and months on the road.
Now they could go there in less than a week. It was the longest railroad
that the world had ever seen, up to that time.

While all this was going on, people were coming to this country in
great multitudes, crossing the ocean to find new homes in our happy
land. They did not have to come in slow sailing ships as in former
times, but were brought here in swift steamships, that crossed the seas
almost as fast as the iron horse crossed the land. All these new people
went to work, some in the cities and some in the country, and they all
helped to make our nation rich and powerful.

But you must not think that everything went well, and that we had no
dark days. Every country has its troubles, even in times of peace. War
is not the only trouble. Great fires break out, storms sweep over the
land, earthquakes shake down cities, and many other disasters take
place. Of all these things, fire, when it gets beyond control, is the
most terrible; and it is of a frightful fire that I wish to speak.

About the year 1831 a small fort stood near the shore of Lake Michigan,
and around this a few pioneer families had built their homes, which were
only rude log houses. In 1871, forty years afterwards, the fort and the
huts had long been gone and a large city stood at that place. Its growth
had been wonderful. Only forty years old and already it was one of the
great cities of the country. This was the famous city of Chicago, which
has grown more rapidly than any other great city ever known.

One night in October a dreadful thing took place in this city. A cow
kicked over a lamp in a stable. The straw on the floor took fire, and in
a minute the blaze shot up into the air. The people ran for water, but
they were too slow, and in a few minutes the whole stable was in flames.
You may think that this was not of much account, but there happened to
be a gale of wind, and soon great blazing fragments were flying through
the air and falling on roofs squares away. It was not long before there
was a terrible fire over almost the entire city.

Chicago at that time was mostly built of wood, and the fire spread until
it looked as if the whole great city would be burnt to ashes. For two
days it kept on burning until the richest part of the city had gone up
in smoke and flame. Many people were burned to death in the streets and
two hundred million dollars worth of property was destroyed. It was the
most frightful fire of modern ti