherine O'Leary, and who could blame her for shunning the cameras?

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We Still Don't Know How the Great Chicago Fire Started

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Oct. 8, 1871: The Great Chicago Fire begins

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The wind was very aggressive which caused the fire to spread
Source: "An Awful Calamity," Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), October 9, 1871, Page 1, Image 1, col. 4..