tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post6009148625840123341..comments2024-03-29T05:29:08.934-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/29/24: ‘Everything went wrong’ — the Great Chicago Fire at 150Neil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-20617887909871599322023-10-09T19:45:05.721-05:002023-10-09T19:45:05.721-05:00Just started "The Burning of the World: The G...Just started "The Burning of the World: The Great Chicago Fire and theWar for the City's Soul" (released last week) by Scott W. Berg. Not too far into it, but the first part of the book deals heavily with exhausted firemen, over-used and failing equipment, and inadvertent confusion in the first attempts to control the fire. Can't wait to see how it ends. ;-)johnkierignoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-3080719032013428882021-10-13T08:00:08.699-05:002021-10-13T08:00:08.699-05:00Just as in the OpEd piece on the fire, one theme i...Just as in the OpEd piece on the fire, one theme in your work that is often overlooked is how, in spite of the city’s progress, the rich got richer and poor got poorer. <br />Sullivan should have addressed that as well in his otherwise great work on city planning.Leshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16679840606511726447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-12067280028929397622021-10-11T09:27:36.469-05:002021-10-11T09:27:36.469-05:00I also didn't know about Mrs. Lincoln. You alw...I also didn't know about Mrs. Lincoln. You always provide enlightening information, Neil.KantBeGoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04829186745710242489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-12676461632495621482021-10-10T23:56:30.055-05:002021-10-10T23:56:30.055-05:00The town of Peshtigo has a fire museum that is qui...The town of Peshtigo has a fire museum that is quite intense. My first wife's grandmother lived in Sturgeon Bay, on the Door Peninsula. Not far away from her former home was a monument that listed the names of 77 fire victims. Many of them were found in a well, where they had died while trying to escape the heat and flames. <br /><br />The Peshtigo firestorm conditions were closely studied by the American and British military during World War II, in order to learn how to recreate similar firestorms during bombing campaigns against Germany and Japan. Their efforts proved successful in Hamburg, Dresden, Tokyo, and other targeted cities.Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-62179217516973356902021-10-10T19:27:51.675-05:002021-10-10T19:27:51.675-05:00Chicago-born, lived half my life in the city of my...Chicago-born, lived half my life in the city of my birth, and lifelong Chicago history junkie. So I thought I knew a lot about the 1871 Fire, but I did not know that Abraham Lincoln's widow survived the disaster. Nor did I know that "Mother" Jones was also a fire survivor, or that her lifelong career as a union organizer and crusader began in Chicago. Thanks for the heads-up, Mr. S--I have learned so much at EGD.Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-78978990862947281772021-10-10T16:13:17.456-05:002021-10-10T16:13:17.456-05:00I knew about Mrs. Lincoln and her troubled life be...I knew about Mrs. Lincoln and her troubled life because there is a statue of her in a Racine park just a few blocks from where I grew up. She lived there for a short time when her some was attending college.<br /><br />The Great Chicago fire gets most of the publicity for obvious reasons, but the same- day Peshtigo fire was by most measures the greater tragedy. A vast area was burned over and some 2000 killed compared to 300 in Chicago.<br /><br />TomTomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09641357239788323783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-29813318025191441272021-10-10T15:06:15.269-05:002021-10-10T15:06:15.269-05:00Excellent piece, Neil, As informative as longer bo...Excellent piece, Neil, As informative as longer books on the subject. Most books cover rebuilding the City but not the people who moved here in the aftermath. My fathers side, as far as I have learned, first arrived in 1872. Two other brothers, including my great-grandfather, came in 1873 and beyond. I assume that post-fire opportunity could have been a driver, or possibly another relative or acquaintance from Kilkenny. Whatever the reason, without their emigration the SunTimes would have one less subscriber.JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08613528527379198505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-17401614524139353892021-10-10T07:52:43.089-05:002021-10-10T07:52:43.089-05:00Great article, NS , and well researched. PBS had a...Great article, NS , and well researched. PBS had a good documentary on the fire. The Mrs. Lincoln info that you bring up is a real surprise.privatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18413982311699012802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-88812624634081388072021-10-10T06:16:30.235-05:002021-10-10T06:16:30.235-05:00There's been a lot of coverage of the Fire thi...There's been a lot of coverage of the Fire this year but this is definitely superior. Mary Lincoln, Mother Jones, Gen. Sheridan, etc. A remarkable read, very fresh, indeed.J.J. Tindallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13381555158949851490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-3097395485322341632021-10-10T01:55:58.602-05:002021-10-10T01:55:58.602-05:00The Stockyards survived the 1871 Fire, but then th...The Stockyards survived the 1871 Fire, but then they burned in 1934.<br />And from what I've read, that fire had the city officials terrified.<br />The weather was the same as in 1871, no rain for months & the Stockyards were wooden pens filled with a lot of dried cow dung, which really burns easily.<br />I've never been able to find out if the following is true, that they had already loaded much of Milwaukee's Fire Department onto rail cars & that the New York Central Railroad was clearing a track from NYC to Chicago & that there were going send a huge amount of NYC's Fire Department here.<br />But like in 1871, it rained & helped contain the fire.Clark St.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09634234069783123180noreply@blogger.com