Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1871-11-09
TIRE MICHIGAN FOREST FIRES.

TIRE MICHIGAN FOREST FIRES.
A man p1mcd Allison Weaver. who
reached D0lso(.s from Por. Huron. on
Wednesday week. had narrow and Gu.
rious escape from being roasted alive in
the north woods His story 10 thus told
in the Detroit Free Press:
Weaver is . single man. about 6f,v
years old. and served all through the war
IN an Ohin regiment Of iufmiry. Up tn
tvs" weeks ago he was NJ work for a an
named Bright. ten miles fro,n F...rs.villc.
as fireman for a .h;n:le mil. Two or
three days before the arpr"avh Of the
! flames. which eventually destroyed that
section. Bright and his family l,ft for
F"restville. and the next day all the men
"mpl"yed atnut the place either followed
The example "r made haste I" reach their
homes. On leaving. Brigh, informed his
men that the FIRE would sweep tina, way.
:nd warned them I" lose TAO time in max :
ing their escape. Having n" property tn
Lose "r family to rare for. Weaver deter.
mined rs he says. ITO stay and see the
circus out" meaning t,a, he intended
saving the mill If possible. He has u
stubborn SORT "f spirit. and TIE fact that
every b"! y else went induced him to STAY.
As soon as the men wcrt he set to work
ard buried all the provisions left in the
house. and during the day also buried the
knives. h-i, and esther light machinery If
the mill. ~ we'll N q st"ve and = ausnti,v
Of crockery ware. There was a plenty of
water in the viinify Il the mill, and he
filled several barrels fall. besides we,,irr
down house. mill. stock aud ever, thing
which would burn. scattering several hun
lred palfu!s Of water on the ground
around the buildings
When nigh, came and the Ere had not
"rrra-c:,. ''r ace.n 4" - p, hi- sh-cn,
comrades. Bur biz srlf-c"ncrit soon left
him. Atou. ten o'clock the heavens were
! ;" lich. ,ha, he could see the sn,alles, Oh
jrets - ~ -s.s.i there 49," roar
ing IND & winch s"unded ike Waves
heating Isl rock. on the shore. III
began so4 pect that he would soon Re.
eeive the sit predicted. anil aee"r'iinr-
; " made N Iarn.ions fur it. In ievelEiinr
up the gr.And around the single mill
earth had been obtained by digging here
and there. and Weaver went to work and
ding one Of these pits deep enough for him
to stand NJ in
| He then filled il nearly fun Of water
and tark care {" satrra,e the ground
! around i. for distance Of several rods
Going to the mill he dragged out four
inch plank. sawed i, in two. aud saw tha,
the parts tightly covered the nmu,h nf the
little we'll Il calkla,cd it w"uli he tech
and CO." said he. ''hut It was the best
could do" At midnight lie had every.
thin. arranged. and tn" r"ariny then was
awful :" hear The clearing was ten q,
twelve acres in extent. and Weaver "a,
that for two hours before the fire reached
him there WIS = constant fight across the
ground Of small animals As he rested
moment from giving the h"u~c an"rhes
wct,ing down. 4 horse dashed into the
opening al fu!l srse,l. anil made fur the
house. where he stopped and turned TO-
wards the ere. Weaver cnuli see hin,
tremble anil shake in his cxcit,.mcn. and
terror. aud f.l. pity for him. After q
moment the animal gave ns,erance {" a
snort OF dismny. ran two ar three times
around the house. aud then shot Of into
the woods like rocket.
Not long after this ffrr came. Weaver
stood by his we'll. really for the cmcr-
ceney. yet curiou, TO are the breaking in
1T the flames. The roaring increased in
volume. the r became oppressive. a cloud
of dus, and cindrrs came showerins down
aud he could see thu flames through tn.
trees. Il did not run along upon tn,
ground. nor leap from tree tn tree. bat it
c,mc along like tornado. \ sheet of farm.
reachiny from the earth t" III. tops ~ the
trees. A il struck the CLEARING he Jump
ell into his we'll and closed the p'ark<-
lie could no longer see. hut he c,usl
hear. He says ,h" flames made no hal,
whatever. nor ceased their roaring for an
instant. ba. h. had hardly got the open
ing closed before the house and mill were
burning like finder. ana both were down
in 1--WE n,iwoses The smoke caws G.wu
30 him powerfully. and his den was ~ hos
tha, he could hardly breathe
He knew the plsnks ai-'ve him were on
:ir~. bat. remembering their Thickness. be-
waited till the roariuz of the fans had
lied away. and then With his ksal aud
hands turned them over anil put out the
fire BY da>hing up water with his harris
Although il was crli night. and the wa
tar had at first chilled him. the beat grad.
aally warmed j. up until he Eel, very cum
Portable.
lie remained in his den until daylight.
frequently turning over the planks and
putting out the Gre. aud then the worst
hail parsSA. The ssssh arosnd was on