St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-11-24
THE WISCONSIN FIXES.


EpIrnE CALEDoNIAN: OF Som" III
cidcnts "f the recent fires in the West
| have been asked To make further men
ton i'll Your columns. There are many
things of which could W rite. and which
could NOR appropriately Ea\r lr-
hc:l~rd AT an earlier date since my re-
tIip and The duties that accumulated
during my absence. must II" my apollo
gN tol not Civ ing +" l"ul leaders 80
MANY OF whom cnnlrihulrd /" the relief
bore more detailed accounts "f the
results at my observations.
On Thursday. Nov. ;. in company
with one "r NV" acquaintance VIII" had
undergone and survived the baptism al
fire. went over Il considerable portion
of the track OF the most remarkable tor
uadn of modern times. 1t MAS Il iclIi-
hlc yalr of flame. At many points a
October I'll. il began il laNa2"> IN
northeastern " i>r"n>it. III = >par~,lN
settled region al bcumto county. about
>iN miles north ut the town OF prmnt".
and fourteen W">l Of Hr-hti"u Village.
| hc path of iI> li'I.,~i. most complete
devastation WIS III FIRST "mlN i milr il
breadth. But soon il spread "llt fan
like, till il >Wrp, over a space al fifteen
miles " idr. al The Western extremity
OF Ir>hti%" townships. II l'il on ihr
right of its eastward march one, III IN"
la" houses uucon~rIncd. hut thence it
MAS mcIriicS>. pi the neat dozen fun
HES. none We're uI>raIiIcd and very
few indi\ idual> we've left alive. Omc
MAN whom we'll knew. um the burst
ing ont III the lire in sighI of his dwell
ing. haIncsscd his hor>c> Ia his wagon
and with his wife, and five children IN
dr:iNnIcd to lice from the threatening
desrlurtinm Mid flame and smoke"
he drove his h"Isc> III full speed ill one
of them fell. Then. while he nicd /"
get il up. there came fearful gust of
fire. Pr">trarr ON the gIouud. he With
difficulty preserved himself from >utin-
cation. But - moment "r Nv" after
wards. he reached the side of the VA
g"n. only /" find all OF his family
dead.
\ short distance from this spot wa>
:, rhlstrI of >iN dwellings. LESS than Il
wear ago held Il sabbath morning sci
vice in one of them. OF twenty -four
inmates ut ihc>, all hIt seven pea isird.
OF ~iN stout men but one >ulN ives lie
told me the tale of his >utlrrinG> and
escape. Before the fine struck his
house. the wind had blown down his
wood shed. and hmot through several
of the doors and windows "t the dwell
ing. Fleeing /" shallow creek not far
away. he and his wife. sister and infant
child. half sat. half lay in the Wairl for
six hours before il WAS safe to put foot
on the Smouldelin4 soil. Their eyes
were filled with cimdtr> and burned like
nv illt NsiS lloi anu SUI
fling: the water of the stream became
50 heated as to kill the fish in great
numbers (Ihc alkali of the ashes which
sifted in no doubt Fastening the dr>tluc-
tom. Vet. strange 10 say. the infant
slept SweetlN in lis fathers arms, never
once waking all those terrible hours.
a few rods from that point of the
stream where these persons were saved.
two entire families burned. and not far
off Il man cut the Threats of his children
and then his own us the deNomimg ele-
ment. from which they could not escape,
overlook them. so the fire swept ON
till. in two school districts in that Low
CT Bush. two hundred persisted.
As we approached that neighborhood
on the morning mentioned above. 50
So far a< one could see towards the
southwest. and for three on four miles
i'll breadth, the very heavy timber had
been entirely mowm down by the tor
nado and largely consumed by the
flames: culvcrtS and corduroy even
when covered by Il foot of earth were
wholly destroyed. and the stunnS in
the open fields. far from amy thing else
comhustihle. had been burned out clean.
roots and all. 50 that the soil beneath
and around appeared like Il huge hon
ey-conh. | could have counted hun
dred> of instances where nothing re
manned of Stump> two feet i'll diameter
beloic The fire. On the tops of the bare
knobs and ridges the grass roots were
consumed. and where in Il few places
the wind had left the hard wood (gen-
erally of second 9rowtl) standing. much
of it WAS Scorched brown and dead.
OF the disaster in the northern and
northwestern portions of the same town
where one hundred and twenty five
persons persisted. heard many heart
rending incidents. and saw in the APP
pearance of the burned survivors in the
hospitals. indubitable evidence of the
terrible suffering of that night. Some
saved themselves in muddy pools and