Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1875-05-26

MILLIONS on DOLLARS woitTn OF rRor-
raTy REpucED TO ASHES IN THREE
HOURS.
n oscro&e nSARtv p9RNEp uPE a
Thursday; hc SO,h &May, wil|)on
ID rcmemhos%d as.Nn a~rul Hay man
~ pr the dhabiails II the south Mast
m potion n clSsriJld co'ip!ylsspc.
rially in the vicinity Of Osceola aud
Houtzdale. The fire fend, which has
visited intersections, scourged our own
tiresides. For the details of its raw
ages we are indebted to the Philips
burg journal, as follows;
The most terrible and sweeping con
that ever visited any town,
not cqualed perhaps by the dreadful
Oh Psshtigo, ustill trash s.ial
the minds of our readers, swept away
the whole of our neighboring town Of
Osceola, four miles distant, on Thurs
day. For several days fires hid been
slowly bnrning in the woods, as isusu-
al at this season Of the year and on
Thursday q breeze sprang up from the
west, which gradually grew 10 be a.
perfect gale, and before which the little /
slow,bnrning fires rapidly spread until
in all directions dense volumes ofsmoke'
rolling up to minglc with the clouds,
told Of the work Of destruction begun.
BY noon the mills in the neighborhood
Of this place and those above Osceola
were all IN extreme danger, and mhhy'
Of our citizens and those Of Osccoia hid
gone to the assistance Of the iuill own
crs, AT halfpast twelve II became an
parent to those who were fighting the
fire about the mills above Osceola thAt.
at the terrible rapidity with which the
forest fire was sweeping towards the
town, il would be placed in the great
oct dautrcr and n,-.s- ~ T.. - ~ f.....O-
ward to be prepared for the worst.
But il seemed az though the flames,
bent on the destruction Of the town.
had suddenly sprutg to work, and driv-
en- by the fierce wind they leapcd from
trec-top TO tree-top, and literally rush
cd with the swiitiiess of Tie wind.
cracking and roaring with i sound in.
describably terrific, Those only Who
have seen n large forest fire driven by
q gale, can form the slightest idea Of
the awful iiercencss of the flames. not
equallcd by amy burning city where
walls necessarily interpose SOME Slight
obstacle TO the driving flames. Here
there is nothing to check their inry.
every tree becomes a mighty torch
from which the flames leap upward
and onward, swelling With every mo
ment, springing hundred feet ih The
airand bounding forward lilsethespring
of some awful monster, qnicieping into
flames everything il touches, With a
roar SO absolutely terrifying rs to be
beyond comparison, Siich was the
wall Of fame that swept upon Qsceola
from the west The inhabitants at
first attempted 70 stop The onward
driving storm Of fire, but II was rs use
less as beating the air, The trees and
stumps in the cleared fields that for a
little distance separated the buildings
from the woods, were aliye,with flame
the moment the cloud Of fire reached
them, il seemed as IL syad uog Ill
a' rng EARTH irsEIPwA on FIRE.
and no human powcr could avail. The
Presbyterian church wasthefir build
ing TO take fire, and in less than lialf
AN hour the centre OF the town was
ablaze, and the people were fleeing for
their lives. The descent of the flames
upon the town was so Sudden. souncx-
pected, that the widest confusion pre-
vailed. Men, women and childrentush-
ed hitaerand thitber, with some house
hold article or d small pack Of clothing
hastily gathered in a sheet men fran-
tically yelled, women screamed and
wept, and all thought only Of safety
forthemselves and families. The smoke
was so dense that il was impossible 10
see across the street, the heat was un-
beaiable, adding TO the fcarfnlness of
the situation, which was awful IN the
extreme. The people had no time TO
save their valuables, but were
OBLIGED TO rLy
with whatever could be most readily
siezed, sometimes a picture, perhaps a
few articles of clothing, q chair, a mir
ror, or some practically valueless arti-
clio, and many left with nothing but
the apparel ON their persons. The sick
and disabled Were carried to the rail
road, whittier oil hastcned, as
THE ONLY MEANS OF ESCAPE
from the town, the woods which sur.
rounded it on every side being on fire
and the roads impassable. Here they
crowded into box cars about forty Of
which were standing on a siding, and
were brought to this place Three
trains thus loaded brought the distract
cd and homeless citizens to our town.
and strong men were affected TO tears
at the spectacle. Here were thousand
people, who yesterday had comfortable
homes, this afternoon huddled into box
ears, blackencd with smoke, scorched
with heat, theircyes swollen and blood
shot, with all their remaining earthly
possessions IN bundle that child
might carry. Here weio women look
ing tor their children, or their husbands,
or some friend not to be found in the