Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1871-10-27
FROM tic Nc,o York Herald.
The Forest Fires.
HORRIBLE INCIDENTS OF TIE DISASTER
Il ron " Il d o or FIR E

MILWAUKEE, Oct, Is, 1911 From vari.
Gus persons who have just returned from Nor.
thern Wisconsin and Michigan it now ap.
pears the widest rumors and naginings which
have prevailed, have, for days past, fallen far
short of tho actual reality in describing the
loss Of life and property in
THESE DEVASTATED REGIONS.
Tho chairman. of Relief Committee sent
from this city states that en- arriving at Dash
ligo harbor he found a considerable number
Of those who had fled from the village, seven
miles up the river, many of whom wore scri-
ously burned and all dcplorably destitute
At Peshtigo village there remained only "a
few engaged in searching for and burying the
dead. The fire which destroyed Pcshtigo
occurred OH tho evening of tho 9Th instant,
and history has never furnished parallel Of
its terrible destsuctivoness. Shortly after
tho church going people had returned from
evening service, an ominous sound was heard,
like the distant roar of the sea or of com
ing storm. This increased in intensity, and
soon the inhabitants became alarmed and ap.
prehcnsivc of coming danger.
BALLS OF FIRE
were observed to fall like mctcors in differ.
ent parts of the town, igniting whatever they
camc in contact with. BY this tire the
whole population were thoroughly rousod
and alarmed, and caught up their cl idren
and what valuablcs they could hastily seize
and began to fec to place of safety. Now
a bright light appeared in the southwest hori-
zon, gradually increasing till the heavens were
aglow with tho light. But few moments
elapsed after this before tho horrible tornado
of fire come upon the people and envclopel
thcm in flames, suIokc, burning sand and
cnders Those who had not now reached
the river or some other place of safety were
suffocatcd and burned to cindcrs before they
could advance half dozen steps further
TIE CHARACTER OF TIE FIRE
was unlike any described before. 1t was
flame famed by hurricane and accompanied
with various electrical sparks, while they saw
electrical flames in tho air and dance over
the surface Of the earth around thonIL But the
fury of the fash wns past in half an hour,
though tho fire continued to burn moro or
less during the whole hight The full effects
Of the storm were not apparent until daylight
returned and the survivors could comc forth
from their retreat.
TERRIDLEI OF TIE DISASTER
A party of l5O fortunately ran together upon
low meadow below the bridges and were all
saved. a family of five persons saved thcm-
selves by Jumping into shallow we'll. An
other family of the same number were suffo-
Gated by like resort. y large number
| threw themselves into the millpond and sns>
tanned themselves by clinging to the boom
and tloating logs, at tho same timo continu.
ally wetting their heads 10 prevent them from
roasting. Many children, and some only
few months old, we're kept in tho water all
night and yet survived. Many others we're
drowned by being tramplcd on or thrown
from logs by CATTLE and horses that madly
rushed in the waters to escape the flames
EXTENT OF THE CoNELAG RATION.
The tornado came from the southwest and
swept over tract of country eight or ten
miles wide and Of indefinite length. Timber
in its course was fellcd by tho hurricane and
burned by the fire, and every vcstige of fence
and buildings was swept away, with two or
three exceptions.
Sometimes tho wind struck tho ground
with such force that the small underground
WAS torn up in winnows. At other times it
would skip away from the earth. The pop.
ulation Of Peshtigo and vicinity was 1000,
and fully one-third of thcso perished that
fearful night. Nlarinctt, six miles eastward,
on tho Nlcnoninec river, is tho city of rofuge
for tho Pcshtigo sufferers, and the Dunlap
Hotel has been converted into hospital for
over fifty of the sick and burned. Many 9th
ers arc distributed nmong citizens of tho vii.
lngc. About fiften per cent. of them arc SO
badly burned that it is impossible to recover.
Others will be able to return to business in
months time or less The burns occurred
most frequently on the feet and hands and
face, and nearly all suffer from tho cxhala-
Ition of hot sand and cindcrs and from the
usual pulmonary complications Of burns. &
STATEMENT OF AN EYEWITNESS.
The editor Of tho Mcnomineo Herald,
just from tho scene Of tho disaster, saws that
on the fiat, near tho river, the poor creatures
wero gathered, many of thom so disfgurcd as
to be unrccognizablo. Hundreds lay IN their
agony, with perhaps picco of tent, a few
boards or a blanket on sticks, as protection,
and often entirely unprotected
groaning, miserable human beings, many of
them disfgured fer life, and some destined to
drag along few miserable days or weeks of
existence and then die. -
Twenty one persons were burned to death
by the samo tornado Of fire tho samo night
in tho little village of Birch Crock, adjacent.
OVER FIFTEEN HUNDRED MEN, WOMEN AND
sls..i CHILDREN ti9 seWs.,,tf
have been burned to death in Wisconsin
nlOno. Thor hn,aoo md farno ara tS N l,roo