The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-25 00:00:00

A FOREST FIRE IN CANADA.

gram, correspondent of the New York 13erald tele-
th irom Upton an account of what he describes as one of
Most terrible occurrences in the history of the year for
.uat section of the country. He says :
A fire swept through a portion of Upton on Sep-
' 'ember 6, which carried ruin and death in its track both
t° °lan and beast. For some time past bush fires had
eel), ravaging the forests in Quebec province. Little
attention was paid to them, as they were looked upon
84
the best method of clearing land. For miles around
2Xi each side of the Grand Trunk Railway the fires
had been ridding the land of its best hemlock, spruce,
ifi Maple trees and underbrush. The inhabitants of
,uPton on the ,6th inst., at three p.m., saw with clis-
„lll,.aY a wall of flames coming toward them with a
indy sweep as fast as a man could run, and swallow-
11P everything in its course. The fire had been
7,overing about the outskirts of the village for a few
uaYs until the wind reached almost a hurricane. By
four the first farm-house had been reached. The fire
ran along the fencing, burning the grain, and the wind.
sent the sparks in all directions. So quickly was one
farm-house after another enveloped that the men,
women, and children had barely time to escape
out of its line before the fire waS upon them
k Station
_ln Borne instances they escaped to the Grand
night a,
While thpProa,ched
out of the reach of the flames. As the
the flames increased in volume,
miles wind rose ; and for the space of about twelve
l
th four engtht and covering a width of from three
miles, the eye rested upon nothing but the roar-
shivecrackling flames. Families ran into the village,
artieri ng in scanty dresses, some carrying small
Les of furniture. Children shrieked in their
terror.
fence hcattle ran helter-skelter, jumping over
t_s, w many sank moaning in front of the same
!yupassable obstacle and died a horrible death. By
!.ven the darkness 'had set in, and the glare lit the
Y for twenty miles around. Forest after forest was
',Wept away, and the smoke and flame was in one com-
pact volume some six miles long, and measureless, so
corn-
thei}act as the eye could see, as to width. Still men stood
ueir
. ground and battled with it. They tore down
r fences, ripped up the burning roads, threw
dirt upon a spot here and pulled down a hencoop in
another place. Many remained fighting the advancing
element until the last hope was consumed, and then
1,.,.13°11ght safety in flight—a most difficult achievement.
'lone dared retire to bed, as, if the direction of the
Wind changed, they would have to .make desperate
Zfforts to save themselves. All night long the fire
urried House after house, and barns filled with the
I,;_sst crops known for years, were destroyed. When
the fugitives were all counted, it was found that there
re eleven persons missing, not one„of whom it was
'nought would escape, as a sea of fire, it was supposed,
Zit uff all the roads mentioned. The next morning,
owever, one after another came in until nearly all
Were accounted for. Many were badly burned. The
orst fears were realized, however, as to some of them.
Y. nine D.M. everything that could be burned was
destroyea.
„beacribing the efforts of a man named Pierre Cole to save
•as crops and barn, the correspondent says
After his family left Pierre went back. When he
raW his barn on fire he turned to escape,. but found
:treat cut off. The smoke was so dense that he could
fi°t see half-a-dozen yards, and he had to fight the
wahr.Qes as best he could. He had onlybuckets of water,
filch he economized so well that he put out the
hiallies whenever they appeared. He tore down
seizefences, and when the water gave out he
a shovel and threw earth upon the flames. Inch
kipeh they crept upon him but he stuck to his post,
Ou 'Dun had the satisfaction of seeing the wind
he-,rigs,e, leaving him in security. The owners of the
arm were not so fortunate. They remained to at-
to Put out the flames, but were never again seen
Their bodies, three in number, were found the
znorhing. The old man was found with his head in
'itch by the roadside; the son was found in front of
iii.,111418 of the house • and the lad had wandered off
tk-a,„," Potato patch, Where he must have been over
death by the flames and died the same horrible
4.1„7-1 that had fallen to the lot of his elders.
this spot several dead cows, all of which
ih 411 the ditch with their noses deep down
harenuse mud, as though they had struggled
surrob•••l'
.brea
th and life. Communication with the
extehVichng country having been cut lA, the fullest
of the loss could not be correctly ascertained.
ha,d ts stated with certainty, however, that 75 families
hearly 00 burned out of house and home, representing
450 Persons with hired help and relatives.

Canadian

Dls-4-4trp,
ESSING ACCIDENT at READING.
A A-,
N
114de„ -ung lady named Fanny Trevor has lost her life
ittvoth— o• '
er Very distressing circumstances. With her
e"
„.„ she was on a visit to Mr. 0. C. Maurice, sur-
t.e-, of Reading. On Saturday afternoon she and
e
rtriOther toOk % walk accompanied by Mr.
—B's eon, a you' th, an 'd
proceeded to the river-
thi waY of the public recreation ground. Close to
a, is BPot there is a weir, known as the "Clappers," and
b4w Yards below is a foot-bridge across the river,
orle Only broad enough, excepting %in the centre, for
sPa senrrer to walk. The rush of the water,
ea- e
d thbe Mother to feel giddy, and she
I 1 back, calling her daughter to follow her,
‘0 her horror she saw her in the water.
a 8 mother's screams brought assistance, and
In.t:°11„11g Man named Richard Talbot jumped
foli,„2'a.P stream, and his gallant example was
dia ""eu by two or three others, but the young lady
frotpPeared before they could reach her. Not far
-beiZ the " Clappers" are the sluice-gates, which
prodg °Pened caused the stream to be very swift, and this
eat 'lced a, strong circling eddy near the scene of the
astro
1, Pile, and into this eddy two or three of the
itig /nen were quickly drawn. They cried for help,
lock eir lives were in peril. Knight, a nephew of the
311111 keeper, with a rope fastened round his body,
tak k'eu into the water to rescue them. A boat was
41,811 from the lock, carried across the garden, and
ye jlehed into the stream. By these means the
14 'rig men were brought safely to shore. The afflicted
other •
elc,„ , in the meantime was taken into a cottage
effe„,' °Y, and subsequently conveyed home. Every
la,(WiNsvas made to recover the body of the young
o" but up till a late hour on Sunday night with-
The deceased.was twenty-eight years of
•

TRR A
rVeletwi.
iariOnCIATION OF IDEAS.—Macrep.dy was once
Virginius ni
. The Numitors could not
sill.l!Plaber his own name. " You will rememb.er .
'laid the tragedipronouncingan carefully pronouncing t for
"1;7 the association of ideas. Think ofNumbers,
.
it 01 ,(I°kE of Numbers." The Numitorius think of
eia,tl;44Y, and at night produced, through "the aso-
(kWl,_"ll of ideas," the following effect—"Numitornm
rtigri,_-'1.6., is Virginia? Wherefore do you hold that
tio437BAand?' Claudius: 'Who asks the ques.
Numitorius her uncle—Deuteronomy I

WRECK AND LOSS OF LIFE IN THE
BAY OF BISCAY.

The South Western Company's steamer Griffin,
arrived at Southampton on Sunday from St. Maio,
bringing the second mate, four • seamen,- and two
cattle drovers saved from the wreck of the Aurora,
which foundered in the Bay of Biscay on Wednesday
morning in last week Captain Penman, her master,
and fourteen of the crew being drowned. The Aurora
was an iron screw steamer of about 300 tons register,
and belonged to Dublin. She left Oporto
on Sunday, the 10th inst., bound- for Southampton
with a cargo of two hundred and fifty live bullocks.
On Tuesday afternoon, when the steamer was
supposed to be near TJshant, a strong gale from
the north-west, with rain and heavy sea, came
on, and about ten o'clock at night, through, it is sup-
posed, some of the cattle getting loose from the
head-ropes, the -steamer went over on her beam
ends the starboard rail being under water. Several
• of the bullocks were washed over, and others were put
over, with the view of righting the ship, but all
their efforts were of no avail. About two o'clock
on Wednesday -morning two boats were cut adrift.
One contained the second mate, named Fenning,
four seamen' and two cattle-drovers, but they saw
nothing of the other boat and do not believe she
left the ship. About five minutes after they got away
they saw the Aurora's bow rise in the air, and she
went down. The boat, no sail being set, ran before
the sea and wind, and about six hours after quitting
the ship the survivors landed at Poyernans, a small
fishing village on the French coast, where the resi-
dents gave them food and shelter, and then took them
before the commissioner or acting consul, who pro-
vided them with food and lodging for the night, and
on Thursday sent them on to Brest.