Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1871-10-26

lie then, with a plung thst unseate'
Of those in the wagon, madly rusne'
lr down the road at almost lightnlns
le speed. All control of them wa
t. lost, and the party clupgto the slde'
,rlof the vehieleee keep in. On the,
le flew, the wheels striking fire agains'
a the stones, and the wagon swayine
It to and fro from one side Of the road
5. to the other. Then for a time the
!. wind changed, and the clouds ol
IS cinders we're carried in another an
a other direction. They could see
5, that all the northern part. Of the
it village ..- ,f..,5 "a
d WAS ON FIRE .,-.,,,
/ land the flames seemed moving with
q the velocity of clouds. All the
buildings were of wood, much of it
!, tbeing pitch pine, and as there been
u no rain for long tlme,and the sun
had baked everything dry, the fire
: ran along them as though they had
e been a train OF gunpowder.J The
: lblaze came like mountainous wave
e etwith a hum-m-m. and roar-ri.
: and hiss-ss-s. and horrible sounds
! OF crashing chimneys and timbers.
The villagers rushed through the
streets to the river, into which they
: plunged. The horses had reached
! the head :. of the principle street
when then sea of flames had begun
to surge through it. To pass here
!, was certain destruction, and if the
maddened. animals could ., not be
turned down the cross-road, death
J was at hand for all. With great eff
fort the reins were drawn and the
feat accomplished, and on dashed
the clumsy team, bounding and rat
tling over the road. A turn of three
miles more must be made to reach
the river. Half mile is passed
and shallow creek reached, into
which; the horses plunged in spite
3. Of all efforts. The three quickly
saturate their. clothing and dashed
water over the horses, who whinny,
paw. and neigh as though they ap-
lpreciated the situation Again a
4 start is made, and the party go along
at high speed. Before the two miles
is reached o9sr 80 s3a1 ais ilst al q
THE FIRE HAS SURROUNDED THEM.
One part alone is untouched; it
is farm lane running down toward
the river. Into this they turn.
iCloser and closer comes the fire.
lSparks are O scattered over them,
burning where they touch the flesh.
The horses are wild with pain and
fright, and bending down their
necks, tear along with frantic speed.
IA gate is reached, but without pausJ
ting they dash through it, scattering
the -splintered fragments like so
many straws.Ja Down the hill they
1gallop; the river is reached; they
leap, and plunge, and horses, wagon
and people are in the chilly waters,
midst lumber, logs, ashes, charred
boards and every kind of rubbish.
There were also animals of all kinds,
intermingled and struggling for
life. ni Here was the elimination of
horrors. The team becoming ex-'
hausted with their efforts, finally
sank and were carried away by, an
undercurrent? The other animals
held on like human beings with
their feet to the floating logs and
timbers, all the while uttering the
most pitiful means There were a
number of persons here, although
most of the refugees were further
up the stream. AS Mrs. Hunter
said: ave stood in the water up
to our necks, our little girl Minnie
being held up between us. When
We first went in the feeling was that
of gfeatfnl refreshment. The top
of the water seemed warm, but the
bottom part was cold.H After we
had been there half an hour the
wind carried great chips, and even
pieces of boards, some of them
flaming. These would be whirled
in the air, high up over our heads,
and '.fi-''.s 30 IT,
| HOVER LIKE A HUGE HAWK,
and then swoop down upon US. We
would duck our heads under the
water, but would get so exhausted
that We could not, and then we had
to be burned. Poor little Minnie,
SO weak that she could hardly cry,
would say, "Dear papa, I am burned
again. Dear mamma, my feet are
SO cold, and / am so tiredY'. Three
hours and more thus passed. Er-
| cry minute we, expected to die.
Finally the air became SO hot We
could not see. Our. eye seemed
parboiled, The agony was awful
our feet like ice, and our faces
and heads in an atmosphere of
flames. At last there was q rush of
the waters, the dam had given way,
and the food came down. upon us,
sweeping US off our feet into a mass
of timber, broken plank, (some on
tire horses, cattle, dogs, and hu-
man beings. all struggling and
shrieking. .,..raE mo- at-ll
In the rush. and whirl the almost
helpless Mr.. and Mrs. Hunter were
separated. Mrs. Hunter went down
and came near being drowned. Min
ME was lost and drowned. iBygal
swervlng of the current they, were
washed on shore and at daylight
found each other. There were many
mourning and crying over the scene
of desolation, On all sides as far
as the eye could reach were smouldr
cring fires. The village was a long
waste of ashes; not a vestage re-
mained. raf tr!s s.neairnp a.a-.
The turf was eaten away by the |
flames The dreadful agony of
those who had lost children and
other relatives, as well as the awful |
anguish from burns, was beyond
description. People, ,neighbors, were
soiscarredi and blackened as not to |
know each Joother. Burned and
drowned bodies lay here and there.
In one place there were fourteen.
these apparently perished during
flight together. Two little children
lay side by side with their hands ex.
tended toward each other as though 4
beseeching help. afThere were other