Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-12-05
A Prairie Fire.

In IN article sotitled :" Some Fsasaru
OF Aansas Farming" in Serbian. Mr.
henry hing gives the following vivid
description Of that beautiful scoaree,-
. fire On the prairies:
Next 10 calAnities like that the homs-
stesder's wife told Of, the great bssss-
tins fear OF the settlers OF the border
IN all the nes and thinly peopled p0s-
tons OF ksnsAs, IN fact-is the coming
OF the autumn prairie Ere, which -
frequently uenaocs their stacks snd
cribs, their helpless stock. their stables
and cabins, and even their lives. wexs
II not for its knovn danger and power
OF havoc, this tempest and scourge al
fire would lie 9 spectacle Of command
ing force and beauty. First, you viii
catch glimpses Of what you take to b
gray visps of haze away of on the ho-
rizon; and watching, you will see thess
vagrsnt particles deepen gradually, and
gather into definite volume OF smoke,
black like Q rain-cloud, and bronze
about the edges. Then the strange,
somber bulk starts forward across the
prairie, and you hold your breath ct
sight Of the rapid progress Of it. "a
mile in two minutes is not An excep-
tional rate Of speed for fire once fairly
under way.) 1t halts an instant, yoa
note, over q broad swale where there is
standing water; but it is for an instant
only. The next moment 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 fre-an awful
roar, resembling the sound Of artillery
in heavy timber. And it is 80 calm i'm
mediately about you that you do not 60
much as miss the ticking of your watch
in your pocket; there is no breath of
air stirring, and the sun is shining, and
the heavens above you are blue and
placid. But the stiffness will be broken
soon. The oncoming cloud is only
few miles away now, and you easily
trace the scarlet and terrific energy at
its base; the smoke begins to hurt your
eyes, too, and the heat becomes heavily
OppIcSS1tOs Anu tu0u, I'LL ~ OuC0, b40
wind smites and stsggcrs you, that ap-
palling roar deafens you, and the sun ID
blotted ont, and you are in . dark
ness as of midnight without 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 mile or moro
to your right, and is still rolling des-
perately onward; and there in its track
are cLarrel and smoldering stacks of
hay, and an occasional house a6ame
and tottering to its fall, and group OF
men and boys beating back the outer
line of the fire with brush and old
clothes. and sending forward little
ccunter-6res to meet it and if possible
keep it at safe distance. The creek may
stop it and smother it when it gets
there, though such hope has mere
chance for warrant. Sometimes these
mighty conAagrations vault across
streams twenty or thirty yards in width.
so swift and resistless is their mo-
mentum; and as rule they are effectu-
ally stayed only when they reach wide
extent of plowed land, and have to
yield, sullenly, for lack of anything
more to feed their memorable fury.