Cook County IL Archives History - Books .....History Of Chicago, 1876, Part 5 1876
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Book Title: History Of Chicago

THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE, OCTOBER 9, 1871.
 
As the great fire of October 9th, 1871, is to be ever memorable in the history 
of Chicago, and as the most extensive and destructive that ever occurred in 
any age or nation, it is well that each citizen put on record his own 
observations and experience, so that the future historian can from them 
condense a true account of that wonderful event. In the first place, the city 
had for six or eight weeks been preparing, under a scorching sun and strong 
south and southwest winds, for that terrible fire. It was probably the 
longest "spell" of that kind of weather the city had ever suffered. Scarcely 
any rain had moistened a roof or lain the dust. The internal structures of the 
buildings, and in hundreds, perhaps thousands, of cases the frame work as 
well, were of wood, and under the burning sun for so many weeks the whole city 
became virtually a tinder box. When the fire broke out among the wooden houses 
and stables in the southwestern part of the city, a fierce wind was blowing 
from the southwest, which under the influence of the fire soon became a gale. 
Once fairly under way no fire department in the world could stand before it. 

Tinder like circumstances every other city in the United States would burn up, 
for every other city, like Chicago, is mainly built of wood. Till more 
incombustible materials are used in this as they are in the old country, and 
until rigid rules for building substantially are adopted and enforced, the 
cities of the United States will never be safe from such calamities as befell 
Chicago.

Some few incidents are inserted here to show how terrible was the fire. When 
it had reached the business centre of the city it ceased to be governed by any 
of the ordinary rules that are commonly attendant upon even great fires, as 
the terms are usually understood. In places the heat could only be compared to 
that from the combustion of oxygen and hydrogen by means of the blow-pipe. In 
places it would strike great iron columns nearly two feet square, and for four 
or five feet, perhaps more, the iron would be all burned up. No residuum would 
be left. Sometimes car wheels standing on the track would be half burned up. 
Safes if exposed to these jets of heat were of no account whatever. Geo. C. 
Smith, Esq., banker, told me that they had standing in a back office a large 
safe full of ledgers and other books. That safe and its contents were all 
burned up. Not a vestige of it remained to mark where it stood. Many safes 
that stood where brick walls soon fell on and protected them were all right, 
and as usual the manufacturers made a great noise about them; but in no case 
that I heard of, if they stood in exposed positions were their contents 
preserved. Brick vaults with safes inside were all right. The Tribune vault 
among other things had a linen coat and a box of matches inside, which were 
not injured, and the painted figures on the safe door were not even blistered. 
It should be added, that the vault was near the centre of the building, north 
and south, and was protected by the south as well as its own wall. Some of the 
freaks of the fire are scarcely credible. Very reliable gentlemen reported 
that they saw jets of flame dart across an entire block and in an instant 
envelop the building it struck in a winding sheet of lurid flame. The heat of 
the burning city was felt far away on the lake, and I have been assured by 
gentlemen on whose word I place implicit confidence that so hot was the wind 
over at Holland, Michigan, a hundred miles or more northeast of Chicago, that 
some parties there on the afternoon of Monday, were obliged for some 
considerable time to get down behind a hedge and let the scorching blasts pass 
over them. They were unable then to account for the heat, and greatly feared 
that the time had come when "the earth and all things therein would be burned 
up."

The fire commenced an hour or more before midnight, near the corner of 
Jefferson and DeKoven streets. Soon after starting it became a great river of 
fire, and from its central track at first not more than a block or two on 
either side, swept directly through the business portion of the city, reaching 
the water works and, the old cemetery before daylight. But on either side of 
that track it kept up its destructive work till noon of Monday, and perhaps in 
some localities even later than that. Along all great rivers there are eddies, 
and it was these eddies of wind charged with flame that enabled the fire to 
work westward in the heart of the city to the river, and eastward to Michigan 
avenue as far south as Congress street. This comparison of the central track 
of the fire to a great river and its eddies on each side of that track, will 
probably explain its action better than any other comparison that could be 
made.

Following out the idea that each citizen should give the incidents happening 
to himself or under his own observation, I mention that never did friends toil 
more loyally than ours did for us. They saved most of our books, furniture, 
pictures, etc., that were left to us. Some that were not friends helped 
themselves to whatever struck their fancy when opportunity offered. My 
coachman filled my buggy with some harness, a bag of coffee and other 
articles, and left it with his friends on the lake shore. Some one coming 
along and finding it was my "plunder," said he knew me; would put some more 
goods in to take home and return the buggy to me. That was the last I ever 
heard of the buggy or anything that was in it. My daughter supposed that I had 
hired an express wagon that stood at the door, and I supposed that she had. We 
filled it full of goods and furniture, among other things, a valuable picture—
a farm and animal scene—by Herring, the great English painter. The driver 
slipped off in the crowd and that was the last we heard of that picture or any 
part of the load. I met a man at my door, looking decidedly corpulent. "My 
friend," said I, "you have on a considerable invoice of my clothes with the 
hunting suit outside. Well, go along, you may as well have them as to let them 
burn." These were slight affairs compared with what many others suffered by 
the thieving crowd.

Having got out all we could, about 11 A. M. of Monday, the 9th, I sat down by 
my goods piled up indiscriminately on the lake shore. Soon I saw the angry 
flames bursting from my home—the result of years of care and toil. Quickly and 
grandly they wrapped up the whole block and away it floated in black clouds 
over Lake Michigan. I know not how great calamities affect others; but for 
myself I looked on calmly without any of those deep emotions which one might 
be expected to feel. The thing was inevitable; I was no worse off than most of 
my fellow citizens, and indeed I felt grateful to a kind Providence that the 
homes of some of my friends were saved, where we could find refuge. I indulged 
in no useless sorrows, and, as I saw my home burn, simply resolved as in the 
past, to do my duty each day as it came along as best I could. I had begun 
life with no patrimony, save strong arms, willing hands, and I hope, an honest 
heart; and I could do so again.

Early in the afternoon we began to send our goods south by teams, being 
careful to have some friend with each load, and by sundown all that we had 
been able to save was distributed among friends south of Twelfth street. In 
the evening my little family of three, came together at the house of E. L. 
Jansen, Esq., No. 607 Wabash avenue, Mrs. B.'s brother, where she and my 
daughter remained till we were most kindly received by Dr. E. Andrews and 
family. There was very little sleep that (Monday) night, for everybody was in 
mortal fear that what remained of the city would be burned up by the 
desperadoes who were known to be prowling about everywhere.

I add a few incidents not reported in the interview printed herewith. When I 
arrived at 15 Canal street I found Mr. Medill in the upper stories among the 
types and printers, doing all he could to get ready to issue a paper in the 
morning. I saw at a glance that my work was below. The basement and main floor 
were filled with boards, boxes and rubbish, and these must be cleaned out at 
once. I placed a gang of men under the command of our cashier to clear out the 
main floor, and another gang under a boss to clear out the basement to receive 
a load of paper. I then went foraging for brooms, but the market was bare of 
that indispensable article and I borrowed some of a neighbor. Seeing that 
business was going on lively, my next duty was to get up four stoves. For 
these I started west on Randolph street, but every store had sold out, till I 
got to the corner of Halsted street, I think it was; I found here the four I 
wanted: price $16 each. Told the owner I wanted all his men to go to work at 
once to get the pipe ready; but fearing if he did not know who had bought them 
somebody with cash in hand might "jump my claim," I told him they were for the 
Tribune Company, that we had plenty of money in our vault and in the bank, and 
as soon as we could get at it he should have his pay. "I don't know about 
dat," said the worthy Teuton, "I guess I must have de money for dem stoves." 
The thing amused me at the rapid change the fire had wrought. On Saturday our 
note would have been good for $100,000 and on Tuesday we could not buy four 
stoves and the fixtures on credit. In the best of humor I told him to come 
with me and measure the height of the holes for the pipe in the chimneys, and 
before he could get the articles ready he should have his money. This he did, 
and then my first question, half joke, half earnest, to every friend I met 
was, "have you got any money?" The tenth man perhaps, Hon. Ed. Oowles, of 
Cleveland, Ohio, said, "Yes, how much do you want?" "All you can spare;" and 
he handed me $60. Not enough for the stove genius, but I walked rapidly to his 
den, shook the greenbacks at him and told him to hurry up, for I'd soon have 
the balance. Came back to the office and found a dozen or two more of our 
leading citizens like myself all "strapped," till at last E. S. Wadsworth, 
Esq., handed me $100. Messrs. Cowles and Wadsworth, therefore, furnished the 
cash capital to start the Tribune the next day after the fire. But money soon 
began to flow in. Between three and four o'clock, our clerk, Mr. Lowell, came 
to me and said, "there are some people here with advertisements for lost 
friends!" I said, "take them and the cash, registering in your memorandum 
book;" and upon a dirty old box on the window sill for a desk, the Tribune at 
once commenced doing a lively business. A gentleman called me by name and 
said, "I haven't a morsel of food for my wife and children to-night and not a 
cent to buy any; may I not paint "TRIBUNE" over your door?" It was soon done—
bill $3.75; and thus a family was provided for that night at least, and 
another citizen started in business.

By four p. M. the stoves were up; Mr. White was duly installed with the 
editors in the rear of the main floor; the clerks were taking ads, the paper 
was soon after going into the basement, arrangements were made to print on the 
Journal press, our next door neighbor. Mr. Medill had his printers all in 
order, and a council was called; a list of materials made out, and it was 
agreed that I should start for Buffalo and New York that evening to get them. 
I hurried home, got my satchel—alas, clean linen was not to be had—and back to 
the office. About eight I took the middle of Canal street and went south to 
Twelfth; thence east to Clark and thence south to sixteenth, and just saw the 
cars moving away. Nothing was to be done but to return to 607 Wabash avenue. I 
have mentioned my route thus particularly to add that this was one of the most 
lonely and fearful tramps of my life. No street lamps, few people in the 
streets, and there were good reasons to give them as wide a berth as possible. 
Another sleepless night, and in the morning as I sat sipping my coffee over 
some cold ham, I saw Sheridan's boys with knapsack and musket march proudly 
by. Never did deeper emotions of joy overcome me. Thank God, those most dear 
to me and the city as well are safe, and I hurried away to the train. Had it 
not been for General Sheridan's prompt, bold and patriotic action, I verily 
believe what was left of the city would have been nearly if not quite entirely 
destroyed by the cutthroats and vagabonds who flocked here like vultures from 
every point of the compass.

As soon as my name was found on the hotel book at Buffalo, Thursday morning, 
some gentlemen came round, and took me to the Board of Trade, where I gave the 
best account I could of the extent of the fire, the relief that had been sent, 
and of the certainty that the city in a very few years would rise from its 
ashes in all
its pristine vigor.

Completing my business, I left for New York in the evening train. My arrival 
in some way soon became known at the Tribune office, and Whitelaw Reid, Esq., 
sent two reporters to interview me. I insert what appeared in the Tribune 
Saturday morning, Oct. 14th, headings and all, with only a very few verbal 
corrections.

STATEMENT OF EX-LIEUT. GOV. BROSS OF THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE—SCENES DURING AND 
AFTER THE FIRE—WHAT CHICAGO HAS, WHAT SHE NEEDS, AND WHAT SHE WILL BE.

Ex-Lieutenant Governor Bross of Illinois, arrived in this city from Chicago, 
yesterday morning. A Tribune reporter called on him at the St. Nicholas Hotel, 
immediately after his arrival, and although Gov. Bross was suffering greatly 
from fatigue and the reaction consequent on the excitement of the last few 
days, he kindly and cheerfully dictated the following statement of his 
experience during the conflagration. Gov. Bross is well known as one of the 
principal proprietors of the Chicago Tribune, and his statement will be read 
with the greatest interest.

Before I begin to speak of the fire, I wish to say that I think the accounts 
of it, published in your paper are most admirable. They have been, considering 
the difficulties of obtaining information, wonderfully accurate; and your map, 
showing the burnt portion of the city, is the best I have seen.

As to what I saw of the fire. About two o'clock on Monday morning, my family 
and I were aroused by Mrs. Samuel Bowles, the wife of the editor and 
proprietor of the Springfield Republican, who happened to be a guest in our 
house. We had all gone to bed very tired the night before, and had slept so 
soundly that we were unaware of the conflagration till it had assumed terrible 
force. My family were all very much alarmed at the glare which illuminated the 
sky and the lake. I at once saw that a dreadful disaster was impending over 
Chicago, and immediately left the house to determine the locality and extent 
of the fire. I found that it was then a good deal south of my house and west 
of the Michigan Southern and Rock Island Railroad depots. I went home 
considerably reassured in half an hour, and, finding my family packing things 
up told them that I did not anticipate danger and requested them to leave off 
packing. But I said, "the result of this night's work will be awful. At least 
10,000 people will want breakfast in the morning; you prepare breakfast for 
one hundred." This they proceeded to do, but soon became  alarmed and 
recommenced packing. Soon after half past two o'clock I started for the 
Tribune office to see if it was in danger. By this time the fire had crossed 
the river, and that portion of the city south of Harrison street, and between 
Third avenue and the river seemed in a blaze of fire, as well as on the West 
side.  I reached the Tribune office, and, seeing no cause for any apprehension 
as to its safety I did not remain there more than twenty minutes. On leaving 
the office I proceeded to the Nevada Hotel (which is my property,) at the 
corner of Washington and Franklin streets. I remained there for an hour 
watching the progress of the flames and contemplating the ruinous destruction 
of property going on around. The fire had passed east of the hotel, and I 
hoped that the building was safe; but it soon began to extend in a westerly 
direction, and the hotel was quickly enveloped in flames. I became seriously 
alarmed, and ran north on Franklin to Randolph street so as to head off the 
flames and get back to my house, which was on Michigan avenue, on the shore of 
the lake. My house was a part of almost the last block burned.

MAGNIFICENT APPEARANCE OF THE FIRE WHEN AT ITS HEIGHT.

At this time the fire was the most grandly magnificent scene that one can 
conceive. The Court House, Post Office, Farwell Hall, the Tremont House, 
Sherman House, and all the splendid buildings on La Salle and Wells streets, 
were burning with a sublimity of effect which astounded me. All the adjectives 
in the language would fail to convey the intensity of its wonders. Crowds of 
men, women and children were huddling away, running first in one direction, 
then in another, shouting and crying in their terror, and trying to save 
anything they could lay their hands on, no matter how trivial in value, while 
every now and then explosions, which seemed almost to shake the solid earth 
would reverberate through the air aud add to the terrors of the poor people. I 
crossed Lake street bridge to the west, ran north to Kinzie street bridge, and 
crossed over east to the North side, hoping to head off the fire. It had, 
however, already swept north of me, and was traveling faster than I could go, 
and I soon came to the conclusion that it would be impossible for me to get 
east in that direction. I accordingly re-crossed Kinzie street bridge, and 
went west as far as Desplaines street, where I fortunately met a gentleman in 
a buggy who very kindly drove me over Twelfth street bridge to my house on 
Michigan avenue. It was by this time getting on toward five o'clock, and the 
day was beginning to break. On my arrival home I found my horses already 
harnessed and my riding horse saddled for me. My family and friends were all 
busily engaged in picking up and in distributing sandwiches and coffee to all 
who wanted them or could spare a minute to partake of them.

BURNING OF THE TRIBUNE BUILDING AND THE DWELLINGS ON MICHIGAN AVENUE.

I immediately jumped on my horse and rode as fast as I could go to the Tribune 
oflice. I found everything safe; the men were all there, and we fondly hoped 
that all danger was passed as far as we were concerned, and for this reason, 
that the blocks in front of the Tribune building on Dearborn street, and north 
on Madison street, had both been burned; the only damage accruing to us being 
confined to a cracking of some of the plate glass windows from the heat. But a 
somewhat curious incident soon set us all in a state of excitement. The fire 
had, unknown to us, crawled under the sidewalk from the wooden pavement, and 
had caught the wood work of the barber's shop which comprises a portion of our 
basement. As soon as we ascertained the extent of the mischief we no longer 
apprehended any special danger, believing, as we did, that the building was 
fire-proof. My associates, Mr. Medill and Mr. White, were absent; and with the 
help of some of our employes, we went to work with water and one of Babcock's 
Fire Extinguishers. The fire was soon put out, and we once more returned to 
business. The forms had been sent down stairs, and I ordered our foreman, Mr. 
Keiler, to get all the pressmen together, in order to issue the papers as soon 
as a paragraph showing how far the fire had then extended, could be prepared 
and inserted. Many kind friends gathered round the office and warmly expressed 
their gratification at the preservation of our building. Believing all things 
safe, I again mounted my horse and rode south on State street to see what 
progress the fire was making, and if it were moving eastward on Dearborn 
street. To my great surprise and horror, I found that its current had taken an 
easterly direction, nearly as far as State street, and that it was also 
advancing in a northerly direction with terrible swiftness and power. I at 
once saw the danger so imminently threatening us, and with some friends 
endeavored to obtain a quantity of powder for the purpose of blowing up 
buildings south of the Palmer House. Failing in finding any powder, I saw the 
only thing to do was to tear them down. I proceeded to Church's hardware store 
and succeeded in procuring about a dozen heavy axes, and handing them to my 
friends, requested them to mount the buildings with me and literally chop them 
down. All but two or three seemed utterly paralyzed at this unexpected change 
in the course of the fire; and even these, seeing the others stand back, were 
unwilling to make the effort alone. At this moment I saw that some wooden 
buildings and a new brick house west of the Palmer House had already caught 
fire. I knew at a glance that the Tribune building was doomed, and I rode back 
to the office and told them that nothing more could be done to save the 
building, McVicker's theatre, or anything else in that vicinity. In this 
hopeless frame of mind I rode home to look after my residence and family, 
intently watching the ominous eastward movement of the flames. I at once set 
to work with my family and friends to move as much of my furniture as possible 
across the narrow Park east of Michigan avenue, on to the shore of the lake, a 
distance of some 300 feet. At the same time I sent my family to the house of 
some friends in the south part of the city for safety; my daughter, Miss 
Jessie Bross, was the last to leave us. The work of carrying our furniture 
across the avenue to the shore was most difficult and even dangerous. For six 
or eight hours Michigan avenue was jammed with every description of  vehicle 
containing families escaping from the city, or baggage wagons laden with goods 
and furniture. The sidewalks were crowded with men, women and children, all 
carrying something. Some of the things saved and carried away were valueless. 
One woman carried an empty bird cage; another, an old work box; another, some 
dirty empty baskets; old, useless bedding, anything that could be hurriedly 
snatched up, seemed to have been carried away without judgment or forethought. 
In the meantime the fire had lapped up the Palmer House, the theatres, and the 
Tribune building; and contrary to our expectation, for we thought the current 
of the fire had passed my residence, judging from the direction of the wind, 
we saw by the advancing clouds of dense black smoke and the rapidly 
approaching flames that we were in imminent peril. The fire had already worked 
so far south and east as to attack the stables in the rear of Terrace Block, 
between Van Buren and Congress streets. Many friends rushed into the houses in 
the block and helped to carry out heavy furniture, such as pianos and book 
cases. We succeeded in carrying the bulk of it to the shore. Much of it, 
however, is seriously damaged. There I and a few others sat by our household 
goods, calmly awaiting the destruction of our property-one of the most 
splendid block's in Chicago. The eleven fine houses which composed the block 
were occupied by Denton Gurney, Peter L. Yoe, Mrs. Humphreys (owned by Mrs. 
Walker), William Bross, P. F. W. Peck, S. C. Griggs, Tuthill King, Judge H. T. 
Dickey, Gen. Cook, John L. Clarke, and the Hon. J. Y. Scammon.

THE APPEARANCE OF THE CITY AFTER THE FIRE—ENTERPRISE OF THE TRIBUNE.

The next morning I was of course out early, and found the streets thronged 
with crowds of people moving in all directions. To me the sight of the ruin, 
though so sad, was wonderful; giving one a most curious sensation, and 
especially as it was wrought in so short a space of time. It was the 
destruction of the entire  business portion of one of the greatest cities in 
the world! Every bank and insurance office, law offices, hotels, theatres, 
railroad depots, most of the churches, and many of the principal residences of 
the city, a charred mass, and property almost beyond estimate gone.

Mr. White, my associate, like myself, had been burned out of house and home. 
He had removed his family to a place of safety and I had no idea where he or 
any one else connected with the Tribune office might be found. My first point 
to make was naturally the site of our late office; but before I reached it I 
met two former tenants of our building who told me that there was a job 
printing office on Randolph street, on the West side, that could probably be 
bought. I immediately started for the West side and while making my way west 
through the crowds of people, over the Madison street bridge, desolation 
stared me in the face at every step, and yet I was much struck with the tone 
and temper of the people. On all sides I saw evidences of true Chicago spirit, 
and men said to one another, "cheer up; we'll be all right again before long," 
and many other plucky things. Their pluck and courage was wonderful. Every one 
was bright, cheerful, pleasant, hopeful, and even inclined to be jolly in 
spite of the misery and destitution which surrounded them and which they 
shared. One and all said, Chicago must and should be rebuilt at once. On 
reaching Canal street, on my way To purchase the printing office I had heard 
of, I was informed that while Mr. White and I were saving our families and as 
much of our furniture as we could on Monday afternoon, Mr. Medill, seeing that 
the Tribune office must inevitably be burned, sought for and purchased 
Edwards' job printing office, No. 15 Canal street, where he was then busy 
organizing things. One after another, all hands turned up; and by the 
afternoon we had improvised the back part of the room into our editorial 
department, while an old wooden box did duty as a business counter in the 
front window. We were soon busy as bees, writing editorials and paragraphs; 
and taking in any number of advertisements. By evening several orders for type 
and fixtures were made out, and things were generally so far advanced that I 
left for the depot at Twenty-second street, with the intention of coming on to 
New York. Unfortunately I missed the train and had to wait till Wednesday 
morning. We shall get along as best we can till the rebuilding of our edifice 
is finished. Going down to the ruins I found a large section thrown out of the 
north wall on Madison street. The other three walls are standing, but the east 
and west walls are so seriously injured that they must be pulled down. The 
south wall is in good condition. More of our office and the Post office 
remains standing than any other buildings that I saw. Our building was put up 
to stand a thousand years, and it would have done so but for that awful 
furnace of fire, fanned by an intense gale on the windward side, literally 
melting it up where it stood.

THE LOSS $300,000,000—GRATITUDE OF THE CHICAGO PEOPLE.

With regard to the probable loss from the fire, it is impossible to say 
anything certain. I saw an estimate the other day which was based on the tax 
list of the city, which is over $500,000,000; and the writer inferred from 
that list that the loss cannot exceed $125,000,000. Now, according to our 
system of taxation in Illinois, this city tax list never shows anything like 
the proper amount of the property in the city. To my knowledge, houses having 
$20,000 to $30,000 worth of furniture in them are not rated at more than 
$2,000 to $4,000. Stocks of goods were never valued among us at more than one-
fifth or one-tenth of their, real value on the tax list. All our merchants had 
just filled up their stores with fall and winter trade stocks. From these and 
other facts I estimate the loss by the fire at considerably more than 
$200,000,000; and if damage, depreciation of real estate and property, and 
loss of business are considered, the loss would, in my judgment, exceed 
$300,000,000. Besides this, there are the family accumulations of centuries, 
such as heirlooms, the value of which cannot be estimated in money. The 
collection of the Historical Society, including the Emancipation Proclamation, 
were invaluable, and cannot possibly be replaced. The Chicago Library 
possessed many costly works, among which were the records of the English 
Patent Office, in 3,000 volumes. The destruction of the files of the Tribune 
is an immense loss to Chicago, and an irreparable one to the Tribune. There 
was a duplicate copy, but I unluckily presented it to the Historical Society. 
They contained a complete and exhaustive history of Chicago from its first 
settlement.

One of the most striking circumstances to me, almost as astounding as the 
great fire itself, is the grand and spontaneous outburst of sympathy, aid, and 
brotherly love, which come to us from all parts of the world. It is a touching 
spectacle, this man-to-man, shoulder-to-shoulder way of standing by us. I have 
seen strong men, accustomed to the wear and tear of life, whom the loss of 
enormous fortunes could not bear down, stand at the corners of our streets 
with the tears in their eyes as the kindly words came pouring in upon them on 
the telegraph wires. They could only ejaculate, "God bless them!" I can say no 
more than they. God bless all who have raised even their little finger for 
Chicago.

WHAT CHICAGO NEEDS FOR THE FUTURE.

This country and even Europe have already provided for Chicago's present wants 
with a munificence and promptness never before witnessed in the history of the 
race. Enough has been and will be forwarded, when the contributions are all in 
the hands of the proper committees, to provide for the immediate necessities 
of the more indigent sufferers, who are unable to take care of themselves. 
What is most needed is to furnish the leading business men of the city with 
capital, so that they can employ the laboring classes in erecting stores, 
warehouses, banks, business blocks, hotels, churches, school houses and 
manufactories of all kinds. How is this capital to be placed in their hands? 
Let those who hold mortgages taken for half the value of the property, take a 
second mortgage of sufficient amount to defray the expense of erecting a good 
building on the former site. Such a structure will rent for a sufficient sum 
to pay the interest on both mortgages, and in the present demand for buildings 
will also pay a reasonable percentage to the owner of the property. A very 
large number of such mortgages, made to life insurance and other companies and 
to individuals, were recorded on the burnt records of Chicago, and will be 
recognized by its business men.

Furthermore, let those who know the leading business men of Chicago, honest, 
industrious, and determined to rebuild the city, lend them money to start 
again the business in which they were engaged, asking only pledges of honor, 
if they, in their afflictions have nothing else to give. These men understand 
the business of the Northwest, and can of course transact it with profit. 
Aided by the capital of others they can rapidly regain their lost wealth, and 
amply repay those who may assist them. Let the banks and business men of New 
York and other Eastern cities who have been connected by business with Chicago 
merchants, furnish them with all the money and goods they may require with 
which to re-establish themselves.

NEW YORK'S DUTY TOWARD CHICAGO.

As a gentleman expressed it in my hearing to-day, New York is the senior and 
Chicago the junior partner of the great firm which manages the vast commercial 
interests of our nation. By a dispensation of Providence which the wisest 
could not foresee, the means in the hands of the junior partner have been 
destroyed. Will the senior partner sit by and see the business of the firm 
crushed out when he has the means to establish it on a scale more gigantic and 
more profitable than ever before? Let him contribute a small portion only of 
his vast accumulations to his unfortunate associate, and the influence and 
power of the concern will assume fresh life and vigor. By thus furnishing the 
means with which to start again the business of Chicago, the holders of 
mortgages will at once make the property for which the mortgages were given as 
valuable as ever, and will insure for themselves both interest and principal. 
The merchants of New York and the Eastern cities should resume gladly their 
dealings with houses already competent to transact the business of the West, 
and within a few years scarcely a trace of the great fire of Chicago will 
remain to bear testimony to its record upon the pages of history.

AN OPENING FOR EASTERN CAPITAL.

A large number of men with more or less capital and living all over the 
country have been deterred from going to Chicago because the business and 
manufacturing of that city were concentrated in the hands of well-established 
houses. There has not been a time in twenty years when such persons could 
establish themselves in business there so easily as now. With the exception of 
a few of the larger houses, stranger and citizen will start even in the race 
for the business of the Great West. Farmers, merchants and capitalists at the 
East who have sons whom they wish to put in as partners with men of integrity 
and business knowledge, will find no opportunity like the one which Chicago 
offers to-day. Men of the very best character and of the best business 
qualifications, thoroughly acquainted with the trade and commerce of the West, 
would be only too glad to place their energy and business knowledge against 
the money furnished by the sons of Eastern capitalists. The men who in part 
have built up Chicago and walled her streets with business and residence 
blocks among the finest on the continent, have ever been distinguished for 
their far-seeing shrewdness, their energy and integrity, and now all they need 
is the capital to set the labor of the city vigorously at work. The capital   
and labor working together with the intelligence and energy of the citizens, 
will in a very few years rebuild Chicago and reproduce her with increased 
magnificence and power. I tell you that within five years her business houses 
will be rebuilt, and by the year 1900 the new Chicago will boast a population 
of 1,000,000 souls. You ask me why? Because I know the Northwest and the vast 
resources of its broad acres. I know that the location of Chicago makes her 
the centre of this wealthy region, and the market for all its products.

WHAT CHICAGO HAS FOR A FOUNDATION ON WHICH TO BUILD.

Though Chicago itself has been destroyed in a whirlwind of fire, the immense 
fertile country which is tributary to it for hundreds of miles around has the 
wheat and the corn, the beef and the pork, and the other products to pay for 
the merchandise of the East. While some of her wooden pavement has been 
injured, the greater part of it is in good condition. The streets have been 
raised several feet, giving good drainage. The foundations of most of the 
consumed buildings are uninjured. The gas and water pipes are laid through all 
the streets of the city. The sewerage was nearly complete before the 
conflagration, and was uninjured by it. The damage to the water works was very 
slight, and within a few days they will be in operation again. The bridges are 
nearly all preserved. The lake tunnel by which the city is supplied with 
water, the tunnel under the main river, and that under the south branch are 
all uninjured. These works alone may be counted as constituting from 20 to 40 
per cent, of the cost of rebuilding the city. The Chamber of Commerce and 
several of the leading business houses have already determined to rebuild 
immediately upon the former sites. There can be no doubt but that the business 
centre of the city will be re-established at once upon its old foundation. The 
dozen or more railways branching off in all directions through the Mississippi 
Valley will soon be pouring the wealth of the country into the city as rapidly 
as ever. It is true that two large depots have been burned, but they had long 
since become too small for the business of the roads. Others of larger 
dimensions and better accommodations will immediately take their places. That 
indomitable perseverance and genuine "grit" which made Chicago in the past 
will in a very few years raise up the Chicago of the future.

This, so far as I know, was the first con¬iderable statement in regard to the 
fire made to the New York press by any one direct from Chicago. Their special 
dispatches had been very full and in the main entirely accurate. I spent 
Sabbath with my friend Bowles, of the Springfield (Mass.) Republican, and 
several hours on Monday with the President and Secretary of the Connecticut 
Mutual Life Insurance Company, then and now Chicago's largest creditor and 
among the very best friends the city ever had. I gave them my views as to the 
best means to make their large investments here available. On Tuesday 
afternoon, the 17th, by invitation, I delivered the following address to the 
relief committee of the Chamber of Commerce, Ex-Mayor Updike in the Chair. 
Though much that is in the Tribune's interview is repeated, I insert it here 
just an it appeared in all the papers next morning.
 
 
CHICAGO'S NEEDS.
EX-GOVERNOR BROSS' ADDRESS BEFORE THE NEW YORK CHAMBER OP COMMERCE RELIEF 
COMMITTEE.

Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the New York Chamber of Commerce:

A few of you may remember that in 1866, I had the honor to address you on the 
subject of the Pacific Railroad. I then took rather a brighter view of the 
location and of the facilities for building the road; of the extent of its 
business, and its influence upon the travel and the traffic of this country 
and the world, than many of you probably believed could be warranted by the 
facts; but I think you will now agree that what may then have seemed to be 
bold if not improbable speculation, has been more than realized. And if fresh 
from that terrible baptism of fire which has swept over and destroyed the best 
portion of the city of Chicago, I venture to take a hopeful view of her 
future, provided you, and the capitalists of New York and the East generally, 
render her stricken business men that material aid which I trust you will feel 
it both safe and a pleasure to give, my best judgment and most careful study 
of the whole subject convince me, at least, that the views you may permit me 
to present will also be fully realized.

THE EXTENT OF THE LOSS.

Of the extent of the calamity that has desolated our city I need not speak in 
detail. Your newspapers of last Friday morning had correct maps of the burnt 
district. Some 3,000 acres are covered with frightful ruins, or swept by the 
devouring fire, maddened by the fury of the hurricane, as bare as they were 
when the Indian roamed over them forty years ago. It is safe to say that all 
that remains of Chicago is not worth half as much as the fire has destroyed. 
All our banks; all our largest and best hotels, and a score or two of lesser 
note; all our largest and leading grocery, jewelry, dry goods, hardware, 
clothing and other business houses; all our newspaper offices; most of our 
churches and school houses; our Historical Society's building, with all its 
valuable treasures; the Library Association, containing among other works some 
3,000 volumes of the Patent Office reports of Great Britain; thousands of 
dwellings; the homes of the rich, filled with priceless treasures, and with 
heirlooms of hundreds of years; and the abodes of humble poverty by the ten 
thousand—all, all have been swept as by the fell besom of destruction from the 
face of the earth. Only a single house on the north side of the river—that of 
Mahlon D. Ogden, Esq.—is left standing, and probably 75,000 people spent the 
morning and most of Monday crouching in Lincoln Park, or half immersed in the 
waters of the Lake, to save themselves from the heat and the showers of 
burning cinders driven upon them by the tempest. Both the losses and the 
sufferings of that day can never be fully known or described no mind can 
possibly comprehend them. They have not been and can not well be exaggerated.

UNBOUNDED SYMPATHY.

If our calamity in its kind has been unequaled in the world's history, the 
response it has met in the sympathy, the outpouring and unbounded liberality 
of the entire American people, is grand, sublime, Godlike. It throbs in the 
lightning's flash through three thousand miles of the deep, dark caves of the 
old ocean, and makes our hearts glad. I may say for our people, brothers and 
sisters of generous free America, honored sons and daughters of our sires 
across the Atlantic, with the profoundest emotions of our hearts, we thank 
you. Strong men in Chicago weep at midnight, not over their losses of 
thousands, aye, many of them even of millions, but with joy and gratitude at 
the noble charity you have shown us. God will reward you for it, and our 
children and children's children shall bless you.

THE NEXT THING NEEDED.

The millions of dollars in clothing, provisions, and money already raised and 
being subscribed, have relieved the immediate necessities of the poor, and 
thousands who have been made so by the fire. But, gentlemen, the next 
imperative necessity is to place funds in the hands of the leading business 
men of Chicago to enable them to rebuild the city, to handle the products of 
the vast fertile country that is tributary to it, and to set all the laborers 
of the city to work. Do this and the poor can support themselves; withhold 
your capital and they must starve or your charities will continue to be 
severely taxed to support them, for you can not see them die of starvation. In 
making this appeal to you, and through you to the capitalists of the country 
and to the business men and capitalists of England and Germany, for means to 
rebuild and do the business of Chicago, I must deal with the two elements of 
security and profit. I have still another; those who have now loans on real 
property and credits in the hands of our leading houses should continue those 
credits and make loans on the same property on second mortgage, in order to 
make what - they now have available. Nearly all the central portion of the 
city has been swept by fire, and the land is not worth as much as so many 
acres of prairie, unless made valuable for business by rebuilding it. The men, 
whose splendid marble palaces once occupied it, are still there. In most cases 
their property is all gone; but sterling integrity, unbending energy, a 
thorough knowledge of the financial, commercial, and manufacturing interests 
of the West—all those qualities which have made Chicago the wonder and 
admiration of the world—are still left to them. Nay, more, all their best 
powers are enlarged and intensified by a determination to regain and restore 
all that has been lost. Braver and truer, nobler and better men do not live, 
than the leading business men of Chicago. I ask not for them—they would scorn 
to ask—charity; but I do ask that you intrust as much as you can of your 
surplus capital to their management, for your own and their profit.

A BOLD POLICY SAFEST.

But to repeat and to be more specific. Let insurance companies and individuals 
who have loans on Chicago real estate take a second mortgage with policies of 
insurance for money enough to build a substantial building upon it. Such must 
be the demand for places of all kinds to do business, for several years to 
come, that the rentals will surely pay the interest on both the mortgages and 
leave a fair surplus to the owner to pay the principal. A bold policy, in all 
such cases, it seems to me, is the only safe and really conservative one for 
capitalists to pursue. They can in this way, within a year at most, make safe 
and productive all their investments. Any other course must subject them to 
great and inevitable loss. Unincumbered Chicago real estate—and there is a 
vast deal of that—offers the very best possible security to capitalists. Take 
a mortgage on property, to-day, that two weeks ago would have sold for $2,000 
per front foot, for, say $500 per front foot; in three years, so rapidly is 
the city sure to grow, it will be worth twice as much, and in five years it 
will have reached its former value of $2,000 per front foot. The point I make 
is, that Chicago real estate must rapidly appreciate from its present nominal 
values, and this renders all loans upon it entirely safe.

Again, there are thousands of Chicago business men who have friends East who 
know them to be honest, energetic, and capable. If they have no other security 
to give, take a life policy and a note of honor, and lend them money enough to 
start business. They have lost one fortune, and with a little of your help on 
the start they can soon make another. As to the large class of merchants and 
manufacturers who have done business with Chicago houses, I know they will 
extend all the aid in their power by large and liberal credits. By doing so, 
they will be sure to collect what is now due them, and to secure large orders 
and profits in the future. The mercantile community are proverbially liberal 
in their dealings with each other, and in our overwhelming calamity Chicago 
merchants will doubtless receive the most generous treatment from Eastern 
merchants and manufacturers.

GOOD TIME TO COMMENCE BUSINESS.

There has not been, for the last twenty years, so good a time for men of 
capital to start business in Chicago as now. Thousands anxious to locate in 
this focus of Western commerce have been deterred from doing so for the reason 
that the business in each department had become concentrated in comparatively 
a few hands. With few exceptions, all can now start even, in the race for fame 
and fortune. The fire has leveled nearly all distinctions, and the merchants 
and dealers who have heretofore purchased in our older and larger houses will 
buy where they can get their goods the cheapest. Now, therefore, is the time 
to strike. A delay of a year or two will give an immense advantage to those 
who start at once. True, a location must be found, perhaps a store built; but 
a couple of months, at most, are all that is needed to start business with the 
best prospects of success.

Again, there are thousands of people all over the country with considerable 
means who wish to start their sons in business. Of course they are without 
experience. Furnish them capital to go into business with an experienced 
Chicago merchant, who will gladly put his knowledge and energy against the 
capital, and in a few years these sons will be men of wealth and honor. Such 
opportunities, my word for it, can be found in abundance. Better a thousand 
fold encourage the sons of the rich to honorable exertion than to allow them 
to waste their energies in ease and luxury.

RATE OF INTEREST.

While the rich, populous States tributary to Chicago, through which our 
railways are running in all directions, must make the business of the city, as 
it has been in the past, exceedingly profitable, I trust what I have said has 
convinced you that it is one of the best cities in the world in which to make 
safe investments of capital. Its rapid growth must insure that beyond a 
contingency. And now for the matter of profit. The legal interest in Illinois 
is ten per cent., a much larger figure than is allowed anywhere at the East. 
Millions of money would gladly be taken by our leading business men at that 
rate; but I beg to say that I hope you will be satisfied with eight. I might 
add that our people sometimes pay commissions, but I beg you also to forget 
all about that. Our citizens are poor enough now in all conscience, and it is 
to be hoped Eastern capital will be satisfied with a reasonable percentage 
above what it can realize at home.

WHAT THE GOVERNMENT CAN DO.

Of course the Government can do nothing directly for us; but as soon as 
Congress meets, liberal appropriations should be made to build a large, 
substantial Post Office. The old building had become far too small to 
accommodate the immense business of the Northwest. The Chicago office was, if 
I mistake not, the second distributing office in the United States, and it 
should have a building of corresponding dimensions. The importing business 
direct to Chicago was just fairly commenced, and a large Custom House and 
several bonded warehouses are needed for that. Perhaps United States Court 
rooms can be provided in these; but in any event large accommodations are at 
once of imperative necessity. The building of them as rapidly as possible 
would employ a large amount of labor, and distribute corresponding sums of 
money, thus affording a most important stimulus to the entire business of the 
city.

WHAT IS LEFT.

Although the all-devouring fire has swept over us, we have still much 
remaining on which to build the city. All our banks, though doubtless somewhat 
crippled, will resume business at once. Their books, currency, notes and 
exchanges are safe. The notes, though not as good as they might be, will 
mostly be paid, in whole or in part; and what is worthless, it is to be hoped, 
will not seriously affect their stability and usefulness. Our score or more of 
railways will at once pour the produce of the upper half of the Mississippi 
valley into the city for distribution among all the cities and States of the 
seaboard. Our Water Works are soon to be in good order, and the water pipes 
all over the city are intact. Many of our bridges, and of course our lake 
tunnel and our two tunnels under the river, are all right. The streets are 
raised several feet in many places, affording good drainage; the pavements are 
very little injured, and the gas pipes and sewers are of course complete. 
These with other things that might be named constitute from twenty to forty 
per cent, of the original expense of building the city. And what is far 
better, our honest, brave, plucky people are there, ready and willing to work. 
Their strong hands and iron wills yield to no disasters. The men who have 
turned the waters of Lake Michigan into the Mississippi—in common phrase "made 
the Chicago river run up hill"—can turn back the tide of misfortune, and in a 
few years make their city more prosperous and populous and powerful than ever 
before. True, they need your assistance, and you will give it. The 
capitalists, the mercantile and business interests of this country and of 
Europe cannot afford to withhold the means to rebuild Chicago. The vast 
teeming country west of her, her position at the head of the Great Lakes, with 
more miles of railway centering there than any other city upon the continent, 
have made her one of the vital forces that give life and vigor to the 
commercial energies of the nation. What she has been in the past she must 
become in the future, and a hundred fold more. Help her with capital, and it 
can soon be done; but in any event she has to wait only a few short years for 
the sure development of her "manifest destiny."

The above had the advantage of appearing in all the morning papers. The 
Tribune, Herald, and Times gave it an immense circulation. Most of the evening 
papers copied or gave a synopsis of it, and the papers of other cities did the 
same. I was assured that it had done much to inspire confidence in the early 
restoration of the city. If in this or any other way it did any good, I did 
only what every good citizen should always do, the best he can for the 
interests and the prosperity of Chicago. It should be noticed that what I 
predicted would be accomplished in five years was mostly done in three, and 
much of it in two. The unsightly acres still to be seen on State street, 
Wabash avenue, and some portions of Michigan avenue, were burned over by the 
disastrous fire of July 14th, 1874. Nearly all the open spaces made by the 
great fire of 1871 are now covered with buildings.
 


1873.
TRANSPORTATION.
FACTS AND FIGURES IN REGARD TO IT — THE GEORGIAN BAY CANAL.

The following address at Des Moines is inserted for the facts and figures it 
contains, posted up to the time it was delivered:

Special despatch to the Chicago Tribune.

DES MOINES, Ia., Jan. 22.—The Iowa Industrial Convention convened to-day, with 
full delegations from all parts of the State, also delegates from Illinois and 
Canada. Governor Carpenter called the Convention to order. Officers were 
chosen as follows: Mayor W. T. Smith, of Oskaloosa, President; one Vice 
President from each Congressional District of the State; A. R.Fulton, 
Secretary, and S. F. Spofford, Treasurer. The afternoon business was a 
discussion on the amendment to the Collection laws in operation in the State. 
The Convention resolved to memorialize the Legislature to limit the stay of 
execution to ninety days; to abolish the Appraisement law; to limit the right 
of redemption to six mouths.

The motion to limit the value of homesteads to $5,000 did not carry.

The Convention is composed of leading representative men from all parts of the 
State. It is large in numbers, and embraces an unusual amount of practical 
business talent, and valuable results may be anticipated. Ex-Lieutenant 
Governor Bross, of Chicago, is speaking this evening to a very large audience, 
composed not only of the members, but of the Senators, Representatives, and 
others in attendance upon the Legislature. His subject is the transportation 
question. The following is the substance of his remarks:

Mr. President and Gentlemen:

I am here by request, to address you on the transportation question. The 
subject involves an estimate, as near as may be, of the surplus farm products 
of what are commonly known as the Northwestern States; the cost of freights 
between the producers and the consumers; the capacity of the channels of 
transit; the means by which that capacity can be enlarged, and the cost of 
freights thereby reduced to the lowest possible limit; and lastly, the numbers 
and the wants of the people among whom we expect to find a profitable market 
for that surplus.

The people of our Atlantic seaboard, especially those of the New England 
States, are our largest and best customers. The steady increase of 
manufacturing industry there, creates a larger demand for our products every 
year; but that demand has long since fallen far behind the production of 
cereals and provisions in the States that surround and lie west of Lake 
Michigan. This fact has become the more apparent every year since 1865, when 
at least 200,000 men ceased to be consumers, and, scattered all over these 
States, have been steadily adding to our surplus. In the meantime, thousands 
of people from the different nationalities of Europe have made their homes 
among us, thus adding largely, not only to the numbers of our population, but 
to the development of our resources, and the intellectual and the moral power 
of the nation. If our surplus products are already so great, and the cost of 
their transit to the seaboard is so enormous, that corn is used in Iowa for 
fuel, the question what is to be done with that surplus a few years hence, 
when it has increased in almost a bewildering ratio, becomes a matter of the 
most serious concern. Let us consider for a few moments the extent, the 
resources, and the prospective development of the Northwestern States, nearly 
all of whose surplus products must find their way, either by rail or the lakes 
and canal, to the seaboard.

Look at the map. If you draw a line west from Alton, the territory lying north 
of that and between Lake Michigan and the Rocky Mountains, throwing out the 
small sections that are valueless, embraces about 700,000 square miles. Here 
we have space for fourteen States as large as Ohio, and he knows little of its 
climate and resources who is not convinced that they will be vastly more 
productive and more populous than that noble State. The rapid progress of this 
territory may be inferred from a few facts. The following table shows the 
increase of population in six States between 1860 and 1870:

		  1860.		  1870.
Illinois	1,711,595	2,539,891
Iowa	   	  674,913	1,191,792
Kansas	   	  107,206         364,399
Minnesota	  172,023	  439,706
Nebraska	   28,841	  122,993
Wisconsin	  775,881	1,054,670
Totals		3,470,459       5,713,451


These figures, taken from the Government census, show a ratio of 64 per cent. 
increase between the years 1860 and 1870. The same ratio, continued to the 
year 1900, only twenty-seven years hence, would give these States 25,450,000 
people; but, granting it can not be kept up in them, can any one doubt, with 
the rapid extension of our railways in all directions through this vast 
fertile country, that at least 20,000,000 of people will in the year of grace 
1900 find their homes between Lake Michigan and the Rocky Mountains? With only 
a little more than half the ratio I have named, your own beautiful Iowa will 
in that time have a population equal to that of Pennsylvania in 1870, then and 
now the second State in the Union. As another element to help us to judge of 
the immediate future, I may mention that Chicago had in 1860 a population of 
111,214, and in 1870, 298,977. The ratio of increase in this case—170 per 
cent.—would give her a population in 1880 of 800,000. I dare not say that 
Chicago will have that many people in a little more than seven years hence, 
but I will say that she has far outstripped the predictions that I or any one 
else have ever had the courage to make.

Another index to the development of the Northwest is found in the rapid growth 
of our railway system.

The following table shows the number of miles of railway in the six States 
above named, in 1860 and 1870, and the number of miles completed in 1872:

                                 Increase   Built
               1860     1870     in 10 yrs  in 1872
Illinois       2,790    4,031     1,241       838
Iowa             655    2,095     1,440       585
Kansas         none       931       931       511
Minnesota      none       795       795       712
Nebraska       none     1,058     1,058       218
Wisconsin        905    1,512       607       555

Totals         4,350   10,422     6,072     3,419


It will be noticed that more than half as many miles of railway were built in 
these States during last year as were built in ten years between 1860 and 
1870. But to the Western farmer this astonishing railway progress serves only 
to increase the hideous writhings of what your excellent Governor Carpenter 
aptly calls "the skeleton in his corn-crib." It promotes the rapid settlement 
of the country, thereby adding largely to that surplus production which even 
now can only be relieved by burning corn for fuel. While Governor Carpenter's 
metaphor is fearfully true, and, with our present means of transit, that 
skeleton must remain fixed in the corn-crib, there are millions, may I call 
them living skeletons, clad in scanty flesh, pinched and wan with the gnawings 
of remorseless hunger, whose shout of joy and thankfulness would make the 
heavens ring, could this corn be brought within reach of their starving wives 
and children. But before passing from this branch of the subject, let us take 
another example from the commercial statistics of Chicago. The first shipment 
of wheat from that city, 78 bushels, was made in 1838, and in 1844, only 
twenty-nine years ago, the shipments were less than a million of bushels. Up 
to that time no other cereal had been shipped eastward. In 1871, the receipts 
of all kinds of grain—flour being expressed in bushels—were 83,518,202, and 
the shipments 71,800,789. Last year the receipts, as furnished me by Charles 
Randolph, Esq., Secretary of the Board of Trade, were 88,426,842. Allowing 
about the same figures for city consumption, the shipments for 1872 would 
amount to 76,000,000 bushels. The figures for each year in most cases show a 
steady increase of the shipments of breadstuff's, keeping pace with the 
settlement of the country west of Lake Michigan. A reference to the tables 
showing the commerce in the animal products of our vast fertile prairies would 
yield the same results, and need not be given here.

With all the increase of production west of Lake Michigan we have added but 
one railway to our channels of transit for it to the seaboard since 1855; in 
all, we now have four railways, the lakes, the Welland and St. Lawrence and 
the Erie canals. After having studied carefully the resources, and the 
probable development of the territory we have been considering, I said to the 
first Convention, held at Toronto, to consider how our transit lines could be 
increased, on the 13th of September of that year: "As well attempt to lead the 
boiling current of Niagara to the sea in hose-pipe as to ship the products of 
these 700,000 square miles to the ocean by the Erie and the Welland canals, 
and all the railways now or hereafter to be constructed." The commercial crash 
of 1857-8, and our four years War of the Rebellion have somewhat delayed the 
fulfillment of what then seemed to many the vagaries of an over-heated 
imagination; but that it is literally, even painfully true, to-day, this 
Convention cannot doubt for a moment.

The question before the Farmers' Convention, of Illinois, recently held at 
Bloomington, mooted as I learn almost with despairing earnestness, was, Can 
any present relief be found for the high freights and the ruinously low prices 
of our produce? I can see but two sources—one in an active demand at high 
figures, caused by a war in Europe. This would only be temporary, at best. The 
only permanent relief is to be sought for by opening a channel, hereafter to 
be noticed, for vessels of 1,000 tons, down the St. Lawrence to the ocean. And 
now we come to the price of freights, and what is needed to lower them to such 
a figure that the farmers west of Lake Michigan can ship the products of their 
broad acres to the ocean, and not have the proceeds of their toil consumed in 
getting them to market. On this branch of the subject, the cost of freights 
east of Chicago is the only thing to be considered, for the railway charges to 
that city can only be reduced gradually, by competition among the railways and 
by the greater amount of products to be handled. The freight on corn from Des 
Moines to Chicago, and places west to the Missouri, has, I understand, been 
reduced from 20 to 17 cents per hundred—about 12 cents per bushel—and, in 
process of time, a further reduction may possibly be made. The average of all 
rail freights between Chicago and New York, for the year 1871, was 29.1 cents 
per bushel, and 31.2 per bushel for wheat. I have the opinion of the 
Presidents of two of our largest railways, that if half a dozen double track 
railway lines, devoted entirely to freight, were built between New York and 
Chicago, the rate could not be reduced below 20 cents per bushel. That would 
make the freight charges on a bushel of corn from Des Moines to tide water 32 
cents at the lowest rate that can be hoped for by all rail, and, adding the 
commissions of the middle men, 35 to 40 cents would be levied, so that you may 
safely calculate it will cost you at least three bushels of corn to lay down 
the fourth one in New York. Using propellers betwen Chicago and Buffalo or 
Erie, and rail to New York, the average tariff of freight for 1871 was 23.4 
cents per bushel for corn, and 25.2 for wheat, being about 6 cents less than 
by all rail.

The average freight on corn by sail vessel, from Chicago to Buffalo, for the 
past summer, was a small fraction above 9 cents per bushel. Add charges for 
handling at Buffalo 1 1/2 cents, and canal freights to New York 12 cents on 
corn, and 12 1/2 cents on wheat, and the charges on these grains to New York 
will be about 23 to 25 cents per bushel. Owing to the large amount of produce 
to be moved, freights have ranged from 2 to 5 cents higher during the present 
year above the rates ruling in 1871. The rates by propeller and rail to 
Buffalo and New York, and by sail and canal, have approached very nearly to 
the same figures. All lines are taxed to their utmost capacity, and more. The 
Erie canal can not be enlarged, for the watershed of the country through which 
it runs will not afford a larger supply of water to feed the canal, and the 
question returns what can be done to secure for our products a more capacious 
channel, and therefore cheaper transit to the ocean? I answer, in the language 
of the late Captain Hugunin, one of our best and earliest lake 
navigators: "The Great God, when he made the mighty West, made also the lakes 
and the mighty St. Lawrence & float their commerce to the ocean." True, we 
have the Rapids of the St. Lawrence and the Falls of Niagara; but without 
these we could not have the Great lakes, and without them meteorology has long 
since proved that our vast teeming prairies would be arid as the regions  of 
Central Asia. Around these natural barriers man's energy has built a series of 
canals, passing vessels of some three and part of the way six hundred tons 
between the lakes and tide water. Every tyro in commercial knowledge knows 
that as you increase the tonnage of a vessel you diminish the relative cost of 
freights. Enlarge the Welland and the St. Lawrence canals, so as to pass 
vessels of 1,000 tons burthen, and I have the opinion of the eminent railway 
Presidents above referred to that a bushel of corn can be transported from 
Chicago to Montreal for 14 cents; and by the Caughnewaga canal, of similar 
size, and the Champlain canal, duly enlarged, to New York, at 18 cents. This 
view is more than confirmed by our able engineer, Colonel R. B. Mason, who, in 
his report on the Georgian Bay canal, as Consulting Engineer, with Kivas 
Tulley, Esq., of Toronto, estimating the cost of freight, in vessels of 1,000 
tons burthen, by lake, at 2 mills per ton per mile, by canal and river at 8, 
and ocean at 1 1/2, foots up the cost of transporting a bushel of wheat 
between Chicago and Liverpool at 20 cents, and to Montreal a fraction above 9 
cents. Take the first estimate, viz., 14 cents as the cost of freight on a 
bushel of corn, between Chicago and Montreal, and we have six cents added to 
the price of every bushel produced by our farmers. The effect of that on their 
wealth and prosperity would be wonderful. Suppose only half of it reaches the 
pockets of your farmers, and it would add 20 per cent, to the value of every 
acre of land he possesses. Take the figures for your surplus as put down in 
the Government census for 18.69, with the deductions for home consumption as 
made by Governor Carpenter in his able address before your State Agricultural 
Society, and three cents a bushel on your corn and wheat would put into the 
pockets of your farmers $1,200,000 per year—the sum to go on increasing every 
year, for aught I know, to the end of time. The value of such a reduction of 
freights to the entire Northwest is far beyond the limit of any figures which 
I should dare to give.

ENLARGEMENT OF THE CANALS.

The enlargement of the Welland and St. Lawrence Canals so as to pass vessels 
of 1,000 tons burthen will accomplish nearly all the beneficent results above 
specified. If our Canadian neighbors prefer for any reason to do this, let us 
be thankful and bid them God speed. A better thing, in my judgment, to be 
done, is to build the Huron and Ontario Ship Canal from the Georgian Bay to 
Toronto. The people of the cities on the Lower St. Lawrence fear, as I think 
without reason, if this canal is built, the diversion of the trade of the 
Northwest to New York. The citizens of the valley of the Ottawa very naturally 
insist on the improvement of their great river; impracticable, as I think, for 
there would be some 400 miles of close river and canal navigation, and, if I 
mistake not, a depth of only eight feet of water. Were it not for these 
reasons, I believe the people of the Dominion would be unanimous in favor of 
the speedy construction of a ship canal from the Georgian Bay to Lake Ontario. 
This, I confess, is an old pet project of mine, and as one of your most far 
seeing citizens, J. B. Calhoun, Esq., and His Excellency Governor Carpenter, 
have each recently referred favorably to it, will you permit me to add a short 
description of the route and its prospective advantages to the commerce of our 
vast and rapidly developing Northwest. Let us turn our attention to the map.

Starting from Chicago to the Georgian Bay, the northeastern part of Lake 
Huron, the track of a vessel is very direct to the mouth of the Nottawasaga 
River. Thence we have slack water navigation up that river, with occasional 
reaches of canal through the sandy shores to avoid bends in the river, to a 
point 20 miles from its mouth. The elevation of 130 feet is overcome by 11 
locks, with an average lift of about 12 feet. We have now reached the summit 
level of Lake Simcoe, only nine miles distant. To reach it, a ridge composed 
of clay and gravel must be cut through at an average depth of 50 feet, and 78 
feet at its summit. From Barrie, on Kempenfeldt Bay, there is lake navigation 
for 22 miles to the mouth of the Holland River. The river and marsh for 10 
miles can very easily be made navigable by steam excavators. The real 
difficulty and expensive part of the work is here reached. A ridge 10 miles in 
width, composed of clay and gravel, must be cut through at an average depth of 
90 feet, and 198 feet for half a mile at its summit. Once through this ridge, 
the line follows down the valley of the Humber 23 miles. There are required 39 
locks, with an average lift of about 12 feet and a total lockage of 470 feet. 
Of course, this route has about 260 feet more lockage than that by the Welland 
Canal; but it has advantages hereafter to be noticed that make it in my 
judgment far preferable as the great highway for the commerce of the 
Northwest. The total distance from the mouth of the Nottawasaga to that of the 
Humber on Lake Huron is only 100 miles. More than half of that distance is on 
the summit through Lake Simcoe, through which steam tugs would take vessels in 
a few hours. There is less than 40 miles of close canal navigation on the 
whole route; the other parts of it are through Lake Simcoe and the valleys of 
the Nottawasaga, the Holland, and the Humber Rivers. Lake Simcoe and its 
tributaries afford an ample supply of water to feed the canal from the summit 
in both directions. Very little water would be needed on the north from Lake 
Simcoe, for the Nottawasaga River would supply that. This route to tide water 
is some 400 miles shorter than that by Lake Erie and the Welland Canal; and it 
is nearly as much shorter to New York by Oswego than by Lake Erie. It is about 
800 miles shorter to Liverpool. It will save two days in time to tide water, 
and of course a fraction on freights to pay the expenses of the extra 260 feet 
of lockage. A very great advantage is, that the general direction of the route 
makes it the best possible for vessels to avail themselves of the southwest 
winds of summer. By the Lake Erie route the vessel must beat against that for 
more than 150 miles after passing Point aux Barque on Lake Huron down the St. 
Clair River and Lake and the Detroit River to Lake Erie. The difficult 
navigation over the St. Clair Flats, though now materially improved, is also 
avoided. And besides, the track of the vessel through the Georgian Bay and 
Lake Simcoe would be through cooler water than around by Lake Erie—an 
advantage not to be overlooked in transporting grain in bulk to the seaboard. 
The danger of its being damaged by heating is thereby proportionately removed. 
Open this route with a sufficient capacity to pass vessels of 1,000 tons 
burthen, and you have a channel of ample dimensions to carry the commerce of 
the mighty West to the ocean. You thereby reduce the freight on a bushel of 
corn to 14 cents, perhaps to 10 cents, to Montreal, and to about 20 to 25 
cents to Liverpool. By so doing you give cheaper bread—perhaps reduce its 
price nearly one-half—to the millions of Great Britain, and add immensely to 
the wealth, and, therefore, to the means for the intellectual and the social 
improvement of the 30,000,000 who are soon to live between Lake Michigan and 
the Rocky Mountains.

But, says one, the cost of this work is appalling; it can never be built. Let 
us see. Colonel Mason and Mr. Tully, in 1858, estimated the cost of the entire 
work at less than $24,000,000. Capitalists in this country and Europe have 
offered several times to build it for $40,000,000. This is scarcely more than 
our Credit Mobilier gentry managed to get as a gratuity from our Government—
some uncharitable people will call it stealing—for building a railway from the 
Missouri river to Salt Lake. Six cents a bushel saved in freights on the grain 
even now shipped from Chicago would pay for the canal in less than ten years; 
and the same sum saved on the grain imported into Great Britain would pay for 
the canal in less than five years. If you add the savings on animal products 
and merchandise passing east and west, the whole cost of the improvement would 
be paid for in three years, and the world would thenceforward have the use of 
it free of charge on its cost for all time to come.

The question, Who are to buy the surplus products of the Northwest? is all 
that remains to be noticed. Besides the people of New England who would be 
immensely benefited by this canal, right across the Atlantic are nearly 
40,000,000 of people in Great Britain, ready to buy and to consume that 
surplus, and, with the products of their strong arms and skillful hands, to 
pay for all we have to spare them, England employs her energies mainly in 
commerce and manufactures. Large sections of the country are devoted to parks 
and pleasure grounds. Her wealthy men are constantly increasing the area of 
these pleasure grounds, and thereby lessening the space devoted to food 
culture. It was stated a few years ago that Coates, who manufactures the spool-
cotton used in the making of our clothing, gave his check for £76,000, 
($380,000), for several small farms, which he intended to improve as a 
splendid park. So essential are supplies of food from abroad to the life of 
Great Britain, that in a year of poor crops in the countries bordering on the 
Black and Baltic Seas, from which her cereals are mainly drawn, Mr. Cobden 
declared there was not money enough in Threadneedle street—the Bank, of 
England is located there—to procure the deficiency to save the people from 
starvation, had they not found an ample supply in the United States. Reducing 
their figures to our standard, and adding one-eleventh for December, the 
imports of wheat into Great Britain for the last year were 115,000,000 of 
bushels, and about 50,000,000 of bushels of corn. Judging from the tables of 
former years, when the crops are poor in Europe, America furnishes about one 
bushel in five. Enlarge the St. Lawrence route, as proposed, so that it shall 
not cost more than one, two, or, at most, three bushels of corn and wheat to 
lay one down in Liverpool, instead of six or seven, as by the present means of 
transit, and America might furnish one-half or two-thirds of those imports, to 
her own great profit, as well as that of the people of England.

But, says some patriotic individual, this route lies entirely through a 
foreign country. What can we do to influence its construction? It seems to me 
that cheaper freights from Chicago to the ocean would add immensely to the 
prosperity of every railway between Lake Michigan and the Rocky Mountains. 
What they most need is cheap freights to the seaboard. The North Western, the 
Milwaukee & St. Paul, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, the Rock Island, and 
especially the Illinois Central, could well afford to combine their influence 
upon the money markets of the world to command the means to build the canal—a 
thing which we have not the least doubt the Canadians will be most happy to 
have them do. And what shall we say of the great Northern Pacific Bailway? 
Will it not be essential to the success of that road? How can the products of 
the vast country through which it runs find a market except through a greatly 
enlarged water-channel to the ocean? And, besides our railways, every man of 
the millions now living, or hereafter to live, between Lake Michigan and the 
Rocky Mountains, has a direct interest in the success of this great 
enterprise. By refusing all further consideration of the Niagara Ship Canal, 
let Congress give assurance to Canada that she shall have the carrying trade 
of the Great West, if she will so enlarge her canals as to command it. And, 
better still, let us have a reciprocity treaty, in which the whole subject 
shall be considered and settled for an indefinite number of years to come. 
Commerce sees not the imaginary line that divides the Dominion from the United 
States. She knows no good reason why there should be any more trammels on the 
trade between Chicago and Montreal than there are between Chicago and New 
York. The world has nearly outlived such an absurdity.

But it may be said that our commerce would build up a great city in a foreign 
country on the lower St. Lawrence, a rival to New York. The race will be 
between Montreal and Quebec. For  myself I think the States west of Lake 
Michigan have fully canceled every debt they ever owed to New York. For a 
generation she has quartered a whole horde of political paupers and bummers on 
her lateral canals, many of whom do not collect tolls enough on the useless 
ditches over which they preside to pay a tithe of their salaries, not to 
mention their stealings; and yet she insists on taxing the commerce of the 
West, passing through the main canal, to support all her other canals and to 
pay her debts besides. As to New York City, she has for a generation legalized 
the grasping avarice of the most stupendous land pirate that ever lived—I 
mean, of course, Commodore Vanderbilt. He has watered the stock of the New 
York Central Railway over and over again, and yet on these watered (shall I 
call them rascally?) values, he insists on taxing the life out of the West for 
the benefit of his own pocket. To keep pace  with him, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk 
for years stole, not only the receipts of the Erie, but issued stocks and 
bonds for more than the road was originally worth, and stole them as well, and 
of course new managers must tax Western commerce, if possible, so as to 
retrieve the fortunes of the road, and pay its stockholders dividends on their 
stocks and bring them up to par. For myself I believe the time is not distant 
when the Northwest will have the New York and the St. Lawrence routes bidding 
against each other for her commerce and her carrying trade in the liveliest 
manner. Writing on this subiect nearly twenty years ago I said: "It is true 
that national pride and immense capital and the beaten track of commerce are 
on the side of New York; but God and Nature are stronger than all these, and 
let any intelligent man compare the 'Erie ditch' with the mighty St. Lawrence, 
with a canal to pass vessels of 1,000 tons burthen from the Georgian Bay to 
Toronto, and he cannot doubt for a moment on which side the immutable laws of 
commerce will decide the contest." A single cent per bushel on freights, two 
days quicker time, and increased capacity, will do it; but six cents on 
freights will, beyond a question, turn our shipments of produce to the New 
England States and to Europe all down the St. Lawrence.

But, says one, how could we do without the Niagara Ship Canal in time of war? 
Let us have no war. It is time that relic of savageism was banished from the 
plans of Christian nations. The settlement of the Alabama claims gives hope 
that it can be done. For one, I am willing to put America and Canada and 
England under the strongest possible bonds to live in perpetual friendship and 
amity—America, by the certainty, in case of war, that her vast products shall 
rot in her fields; Canada, that her commerce shall be ruined, and England with 
starvation staring her in the face. In the name of all that is true and good 
and holy, may the genius of our Christian civilization, with the Royal Cross 
of St. George in one hand, and the Stars and Stripes in the other, waving them 
over the sea and the land, proclaim to all the nations, let there be, now and 
evermore, peace on earth, and good will among men.


Additional Comments:
HISTORY OF CHICAGO.
HISTORICAL AND COMMERCIAL STATISTICS, SKETCHES, Facts and Figures,
REPUBLISHED FROM THE "DAILY DEMOCRATIC PRESS."
 
What I Remember of Early Chicago; 
A LECTURE, DELIVERED IN McCORMICK'S HALL, JANUARY 23, 1876,
(Tribune, January 24th,)
By WILLIAM BROSS, Ex-Lieut. Governor of Illinois.	
CHICAGO: JANSEN, MCCLURG & Co., BOOKSELLERS, PUBLISHERS, ETC.
1876

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