The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1881-09-16
MICHIGAN FIRE.

AS the dreathful details Of the
Michigan fire come in, they increase
the magnitude in loss of human lives,
property. and consequent suffering to
such an extent that we feel justified
in devOting considerable space in the
FREE PRESS to their recital.
LEXINGTON, Mich, 9th Sept.-The
territory burned is the peninsula
bounded on the west by Saginaw bay,
extending as far south as the south
line of Sanilac county. 1t is peopled
by at least $4,000 inhabitants, One-half
of whom have settled here within ten
years. The conditions which made
the fire of Monday last so destructive
we're these /: Fully two.thirds of the
timber over the entire burned tract
was destroyed by the great fire of
1871, and was piled up in miles Of
windfalls, or. if standing, was mere
kindling wood. The settlers preferred
burned lands IS being easily cleared,
and hundreds of new homes were
surrounded by great tracts of fallen
timber. The roads were lined on
either side by It,, and many who per.
ished were caught on these roads and
hemmed in by la~byrinths of this
burning hemlOck, black ash and pine.
There had been no rains Over this
region since spring to wet down any
depth. Even swamps which were
usually covered with one or two feet
of water had become dry as finder.
For weeks there } ID been no heavy
winds. The prevailing winds had
been from Lake Huron, with which
fires did not run. On the day of the
great fire there was not a square mile
In all the burned region that did not
hold more OF less fires. Monday
morning opened with a clOudless sky.
the mercury gradually rising to 100
and over. The wind was south,
running to southwest, and by noon
increasing to a fifty mile gale. At
noon in many places lamps had to be
lit, and a sickening sense of fear and
impending calamity Overspread the
the whole population. About 4
o'clock the wind assumed the violence
Of a tornado. The flames were of a
CHASTITY blush hue, giving no light,
but licking up timber, houses, barns.
stacks, animals, and people with a
resistless fury, and this at places
where no fire was known to be for
miles around in the morning. On
Tuesday the
EXTENT OF THE HORROR
began to be knOwn-dead men, women
and children at what had been their
door.steps, at their gates in the fields,
and or the highways, some untouched
by fire, others charred and blackened.
One poor women, in the agony of
childbirth, was half burned. The
living, with burned feet. ears or
hands, and many women and children
entirely naked, were separated from
the rest of the family, blind, hopeless
and despairing..
In Sanilac county, Cato, with a
population Of 100. suffered by a clean
sweep of every building. William
Cole was burned. In Tyre, which
II6u q pOpuloUAOu Va oVs OuO uWCJlluS
alone is left. Deckerville, with a
population of $50, lost two mills, six
stores and dwellings. At Anderson,
with q population of 100, a clean
sweep of all the buildings was made.
At Cumber, with a population of so.
only one dwelling is left. A clean
sweep was made Of Richmondville,
with a population of 100, and seven
lives were lost.
The following is a summary of the
losses by townships:
W~ashington-30 homes
WatertOwn-40 homes, 8 lives,
Elmer-30 homes.
Moore 40 homes, IA lives.
Argyle-40 homes, IL lives.
Austin-60 homes, o lives.
Marion-25 homes, 20 lives.
Delaware-0 homes, Z lives.
Minden-30 homes.
] Bridgehampton-40 homes.