CHAPTER XVII.

THE LOSSES AGAIN.

Particular cases-Noted buildings destroyed-The Germans-How the millionaires came out-Not a vestige of a law library left-Art and literary treasures despoiled-Who lost and who gained by the fire.

THE

HE most noteworthy buildings lying within the burnt district, and consequently falling a prey to the flames, are comprised in the following list:

Churches.-Trinity (Episcopal), First Presbyterian, New Jerusalem Temple (Swedenborg), North Presbyterian, St. James's (Episcopal), New England (Congregational), Unity (Unitarian), Grace (Methodist), Cathedral of the Holy Name (Roman Catholic), St. Joseph's (Roman Catholic), St. Mary's (Roman Catholic), Synagogue (Hebrew), St. Paul's (Universalist), Sisters of Mercy (Convent), Illinois Street (Union), St. Joseph's Priory.

Public Buildings.-Court-house and City Hall, Post-office, Water-works, Historical Hall, Chamber of Commerce, United States Warehouses, South Side Gas-works, North Side Gasworks, Armory (police station), Elm Street Hospital, Franklin School, Mosely School, Lincoln School, and many smaller schools.

Theaters, etc.-Crosby's Opera-house, Hooley's Opera-house, McVicker's Theater, Dearborn Theater, Farwell Hall, Metro

politan Hall, Crosby's Music Hall, German House, Turner Hall, Academy of Design, Wood's Museum, Olympic Theater.

Hotels (first class).-Sherman, Pacific, Tremont, Bigelow, Palmer, Briggs, St. James, Matteson, Revere, Metropolitan, Nevada, Clifton, Adams.

Railway Buildings.—Great Central Depot, Michigan Southern Depot, Galena Depot, Illinois Central Freight Depot, Michigan Central Freight Depot, Galena Freight Depot, Galena Elevator, Wheeler's Elevator, Illinois Central Elevator "A," Munger & Armour's Elevator, National Elevator, Pullman's Palace Car Building.

Principal Business Blocks.-Bookseller's Row, Field & Leiter's Store, Tribune Building, Merchants' Insurance Building, First National Bank, Union National Bank, Drake-Farwell Block, Sturges' Building, Honore Block, McCormick's Reaper Works.

Among the heaviest individual losers were Messrs. Wm. B. Ogden, Cyrus H. McCormick, and Potter Palmer; though Mr. Ogden's losses would scarcely have been felt by that large capitalist, had it not been for the nearly simultaneous destruction of immense interests in the Wisconsin pineries, in which he was an owner to the extent of two million dollars or more. In Chicago his principal losses were in railroad buildings, insurance stock, and north-side real estate, which Mr. Ogden made a specialty, and which was greatly depreciated in value by the conflagration. Mr. McCormick's losses also mounted into the millions, as did those of his brother, L. J. McCormick. Each of the McCormicks owned many stores and houses, and among their joint property was their extensive reaper works, which contained at the time two thousand finished reapers and a large store of unfinished machines and materials. Potter Palmer has

long been reputed to own a mile of front upon State Street, the principal thoroughfare from the river to the south end of the city. Upon this avenue he had already erected stores and hotels to the value of over three-quarters of a million of dollars, and the Grand Hotel, which would swell the amount to two millions, was already well upward with its massive walls. Mr. Palmer also owned large interests in two or three mercantile establishments, and was popularly understood to have mortgaged all his real estate for carrying on his speculations. On the day following the fire it was currently reported and generally believed (so prepared was the popular mind for any thing wonderful) that Mr. Palmer had gone crazy over his losses, and shot himself in a paroxysm of insanity. Nor was this impression dispelled until, from a town in New York, whither Mr. Palmer had gone to attend the dying bed of a parent, came his clarion note: "I will rebuild my buildings at once. Put on an extra force, and hurry up the hotel."

And within a few days the New York merchants received his telegram announcing, "The mercantile firms with which I am connected, either as special or general partner, will pay in full at maturity."

Another severe sufferer was John B. Drake, proprietor of the Tremont Hotel. His furniture, silver, etc., were very rich, and his largest building (part of the Drake-Farwell Block) had but just been re-occupied, after its fatal destruction of one year ago. But Drake was buoyant, like the rest, and was soon ensconced in the biggest hotel the flames had left for him to hire, and had his workmen overhauling the warm bricks of the twiceconsumed store.

It is useless, however, to attempt any enumeration of the brilliant ruins which this unparalleled disaster worked. In the

first place, they are like the goods in the auctioneer's catalogue, "too numerous to mention," and in the next place, they will not stay ruined long enough to be caught and impaled in the cabinet of the historian.

There were, however, many cases of complete ruin-or, at least, of such sweeping disaster that it will take years, and in some cases more years than the victim has left in him, to recover any thing like his former foothold. The merchants, as a rule, fared as hard as any equally numerous class. Messrs. Field, Leiter & Co., the heaviest dry goods dealers, saw $2,300,000 worth of their goods dissolve before their eyes, with no hope, at the moment, that they would be indemnified for any considerable fraction of its value. Messrs. J. V. Farwell and C. B. Farwell (M. C.), members of the dry goods firm which bears the former's name, saw $1,900,000 of their stock the way a similar amount had gone just a year before. A score of other merchants could count up losses scarcely less than these. But large dealers have great credits and great facilities of other kinds for resuming business. It is the smaller dealers. who have suffered, proportionately, the worst.

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Professional men suffered severely too-even those whose homes were spared them. Many of the physicians and all of the lawyers had their offices within the burnt district of the South Division, and therein were their libraries, apparatus, and all their professional outfit. The legal gentlemen of Chicagosix hundred and fifty in number-lost over half a million dollars worth of law books alone-all the law books, in fact, that there were in the city.

Operators in the great characteristic staples of Chicago trade --grain, provisions, etc.-the "commission men," or "Board of Trade men," did not suffer so severely. Of many of these

the stock in trade is of an altogether too unsubstantial sort to suffer much by fire. These gentlemen, many of them, deal in actual commodities, but a small proportion of which, fortunately, was destroyed in this wreck. Many others deal so exclusively in "options," "puts," and "calls," that a smart shower in the country during the summer will make or unmake them much more completely than ever so terrible a fire in Chicago. Besides this advantage, the most of your Board of Trade men have become so accustomed to the vicissitudes of business that they bear the buffetings' of fortune as well as the prize fighter bears the bruises which prostrate another. So they can count themselves rich on Wednesdays and Saturdays, they are content to be "ruined" on Thursdays and Mondays, and "come up smiling" every time.

A class who suffered very severely are the musicians. A majority of them lived in the ill-fated North Division, and lost their homes. Others lost the churches or the theaters where they principally earned their livelihood. Others lost very valuable collections of books, music, and instruments; while those who escaped with these, had their public burned away from them that is, forced upon such a course of economy as should very seriously interfere with the revenues of music teachers and all such. Among the prominent musicians who fled before the fiery monster were Dudley Buck, the celebrated organist, who has gone to Boston; Hans Balatka, the conductor, gone to Milwaukee; A. J. Creswold, organist, gone to St. Louis; Alfred H. Pease, pianist, gone to Buffalo.

Akin to this subject is that of art and letters generally. Chicago had accumulated a much greater wealth of art treasures than the world generally knew of; much greater than any other city of its age ever amassed. Besides the galleries