Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1871-10-26
eerasa Downthe east shd the Tor
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n mA11Mrr e v1voh.
Y Fro tAe o.hhs3 / Nor Western !,

~ james ACnQ0AQ- aldOoref, efAfNCved
hn the Peshtigo company's mill, arrived
Fin this city on Wednesday morning.
fhaving barely escaped with. his LIE,
ircm The great fire at 3Peshtigo. One 81
-FOUR reporters had an interview with him
!. at Gehauer's hotel and obtaine! o con-
! eises Statement of the terrible event
His narrative is substantially as follows
f~"s's The thing happened on Sunday
night, The wind was blowing y heavy
! gale frorn the southwest, so hard that
1 piles OF lumber were upset and boards
I carried for ten or fifteen rods Pesh-
/, tigp, you. know, was on o sandy Aal and
! the drifting sand was earned by the
wind in drifts like snow. About eight
octoekln the evening, we could hear
the tire III the direction OF Oconto.roaraa
ling like the hum OF ttreshing ma
chine. As the wind blew so strong.
people we're afraid that it would reach
the village. bnt no one thought it would !
be what it was. No rain had fallen for
six weeks, and the fire carried along by
the gale, strick the village about nine
O'clock. In less time than it takes me
to tell you, the houses on the west side
Of the river were all on fire and the air
was filed With showers Of burning Gin
ders. was boarding with my wife, at
JoLnson,s boarding house ON the west
side OF the river, and as soon as l saw
the fire near us, my wife and packed
u bundle OF our things, and started to |
cross the river to the company's store, |
thinking we would be safe there
When We reached the road, the air was
lnl 4 1ac Al
house before it took fire. We hurried |
as fast as we could to the river, and al |
most suffocated before we got there |
Both sides OF the river wore 10 a blaze, !
before we got to the dock. We had to !
stay in the river from little before 10 |
O'Clock until daylight next morning, |
and even then We We're not safe. The !,
heat was so great that we had to keep
our faces wet TO prevent them from |
clustering. Our heads took ire and |
blazed up. Saw logs III the river took |
tire, and the fire seemed to he al
AROUND us There was no chance TO /,
get away n any direction, for the air |
was all q mass Of blaze The children |
If the fright had not been SO great |
they must have died from exposure. |
Towart. daylight the fire cooled |
down a little as it had |
burned everything before it. |
Then we began to look about MS, and !
such sights as / saw were enough to |
freeze persons blood. Coming up
from the river bank we stumbled over I
five dead bodies, burned SO that you
couldn't tell who they were. A little
further along were three more. One
poor fellow WAS burned 50 that nothing /
but his bones were LEFT. executing one
foot and part of the leg. Bodies Of |
children. Iptn and women all seemed TO
tho tys allie. The air WIS heated SO
and so full Vi fire that their clothing
would take fire, and they would fan
down suificated before they could reach
the river. We found many Of them
within three or four feet Of the water, |
whore they fell down exhausted :
and we're roasted alive within sight Of
the river. Mr. Beebe book-keeper IN
Che Feshtigo company factory, f0ed
in little house Gear the. store, He !,
was burned to death together with his
wife and three children. One little |
boy, about three years old. was the |
only one that escaped ont ri the whole |
family. Mr.. Beebe, with ms wife and !
children. started ont Of his house wheh 7
it first took fire, but the flames were SO J
thick that they Went INTO the store for
shelter and were there burned up. /
The little boy in some way got out Of |
the store and was picked up by some
one passing and carried 20 the !
river. When il was daylight We could |
see the awful work that had been done. |
The great factory where $50 men had |
been employed was al destroyed and IN /,
that whole village not a house, or a |
fence or a single board remained, Ev- :
cry hing was swept of So that 1t looked ,
! hike prairie, Even tie ra1 broad track |
was ruined, the ties being aal baued !
no and the rails cuvleIN and crooked /
ap by the great heat Here aud there I
over this great field OF ashes lay the /
blaekened corpses Of tire dead and the +
carcasses Of animals, The stencil rising !
that morning was 50 powerful that We
could not bear IT. The snIenof burned /
flesh was SO siekeniug tia, many Of the !
women, after escaping from the river ,
tainted. As soon az we oould, We got +,
down 10 Peshhgo harbor, SIX miles of, |
where we took the steamer St Joe, and |,
after being delayed ALI day by the WIND /
reached Green Bay "Wednesday morn |.
ing, and Oshkosh soon after. Here we
/ got the sirst meal we had taken since
Sunday night except few crackers GA
the boat. F" s
THE last Joke at the expense Of the
French Society Tor the Protection of
| Animals is Ia the following effect; 4