After the Great Fire: A Retail Giant Rises from the Ashes

Races, nations, and cities 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. The more colossal the enterprise, the greater the shock which the crisis brings, and the greater the energy required to restore stability. Shattered fortunes, like shattered nerves, demand time for recuperation; every day bringing with it increased strength with increased hope. 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 that our new establishment will far surpass the old. 'Resurgamus'—we will rise again. 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 at the corner of Columbia and Front streets. We have determined to secure and hold the wholesale trade of the Northwest, as well as the best retail trade of Seattle, Tacoma, and the adjoining country. The crucial test of fire to which we were recently subjected has proved a new era in prices, as well as a broadening of the field of our operations.