" No person in the employ of the Society will be allowed to receive for his own use any supplies of any kind what 1 Report of Chicago Relief and Aid Society, 1874, pp. 168, 169.
ever, except it be through the ordinary channels of relief, and recorded on the books of the office in which he is employed.
" In all cases of applicants moving into your district from another, you will, before giving any relief, ascertain, by inquiry at the office of the district from which they came, if they had been aided in that district, and to what extent.
" In the issue of supplies you will discriminate accord ing to the health and condition of the family, furnishing to the aged, infirm, and delicate supplies not ordinarily furnished to those in robust health." On April 1 the work of the society was consolidated in the central office, and it was announced that " Only the sick, aged, and infirm, and poor widows with dependent children will be regarded as subjects for relief. There will be no further issue of stoves, furniture, bedding, nor clothing.
" No further appropriations will be made for buildings or anything pertaining to improvement of property or payment of ground The difficulties of storing and distributing supplies were increased by the fact that the principal railroad depots had been destroyed by the fire. Between October 11 and October 16, 330 car-loads of goods were received. Coming free of freight charges, they were without way bills or invoices and necessarily to be unloaded from side-tracks at remote points of the city. They were instantly opened, and their contents sent without record or count wherever they were supposed to be most needed. General Sheridan had taken possession of two large ware houses which were soon afterwards turned over to a com mittee, and later three stores, a church, and a skating-rink were occupied as storehouses and points of In accordance with the principle of concentration, these general storehouses were afterwards reduced to two, the skating-rink in the west division of the city and a church in the south. The latter was also the headquarters of the special bureau to which reference will be made below.
'Report of Chicago Relief and Aid Society, 1874, pp. 169, 160.
2 Ibid., p. 161. 3 Ibid., p. 176.
When this was abandoned, the skating-rink remained the sole depot for all articles except vegetables. These were stored in a large frost-proof building built for the purpose, and in two large cellars.' During the early weeks expenditures for transportation were heavy. The committee which was in charge of this transportation also took charge of the special task of pro viding passes for the large number of persons who wished to leave Chicago and were without the means of doing so. At first passes were issued by this committee, which were honored by the different railways. After a few weeks the committee gave only recommendations for passes which were usually accepted by the roads. At a still later period half-fare tickets were issued upon the recommendation of the chairman of the committee — an arrangement which is generally in ,force in ordinary times, the recommendation of one or more recognized agencies being accepted by the railways in each city. Between October 13, 1871, and the end of the month 2766 passes were issued good for 6017 persons. By May 1, 1873, these numbers had been in creased by about one thousand respectively.
Perhaps the most exceptional feature of the relief prob lem presented by the fire was the necessity for providing shelter at the beginning of the winter months for a total population of from 35,000 to 40,000 persons. The suburbs of the city were so few in number and for the most part so distant, that only a few of those who were homeless found immediate shelter in them. The churches and schoolhouses which were at first thrown open were " un suitable, and at best temporary resting The temporary barracks constructed by the Citizens' Committee were open to grave objections as the homes for the winter of a large number of people. It was felt that " so large a number brought into promiscuous and involun tary association would almost certainly engender disease and promote idleness, disorder, and vice, and be dangerous to themselves and to the neighborhood in which they might be placed. Such buildings could only be put up by suffer ance upon land to which the occupants could obtain no title, 1 Report of Chicago Relief and Aid Society, 1874, p. 177.