Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
Thomas G. Moses was working in Tacoma, Washington, by mid-March 1922. He had formed many friends in the area, including a group of contractors known as the Signcraft.
Moses wrote, “I met five members of the Signcraft, and we met every Wednesday at the Olympus Restaurant, where, with a fine luncheon we passed away an hour very nicely. The five contractors were, Cliff, Jedlick, Kanabe, Browning and Sharpe. On receipt of a wire informing me of the fire near our studio, I took five small watercolors to the luncheon, and started a stunt with “Boys, you know of the fire in Chicago, which has nearly put us out of business. I have got to raise some money. I don’t want to borrow money on such a short acquaintance, so I have brought over five small watercolors which I want you to buy.” The price was asked, and I said, “While I need money very badly, I will make a sacrifice of the pictures, I want five cents apiece.” The boys saw I was getting a little out of it, and a handful of silver was on the table. I picked out a quarter and handed it to the waiter telling him that this was his commission. The boys then drew numbers from a hat for their selection of pictures and in a few days they were all framed.”
The main studio for Sosman & Landis was located at 417-419 S. Clinton Street.
On March 15, 1922, the “Chicago Tribune” announced, “A four-story building from 401-13 South Clinton street caught fire at 3:30 this morning, bursting into flames from a dozen points. The building is occupied by the Poster Advertising company and about fifteen other minor concerns.”
The article continued, “Fire between 1 and 3 o’clock this morning wiped out the entire block of buildings in the square surrounded by Jackson boulevard, Van Buren street and Canal and Clinton streets. It swept across Clinton street and practically destroyed the Burlington railway’s twenty-one story office building. It paralyzed elevated and streetcar traffic in the vicinity, and caused the death of one fireman. Many bystanders suffered minor hurts from falling debris. The loss, according to early estimates by the fire chief, will exceed $10,000,000. Fire Attorney High makes the loss from $10,000,000 to $15,000,000. Among the structures destroyed by the fire, aside from the ‘fireproof’ Burlington skyscraper, were the Atlantic and Austin buildings, extending from 300 to 318 South Canal street. These two buildings were the most valuable property in the square which was the principal scene of the fire…Insufficiency of water supply prevented the work of more than a score of fire companies in holding the flames to their original source, though almost the entire department was called out.” The Austin Building was at 307 South Clinton Street.
Later newspaper reports described, “Thomas Galvin, watchman for the Austin building, discovered the fire. He said it started in the Art Shade works at 312 Clinton Street and quickly spread to the Austin building.” Regardless of where the fire originated, the damage was perilously close to the scenic studio, and caused work delays.
A list of damaged and destroyed businesses was published in the Chicago Tribune; Sosman & Landis was not included in the list. Businesses near the damaged area took out ads in the newspaper, announcing that their companies were “Not affected by Fire” (Chicago Tribune, 17 March 1922, page 4). This certainly indicates the extent of the damage.
Unbelievably, a second fire swept through the same area only two weeks later. It destroyed the three upper floors of an eight-story building at 128 South Clinton street (Chicago Tribune, 31 March 1922, page 6). This was only two blocks away from where the earlier fire occurred that month.
To be continued…
