Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-10-26

oping them in flame, smoke, burn
ing sand and cinders. Those who
had not now reached the river. or
some other place of safety, were suf-
focaeed and burned to acinder before
they could advance a half dozen steps
further. God only knows the horror
and terrible suffering of the whole
town of Peshtigo on that memorable
Sunday night. 1t seemed as if the
love of God had been withdrawn
from the place, and the fury fiends
of hell had been loosenedt to wantonly
veX and torment the people.
No tongue can tell, no pen can de-
scribe, no brush can depict the reali-
ties of that night. EXaggeration
would be utterly impossible. 1t de-
fies human ingenuity. 1t was the
destruction of Sod ON re-enacted. 1t
seems as if the wickedness Of the
place had Knocked God until his fiery
thunderbolts were loosened for its
destruction. But now, he who had
been boldest in sin was first to call
upon his Maker for succor.
The character Of this fire was un-
like any we have ever seen described
before. 1t was flame famed by
hurricane, and accompanied by va
rious electrical phenomena. Those
that survived the terrible ordeal tes-
tify that they received electrical
shocks, while they saw electrical
flames fash in the air and dance over
the surface of the earth around them.
But the fury of the flash was past in
half an hour, though the fire contin-
ued to burn more or less fiercely dur
ing the whole night.
The full effects of the storm were
not apparent until daylight returned
and the survivors could come from
their retreats. A party of 100 fortu-
nately ran together upon a low
meadow below the bridge, and were
all saved. A family of five persons
saved themselves by jumping into
shallow well. Another family of the
same number were all suffocated by
a like resort. A large number threw
themselves into the mill-pond and
sustained themselves by clinglng to
the boom and floating logs, at the
same time continually wetting the
head to prevent it from roasting.
We saw many children, some only
one month old, which had been kept
in the water the whole night, and
yet survived. Some who were too
i'll to walk were taken from their
beds and thrown into the water.
A large number were drowned,
some by being trampled upon or
thrown off from their legs by the cat
tie and horses that, maddened by
the fire, rushed into the water.
Many entire families persisted. Elev-
en- were lost out of one family.
Some of the bodies were so thor
Oughly burned and consumed that
they could be scooped up and held in
the double hands. But the details
and incidents are too narrowing to
relate.
The tornado came from the south
west, and swept over tract OF coun-
try eight or ten miles in width, and
of indefinite length. The timber in
its course was felled by the wind and
burned by the fire, and every vestige
Of fence and building was swept
away, with two or three exceptions.
Sometimes the wind struck the
earth with such force that the small
underground was torn up and kept
in winrows, while at other times it
would skip away from the earth.
The whole population of Peshtigo
village, and of the farm lands in this
vicinity, was 1000; and fully one
third of those persisted on that fear
full night. On the east shore OF the
bay, reports place the loss of life fully
as high at Peshtigo, making the en-
tire loss of life reach the fearfully
large number of 1900.
The immediate wants Of the sur
vivors are nearly supplied, but no
inc0nsiderable amount will be re-
quired to enable them to live through
the winter. The proclamation Of
Governor Fairchild, of the l4th,
states truly the demands these per-
sons have upon US, and is meeting
with hearty response from every
part Of the State. Let the good work
90 on, for if ever there was case of
sympathy, surely this is one. The
people have been literally stripped
of eyerything, Not yestige OF house