The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1871-11-09
From an Eyewitness of the Fires I'm
MlNcOQSIns

| Clark, of Detroit, was at Uniontown, Wis.
| Fires were blazing through the forests and
along the prairies il every direction. At
shutdown there was a strong breeze, which,
at 9 o'clock, increased to furious gale.
| blowing toward the lake The whole sur
face of the country, to the westward, east
ward and southwark, seemed to be one
mass of fame, which almost reached the
lowering clouds, and rushed along at race
horse speed. Even where Mr.. Clark was
the heat was intense. Beyond. toward the
lake. was the settlement of " illiamsens
Mills, comprising about ii families. The
fire suddenly made rush like the flash eff
a train of gunpowder, and swept In the
shape of a crescent around the settlement.
1t is almost impossible to conceive the ra-
piditv of the advance of the flames. The
rushing fire seemed to eat up and annihil-
ate the trees.
THE RUSH OF TIE FIERY BLAST.
The roar of the blast was as loud as the
. whir of great mill. As We stood looking
on, say, at about 10 o'clock, We heard
another strange sound. Straining our eyes
toward the tire-about seven miles away
we could just discern something moving.
Now it would appear Ike a black mass,
then it would separate into fragments,
swaying to and 10, and bo5bing up and
down. 1t came toward us directly from
the lurid wall Of fame. SO intense was
the glare of light around us that our eyes
were blinded-dazed. They ran with
water, and we could see only by constantly
using our handkerchicfs. At last we made
out by sight and sound that the moving
mass was stampede Of cattle and horses,
To vi 4 no
flames, believing, neighing and moaning as
they galloped Oh. Finally, they came rush
ing on with fearful speed, their eycballs
dilated and garipg with terror, and every
motion betokening delirium of fright. Some
had been badly burned, and must have
plunged through long space of flame in
their desperate effort to escape.
FAMILY's FATE.
Following considerably behind came a
solitary horse, painting and snorting and
nearly exhausted. lie was saddled and
bridied, and we first thought had bag
tied to his back. As he came up we were
startled at the sight of young lad lying
fallen over the animals neck, the bride
wound around his hands, and the name
being clinchcd by his fingers. Little effort
was needed to stop the jaded horse and at
once release the helpless boy. lie was
taken into the house, and all that we could
do was done: but he had inhaled the smoke,
and was seemingly dying. Some time
elapsed, and he revived enough to speak.
He told his name, Patrick Byrnes, and
said:
Father and mother and the children
got into the wagon. | don't know what
became of them. Everything is burned up.
I'm dying. Oh is he'll any worse than
this?
The poor fellow lay in a critical condition
when left. The next morning we drove
down to the settlement. The first house
we came co was that of Paterick Bvrnes,
father of the lad before spoken of. 1t was
Il heap of ashes. The brick chimney, the
cooking stove and the iron part of the farm
ing tools were the only remnants of the
place. The forest was burned down close
to the ground, the stumps only being left.
Even the road was cracked and baked bv
the heat.
ROASTED ON THE ROADSIDE.
About 4 mile further on we came to a
horrible spectacle. Alongside the road, in
gully, lay the bodies of six persons and
two horses, roasted to Il crisp. The iron
tires Of the wheels, and the other irons
which formed a part Of the wagon, were
scattered about. Here the fire had sur
rounded ana engulfed them. Evidently
the animals in their mad struggles had
Fff32Ef4t a q@ dap tH u aPb fasn headon=
Mr.. Byrnes, was native of Tipperary
county, Ireland, and with his wife had been
in America over thirty years. Formerly
they lived in the Fourth ward of New
York, where he was employed as Il cart
man. Seventeen years ago he moved
" est, and, by industry had accumulated a
snug property. Jlc bad five children, the
eldest being eighteen and the youngest five
years old.
We hurried on. All along the road lay
numerous carcasses of neat cattle, sheep,
hogs and dogs burnt to crisp. The
smaller animals were almost entirely con-
sumed. Now we came to the village.
Nothing was left but piles of ashes, smok-
ing and smouldering. In the cellar of one
house we found eight bodies. One, of a
man, was in STOPPING position over that
of a child, as though he died trying to ward
off the flames. This was, very likely, the
body of Mr.. Williamson, the owner of the
mills, who, with his entire family, is said
to have persisted. In the rear yard of the
next house were four bodies, apparently
those of a mother and her children. They
were scorched, not burnt to a crisp, and
one cheek of the youngest, girl of six, re-
tanned an expression OF calmness that seem
ed to indicate a painless death by sutfoca-
ton.
HORRIBLE DEATH STRUGGLE IN WELL.
But the most horrible of all was at Boor-
mans we'll. Mr.. BIS house was in the
VI lia and in tho caotra IF tho yar1 mid
way between the house and barn, was a
large but shallow well. Several of the
neighbors were supplied with water from
this fountain, and it is likely that, III the
| confagration, when all hope was cut off,
the ncighbors, insane with terror, focked
with one purpose to this well. The
ordinary chain and wheel pump, used in
| that place, had been removed, and the
wretched people had leaped into the well
as their last refuge. Boards had been
thrown down to prevent them from being
! drowned. But, evidently, the relentless
fury of the fire drove them pell-mell into
| the pit to struggle with each other and die
some by drowning and others by fire and
sutfocation. None escaped. Thirty-two
bodies were found there. They were in
every imaginable position: but the contor-
/ tons of their limbs and the agonized ex-
pressions Of their faces told the awful t;Ae
All the houses along the roads down to
| Sturgeon Bay were reduced to ashes: and
in them, or near by, were the blackened
corpses Of the Inflated residents Twelve
only are as Yet known to have escaped.
| These ran to the lake and plunged to their
necks in the water.-New York San.
----<-~-
| After the Fire.