The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1871-10-19
From the Oconto Lumberman Extra. Oct IL 7
THE INDEsCRIBABLE SCENES.

THE 1NDESCRIBABLES SCENES
There is little heart to write the tales
Of these sad and fearful times. Eye wit.
nesses cannot describe them by word.
The pen can only give an idea, and
hardly that, of the woe, the weeping, the
wailIng, the homes ruined, the lives lost
Early Wednesday morning, every avail
able horse and wagon was brought into
requiGIrion for the purpose of reaching
the sufferers in the different settlements
within the range of the tornado of Sun
day nights fire.
Too much credit cannot be given to the
citizens of Oconto for the active sympa-
thy displayed upon the occasion. The
different supply teams reached their des-
tiDati0n during the afternoon. Parties of
men with axes were employed in ad
vance Of the teams to chop away the fal
len trees and render the roads passable
The bridges, culverts, etc, were burned
and much time was taken up in actually
building way through.
We say we cannot describe the scenes
we cannot Infants clasped in mothers
arms fathers, brothers, sisters, stiff in
their last embrace; actual lines of dead
from the once happy farmhouse to the
adjoining creek; charred groups, black
ened corpses, crumbling bones, lacerated
and torn members the smiling babyhood
a few hours past, the adolescent, the old,
in one horrid heap of death, is ali that is
lett of the country Travelled over. The
roadside is strewn with dead horses,
oxen, cows, swine, fowl. Even the un-
tanned of the forest flew toward civiliza
ton for relief, but only to find death in
their flight.
Deer, bear, rabbits, were discovered in
protusion burned to crisp. And all this
within few miles Of our city. From
the few left to tell the tale there can be
yet little obtained in their half craZcd
situation. We ourselves saw the father
consign to their last resting place all that
was left of a family of six. We cared
little about questioning, and lie seemed
to care as little about speaking. Having
given him few morsels of bread fo1 nee
essary subsistence, We passed on, and saw
the babe in It's mothers arms, the boy,
the grl, in nakedness, the young woman,
the mother, the father, in one sad group
of death. Again, a family, apparently,
fol-, there was nothing left but the bones,
and hardly bones at that Yes, there
was one of that family of which there
was little left. 1t was the baby. The
poor mother, forgetful of herself, chung
to her innocent offs pring, and her last ef-
fort must have been to save her young
ones life. The mothers hand, or the
charred remains thereof, were on the
baby's head, as if engaged in pressing
1t to the ground, face downwards, to save
it from suffocation the little face, that
was all that was uninjured. A promi-
nent man was found with his throat cut,
and his knife lying alongside him. He
must have been crazed by tortures, or
preferred Immediate death TO lingering
agony. Hundreds Of such cases could
we cite, but to what use Let us merely
take, if possible, into the minds eye, a
tract of desolation, suffering, death, pow
erty, want and loneliness, ruined homes,
burned corpses-perhaps happier than
the living-and may the always wise
Providence have mercy upon their souls.
1t is the duty of us, who are yet safe,
to fly with everything in our possessionto