PRESENTED BY THE NEW TREMONT HOUSE Corner Michigan Ay. and Congress St., THE ONLY FIRNT-CI,A«8 HOTKI, In the South Division, and the only Hotel in the city haying a PA SSm r O KR EL'EJ r A TOIL J. g. DRAKE, Proprietor. FULL ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT FIRE, i) NEW BUSINESS DIRECTORY LEADING HOUSES. PUBLISHED FOR THE NEW TREMONT HOUSE, r By the Northwestern Publishing Ccmymm/, Chicago. GILES, BROTHER & C», AGENTS von tut: ELGIN AND UNITED STATES WATCHES. HAVE OPENED AT 384 Wabash Av. With a FULL LINE OF GOODS. ORDERS PROMPTLY FILLED. With many fine goods saved, and through their New York and Parisian Houses, they can offer all their for- mer inducements to Purchasers. J. W. FOX & BROTHER Manufacturers of the Celebrated Brands J *'La Corona" and ^Chamber of Commerce," V. And IMPORTERS of the Bes1 and Choices! Havana Cigars In the city, respectfully solicit the attention of the public to their new stock, at their new location, under the New Trer^oiit ilouse, Cor. Michigan Av. and Congress St. TO THE PUBLIC The publishers of this little work propose to give to the public as full and complete a history of the great fire as pos- sible to collect. In the first place, we will place before our readers the report from every newspaper in the Union, a record which, independent of the interest that surrounds it at present, will be in future years of untold value. The de- mand for tlxe different issues has been so enormous that few copies will be left for future reference. .x? Tin? nonxT AT FIRE. — sjj- ^^S*^* ^^"* THE NIGHT OF FIRE. STATEMENT OF AN EYE-WITNESS. The story of the great fire in Chicago will never be told. Language is impotent to portray the horrors of that one night of flame that, in the short space of twenty hours, reduced one of the wealthiest and proudest cities on the Western continent to one bleak, black mass of ruins, and her most affluent citizens and merchant princes to a condition of beggary. But one week ago it would have been regarded as the dream of a lunatic, had any one predicted the fearful destruction that has been wrought by the fire-demon in the great Yfestern metropolis. Devastation so terrible, ruin so complete, never has been seen since the palaces and mosques of Constantinople were swept from the face of the earth by the terrible scourge that marked an era in the history of the Middle Ages. And it is to be doubted if even that scourge was marked with such wide-spread de- struction, such awe-inspiring sublimity, and such paralyzing results as characterized the destruction of Chicago. It was reserved for those who were in that city on the night of Sunday last, and the succeeding day, to witness the most dazzling and appalling spectacle ever beheld by mortal eyes; a spectacle which will be held in remembrance as long as memory holds its sway, Poe must have had a conception of such a night when he wrote his famous stanza of "The Bells": " Hear the loud alarum bells — Brazen bells ! What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells ! In the startled ear of night How they scream out their affright ! Too much horrified to speak, They can only shriek, shriek, Out of tune, In a clamorous appeal to the mercy of the fire, In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire, Leaping higher, higher, higher, With a desperate desire And a resolute endeavor, Now — now to sit or never, By the side of the pale-faced moon. Oh, the bells, bells, bells, What a tale their terror telle Of despair. How they clang, and clash, and roar, What a horror they outpour On the bosom of the palpitating air ! " THE FIBST FIRE. On Saturday night the immense lumber and coal-yards lying on the west side of the river between Van Buren and Adams streets north and south, and between Clinton street and the river east and west, comprising four entire blocks, were devastated by fire. In addition to the lumber and coal-yards the district contained from fifty to sixty small frame houses, several manufactories and freight houses belonging to the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad Company. The fire was checked at Adams street, through the almost superhuman efforts of the firemen, who labored until late in the day of Sunday. The conflagration had been one of the most destructive in the history of Chicago, but it proved to be but slight foretaste of what was in store for her. THE ALARM. Scarcely had the engines returned to their houses and the wearied fire- men sought a little rest, ere the Court House bell pealed out an alarm of fire from a section of the city but three blocks south of the one on the previous night. Five minutes later, at half-past ten o'clock, a general alarm was sounded, quickly followed by a second and third. Few of the citizens had retired to rest, and the lurid glare that lighted the sky in the direction indicated by the alarm, gave them warning that the horrors of the previous night were likely to be far surpassed. The fire department were promptly on hand at the scene of the conflagration. It was ascer- , tained that it originated in a barn at the corner of De Koven and Jefferson streets, and was spreading with frightful rapidity to the north and north- east. A high wind prevailed at the time, and carried the burning embers far into the heart of the city, The small frame houses in the vicinity were soon wrapped in flames, and went down in a cloud of smoke and fire with a rapidity that almost surpasses belief. The firemen had stationed themselves northward of the fire, but were driven from their position time and again. Scarcely could they find time to bring a stream of water to bear upon the buildings ere the flames were upon them, and they were obliged to retire still further. Stubbornly they fought every inch of ground with the fire, but that element, which is so faithful a servant but so relentless a master, had gained the upper hand of them, and they soon found that it was useless to contest the ground in that direction. Every energy was then bent to prevent its spread. It was hoped that when the district burned on the previous night was reached, the fire would die out of its own volition ; but no fears were felt that it would leap the river to the south side. House after house was swallowed up by the fiery monster, pile after pile of lumber was transformed into a heap of living flame, and the firemen, baffled at every point, were obliged to fly for their lives. THE LEAP OF THE RIVER. All seemed lost on the west side, when a new horror presented itself. A huge tongue of flame leaped across the river at Van Buren street, and almost simultaneously a large row of wooden buildings was enveloped in flames. At the same instant the gas works, on Adams sireet, caught fire, and in less time than it takes to tell the story the old armory became a huge pyramid of flame. The grand old structure, that had stood the per- ils of many a year and had been an ever-present menace to evil-doers, crumbled to fragments beneath the touch of the fire-demon and disap- peared from sight forever. THE SPECTATORS. By this time probably a hundred thousand spectators had assembled in the vicinity of the fire, hurrying hither and thither, and gazing with awe-stmok faces at the terrible devastation spread out before them. ITS PROGRESS. From the armory and the gas-works the flames spread to the wide expanse of shanties and frame buildings in the far-famed and odorous neighborhood of Conley's Patch and Wells street, licking up everything in its track with its insatiable maw. Like a deadly simoon the cinders, smoke and fire sped along the street, around the corners and over the business part of the city. La Salle street, the financial head-quarters of the city, was reached, and building after building burst out in flames. Like a torrent the mad demon swept onward. One after another the gigantic gaanite piles crumbled to dust and fell crashing into ruins. Bryan Block, the Insurance Building, Oriental Hall, the finest Masonic building in the world, and Farwell Hall, caught fire. THE DEATH KNELL. Then the Court House bell pealed forth. Clang, clang, went the mammoth bell, its tones rising far above the din of the streets, the roar of the devastating demon, and the howling of the wild tornado. Peal after peal rent the air, striking terror to every heart, for we then knew that all was lost; that Chicago, the proudest city of the continent, wae doomed to destruction. Louder and louder rang the boll, and faster and faster sped the hell of fire. Men, women and children rushed through the streets, frantically endeavoring to save a few of their personal effects from the devouring element. All was confusion, uproar and flame. Every face was blanehed with terror as the rapacious monster leaped and galloped forward, destroying with a breath the finest creations of human ingenuity, devouring at one fell swoop the strongest and most durable walls, and toy- ing with a hideous playfulness with buildings that had been built ex- pressly to resist his utmost power. THE RELEASE OF THE PRISONERS. When it seemed inevitable that the Court House must fall, the doors of the prison in the basement wore thrown open, and the criminals there confined were released. Like devils iucarnate, they rushed pell mell into the street, yelling and cursing with the utmost fiendishness. Hastening to the district threatened by the conflagration, they commenced a series of outrages almost unparalled in the history of crime. Reinforced by all the lawless element in the city, they spared nothing that afforded opportunity for plunder. Houses and stores were broken open and rifled of their val- uable contents ; men and women, carrying off goods from their homes, were assailed and robbed, and others were knocked down and relieved of their watches and pocket-books. The emergency that called for the release of these men was great, and much as the peoplo suffered from their dep- redations, they have no word of complaint to offer against the authorities who chose rather to turn them loose than to suffer them to meet a horrible death in one grand funeral pyre. THE BUENING OF THE COURT H0U6B. From Farwell Hall the flames darted oyer an entire block, communi- cating with the dome of the Court House. Almost immediately it was a mass of fire. The flames leaped, and danced, and caroused about, darting far into the heavens. Tho imagination cannot conceire a spectacle more grand. Words fail to describe its sublimity, and, once seen, it can never be forgotten. In ten minutes the entire structure, built in tho most mas- sive style, presented the appearance of a massive furaaco, superheated with the fires of hell. At seven minutes before two o'clock tho dome was seen t« sway in tho wind. It rooked U and fro for a few moments, and then fell down, down, threo hundred feet, into the keart of tli« building, with a deafening cra-sh ihikt resouad(*d ajl over the mtj. OTHER PROMINENT BUILDINGS. In the meantime the fire-king reigned with unabated fury elsewhere. The block of buildings intervening between the Court House and Farwell Hall had been seized upon and were rapidly devoured. Pope's Block, the Board of Trade building, Smith & Nixon's hall, and other enormous structures of stone and brick were speedily reduced to ruins. On the west side of La Salle street the immense insurance buildings shared a like fate. A DESPERATE REMEDY. At this point, it having been evident that all ordinary means of fight- ine fire were useless, another destroying agency, gunpowdor, was brought into requisition, in the hope that by leveling a few blocks to the ground the course of the destroyer would be stayed. Half a dozen barrels of powder were placed under the Union Bank Buiding, on the corner of La Salle and Washington streets, an explosion followed, and it was razed to the ground in an instant. But the remedy, desperate as it was, had been ap- plied too late The flames had already reached the Merchant's Insurance building, in which the telegraph office was located, and before the heroic men who were so fiercely battling to subdue the fire could change their base of operations, had extended over the entire block, and reached far toward the main river to the northward. From that point nothing could be done to impede its course, and the entire district west of La Salle street, and from Harrison street on the south to the river on the north, was a gigantic sea of fire. Every structure was under the dominion of the fire-fiend, and fell into dust and ashes at the magic touch. THE SHERMAN HOUSE. From the Court House to the Sherman House was but a step, and long before the dome fell the latter structure was afire from roof to foundation. The guests had all escaped, some of them carrying their trunks upon their shoulders, while others had barely time to escape with their lives. Those who remained in the vain endeavor to save whatever of value remained in the house, had to fly for their lives before the tornado of fire, and not a few, it is said, perished in the awful holocaust. Onward sped the confla- gration, licking up everything in its. track. The Tremont House, the Adams House, the Great Union Depot, the long Blocks of palatial stores on Lake and South Water streets, alike went down before the awful judg- ment of Heaven. Nothing was left in its track but the charred and smoul- dering walls of what had been less than twenty-four hours before Chi- cago's proudest boast. THE PACIFIC HOTEL. While the conflagration had been raging in the track indicated, those located further south had not escaped. Another current had swept further east, that was quite as disastrous. The new Pacific Hotel, nearly com- pleted at a cost of almost a million dollars, and located on the corner of Jackson and Clark streets, had caught fire and was burning with terrible fury. The edifice was eight stories in height, and built of Cleveland stone in the most substantial manner. It occupied an entire block and was calculated to accommodate, when completed, nearly 2,000 guests. As the flames rushed through its open corridors, mounted through its floors and poured out of its thousand windows, the spectators gazed speechless with awe. What a splendid spectacle it presented, and how forcibly did it illustrate how futile were all appliances of man when opposed to that all-consuming element ! The flames roared with a noise of Niagara, mounting higher and higher, twisting and eddying in the wind, shooting hither and thither like the outbursts of the infernal regions. Dante, in 6 his Inferno, never pictured a scene more appalling and harrowing than that which was spread before out the upturned gaze of the gathered thousands. MORE DEVASTATION. The new building of the Lakeside Publishing Company was the next to fall a prey to the firey element. It was hardly finished, but its walls tottered and crumbled and fell within a few moments. Away to the north rushed the torrent. De Haven Block, the new Bigelow House, just com- pleted and about to be occupied, the two magnificent marble buildings of H. H. Honore, Lombard block, the Post Office and Custom House, the offices of the Times, Post, Staats Zeitung, and Union, one after another fell, burying beneath the ruins countless thousands of dollars' worth of property. From Van Buren street down to Madison the fire confined itself to the west side of Dearborn street, leaving the Sheppard block, the Tribune building, Anderson's European Hotel, MeVicker's Theatre, and a large number of business blocks to the eastward intact, and it was hoped that the line thus marked would be saved. But all such hopes were doomed to disappointment. From the Times office the flames stretched across the street and enveloped the Dearborn Theatre, the popular home of minstrelsy, from thence passed on east and north', carrying everything before it. From Portland Block, on the corner of Dearborn and Wash- ington streets, the tongues of flame reached across to Crosby's mag- nificent Opera House, that had just been redecorated at a cost of $40,000, and in les3 than twenty minutes, it was numbered among the things that were. The St. James Hotel, and the long row of six-story marble stores fronting on both sides of State street for a distance of three blocks, followed in quick succession. FIELD, LETTER & CO.'S STORE. Day had now broken, but served to render more apparent the horror of the scene. For a long time it was supposed that the large store of Field, Leiter & Co. would survive the terrible ordeal The buildings sur- rounding it on every hand were burning fiercely. That alone seemed to stand superior to the fire. For an hour and a half hundreds of brave men put forth every energy to save it from destruction. Scores of lines of hose were employed to quench the flames that ever and anon caught about it. As the walls of the buildings adjoining it fell, all danger was supposed to have passed, and a shout of joy arose from ten thousand throats. But alas! about this time the water works on the north side were burned, the supply of water gave out, and the building had to be abandoned to its fate. The fate soon overtook it, and, together witli almost all its entire contents, consisting of goods valued at nearly three and a half million dollars, it- went down just as thousands of less pretentious buildings had gone down before. From here the course 'of the fire was untrammeied. Aloncj the line, as fast as gunpowder could be carried in, buildings were blown up remorselessly. The detonations were heard in every direction, and each explosion told the fate of some stately pile of brick and mortar. But yet the infernal fire raged, all efforts to check its progress being as impotent as would be the effort of a fly to stop the speed of a railroad train. All northward and northeastward of the building was leveled to the ground, scarce one stone being left on another to mark where the most pretentious structures had once stood. At last it died, for there was nothing more to burn, every vestige of the lower part of the city having disappeared in smoke and ashes. ANOTHER CURRENT OF FLAME. As I have already mentioned, the last current of the fire had passed down the west side of Dearborn street to Madison, and thence eastward., leaving a still Valuable portion of the city unscorehed. Great was the- rejoicing among the owners of the buildings in that vicinity at the escape of their property from the awful scourge that had swept all before it* But their rejoicings were of short duration. The lire to the south had extended across Clark street at Harrison to Fourth avenue. Here a brave band of men assembled and worked hard to stay its progress, but in vain. A single engine, had water been available, would have saved millions of dollar's worth of property at this point. Despite all efforts, it crossed the street, and, redoubling its fury, it ran shrieking across to State street, carrying down the Orient and Howard Houses, and crossing over to the avenues. From thence northward it course was unimpeded. The Palmer House presented a splendid objective point for the names, and it was soon wrapped in its winding sheet, its magnificent apartments furnishing fine quarters in which the remorseless demon could revel. Still his appe- tite was not satisfied, and, craving for more, it spread forward. The fire-proof Tribune building seemed to be but tinder; McVicker's splendid vespian temple furnished one of the grandest spectacles in this most fear- ful tragedy, and went off in a blaze of glory, but the audience went away with the sad conviction that the scene enacted was a terrible reality and not a mere baseless fiction of the dramatist's brain. Whatever buildings had escaped destruction from the two tornadoes of fi-re that had swept northward before fell a prey to this one, and not a building remained" standing north of Adams street. AGAINST THE WIND. But although all that lay in the natural course of the fire on the south side had been destroyed it was not contented. From Adams street on Wabash and Michigan avenues, the lire commenced to burn southward against the wind. Its progress was comparatively. .slow, and, yet it trav- eled with a rapidity that was terrifying. For two blocks it swept all be- fore it. Trinity Episcopal Church fell in the general crash The Sisters of Mercy lost their school; the Catholic Cathedral was burned, and long .rows of palatial residences were hugged in the greedy- embraces of the fire and devoured. Gunpowder was again resorted to to stay the names, and this time with better effect, A row of marble fronts on Wabash ave- nue, above Congress street, was blown to fragments, and the flames sub- sided. Terrace liow, occupying the entire block between Yan Bureu and Congress streets, on Michigan avehve, caught lire at the lower end and threatened to involve a still larger district in destruction. .But gallant men, disregardful of their own liv^gj shouldered barrels of gunpowder find carried them through the scorching heat and flying embers into the southern part of the row, and the explosion th a j> followed leveled it ts the ground, and the Michigan Avenue Hotel and Congress Hall were saved. This ended the progress of the fire on the south side, and the city again breathed free. THE LOSS O.F LIFE. At the present time it is almost impossible to compute the loss of life. Thus far over 250 bodies have been recovered, and as yet the ruins have not been examined. All that have been discovered have been those who were cut. off in the streets or were found above the mass of debries. Competent judges estimate that not less than 800 souls were burned to death in the hell through which Chicago has passed. It is possible that the number may exceed 1,000, although many will never be missed and never found. 8 THE SCENES. I will not attempt to describe the seene connected with this great calam- ity.. The most eloquent tongue cannot picture with half the vividness of reality the thousands of heartrending seenes of whioh I was a witness. The very remembrance of them makes me sick at heart. Thousands of families were rendered homeless, few saving anytaing except what they carried upon their backs. With no prospect ahead but starvation, it is no wonder that many gave way beneath the accumulated horrors of the fearful night of fire. The majority, however, acted with a heroism that gave one a higher aspect for humanity. Those who had not been left en- tirely destitute cheerfully shared what they had saved, with their less fortunate neighbors, and went about seeking to relieve tie suffering of ©thers. The many deeds of noble charity that were developed in unlooked for quarters would fill a volume. THE NOErTH SIDE. But the most painful and heart-rending portion of my narrative is yet to come. The north side of the river, containing a population, according to the last census, of over 78,000 souls, was visited most terribly. Shortly after two o'clock on Monday morning the flames were carried across the ffiver on the high wind. This section of the city is mainly composed of wooden buildings, and is occupied for the greater part by mechanics and laboring men as residences. Over this region the fire sped with the speed of the wind. Those who attempted to save their worldly goods met with but poor success. By far the greater part barely escaped with their lives, while hundreds found a winding sheet of flame. The first section swept was that between North Clark street and the river. The houses were but Bparcely settled, but notwithstanding this fact the entire section was a mass of ruins before the sun had risen. Among the prominent buildings con- sumed were Rush Medical College, St. James's Church (Rev. Hugh Miller Thompson's), the New England Congregational Church, Cheny Church (Kev. RoberL Colly er's), the Clarendon, Humbolt, Revere and Huber Houses, several grain [elevators, the Water Works, and numerous public charity buildings, and minor religious and educational institutions. But it was to the west of Clark street that the fire was most disastrous. Here it sped with appalling rapidity. Hundreds of men, women and children were overtaken in the streets by the tongues of fire that swept their homes away, and as they fled through the streets before the mad flames, they were hemmed in. Many an agonized cry for help went up to heaven, and the poor victims fell upon the pavements, charred, blackened corpses, unrecognizable save by Him who had so suddenly cnllod them to accouni. On one street alone, on Tuesday morning, I counted twenty-three bodies! These had all met with death while flying betore the fire. The entire north side, with the exoeption of a nmall strip on Kinzie street, was swept with the bosom of destruction, and but on* building, the residence of 9 Win. B. Ogden, on Franklin Place, remains of the 22,000 that covered the area of two and a half square miles. THE: DESOLA.TIOX. THE GREAT CALAMITY. From ths St. Louis Democrat, Oct. 10. One of those catastrophes that pierce all men's hearts has smitten the land. The nation is in sudden mourning. Bereavement black and bitter- overshadows us, in the destructive prostration of a great city. It is a visitation too terrible for words — almost too appalling for reflection. Wherever lives a sympathetic soul, there is distress for the agony that overwhelms so many hundreds of thousands of our fellows. None may attempt to measure the interests, the happiness, the treasured eares, the points of self-denying tbil/the harvests of generations of sacri- fice and labor, bound up in the safety of a metropolis. Who can bear to dwell upon the thought that, though all those to-day are shining in glorious strength, to-morrow they may be but smoking ashes ? Let us be excused from portraying the heart-anguish of the stricken multitudes who but lately were rejoicing in the thrifty homes of Chicago. It is too sad a picture. But let it be remembered. Let it be not forgotten that thousands of families have suddenly been hurled from affluence to poverty, tens of thousands from competency to indigence, and wherever in St. Louis or elsewhere a citizen is fighting or haply thinks he had won life's battle for himself and his home-circle, let him, in Heaven's name, send what help he can to the suiFerers in the Late City. The material disaster to our sister city cannot now be computed. The later dispatches will convey a better impression of it than can otherwise be given. The main business portion of the queenly metropolis of Illinois is in ruins. All the finest buildings in the city, the trade palaces, the wholesale establishments and their contents, the entire business portion, and a host of minor structures, are all gone. The loss will be stated at hundreds of millions, and will be felt over the world. It is a dreadful blow to a swiftly growing city, but they are mistaken who think it will prove fatal. Chicago has been the world's wonder in her rise, and she is now the world's sad wonder in almost unprecedented calamity. She will now astonish by the rapidity and success of her recuperation. One year hence will witness orderly arrays of new and grander piles in place of those that are now smouldering in blackness. It is thirty-four years since Chicago became a city, with a population of some four thousand. Her growth is shown in the following table : Pop. Assessed Vol. 1840 -------- 4,470 $ 94,437 1845 -------- 12,088 8,065,022 1850 ------- - 28,369 7,220,249 1855 ---.----- 80,023 26,922,893 I860 -------- 109,263 37,053,512 1865 187,446 64,709,177 1870 - 298.977 223,634,690 Tke energies that have effected those results will but gather fresh force and new volume from the present temporary check. Capital from abroad eagerly rush in to build upon the old foundations and to occupy sites that have proved to be so golden. But the absolute loss to the wealth and in- dustry of the country will be irreparable. It will bankrupt millionaires. Insurance companies that have battled the billows of fire for decades will 10 go down before the storm. Mercantile houses by the scores will fail. There will be ruined and wrecked fortunes by the hundreds, Armies of creditors will look for their dues in vain. The whole agricultural region tributary to and in turn supplied by Chicago will suffer. The centres of oapital in the East will tremble, and the shock will be felt throughout the country. If any imagine that from the disaster to Chicago and the North- west other cities and sections will permanently gain they are mistaken. While there may be a temporary diversion of business, and some variation in the channels of trade, the community as a whole, in all sections, can only suffer for so material a subtraction from the total prosperity of the country. Chicago enterprise has become proverbial, and -this reputation of her citizens has been well earned. An instance of it is related in the fact that a number of her citizens have recently been designing a Fair Association, intended for a permanency and growth. like that of the St. Louis institu- tion of the kind. But a few days ago a St. Lousian of long experience in the conduct of those matters received a liberal offer to go to Chicago, and there organize an Exposition establishment. This was only one of the new plans with which Chicago heads were busy when the dreadful blow of Saturday and Sunday came. The destruction of the rising Palace Hotel, the future Lindell of the Lake City, is but an item of her loss. Sad indeed are these reminiscences of a prosperity so gigantic and so hopeful, blasted by a blight so cruel. It can only be felt as a common calamity. THE CHICAGO CALAMITY. From the Cincinnati Commercial, Oct. 10. Since the burning of Moscow there has been no conflagration anywhere in the world so sublime and appalling as that in Chicago Sunday night and yesterday. The memorable great fire in New York, in December, 1835, destroyed property to the value, it was estimated, of over thirty millions. The other great fires in this country have been those of Pitts- burg and Portland, Maine. The Chicago calamity is greater than all combined. The amount of loss is all guess work, but there can be no doubt that it exceeds one hundred millions of dollars. The most valuable portion of the city is destroyed. It is as if in Cincinnati, a fire commenc- ing in the extreme East End should make a clean sweep of everything between Seventh street and the river, westward of Mill Creek. The ter- rors of such a desolation, the details of such a miy 5 1ity agony, are incon- ceivable. The calamity touches the heart of tii-. 1 nation. The telegraph wires are busily transmitting despatches conveying io the sufferers as- surances of the deepest sympathy, and offers of assistance, and informa- tion that help is on the way. Oar local columns sbow how the people of Cincinnati were moved and how energetically they acted. Last evening we had three steam fire-engines in Chicago, and we may be sure they were a welcome reinforcement to the exhausted firemen of that city. Early this morning a train loaded with blankets, clothing and provisions, will reach the scene of desolation, and no doubt the ten thou- sand blankets and fifty thousand loaves of bread will be well placed. Dispatches from all the cities in the country show that they are in action as we are. Happily the railroads, of which Chicago is such a great centre, will serve speedily to relieve the immediate necessities of her homeless people. The shock of this dreadful disaster will be felt in commercial circles around the world. So intimately are the interests of the various mercan- tile communities associated, that a tremendous catastrophe like that in 11 Ghieago must sensibly affect all. Our insurance companies suffer heavily. The bankers are considerable losers. Many lofty houses in New York and Boston will be shaken to their foundations, and some of them no doubt fall, for there were vast investments of New York and Boston money in Chicago. The stock of railroads centering in Chicago declined 10 per cent., yesterday, in New York. A good many of the insurance companies are undoubtedly ruined, and it is not unlikely that the rates of insurance will be advanced. The relations of Cincinnati with Chicago were those of contiguous neighborhoods. There is hardly a family in this city that does not num- ber in Chicago relatives and dear friends, and the impossibility of hearing from them during the tedious and distressing hours of yesterday, sharpened our sense of calamity. One might telegraph, but where could a dispatch reach a friend in the horrible ruins, or the innumerable multitude of wanderers in the streets ? Many must have perished in the awful torrent which swept over the place as if the Niagara rapids were all flames and moving through the doomed city. The sick, the delicate, the aged, tha little children hurried at midnight into the blazing streets; and it is certain that many lives were lost, and that many more have lost health and perhaps reason itself. Chicago, we predict, will arise from her ashes a grander city than ever, chastened by her calamity, and by experience grow less confident in startling rapidity of progress, and more content with gradual returns and solid gains. ITEMS OF INTEREST. THE ACADEMY OF DESIGN. Much interest centered in the Academy of Design Building owing to the art treasures collected there. The artists worked heroically but their efforts were of little avail owing to the impossibility of getting means of transportation. The battle of Gettysburg, Rothermel's historical picture was taken out by cutting it, and we are specially informed that it is safe and will shortly be shipped to the artist who owns it. The large group of J. W. Doan's family, painted by Pine and Vok's bust of N. 0. Stone were also saved. The two architectural pictures by Neal of Munich, which have been in the gallery so long, were only recently shipped to Yale col- lege. Gudin's large marine, a large picture by Bierstadt, nearly all the small pictures in the gallery, and the casts, including the Seammon collec- tion, forwarded from Italy, were lost. There were about three hundred pictures in the gallery in all. Those of the artists- who saved most of their works were Elkins, Rockwell, and Ford. Those who lost everything are Jenks, J. IT. S. Reed, Pebbles, Brury, Coggswell, and Bradish. Mr. Dichl saved his picture of Macbeth. The building belonged to Jonathan Clark, and the academy took posses- sion on the 1st of last November. THE OPERA HOUSE GALLERY. Mr. Aitken, the Superintendent of the Opera House Aat Gallery, for- tunately had means of transportation at hand and saved nearly every picture in the gallery, in addition to the fine collection in Mr. Crosby's private rooms. 12 A HAPPY FAMILY. In the following eireumsiance there was something like the awakening from a horrid dream "to find it all a dream." Mr. Ferd. S. Winslow, the well-known banker, owned a beautiful residence and grounds nearly opposite to Wright's Grove — a little paradise, in which he had taken par- ticular pride. At the near approach of the fire one of the neighbors urged Mr. Winslow's family to betake themselves to their carriage and flee. They did so. They fled for their lives, and, along with thousands of others, sought the bleak praries, where they camped out for the night. Yesterday mornink Mr. W. wandered back to gaze upon the ruins of his happy home, when lo ! there burst upon his astonished vision, a green oasis in the desert. It w T as his old home, unscathed. The fire had swept clean round it, missing it miraculously. The happy family returned, taking many sufferers along with them. And their friends have rejoiced ex- ceedingly. A CURIOSITY. A vase of wax flowers was taken from the vault of the Hess House, on Dearborn street, yesterday and was found perfect, not having been injured in the least. From another safe on Dearborn street was taken a box of watches, as new in appearance as when turned out of the factory. BUSINESS DIRBCTOEY OW miJRMS THAT WERE BTJJRJNTT OTJT. MICHIGAN AVENUE. No. 746. C. L. Reil & Co. No. 735. T. W. Anderson. No. 735. J. W. Doane & Co. No. 733. D. W. & Keith & Co. No. 716. Seeberger & Breakey. No. 679. Taylor & Wright. No. 680. Hurlbut & Edsall. No. 631. C. W. Church & Co. No/~619. J. H. Rees & Co. No. 618. Schwab, McQuaid & Co. No. 618. A. Klieman & Co. No. 607. A. Booth. No. 606. C. Kellogg & Co. No. 585. Win. M. Mayo k Co. No. 539. Beck & Worth. No. 505 Davis & Requ*. No. 498. Russell Bros. No. 496. W. M. Soribner. 13 Ho. 496. Woolworth, Ainsworth & Co. No. 491. Occidental Insurance Company. No, 491. Stettaur & Wineman. No. 472. Leopold Kuh. No. 453. Mosebaeh & Humphrey. No. 446. Dr. S. Cole. No. 419. Gage Bros. No. 413. J. Esaias Warren. No. 398. Whiting, Taylor & Co. No. 3%. Harmon, Messer & Co. No. 390. Wm. H. Keogh. No. 388. E. Eldred. No. 372. 0. L. American & Co. No. 370. Leopold & Austrian. No. 369. Drs. Starkweather, Holmes & AdolpliUJ No. 363. Miller, Frost & Sewin. No. 337. C. M. Henderson. No. 335. Gray Bros. No. 330. Turner, Bristol & Bay. No. 300. G. E. Cook & Co. No. 299. A. Ballard. No. 299. Hopeon & Co. No. 288. Hamlin, Hale & Co. No. 285. Charles Joeger. No. 270. Julius Bauer. No. 267. Hoyne, Horton & Hoyne. No. 247. J. Freer. No. 247. L. C. P. Freer. No. 228. W. B. Keen & Co. No. 225. Merchant's National Bank. No. 223. Cook County National Bank. No. 223, H. H. Jlonore. No. 222. H. M. Wilmarth & Co. No. 218. A. Klenkke. WABASH AVENUE. No. 976. J. H. Ross. No. 976. J. Mattocks. No. 973. Tieman (surgical instalments.) No. 961. Lindauer & Co. No. 931 Wilson Bros. No. 903. R. J. Walthe. No. 89S. Se&vey & C*. No. 89.1 Field, Benedict k ®*. 14 No. 882. J. & A. Boskowicz. No. 857. Stanton & Co. No. 848. Richards, Crunibaugh & Shaw. No. 846. Loomis & Co. No. 807. S. Kaprowicz. No. 800. J. S. Marsh. No. 758. C. H. Backwith & Co. No. 747. Simon, Meyer, Strauss & Co. No. 746. Gillespie & Murfey. No. 735. Goldman Bros. No. 733. Bernhardt & Foreman. No. 738. Allen & Mackey. No. 714. T. W. Weber & Co. No. 709. Dr. Nute. No. 707. A. J. Marks. No. 707. M.Williams. No. 705. J. M. Gillespie. No. 706. Rea &€oates. No. 694. James C. Simm. No. 692. J. H. O'Brien. No. 685. A. Frisbie & Co. No. 685. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company No. 686. Wendell & Hyman. No. 672. Cobb, Andrews & Co. No. 659. Brown & Prior. No. 659. Matthews & Mason. No. 657. Edward Ely. No. 654. E. G. L. Faxon. No. 618. M.D.Wells & Co. No. 617. O. L. Wheelock. No. 613. C. H. Fargo & Co. No. 612. J. S. Shaap. No. 610. A. & H. Kohn. No. 607. S. C. Griggs &Co. No. 605. E. S. Alexander & C&. No. 606. Dr. J. V. Z. Blaney. No. 606. W. R. Page. No. 600. A. J. Avcrell. No. 696. Wrisley Bros. No. 592. Marston, Peck & Bros. No. 586. Washington Life Insurance Company . No. 584. W. F. McLaughlin. No. 571. H. A. Kohn & Broa. No. 565. Eiiclfc Co. No. 562. E. A. Jessel & Co. No. 580, General Sheridan's Headquarters. No 554 Williams & Thompson No 554 E S Isham No 547 King Brothers & Co No 543 Union National Banks No 543 Fuller & Smith No 543 National Bank of Commerce No 537 H Underwood & Son No 537 J E Lockwood No 532 Commercial National Bank No 522 Daggett, Bassctt & Hills No 520 American Express Company, General Office No 510 Holden & Co No 498 Bishop & Barnes No 490 Snydacker & Co No 449 Gallup & Peabody No 449 First National Bank No 447 Traders' National Bank No 436 Hall, Kimbark & Co No 393 E G Dunn & Co No 381 Hutchinson & Lubb No 381 D Orvis & Co No 384 B P Hutchinson No 376 A B Meeker No 374 C & A Price No 379 Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company No 369 A W & J M Wetkerell No 365 W B Clapp & Brothers No 364 Stark & Allen Fo 360 C A Gregory No 360 Bowen Brothers No 350 Sugg & Beiersdorff STATE STREET. No 977 W E Eastman No 961 Barker & Wait No 945 Henry C Smith No 890 B F Jacobs & Co No 851 F A Bragg & Co Eo 819 Buck & Rayner No 812 N Sherwood & Co No 807 Blanchard & Co No 783 Hadley Brothers 16 No 781 Clinton Wire Cloth Company No 750 George D Cook No 663 Barry & dishing No 595 W T Noble No 583 Intelligence Office for the lost No 551 Wadhams, Willard & Co No 479 Roche, Goldstein & Powell No 427 Troost & Co No 409 Cafe de l'Europe No 405 S Marcus No 384 Armstrong & Co No 376 Clarke, Layton & Co No 371 Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company No 863 Cook & McLain ADDENDA. S. S. Fitch & Co., opposite late Po3t Office. Keen & Cook, Dearborn Park. W, D. Kerfoot, on the old plaee. J. F. Forsyth & Co., 46 Desplaines St. Culver, Page, Hoyne & Co,, 11, 13, 15 Desplaines St. American Insurance Co., 11, 13, 15 Desplaines St. Wheeler & Wilson, 338 W. Madison. Weed Sewing Machine Co., 196 W. Madison. Western News Co., 95, 97, 99 W. Randolph. Henry W. King & Co., 24 Market St. W. W. Kimball, 610 Michigan Av. J. Bauer & Co., 270 Michigan At. Chicago Soale Co., 46 S. Desplaines St. Pinkerton's, 55 W. Washington. Page Bros. & Co., 35 & 37 S, Canal St. J. F. Rathbono & Co., 30 & 32 S. Canal St. Wm. Blair & Co., 30 & 32 S. Canal St. £ F. Hollister & Co., 10 & 12 S. Canal St. A. L. Hale & Bro., 10, 12, 14, 16 N. Canal St. A. H. Andrews & Co., 82, 119, 121 W. Washington U, S. Express, 59 & 61 W. Washington Diebold & Kienzle, Safos, 446 State. A. H. Miller, 479 Wabash Are, Chandler & Boynton, 49 S. Canal St. Haas k Power, 25 to 30 W. Madison St. I). M. Ford Manufacturing Co., 50 to 62 W. Washington St,, & 47 t-© 55 Cliuten St. DIEECTOEY OF ^ -tr<&*<$>- Morgan & English, 102 West Ran- dolph st Eldridge & Tourtelotte, 118 West Madison st and cor Wabash av and Twenty-second st Josiah H Bissell, 54 West Randolph st Goudy & Chandler, 391 Wabash av Herbert & Quick, 529 State st Robb & Ackerman, 132 Madison st E S Jenison, 669 State st Doggett, Bassett & Hills, 522 Wabash av C H Fargo & Co., 613 Wabash av Dr Price's Cream Baking Powder, 47 and 49 West Lake st First National, 449 Wabash av Fourth National, 475 Wabash, av Fifth National, 449 Wabash av Manufacturers, 454 Wabash av Nation Bank of Commerce, 543 Wa- bash av Union National Bank, 543 Wabash av Commercial National Bank, 532 Wa- bash av Hibernian Banking Association, 446 Wabash av Lunt, Preston & Kean, southwest corner of Halsted and Randolph sts Northwestern National Bank, 526 Wabash av McDonough, Price & Co , 31 and 33 South Canal st Rock River Paper Co., 55 North Jefferson st €oan .& Ten Broeke, cor Ann and West Randolph sts Miner T Ames & Co., 1 W Randolph E F Hollister & Co., 10 and 12 North Canal si Allen & Mackey, 744 State st Henry W King & Co., 24 Market st Leopold, Kuhn & Co., 472 Michigan av Tuttle, Thompson & Wetmore, 459 Wabash av John McCafferey, President Paving co., Washington st Union Akron, southwest corner Rand and Halstead sts II P Merrill & Co., 407 W Madison st Z M Hall (produce), 259 and 261 E Randolph st Bensleys Wagner (produce), 77 W Madison st Culver & Co (produce), 36 S Canal st A M Wright & Co. (produce), SW cor Canal and Lake sts Piatt, Thorn & Maynard (produce), 9 and 11 N Canal st P B Weare & Co. (produce), 25 and 27 N Clinton st Mc Williams & Co. (produce), 88 W Randolph st Cyrus Bowers Williams (produce), 88 W Randolph st B M Ford & Co. (highwines), 25 S Canal st F M Clements & Co. (lumber), 30 N Canal st Curtis & Carter (dried fruit), 80 and 82 W Randolph st Francis & Webber, 53 and 60 West Madison st O W Butts & Bros., 179 W Lake st C C Butts & Co., 122 W Lake st E Seckel & co., 99 W Lake st Theo B Wells & Co., 99' W Lake st Eagle, Campbell & Peach, 90 W Lake st Linn & Kirk, 68 W Lake st A F Dickinson, 50 W Lake st Quinn, Swift & Co. (flour), 34 N Canal st Pinkerton's, 55 W Washington st Wm McGregor, 23 S Canal st C & G Cooper & Co., 10 and 12 W Randolph st Garden City, 122 W Lake st, and 190 Twenty-second st United States Express, 59 and 61 W Washington st C H Hanson, 54 W Madison st M Graff & Co., 123 W Madison st 18 C E Chase & Co , SW cor Randolph and Halstead sts A L Hale & Co., 10, 12, 14 and 16 N Canal st Thayer & Tobey Furniture Co , 80 to 92 W Randolph st Peter Schuttler, 103 and 109 S Canal st Day, Allen & Co , 681 Michigan av Sibley & Endicott, 774 Wabash av J K Botsford & Son, 461 Wabash av Chandler & Boyington, 49 S Canal st Martin & Leonard, 125 W Madison st W Barrett & Co., 9 S Halstead st Ogden, Sheldon & Scudder, 62 S Canal st E B Ryan & Co., 45 and 47 S Canal st Berkshire, 70 S canal st Knickerbocker, SWcor Randolph and Halstead sts Ecletic, SW cor Halstead and Ran- dolph sts Kirk, Coleman & Co , 24 S canal st Hall, Kimbark & Co., 436 Wabash av Theo David M' Ford, 50 to 62 W Washington st. and 47 to 55 S Clinton st J M Br&street & Son, 36 canal st A H Miller, 479 Wabash av Connecticut Mutual Life, 379 Wabash av Norton & Fancher, 63 and 05 S canal st Dickinson, Leach & Co , 25 S canal st Caliaghan & Crockcroft, 121 W Ran- dolph st Munson & Co., 14 and 16 canal st Haas .& Powell, 25 to 31 W Madison st ' Page Bro & Co., 35 and 37 canal st Blackburd & Bro., 27 S canal st J Davis Wilder, 278 W Randolph st H W & J M Wetherell, 369 Wabash av Eclectic Match Co., 97 W Madison st Matthews & Mason, 659 Wabash av Kcnly & Jenkins, 34 N- canal st A Booth, 607 Michigan av F J Ruth, 85 and 87 S canal st D D Mallory & Co., 114 W Randolph st II M Sherwood, 103 to 109 S canal st A H Andrews & Co., 119 and 121 W Washington St Northwest Paper Co., 87 W Lake st Office of ii Hoe & Co., of New York', at MANrFACTURER OF THE ub House Cigar, AND DEALER EN Imported and Domestic Cigars and Tobacco Of the Finest and Choicest Brands, late of \1=&L SOUTH CLARK STREET, Has re-established at 113 WEST WASHINGTON ST. A. L. MANDEL, I LOR 536 Wabash k near Twelfth St LATE $0 WASHINGTON ST. AX ESTTIBELY NEW AX1> CAREFULLY SELECTED STOCK JUST ABKIVED FEOM THE EAST. A SAFE FOR C IAEYII & CO., Fire, Burglar and Damp-Proof * S a "fs" w wi m cr jnL Mr mzm 29 Vault Doors, l?late Chests, Express Boxes, Etc., Etc., Etc.. 17 South Canal Street, !*(& Broadway New York. 721 Chestnut St., Philadelphia- 93 Main Street, - Buffalo. 10S Bank Street, Cleveland. sH TIIT2 OI^T>I3«T >LAJX UFACTORT Tn the United States.