Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1871-11-28
NUMBER 45.

farmer had cow and several head Of
young stock, and these were suffering 80
terribly from the smoke that he turned
them loose on Sunday afternoon, to care
for themselves. They atlrted of in the
direction Of the village, but probably per-
ishcd in company with scores Of other
domestic animals Laugworth's well had
been without water for week, and bis
only resource was small creek. about
forty rods from the house. BY digging
hole in the bed Of the stream about n
barrel of water would collect in day,
aud this he was using Tor drinking and
cooking purposes.
Just before dark, Sunday night, Lang
worth states thai his yard 0ot almost
oyerun with rabbits and animals, while
more than hundred squirrels wee to be
seen about the house and barns The
animals moved about in n stupid way,
blinded by the smoke, and would hardly
move away when approached.
There wa. no sleep for the farmer that
night. It was rs much as he could DO TO
breathe. Tie smoke creeping in aud iiIi
ing the house until the lamp could scarce
/ IL be seen across the room. soon after
midnight be asccrtained that lhe wind
had changed AMI lrcshened, and in an
hour more he could hear the roar OF the
fire and the terrible crashing ofthc giant
trees as they toppIel over. Between bis
place and the f,e WAS q swamp nearly
/ halt 4 mile across. and he had hope
that lhi, would act as q gu1rd To prevent
the further spreading OF The flames In
one sense it did The fire did not sweep
across it, but ate the WAY around IT, the
wind seeming to IAN the flames each "ay.
and when the farmer, clock marked The
hour of ,iN Monday morning the smoke
was so dense and the roar of the fire 30
! loud that he decided 10 leave. Having
little money to care Tor, and being poor
in household goods, he decided 90 make
the attempt to save some OF the bedding.
Taking some small articles, such as pho
tographs, a small picture or two. the fam
ily bible and his faithful cloc,, Lang
worth placed them on feather tick.
wrapped this upin a blanket, and was
ready to 90. Stepping out to door 10
take an observation. he found that be
could not see ten fee, in any direction,
and the air was rs hot rs the atmosphere
in m engine room.
As he stood near his door. pecIiug .his
way and that, great flame suddenly
shot up from his barn and the hay stacks.
As he turned for his bundle, thousands of
sparks and scores Of burning twigi and
branches swept in at the open door, aud
he lcapcd out and ran for lie. There is
Il wagon road from Laug&ouh', To- the
village, and he sought this means Of as
cape. Behind him were ,he roaring
flames, sweeping everything before them,
and travelling so fast that he had To strain
every nerve to keep ahead Where the
ire met with an open space or small
swamp, lis terrible progrcss Fas
checked Tor a moment. and ihe tanner
coald get clear of the dyiug sparks B':
no obstacle could long stop the progress
Of the flames. What they could not
burn they leapcd over until they caugh,
a mass Of grass or heap cf leaves, and
in moment the fire wa. eating each
way and progressing forward nearly as
last rs man could IN. Almost s;iiled,
his throat so parchcd that hc could not
swallow, and hi, lungs feeling as u
knife were at work there, LanSwouh
stumbled forward, scarcely hoping to
make his escape. What he expected
soon occurred. The flames which bad
been sweeping down from another diroc-
ton suddenly jumped across the road IN
front OF him; halt dozen trees famed
up at once Behind was the main fire,
to the right was the solid sheet Of flames,
and the only aycnuc Of escape was to
plunge into the wood, already ,aking
fire, on the left side.
1t was now a race for lite, with the
chances against escape. Tu,ningto the
left the farmer hoped that by making Il
sharp run he might head of Jbe fire,
turning its path and again reach the
road.
He had almost accomplished This Oh.
iect, when he encountered "a "swale' OF
considerable extent, aud found that he
must turn toward the main fire and en-
deavor to work around the "swalc' be-
fore the flames should reach it. Sparks
and cindcrs were falling all around him,
the ground was covered with dry leaves,
and the wind sweeping trough The trees
in gusts, and several times Langworth
had 10 leap over the running flames. In
one of his leaps he tripped and fell,
pungmg hcadlong into soft mud and
water. This was . most fortunate oc-
currence for him, as his clothes had al.
ready been scorched by the flames. lie
ran forward at his greatest speed, hear.
ing the flames roaring OH all sides, and
when he reached the end of the marsh
the flames were only few IOds away,
the flames blistcring his checks as lie
passed around the swamp and struck the
high ground.
In turning and twisting, and bewilder-
ed by smoke, he had lost MI knowledge