# John Schank, First Assistant Fire Marshal
# Testimony before the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners, session of Saturday 2 Dec. 1871 (day 9), as reported in the Chicago Tribune of 1871-12-03, page 4
# Source: Library of Congress, Chronicling America (lccn sn82014064): https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn82014064/1871-12-03/ed-1/?sp=4 ; OCR text https://tile.loc.gov/text-services/word-coordinates-service?segment=/service/ndnp/dlc/batch_dlc_clark_ver03/data/sn82014064/no_reel/1871120301/0004.xml&format=alto_xml&full_text=1
# Page-OCR lines 1035-1054; uncorrected OCR; written 2026-09-14T06:28:05Z.
# STATUS: NEWSPAPER REPORT (reported speech with some direct quotation) -- not the stenographic transcript. 

JOHN SCHANK,
First Assistant, was allowed half an hour to tes
tify. His statement has already been published
in Thb Tribune. Ho considered it his duty to
move tho Bock Island cars. It was Ms duty to
send for engines, and did so, but they didn't come
around, and he didn’t know what else to do. Tho
buildings on Sherman street, from Taylor street
north, wore on fire. A pile of lumber
opposite the Michigan Avenue Hotel, caught fire
and threatened tho building. One engine at tho
foot of Taylor street would have saved some
buildings. The blowing up of buildings on Har
rison street did good. An offer was made to tho
Brown’s men, at the corner of Harrison and State
streets, by Mr. Mendel, of #SOO, If they would save
his building. They didn’t save it. Ho didn’t re
member that Williams told him “togo to h—l,”
as Sweeny stated. His testimony was brought
to a close at 5:02.