Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1871-10-20
THE DEMON OF FIRE.
FEARFUL LOSS OF VIFE AND
PROrERTYINNO NORTHERN WIS.
CONSIN AND MICHIGAN.
/ Over 1000 Persons Burn ed, brow nod
or Smothercd.

III,
or Smothercd.
The same Sunday light, two week.
ago, which witnessed Chicago lit
orally passing through the furnace
of affection, her magnificent block'
and squares and public edifice'
melting Away before the fiery breati
Of the destroyer, and her wealth e1
haling in clouds Of smoke and Gin
ders, another tragedy Of fire wa.
being enacted in the regions O
Wisconsin and Michigan bordering
on Green Bay, more appalling and
dreadful than the Chicago disaster
because more destructive of human
life and the cause of more lntens,
human suffering and misery. The
fire was in the heavy timber on tn,
east and west shores Of Green Bay
The long drought had prepared ev
erything for the confiagration, ant
when the fire was once started i
swept through the dry and faller
timber with the speed of the whirl
wind. consuming all before it, de
vastating towns and villages, de
stroying roads and bridges and elo
sing every avenue Of escape agains,
the hapless inhabitants. Many were
burned before they could make theil
escape; others sought the water tol
protection against the fiery element
and there persisted miserably OF
cold, exhaustion or drowning. The
Governor of Wisconsin estimates
the dead at over 1000 persons, and
that not less than 5000 have been
left entirely destitute.
The greatest loss Of life was at
Peshtiso. The village contained
about 1000 inhabitants and WAS one
of the most beautiful and thriving
places on the bay. 1t was com
P[ctely wiped out Of existence, owe:
500 persons in the village and vi
cinity perishins by fire and water.
Here the awful calamity of fire WAS
made more terrible by a hurricane
which accompanied it. The scene
at Pcshtigo and the adjacent settle
mcnt, called the "suSar bush," is
thus described by the Marinette and
Peshtigo E"g1e, of Oct. 18th:
Sunday evening, after church, for
about half An hour, death-like
stiffness hung over the doomed
town. The smoke from the fires in
the region around was SO thick as
to be sitting, and hung like a tuner-
al pail over everything, and all was
enveloped in Egyptian darku's SIS.
Soon light putts of air were felt;
the horizon ut the southeast, south
and southwest began to be illumin-
a,ed; perceptible trembling Of the
earth was felt, and \ distant roar
broke the awful silence. People be-
gan to fear that some awful calami-
ty was impending, but as yet no one
ever dreamed of the danger.
The illumination soon became in
tcnsilied into 4 fierce lurid glare;
the. roar deepcned into howl, as if
all the demons from the internal
pit had been let loose, when the adj
vance gusts of wind from the main
body of the tornado struck. CHM
neys were blown down. houses were
unrooted, the roof of the wooden
ware factory vas lifted, large
warehouse filled with tubs, pals.
kanakans, keclers and fish kits was
nearly demolished, and amid the
confusion, terror and terrible appre-
hension of the moment, the fiery
element in tremendous inrolling
pillows and masses Of shected flame,
envcloped the devoted village. The
frenzy of dispair seized on all
hearts, strong men bowed like reeds
before the fiery blast; women and
children, like frightened spectcrs,
fitting through the awful gloom,
were swept away like autumn leaves.
Crowds rushed for the bridge, but
the bridge, like all else, was receiv-
ihg its baptism Of fire. Hundreds
crowded into the river; cattle
plunged in with them, and beng
huddled together in the general CON
fusion of the moment, many who
had taken to the water to avoid the
flames were drowned. A great
many were on the blazing bridge
when it fell. The debris from the
burning town was hurled over and
on the heads of those who were in
the water, killing many and MAIN
ing others so that they gave up in
despair and sank to watery grave.
In less than an hour from the
time the tornado struck the town,
the village OF Peshtigo was annihi-
lated!
Full one hundred persisted either
in the flames or in the water, and
all the property was wiped out OF
existan"e!
In the "Sugar Bush" the loss Of
life was even greater in proportion
to the number of inhabitants than
in the village. Whole families are
destroyed, and over thickly set
tied region in the heavy hard wood
timber, consisting Of two or three
townships, there is scarcely a family
but is now left destitute, and mourns
for the loss of some Of it's loved
ones.
Hon. l. Stephenson, of Marinctte,
went yesterday a short distance on
the road leading to the upper bush,
and counted thirty-seycn dead
bodies!
Another party informs us that he
found over fifty dead on one road,
and over forty on another.
In the lower bush the trunks Of
the fallen trees, lying in every con
ceivable direction, are strewn so
thickly over the ground that it must