, 1871-12-04

blazing building in all the waste abou
them, Groups of dead were found
within stones throw of the water
Families rushing downward for breath
ing place had been blown upon by the
rushing blasts and struck lifeIess, The
CHASTITY throng huddled, shrieking and
bewailing, about the fiaring embers, and
the terrible roll of the missing was soon
called from end to end Of the ashen
waste. No vestige of human Aabitation
remained, and the steaming, freezing,
wretched group, crazed by the unutter.
able terror and despair, plead with each
other to restoreythe lost ones. The hot
blasts Of the night had blinded them,
and they could but yaguely recognize
one another in the murkey light Of the
new day,
AFTER THE CONFEDERATION,
Long after the flames had died out,
when there was no more to feed on, the
hot sands rendered moving about an
exquisite torture, and long into the dis
NAL midday the survivors were confin-
ed to the narrow circuit near the river.
As the day wore on, help came in slow
ly from the northward. Several rail-
road gangs had escaped annihilation,
and one gang, led by an ex-prize fighter
named Mulligan, came with prompt
ness and efficiency to the rescue
through miles of burning prairie and
blockaded roads. On Sunday night
something over 1900 people were as
sembled within the confines of this in
dustrious, prosperous city; the dreadful
morning light came upon haggard,
maniacal multitude of less than 700.
When the work of rescue began it was
found that great number had escaped
by the bed of the river and the north
ern road to the port, and, as they ad-
vanced, half naked stragglers, un-
kempt and blaekensd, began to stream
into the sparse settlement. As the
molten sands cooled off, the woful work
of recognition began. Peering into
blackened faces, mothers, fathers,
brothers, tremblingly sought out miss
ing ones.
Some, in the immeasurable anguish
of the moment, had dashed themselves
against the sands and let out the life
with their own hands that the licking
flames coveted. Men, too distant from
the river to hope for rescue or safety,
had out the throats of their choking
children, and were found in gronps
sometimes unscarred by the flames. In
the streets, full twenty corpses were
found with no apparent iAjury or
abrasion. Fatuous tradesmen, in the
sudden rush of flame, had thrown
their valuables into wells for security;
every we'll in the city was turned into a
flaming pit, and the waters half evapo-
rated by the heat. Survivors attest that
women and children, cut off from the
river, were put into wells and covered
with bedding. I have looked into every
well in the ash covered clearing. and
there is no possibility that living thing
could have endured the flames which
boiled and seethed in them.
For hours the unreasoning search
was continued by the famished-dying
remnants, but to little avail; the dead,
when recognizable. lay where they had
fallen in the streets; where the houses
had stood the ground was whipped as
clean as a carpet, and all hope of iden-
tifying human ashes was idle. The next
night the long prayed for rain came,
gratefully to the living, and kindly to
the Aeeting ashes Of the dead. The
great dread which hovered over the bay
cities and towns was allayed. and the
theatened danger nearly gone. Before
dark, help came to the perishing suffer-
ers from the neighboring villages. The
wounded were taken by boat to Green
Bay, whence some were forwarded to
Milwaukee.
From nine o'clock Sunday night until
dusk of Monday may be taken as the
time of the main action in this terrific
drama. By Tuesday the sweeping miles
of fire had been quenched by Monday
nights rain. A slight drizzle still fur
ther aided the work of rescue. The
ravages of the one nlght's tornado left
unmistakable traces on every hand.
Through the solid growth of timber
clean swath of blackened stumps and
roots marked the course Of the fiery
tsmpasts. The roads were numbered
with roasted cattle, and frequently with
the carcases of bears and deer, while the
bitches and cleared fields were strewn
with smaller game and wild birds
Nearing the vicinity of sadder relics
were found, for those who penetrated
outward through the wall of fame met
equally fierce flames in the clearest
places. Remote dwellers on the high
roads, warned of the great danger, with
their families safely packed on their
great farm wagons, made nofthward
through the highways for security; but
the flames engulfed them in the heart of