The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1878-07-13
Destructive Fires.

A FIRE in Buffalo, N. Y, Tuesday morn
ing, destroyed the barrel factory, cooper
shop aod machine works Of f. 4 B.
Holmes; also large quantity Of lumber
and slaves in the yards Of G. w. Sigeson
and Taylor & Crate; ten tenement houses
and stores, and the old forge works Of
Dullard 4 Hayes, used for storage pur-
poses. The fire was checked by the Ohio
basin, after having burned over track a
a quarter of a mile in length by an eighth
Of mile in width The total loss is esti-
mated at s150,000. During the fire,
Superintendent Rogers was Frustrated,
perhaps fatally, by sunstroke. Fifteen
stores at Battle Mountain, Nevada, were
burned on Sunday. Loss, $4,000. A
woman persisted in one of the buildings.
Nine dwellings, store and barn in
Pembroke, Me-, were burned Tuesday.
An explosion of benzine in the agitators
of the London Oil Refinery at London,
Ont, on Monday night, caused loss of
$4,000. During the storm Tuesday
evening block of brick houses in Chester,
Pa, was struck by lightning and three of
the houses were destroyed. The Western
Steam Tobacco Works at Milwaukee were
burned Tuesday morning. Loss $780,
600. Brush fires in the Ottawa Valley,
Canada, have destroyed much valuable
timber on the Gatineau.
BURNING WHEAT FIELDs.-The fol-
lowing despatch from Williams, Colusa
county, California appeared in the San
Francisco Aha of July 2:
WILLIAMS, July About one clock
to-day our usual quiet was broken by the
cry of ''6re" 1t was soon ascertained
that the FIRE was in j. o. Sumwalt's grain
fields, two and half miles south of town,
and in few moments our express wagons
and teams were on the road carrying men
to fight the fire fend. On our way we
were Joined by others, who had stopped
the headers and threshers in the field and
were hurrying to the active scene before
US. When we arrived at Sumwalt's the fire
was raging and every thing was excite
ment and commotion. Wagons with large
kegs Of water were hurrying to and fro,
men were fighting along the line with we t
sacks, and people for twenty miles around
we're coming in to lend helping hand.
The fire originated in William Ashe' field.
Ashe had been threshing, had threshed
one setting and moved the machine to an
other part of the ranch. 1t seems that
before moving the machine some ashes
had been thrown from the engine, and
from these hot ashes the fire started, first
in the straw, burning up forty acres of
grain in the sacks for Ashe, next to Sum
waits field, where Sumwalt was at work
heading and threshing. The wind was
blowing hard from the southeast, and car
ried by the wind the FIRE moved on its
way, sweeping every thing before it.
While the men were trying to check the
fire, gang plough, three wagons, header
and thresher of Sumwalt we're burned
mp. By that time one thousand men were
in The field, and thought they had the fire
under control, but the wind made sud-
den change and drove the flames directly
toward Sumwalt's barns and sheds, filled
with hay. At one time we had despaired
of saving his house, and the family had
moved everything out, but by hard fight
ing the fire was put out when within a
hundred yards of the house Dnring this
time 500 men were busy fighting the fire,
that had spread further north to Clark S
ranch. Here were four hundred and fifty
acres of nice standing grain. This was
soon consumed, but, by judicious manage
ment of the wet-sack men, the fire was
confined to this field. By 4, 30 the fire
was out, save here and there a pile of
grain or smoking stack that still had fire.
The losses were as follows: Geo. w. Ware.
400 acres of grain, worth $4,000; A.
Clark, $50 acres, $4,000; J. o, Sumwalt,
$50 acres of grain in sacks, $4,000; ma
chinRry valued at $1,000, and fence worth
$1,000; William Ashe, grain in sacks,
$780, total s27 ,060. No insurance.