Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-10-20
hardly ,o.liz the ide, of Miriv thousand

square gsiieS of for st in furious and lrr>-
sistible combustion. The effect of such
prodigious fire was to intensity its power
aud augment lis rapidity beyond anything
that was ever Witnessed before. Tie most
distance, would burst out into flames and
dis appear almost in a moment, even before
the advancing line of FIRE could reach
them. I he iatensity of the fire es ablisLed
violent cum snts Of air which added lnees-
sanity TO its velocity, aad unless general
heavy rains come quickly, it is Impossible
to conjecture where the devastation will
stop.
But the nncst de, lol able feature Cf this
disaster is the great loss OF life with which
it has been attended. l. is believed that
nearly two thou- and persons have perish
| ed in the fiam;s. fho-e immense forests
we're dotted q it'll thousands IF patches OF
cieat ell land, the farms of the haedy set
tiers aud numbers of villages and facto-
ries had been built along the streams and
the shores of the lakes. Nearly all OF them
have been entii ely destroyed. la Numerous
cases the farmers and villsger, intent
upon saving their props rty and unaware
OF the almost supt rna;urai vlolenc' of the
confiagration, were entirely sur on nded by
i: and erisLed. In Miuusso three hun
d:ed and fifty farms, toge'Ler with the
villages of Gierc1e, Leseni Munkato, New
| UIm and o;he RS, were totally destroyed
and more than two hundred persons
burned alive. To the village of PIshtego,
Wisconsin, the people he'd TO take refuge
in the river, aud Sky to eeventy of them
were burned 10 death or drowned. At
PesAukee thirty t. forty lost their lives.
In Michigan, about Saginaw and Green
Bay, the loss # life and property ba' been
very great. Numerous towns, among
which Wits Book, Furestvi:le, Elm
Greek, Cato, L,ingsburg, Lansing. with
the State Agricultural College, Holland
City and numerous other GOWNS and villa
ges have been entirely consumed. Michi-
gan is stated to have lost already at LEASE
500, 600. 900 of property and Nerthwes
tern Wisconsin is all in flames.
All the towns, farms and settlemt nts
which have suffered Sd terribly were like
surrounded tLem aud when it became an
ocean of flames resistance, and too often
escape itself, were found impossible. Many
of the border ers on the Lakes owed the'1
lives to the steamers and other crafts
whi.h took them away from The burning
shore. While others only exchanged 4
aery for watery grave.
the survivors. left entirely destitute a
the commencement Of Winter in tina
hareh climate. Even the timber will
which they could have bui / hu:s to shelter
themselves is all consumed, the few rail
roads which traversed those remote re-
gions, and which could have brought re-
lief are 10 a great extent destroy ed, while
the supply of fuel that they found in sucl
abundance along their lines is entirely
swept away.
Such a wild scene of devastation ha
probably never been Witnessed before OF
the face OF the earth. Only the first hur-
ried accounts have been published, bu
they are full of thrilling details. TIE wild
beasts, elks, bears ard buffa!oes rushed il
vast numbers from the burning VIC ods-
'rampling oow1 the bewiilered human IN
gitivee.
To the hapless victims OF this disas:er
it seemed that the world was coming to
fiery end, and the elements were melting
, with fervent heat. while superna'ura! ter
rors were added to the fearful calamity.
The effects OF this disaster may be o
long duration. The intensity OF the hee
was such, it is eeid, that the very roots O.
the trees were calcined in the earth 81
that the woods will hardly spring III
again, spontaneously. The de struction o
the forest ever sach an extt n, i've area will
probably diminish greatly the supply o
rain and affect the fertility of the SOIL
L It us hope that the mercy of God anG
the Larity Ct man will bring some RELIEF
to the unfortunate suffeceIR. ....