1853, September 1st, An Incendiary Fire, Chicago.

The alarm of fire at 11 o'clock was caused by the burning of three small sheds in an alley in the rear of J.C. Outhet's Wagon Shop on Franklin Street. There was almost $500 ($20K today) worth of smoked meat in one of the sheds, and the whole loss is about $1,600 ($63,500 today). The fire was the work of an incendiary. The premises adjoining were fired a few nights since but were extinguished without alarm. Several persons about town are watching their stores and dwellings, knowing incendiaries to be lurking about. It is for the safety of every individual to keep a strict lookout.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.