The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1871-12-02
a TERRIBLE STORY.


Ahnapce, Wis Letter to New York Tribune.
Human annals do not su.pass in equal
tims and space, the immensity and intensity
of suffering aud death crowded into the mea"
gre epitome of one single hour. The scene
of thriving Industry and the home Of near
" a hundred people, the place, though iso-
lated from any human vicinity, had mains
tained a hourshng and tranquil vitality.
The shingle mill, with its coadjutaut indus
tries, gave employment to the entire people,
women and children dividing the easy labor
Of shinglng and binding. There were but
four buildings oD the clearing-the mill, the
general boarding house, store, and the
barn, Economy and convenience, curious
to say, had dictated the selection Of this re-
mote spot. The timber iutxhaustibly Gov
cred the place, and it was of unequaled quail
ity; lazy little stream meanderrg through
the gnarled roots and soft soil ffered sup
ply Of water. enough, with artesian wells, 10
drive the mill machinery. 1t was cheaper
to work the great logs into marketable shape
here, where they were right at hand, than
establish the mills on the lake or bay and
drag the immense timber over miles Of
wretched roads fiery experience of the
west shore-of the whole northern Wisconsin
had been the experience Of this wood~im~
mersed hamlet. For weeks, iucossant, la
borioCs battle had been waged night and
day, reliels Of men, and even women, taking
turns in the eXhausting contest. 1t was
hoped that all danger had been warded off
when wide belt, fully mile deep, had
been burned outward from the clearing. The
sereLity of assured safety lad come upon the
people when this black decentralization was
compete-the very night before the calam-
ity. On that fatal Sunday morning the mill
operations suspended, and the men who had
homes in the neighboring towns Of Big and
Little Sturgeon made an early start through
the woods. When night came some kindly
providence detained them, and the massacre
was so much less. Tho night came on tran
quily. the humid air gave grateful promise
Of coming rain. and the last lingering dis
trust was bauished from the timidest inhab-
liant. Early in the night mCst Of the little
population in the hamlet were in doors or in
bed. 1t was still early when those casually
astr outside saw great glowing light shoot
athwart the southern sky, and, spreading
rapidly west and northwest, continue with
dazzling briliiaucy. Presently a slender col
umn of fire shot forward and, caught 6y
whirlwind, came blowing through the solid
timber toward the mill. By this time the
seepers and all had rushed from the barrack
in a wild, clamoring CONSERVATION.
Three brothers,, Williamson, owned the
mill, aud had in the colony mother, father,
sisters, wives, and children. Hastily Charg-
ing the women to care for themselves, the
brothers set about saving the property if
possible. But before the hose could be bro't
to bear, the saving of life alone bsCamo the
stake in the di eadful encounter. The broth
ers, as proprietors, seem for a time to have
been full of calm, brave discretion, and, with
fill tfr,, L., /
the first rush of the tornado, attempted sys-
tematic plans Of preservation. The women
were directed as far as possible to put on
mems clothes throughout, as Offering less
chance for the fire to catch. So far as known,
not a woman needed the advice. Had they
done So their lives might not have been sac
riticed on that ignob!e pyre. Even if life
had not been spared, the most revelting
sights Of the massacre would have been
spared the Eeart-broken survivors. This
was the last shred of coherent conduct among
the frightened people. Swift whiriug col
umns If flame had cut through the ipter-
vening timber. and fell voyaciously Oh the
light frame buildings. The whiglwiud LASH
ing the trees into fragments caught the fire
in roaring surges, and flung it about in bill
lowy waves among the tree-tops. Slender
tongues OF fire falling from above played in
desperation of terror filed men, women and
childrer-a terror as natural as fatal, for
had common fortitude led the group not
soul need have persisted. With ore impulse
the frantic mass, battling and crowdiug,
rushed to the potato patch. Here a rising
ground was crowned by shallow pit, not
six feet around, and hardly, at the deepest
part, two feet below the surface Of the
ground. Men now living, who came almost
unscathsd through that night of doom, tell
how, before the evil time, when the fires
were raging, this spot had been fixed on as
place OF safety, because, almost in the center
Of the clearing, with no iLfammable matter
near, it seemed to promise a breathing in
case Of general conhagration. There had
been constant iocosites and banters about
this "center Of salvation" and some one ac-
tually attempting to enlarge the cavity had
been driven off by good naturcd lidicule
Even as late as Saturday it had been used as
place of refuge notwithstanding, and when
the actual danger eams, the credulous mass
remembered the delusive pit. Ii that fatal
spot had not been. if the whimsical belief
had not obtained finn hold, there is not
the slightest doubt but the forty seven that
persisted would have escaped in the neigh
boring woods. Into that Cramped place,
crowding, buffetting, begging, cursng. i'm
ploriug, praying. shrieking, men, children
and women elbowed and fought in the frenzy
of hideous desperation and terror. Not
large enough to admit dozen by the closest
packing, nearly fifty wrestled and crowded
in and about the fatal spot. With ostrich
instinct.jn the abicctnesS of their unreasoning
fear, men plowed their burning heads under
the living pyre. An inextricable pyramid
Of bodies, in all sorts Of conceivable postures,
stood in the hameswept place.
There were few in this awful time that
observed an amazing equanimity, The en-
gineer Of the mill, Byron Merrill. a young
fellow Of marked character and intelligence.
battled resolutely till the last chance to save
his employers property, and only when the
fu.ilty Of the effort and the danger to life
became obvious was his self~imposed duty
resigned. y bit of romance tiuges the glar,
ing picture. His sweetheart was a relative
OF the mill owners, Miss Maggie Williamson.