Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/416

 408 CHICCORY CHICKEN grain, and all the national banks but one. The loss on buildings was $50,000,000, and on per- sonal property and merchandise $140,000,000 ; total, $190,000,000, of which about $44,000,000 was recovered on insurance. Including depre- ciation of real estate and loss to business in consequence of the fire, the grand total of pe- cuniary damage has been estimated at over $200,000,000. The property in the city before the fire was valued at $620/)00,000 ; the loss, therefore, was about one third of the entire property. The total losses by insurance com- panies amounted to $96,533,721 of which about $6,000,000 was sustained by foreign companies, and the remainder by companies of the United States. In consequence of their losses 57 of these companies were forced to suspend pay- ments. The suffering occasioned by the fire was very great, and elicited prompt expressions of sympathy and otfers of material aid from all parts of the United States, and from various cities of Europe. A relief and aid society was immediately formed to receive and distribute the supplies and funds contributed. According to a report of the society, published Nov. 7, about one month after the fire, $3,500,000 had then been subscribed, of which $2,050,000 had been paid ; the society was then aiding 60,000 persons. The legislature of Illinois was prompt- ly convened in extra session, and adopted mea- sures of relief for the city. The whole amount contributed in money, provisions, and clothing for the relief of the sufferers reached near- ly $7,000,000. The business of the city was paralyzed but a short time. Before winter many merchants were doing business in ex- temporized wooden structures, and the rest in dwellings; while the sufferers who could not procure other homes were cared for in board barracks. In a year after the fire a large part of the burnt district had been rebuilt, at an expenditure of $40,500,000, and $4,000,000 worth of buildings were erected outside the fire limits ; while the mercantile business and produce movements were much larger than ever before. The work of rebuilding is now (1878) advancing almost as rapidly as in 1872 ; and scarcely a trace of the disaster will be left in three years from the date of the occurrence, except in the improved character of the new buildings over those destroyed. < HIM oin. or Sitcory (cichorium intybus), or the wild endive, a plant belonging to the same family as the dandelion, found growing wild in most parts of Europe, and in England in great profusion. It is also naturalized in this country, and is seen in the fields and roads along the fences in neighborhoods long settled. It blossoms in August and September, and may be easily recognized by its bright blue flowers. In its natural state the stem rises from 1 to 3 ft. in height, though under culti- vation it may be brought to a height of 6 ft. The root is fleshy and milky. Chiccory was formerly used to a considerable extent for medicinal purposes, and is still thought by some to be beneficial, if -taken freely, in the early stages of jaundice and visceral obstruc- tions, &c. It is employed almost exclusively of late as a substitute for coffee, or in the adul- Chlccory. teration of this article. When prepared for this purpose, the roots are dried and reduced to powder, which resembles in color ground coffee, but it has neither the essential oil nor aromatic flavor of coffee. Its cheapness rec- ommends it to the poor, and the beverage is by no means unpleasant. Large crops of chic- cory are raised in England for the acknowl- edged purpose of adulterating coffee, and the sale of this mixed article is legalized, under the proviso that each package be labelled "Mix- ture of Coffee and Chiccory." By chemical analysis, it has been found that chiccory pos- sesses few elements in common with coffee, and contains very little of the nutritive prop- erties of which so high an opinion is some- times entertained. In cases where it is used for a long time its effects are often deleterious, especially upon the nervous system. Notwith- standing the great cheapness and abundance of chiccory it does not escape adulteration. The substances used for this purpose are roast- ed wheat, rye, acorns, carrots, and a variety of similar articles, and even, it is said, ex- hausted tar, or " Croats," and oak-bark powder. CHICHEN, or Ckithen It/a, an ancient city of Mexico, in the state and peninsula of Yuca- tan, about 35 m. S. W. of Valladolid ; Int. 20 15' N., Ion. 88 30' W. Notwithstanding the appearance of great antiquity of these ruins, which are perhaps the most remarkable in all Yucatan, they are in a better state of preserva- tion than any others ; but they have the dis- tinguishing feature common to all of them, namely, the impossibility of ascertaining the purpose or uses of the extraordinary structures which still stand in testimony of the high de- gree of civilization of a people long since for- gotten. According to Stephens, the most cu- rious and at the same time the most incompre- hensible ruins he had met with were a series