Rising from the Ashes: A Retail Giant’s Rebirth

Race, nations, and communities are all alike subject to that combination of circumstances which men have pleased to call a crisis. The natural law has always shown that at such a juncture the weak succumb, while the fittest survive and gain strength by the experience. Shattered fortunes, like shattered nerves, demand time for recuperation, every day bringing with it increased strength with increased hope, until hope becomes fruition, and the day of disaster but a landmark in memory, which serves to create stronger bulwarks against future reverses. It requires no statement here that our former palatial establishment, with its wealth of goods—the accumulations of years of toil and industry—is a thing of the past. Nor would we mention the fact were it not that we desire to impress on our patrons, who know what our loss has been, that our new establishment will far surpass the old. We have constructed a mammoth, temporary store, covering an area of 10,000 square feet on the ground floor, and in this we will do business until the spring trade begins, when we expect to enter our new building, on the former site, corner Columbia and Front streets. In our temporary building, corner Third and Madison, we have now on exhibition $200,000 of goods. Our public policy, unscathed by smoke and flame, remains the same: honest goods, honest words, honest dealings.