Of Politics, Insurance, and Baseball

Tuesday, October 31, 1871

Candidates representing the newly-created Union Fire Proof ticket, which comprises Republicans and Democrats dedicated to restoring Chicago’s economy and reforming its politics, gather with their supporters at Haas & Powell’s Hall on Madison Street near Canal Street.  Elsewhere in the city, a meeting is held to discuss receivership for insurance companies ruined by the fire.  The previous day the Philadelphia Athletics defeat the Chicago White Stockings 4-1 in what proves to be the deciding game of the baseball championship of America, a kind of round-robin tournament involving several teams.  These teams play each other at the Union Grounds in the Williamsburg section of the city of Brooklyn.  The White Stockings wear a variety of ill-fitting uniforms they have borrowed from other teams since their own uniforms were among the casualties of the fire.