# Patrick O'Leary ("Patrick Leary"), husband of Catherine
# Testimony before the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners, session of Saturday 25 Nov. 1871 (day 3), as reported in the Chicago Tribune of 1871-11-26, page 1
# Source: Library of Congress, Chronicling America (lccn sn82014064): https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn82014064/1871-11-26/ed-1/?sp=1 ; OCR text https://tile.loc.gov/text-services/word-coordinates-service?segment=/service/ndnp/dlc/batch_dlc_clark_ver03/data/sn82014064/no_reel/1871112601/0001.xml&format=alto_xml&full_text=1
# Page-OCR lines 99-134; uncorrected OCR; written 2026-09-14T06:29:58Z.
# STATUS: NEWSPAPER REPORT (reported speech with some direct quotation) -- not the stenographic transcript. Bales: Inquiry vol. [1], pp. 247-51.

S PATRICK LEARY,
whose wife owned the alleged kicking cow, said
■he waft in bed and didn’t know anything about
Blip start of the fire. When ho saw it, only his
Bi u was ablaze. He got on tho roof of Ids house
Bupjotcct it, hut not “before his barn and the
Bvhulc city was burned down.” Dan
Bullivan colled him out of bed,
Biial told him his barn was on fire. Bo put his
B hihlrcu into the street, and then threw water on
Bii* little house until after 1 o’clock in the morn-
He didn’t see any engines for u little while.
me fireman, with a stream, asked him if bo was
-■aai-urcd, and ho said “No,” and tho water was
g*:ikcn away from his house. Ho could not tell
'rryrii..t time thn engine* arrived. Water waa
-jxfthrown on his housoby the plpemen. They had
.-W iunmh to do beside that.” Ho did not know bow
Vr'tU- tire started- He had no knowledge of
'■bit- “If he was to be hanged for it he
couldn’t tell. Ho didn’t blame any
x man In America for It.” Hie woman
went to bed about 8 o'clock, aud bo
-■i fallowed her half an hour afterward. Ho was
vr- asleep when Bnllivan woke lilin.orhe would have
saved a cow. Both doors of the bam were open
'aL the alley door and tho one on the south side of
building. Tne latter was nailed buck so that
*3l it could nut be shut. On the right hand eido of
.’’fjthc barn, going north, there were souio shavings
and wood, and in a shed outside were some cool
.'4 aud more wood. He sometimes sprinkled shav
\«mcß in the barn for his horse to stand on. lie
‘.jßrh'ought the neighbors had shavings la their
dwellings. The wind was very high, and the lire
;jß>pread very rapidly.