The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1870-09-29
A FOREST ON FIRE.

ANA JOnn w. Dudley, OF New Haven, Conn,
lhave Just returned from Canada-from the
lYast district which was recently burnt. They
iencountered q terrible ordeal Of fire and
smoke. and were almost famishcd, barely
escaping with their lives. They furnish the
following account of the terrible conllagri-
ton
After having made long journey in car
rlagc~, viewing certain land in which we
were interested, we drew near to what seem
cd to be large village on fire. We did not
dream Of the near approach of danger. nj
mcnt, and lighted up our road with an indies
| crihahly beautiful radiance. 1t made the
sand and pebbles in the road look like preci-
ous stones. The dark edges Of the woods
also seemed surrounded by huge ilicheriug
shadows As the night advanced the glow
and glare grew brighter, until ut last is in
ltcnSty warned Us that IN extensive conlta
ton was in progress. We continued on to-
ward it, however wholly unconscious Of the
GREAT danger into which we were going.
| At length, after an ominous silence, Mr.
| Dudley said "Great God believe the world
! is ON fire - Just then a great flash lit up the
i road from behind lis. We looked back and
We're surprised at the sight. \ low moor he
covered with dry grass, WAS in blaze, and
| the fire flying swlter than 4 locomotive. Al
) the same time the wind changed. and the air.
which had been growing hot. became almost
lunhcarablc. \ wind gust brought clouds o:
! cindcrs that dropped about US. The horses
tremblcd and neghed with fright, and as the
hot cinders touched them they became almost
Iun@o1rrnable. The earth seemed to Toe a
| vast fiery furnace. and the heat came pulling
past our faces. like the glow from Il forge
| Our eyes ached. and smIrted with the smoke
and ashes. Several times our clothing eaugh,
fire from the falling Goals Now we We're
| hcmmed in on three sides by the fire iicnd
and the only avenue OF escape was the road
| alongside the course of 4 creek, where the
| flames had not yet reached. Down this road
our horses plunged at a rapid rate The
poor animals screamed with terror Al ihe
rindcrS showered about them. and the VcIoci-
| ty of our progress was 50 terrific that we had
to hold on with all our might, Us the wagon
went whrlng and crashing over the stones.
| AZ Last we came to Il bridge, and rclncd
down TO tie stream. hoping TO gather some
relief by plunging in the water, for our flesh
seemed roasting. We dashed in, the horses
ncighing and paving up to their backs in the
deepest part. 1t seemed only moment be
fore all the country was suddenly shcctcd in
tlame; our road was cut off, and hut 4 mar
row stretch of mArSh-land was free from the
flames. We abandoned the horses to their
| fate and dashed over the swamp. Now we
would be in mire nearly up to our knees
Mr. Spencer sank nearly to his neck and
came out all covered with slime At length.
however, we came to dry ground where the
fire had spent its fury, and left 4 blackened
charred wilderness Of posts, stmps and sod
Vt daylight we came to an opening whore
4,,,, hal ,l
spectacle at the sight Of which we forgot
our own situation. The cmbcrs of the lirr
IWcrr Yet Smoudering, and some Of the black
Icned timbcrs lay over the foundation unruu
Sumcl. The barn was entirely gone, wagon
| tires and homework with the skeletons of cat
tie scattered around. The we'll was uncover
ed, and we looked down upon the body OF Il
Imam clasping 4 young girl. They had rNl.
drnUy been suilocated from the foul gaS, while
seeking escape from the fire As we moved
away from the scene toward the house. We
saw thc figure of 4 woman with a babe in
her arms. Both bodies were half consumed.
| Two miles further on we came to another
~."nc of dcaolation. a house lay IN ruins im
K 3i lad ddn@'S c@2aPrl a." ind ii lG Wtr@ tie
family, all hut one. The mother commenced
To- tell her tale OF suffering, but broke down
with grief The husbnnd said they had been
|
through the binding, choking smoke. There
We're five children, the eldest being sixteen.
and the youngest three. Three times he
flushed into the burning house, each time
Ir2Scung Il child. The mother WAS almost
linsenSiblr from fright, and he had To drag
her out by main force. \ little one, seven
wears old. the pet of the family, stood and
said ,''Take jamie and Molir, Qhc two
Younger oncs,) first, papa" and waited
patiently until her turn. BY some means IN
the confusion OF the hour, he thought she had
been rescued, until her yoicc-now in tones
cried out, ''Oh papa, take me-, take me-, too
Come papa, come papa" The father dash
"a towards the house, which was now tottrr-
Itcrng in the flames, but was tao late He
had hardly placed his foot upon the stars
when the root fell ill., and the entire structure
came era ashing down. "Ah, Sin | would
have gone in and died with her, but rcmrm
hrrpd the others. But III never forgive my
selt-ncver, never ~
The names of this family are TalmalGe,
the others were Cornwall. The narrHtor@
saw many other terrible scenes of ruin and
devastation during their Journey Their
Iryc-laShrs, Whskcrs and hair were sngvd
and their faces and hands were badly blister
IeA. MIR DudlrY's eyes were badly injured
WILD BEES. The humhlr-hres come sin"
ly, never in pairs, and only one sex the lr-
male. In the bee kingdoms royalty i, com
fined exclusively to the females. AlIlrmaIc,
Ard queens. Where this large lucrn-hrrN
which is the only one we see in the Sprin",
comes from is 4 mystery apparently from Il
warmer region, like the birds but the book
say few escape the rigors OF winter in
torpid state and come out in the Spring Iil,r
the frogs. etc. At amy rate, there l1no douN
Al tt N If