Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1871-10-25

Geo. L. Dunlap arrived this mornin
from Fscanaba, having been delaye,
thirty hours by heavy winds and dens
smoke. Her passengers bring terribl
accounts of the devastation by fires a
Menomonee.
They received accounts of the burn
ing of the village of Manekaunee, a
the mouth of the Menomonee river OF
the Wisconsin side. One hundred ant
fifty buildings were bulned, including
three extensive saw mills, owned by
McCourtney & Hamilton, Spafford i
Gemon, and Spaulding & Porter. the
latter being Che largest, with one eycep.
tion, on the Bay shore
The villages of Menomonee and
Mariennette were in great danger, and
many people fled to the Bay shore for
safety, remaining in the water all night.
The steamer Union lying in the riv-
er, took about 800 women and children
to place of safety in the harbor. The
women and children of Menomonee
were on board the steamers Favorite
and Dunlap and vessels lying at anchor
in the roadsted. The male portion of
the population of the three villages w.
/ ing within three miles of each other.
spent the whole night in fighting the
/ fire. No lives were lost, in these
villages with the exception of one man.
/ who died from fright after he had been
+ rescued from the water, and another
/ who was sick in house which was
/ burned before he could be removed.
At small settlement of FIVE or six
| houses, called Birch Creek, on the state
road, 9 miles north of Menolnonee,
every house was burned, and ten or
twelve lives lost, only three persons es-
Gaping. 80 a-z8A
| At Peshtigo harbor, they were met
/ by number of people from the Pesh-
/ tigo village, seven miles west, who gave
/ a heart-rending account of the total de-
struction of their town during Sunday
evening.
HURRICANE WIND
from the southwest springing up,
| famed the smouldering fire in the tim
Der into a blaze, and drove the fire into
the village 1888 s5se Z.
It came rushing into the town be-
| tween 9 and 10 O'Clock, Just as most of
the people had retired for the night.
| So great was the velocity of the wind
1 that in less than ten minutes from the
| time the first house took fire the whole
/ village was in flames.
There was no possibility of checking
! the flames, and the surrounding forest
/ presented one mass of fire. The people
could only fly to the river for safety.
Those living IN close proximity to the
water reached it and waded in till it
/ reached their necks. Here they
remained from two to four hours,
and by wetting their heads
were able to escape with life. But
! MANY WERE BADLY BURNED
about the head and face while in the
water. Many were drowned. Others,
women and children died from the ex-
| posure. Those who lived only one or
two streets from the river we1e stricken
down by the flames and burned to
death before reaching the water.
whole families were destroyed. In the
morning the streets were strewn with
burned bodies. Eight or nine bodies
in one corner were found near together
One family, consisting OF father, moth
er and six children, were found dead
together within three feet OF the water.
It is Impossible to give any correct esti-
mate of the loss of life Fully seventy
FIVE people are known to be lost by fire
and drowning. It is supposed that the
inmates OF the Peshtigo CompaLy's
boarding house, one hundred and up
wards III number, nearly all perished
Every report from the neighboring
settlements bring information of
houses burned, and many lives lost.
The immense pail factory and large
saw-mill, and the stores, bridges, loco
motives and cars we're burned, and
every XIII d of property destroyed. The
people who were saved escaped in des-
titute condition, being without clothing
or provisions.
GREEN BAY, Oct. 11-4:15 p. m.-On
Sunday night, about 9 o'clock, fire
broke out in the south part of the Bel
gian settlement at Brussels, Door coun-
ty, destroying $50 houses, and leaving
nothing of the large and fourishing
settlement, but five houses. Nine per-
sons are missing, they are supposed to
have persisted. This morning two hun
dred people breakfasted on four loayes
of bread
! GREEN BAY, Oct. 10.-8:45 P. II
/ Williamson's mill, at Sturgeon Bay, is
! reported bnrned, and .-.-.
FIFTY LIVES WE'RE LOST.
GREEN BAY, Oct, 10-9:OO P. M
! The report of the burning of William
sons mills is fully confirmed Fifty
/ FIVE lives lost, and ten others are badly
burned, and only three uninjured, one
/ of whom is in the city. ....-
/ At Pensaukee, between twelve and
I fifteen barns and dwellings,, on the Lit
4 tie River road, were burned. Among
the losers are Paul Whitney, Paul La
4 val1e, Louis Prickett and a Mr.. Daugh-
erty. Thos. Buckley lost his life while
trying to save his furniture. The
shanty, novels, and about one mile of
track at Tram road are also destroyed.
The farmers in that section have suf
fered generally, in the loss of fences
and hay, and many of them have been
burned out wholly. aha 5a5a3 Fg3
Theloss is beyond calculation. Some,
acquainted with the country devastated,
estimate the loss sustained, in pine TIM
Der alone, at S10,000,00O I4 s1.a-
\ GREEN BAY, Oct. 10.-There have
five hundred persons perished at Pesh-
tigo. Newspaper reports do not exag-
gerate. Down the east shore the NOR
tallty is fully as great Everything is
needed. The town is full of refugees.
STATEMENT OF A SURVIVOR.
From the Oshkosh Northwestern.
James Monahan, a laborer, employed
in the Peshtigo company's mill, arrived
in this city on Wednesday morning,
having barely escaped with his life,
( from the great fire at Peshtigo. One OF
our reporters had an interview with him
at Gebauer's hotel and obtained con-
else statement of the terrible event
His narrative is substantially as follows
"fhe thing happened on Sunday
night. The wind was blowing heavy
gale from the southwest, so hard that
piles of lumber were upset and boards
carried for ten OF fifteen rods. Pesh
tlgo, you know, was ON a sandy hill and
the drifting sand was carried ~ the