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The Burning Of Chicago - Online Term Paper

The Burning Of Chicago

The legend goes, The cow kicked over a lantern, the lantern set fire to the shed, and the shed set fire to the rest of Chicago. Although, Mrs. Patrick O`Leary swore under oath that she never took a lantern to the shed on the night of Sunday, October 8, 1871, many witnesses verified the ramshackle building on the West Side as the starting point of the fire. In Chicago, it had been a very dry autumn. Furthermore, nearly all the 300,000 people of the city lived in wooden houses. The fire department was aware of the danger as there had been a tremendous three-alarm fire on the West Side one-day prior. A constant wind, blowing from the southwest, fanned the flames roaring through the ...

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artists began illustrating the devastating effect of the fire. Alfred R. Waud and Ralph Keeler, boarded a train for Chicago to cover the story for Every Saturday. They arrived while the flame was still ablaze in some parts of the city. By midnight October 8 most of the city was engulfed in flames causing the sky above the city to dance with burning brands and hot coals stretching for hundreds of yards. The steady wind blew the amber colored coals to buildings still far from the swath devastated by the advancing front of the fire. A fireman's account examines the condition of the city, "You couldn't see anything over you by fire … No clouds, no stars, nothing else but fire." As the city grew aware of the circumstances they began fleeing the town, heading toward the outskirts, frantic parents herded their children before them. Anything with wheels was loaded up with possessions and taken out of the city. There were many collisions among carriage drivers. Many abandoned ...

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The Burning Of Chicago. (2008, August 13). Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Burning-Of-Chicago/88257

"The Burning Of Chicago." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 13 Aug. 2008. Web. 10 Jan. 2026. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Burning-Of-Chicago/88257>

"The Burning Of Chicago." Essayworld.com. August 13, 2008. Accessed January 10, 2026. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Burning-Of-Chicago/88257.

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 8/13/2008 02:34:12 PM
Category: Miscellaneous
Type: Free Paper
Words: 626
Pages: 3

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