Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1871-11-03
THRILLING NARRATIVE OF A
WISCONSIN REFUGEE.

WISCONSIN REFUGEE.
A Fight for Life Through a Flaming
Forest--Death Struggle With
Maniac--A Rain OF Fire.
The Rescue, Etc.
Correspondence of the New York World. i
GREEN BAY, Wis, October H.
In company with other people who
had been driven from their homes
in the interior Of the State by the
dreadful fires of the preceding weel
and more, reached this city las
Wednesday,, hoping to find IN,
husband from whom had become
separated in the woods when the
smoke was SO thick that it was i'm
possible for us to see each other
when we were few feet apart. Y
1t seems strange to me, now
that can recall so wildly all that
passed during that frightful after.
noon and the night which followed
it, and yet ii is all impressed on my
mind in colors which can never be
obliterated. But perhaps l am be.
ginning at the wrong end of my
story, which you must not expect to
find at all artistic or elaborate. In.
deed, l would not have written it at
all if Mr.. Wilson, who has SD kind,
| Iy cared for me since my arrival at
Green Bay, had not told me that !
ought to let the people know what
hardships hundreds, and, rs | hear,
thousands Of men and omen and
even poor little innocent children
have undergone up here in the
Northwest, for both he and | be.
lieve that in some respects my
misery was paralleled by that OF
others, 1t is by no
means an infrequent occurrence to
have fires in the woods in Wiscon-
sin, which, in the dry season, burn
for weeks and weeks. l have often
looked up toward the northwest and
seen from an eminence clouds of
smoke lying above the woods stead
lily for long time and never appear
ing to move in any way. They
looked like piles of white cotton in
the daytime, and at night, when the
moon shone brightly, there was n
peculiar weird look about them
which gave the darkencd landscape
a singular beauty, for often the up
per part Of them would resemble
masses of purple and pearly CLOUDS,
sometimes with tinge OF red from
the fire below. 1t was but seldom
that the fire itself could be seen.
Nobody feared an extensive confla-
grafton even i'll the dryest times,
much less was there any apprehcn-
sion that the time would come
when the flames would sweep down
upon us and almost in an instant
burn up our houses like so much
stnbble, and make us flee for our
lives. Still, when the drouth of the
present season had lasted much
longer than the previous ones had
done, some of our neighbors began
to fear that if ut any time high
wind should blow long enough, we
should find ourselves in the greatest
danger. 1t was not, however, until
n day or two before the actual ap-
pearance of the fire in our vicinity
that anything like apprehension
took possession of our minds, or any
thing like active measures was tax
Ell to ward off the threatened catas-
trophe.
On the morning Of the llth of
this month, just as VIC were sitting
down to take breakfast, Mr.. Rich
ardson, a neighbor of ours, came
running into the house and told Mr..
Mechand that he must come out i'm
mediately and see what could be
done. During the night the wind
had risen, but not so greatly as to
amount to anything like a gale, but
rather did it resemble the ordinary
fall wind. Mr.. Mcchand did not
feel at all uneasy, and leisurely
swallowed his breakfast, before fol-
lowing Mr.. Richardson, who had
disappeared as soon as he stuck his
head into the room and called my
husband. Mr.. Mcchand went into
the woods and st 'ycd unit | about
noon, when he came running back
and said that he had climbed up to
the top Of Browns Hill, where the
wind was blowing a gale, and from
there had seen the fire, which was
coming toward us at a tremendous
pace. Indeed, l had feared as
much, and had been exceedingly
uneasy all the morning, for the
smoke which for days had been in
the valley where we lived had be-
come more and more dense, and
occasionally hot putts of wind had
blown down over the hills, driving
the smoke in dense cloud before
it. asked my husband if he
thought there was any danger to be
feared; he shook his head and an
swered "No,'' yet l knew by his
face that he was far from being de-
void of fear. He ate his dinner
hastily, and then ran out again, and
was met at the door by neighbor
who said that the fire was advance
ing with trighttul speed. Inde ed
the air had now become sultry as
it never had before except on some
hot days in summer Immediately
before the coming Of thunder
storm. The air was sitting, and
the smoke got into ones lungs and
nostrils in such a way as to render
it exceedingly unpleasant. Mother
sat in a corner holding little Louis
in her lap, and l noticed that she
seemed restless, and that her eyes
shone with light such as l have
sometimes seen in the eyes Of a
wild beast, and had only seen in
hers in the old days when she was
about to have an outburst Of fury.
l was frightened and tidgety, and
didn't do anything in the right way.
l went and took t, boy away from
mother, who relinquished him
readily; and then, as | had after
ward terrible reason to remember,
la I knr.llx, ,nt;.nl - ot f1n