Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-07-11
A FOREST FIRE.
Thrilling Description of COnhasra-
ton i'm II Michigan FOrest---Hidden
in Cave Amid an Ocean of Roaring,
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From the Cincinnati Enquirer.

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Flames.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer
Your correspondent was in Osceola
county when the fires first began. In
the midst of a wilderness of pine and
thicket, miles away from village or ham
let, was pioneers cabin. The clearing
around it comprised about ten acres.
Some of the ground was ready for corn,
and some of it had been sowed and
planted while the forest around was SO
damp and green that one would have
smiled at the idea of great sheets of
flame climbing those tall trees and
waving fifty feet above them. One
night some hunters built a grand fire
against heap Of dry logs. The next
day they were miles away, and the fire
had begun to creep. Little tongues of
flame reached out after dry sticks and
limbs, larger tongues followed them, and
before night the fire had control of an
acre OF forest. That was start enough.
At midnight the wind came UP fresh,
and the heat of the fire drove through
the forest scorching and baking trail
for the red flames.
We could scent the Odor of burning
trees and leaves, and there was smoky
look to the forest. At noon the odor
was stronger, the smoke denser, and the
live stock around the clearing began to
exhibit signs of alarm. When the oxen
were unyoked to be fed they turned
their heads to the west, scented the air
for moment, and then charged across
the clearing to the east at full speed,
being out of sight in two minutes
"That means danger" said the pioneer
in low voice, and he turned pale He
believed the fire to be in a large swamp,
ten miles away, but hardly thought /
possible for the green forest to ignite.
We sat down to dinner meaning to hunt
for the oxen afterward; but before the
meal was over there was fresh causes
for alarm. A duck and two does dashed
into the clearing closely followed by
fox, a score Of rabbits and dozen coons
and woodchucks The deer ran to the
far edge of the clearing as we went out,
but the other animals scarcely noticed
us.
You 90 forward as far as you can,
and see what the danger is and wife
and | will get ready to runp' said the
pioneer.
At that moment fresh alarm and
new warning reached us. There came a
roar such as the sea gives out when rush
ing in upon broken beach. We had not
heard it before. 1t was steady, terrible
roar, rising above all other sounds. A
coming whirlwind might hive created
the same sound. The rush of vast herd
of bufaloes might have created such
a roar. 1t was awful The ground
trembled, the smoke became blacker, and
the heat was like the rush of air from a
hot oven.
Z" 1t isn't mile aWay-we must run
for our ives!" shouted the settler.
he had three children. | picked up
boy of seven. The pioneer seized his
little girl, two years younger, and his
wife took the sleeping babe from the
cradle. There wasn't time to take down
spare garment from the wall-to pick
up cherished gift or treasured relic.
"This way-hurry." / heard the
pioneer call out; and gasping for breath
and blinded by the smoke, l rushed on
after him.
The roar was louder and grander and
more terrible. Falling upon us and
around us were little brands of fire, and
to the west, half mile away, was wall
of fame a hundred feet high-a wall
which was coming down upon the clear
ing at the rate of six miles anhour. The
wall of fire was twelve miles long, and the
waters of Lake Erie would have scarcely
drenched it out.
A deer ran against me as [ staggered
after the pioneer. More than once [
stumbled against the small wild animals
rushing here and there through the
clearing. My hair and whiskers were
scorching, and my clothing was on fire in
a dozen places when we reached the out
door cellar, a place dug into the hillside
part cave, part structure. But we'll
covered with earth, and almost free from
smoke. The two children had passed
through all right but the babe was so
nearly suffocated that we had hard work
to save its life.
Just before the flames reached the
clearing the ground trembled as it did
around Gettysburg, when five hundred
pieces of artillery Numbered away for
hours The smoke drove ahead, leaving
me pretty fair view of the cabin and
clearing for five or six minutes. Birds
dropped down and died. The deer
rushed around in circles, sometimes rum
ming full against stumps. The smaller
animals roared and barked and fought
each other, and several rabbits found re-
treat and rushed in among us.
When the flames reached the edge of
the clearing, five hundred feet from our
cave, the ground in front of us fairly
baked. The wild animals fell down and
died, steam rose from the green stumps
in clouds for a moment, and then fire
broke out. We wondered whether the
flames would leap the clearing, but that
question was speedily decided. The wall
of fire roared and quivered, rose and fell,
and the next moment was driving
ahead on the other side. The
flames seemed to have reached right over
the ten acres and grasped the forest be-
yond. =
Our cave was like an oven. The earth
on the roof was soon baked as dry as
powder. The green logs began to stew
and burn, and in ten minutes we were
almost as wet as if we had fallen into