Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1879-10-29
A Prairie Fire.

In an article entitled "Some Pth'
lures OF Kansas Farming In Scan
NEn for November, Mr., Henry King
gives tho following vivid description
OF that beautiful scourgc,-a fire on
tho prairies;
Next to calamilies like that the
homesteaders wife told Of, the great
beset,ing fear Of the settlers on the
border-in all the new and thlnly peo'
pied portions of Kansas, in iael-'s
the coming of the autumn p'a''ie fire.
which so frequently menaecs Their
stacks and cribs, their helpless stock,
their stables and cabins, and even
their lives. Were il not for it, known
danger and power Of havoc, tins tenn
pest and scourge OF fire would be a
spectacle OF commanding force and
beauty. First, you'wil catch Gimp
ses Of what you take to be gray wiSps
OF haze away of on the horizon; and
watching, you will see these vasrant
particles deepen gradually, aud gath
or into definite volume Of smoke,
black with rain-cloud, and bronze
about the edges. Then the strange,
somber bulk starts forward across the
prairic. and you hold your breath at
sight OF the rapid progress OF it, "a
mile in two minutes is not an cxcep-
tional rate of speed for u fire once
fairly under way.) 1t hal,s an in
slant, you note, over broad swale
where there is standing water; but it
is for an instant only. The next mo-
ment it reaches the upland again and
the dry grass; and directly it grasps
belt OF the tall, thick blue.stem, and
the fame leaps suddenly and madly
out above the smoke, then subsidies
again, and the black mass grows
blacker than ever, and rolls higher
and higher, and you can scent the
burning grass and hear the distant
roar of the fire--an awful roar, resem,
bling the sound Of artillery in heavy
timber. And 1t is so calm immediate.
!y about YOU that you do not so much
as miss the ticking of your watch in
your pocket there is no breath of al,
stirring. and the sun is shining, and
the heavens above you are blue and
placid. But the stiffness will be brok-
en- soon. The oncoming cloud is only
few miles away now, and you easily
trace the scarlet and terrific energy at
base; the smoke begins to hurt your
eyes, too, and the heat becomes heavi
ly oppressive. And then, all at once
the wind smites and staggers you,
that appalling roar deatens you, and
the sun is blotted out, and you are in
u darkness as of a midnight wi,hou,
moon or star. 1t is an experience Of
but dozen seconds or so, this sudden
plunge into darkness, though it seems
an hour, and when you look out again
you find that the fire has passed you q
mile or more to your right, and is
still rolling desperately onward and
there in its track are charred and
smoldering stacks Of hay, and an oc.
casional house adame and lettering tc
its fall, and a group of men and boys
beating back the outer line of the fire
with brush and old clothes, and send.
ing forward little counterfres to meet
it and if possible keep it at safe dis
lance. The creek may stop it and
smother it when it gets there, though
such a hope has more chance for {
warrant: sometimes these mighty
CONGREGATIONS vault across streams
twenty Or thirty yards in width, SC
swift and resistless is their momen
tum and as rule they are etfectual
Iy stayed only when they reach wide
extent of plowed land. and have t.
yield, sullenly, for lack of anything
more to feed their memorable fury.