San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1881-10-06

Prairie Farmer
The most distressing effects OF the
prolonged drouth have been the de-
struction OF life and property in the
forest FIRE Of Michigan. During tho
past week considerable portion OF tho
small peninsula Of Michigan, formed
by Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay, hao
been devastated by fire. or rather by Q
series of fires, whose origin is matter
Of surmise, and whose progress was
stayed only by the shore OF the lake or
the want Of material on which to feed.
The counties visited by dire destruc'
ton were those Of Saginaw, Tuscola,
Sanilac and Huran. All the horrors
which human beings can experience or
imagine, we're attendant on the progress
Of the fires. The country is densely
wooded, embracing Q portion OF the
lumber region, and the settlers had
planted themselves upon small clear
ines where they were hemmed in as
completely as IL caught in the garrett OF
q house, whose stairways were Hooded
with smoke and flames. As conse-
quence, the loss of life has been ap'
palling, between five hundred and Q
thousand people having been suffocated
in deceptive hiding places, or burned to
q crisp by the all-destroying element.
Poor frightened creatures buried them
selves in their gardens, only to be bak'
ed; they crawled down into wells, only
to be suffocated; they crept into cellars,
only to be buried in the mass OF char.
red rubbish piled up by the bosom OF
destruction that swept over the land.
Fugitives we're not safe in the open
field where the unimpeded gale hasten
ed the surge of the burning waves upon
their faltering retreat; they were not
safe in the forest, not knowing which
way to turn, and in their blind desper-
alton rushing into the very jaws of the
fire; they were not safe in the towns,
for upon the dried and cracking roofs
balls of fire from the neighboring for
est were rained down as if shot from
mortars and gattling guns. Accom-
panying, or rather preceding the 3D.
vance of the fire, there came a darkness
exceeding that of the gloomiest night.
The cloud that enveloped everything
was neither vapor, nor smoke, nor ashes; ;
it was, just darkness, not black but
brownisil red-the shadow of the death
angels wing preceding the thrust OF
his fiery dart, The darkness of Egypt
could not have been so terrible, because
the Egyptian plague was not the ad-
vance guard Of fire; nor could the gloom
enveloping the lake of burning mari
be so oppressive, for beneath its shade
the fallen angels knew they had reach
ed the end of their downward fight,
and were at length at rest, secure from
the wrath of an offended God and the
pursuing hosts of'Miohael. This gloom
greatly added to the horrors and en-
barrassments of the situation. Flight
was the impulse of all, but the darkness
made fight laundering in some cases
and impossible in others.
In the darkness and terror families
were separated, some members escap-
ing, some perishing; and it will always
be question which we're the greater
sufferers those overtaken and over
come by the heat and smoke and drop.
ping by the way in pain and despair, or
those who survived only to discover
their nearest and dearest ones as char
red corpses, victims of the merciless
tide of wrathful fame.
1t was holocaust. Next to the pres
ervation of their own lives, settlers in a
wild country are most concerned for the
safety of their cattle. Indeed, il is not
uncommon for people to endanger and
lose their lives in attempts to save the
dumb creatures, which form the most
tangible and availing portion of their
earthly possessions, and which, aside
from all selfish considerations, occupy
large share of their affections. The
perverse stupidity of the domestic ami
mails is well known, and the experience
of the Michigan sufferers was no ex'
ception to the general rule; many poor
people lost their own lives in the vain
effort to extricate their cattle and horses
from the labyrinth of flames. The car
casses of these animals, now decompos
ing in the run, add to the discourage
ments of the situation, for the fostering
masses will have to be put under ground
before the region will again be habita.
BILE. OF the condition in which the
bodies of tho human victims have been
found it is best not to speak; it is pref
o,a1,1a klof a ohron1 Of 6ooout ei1onoo
should be drawn over them. The fate
of such families as persisted all together,
though terrible, is enviable compared
with that of those survivors who lived
to find their kindred suffocated in a
root-house or roasted in the forest.
There is more horror in the eontem-
plation of death by burning than there
is pain in the actual fact. If the body
were consumed while the lungs were
supplied with cool, pure air, no doubt
the pain would be intense, but in most
ro.ae 90 loco of Efa IN O 6ra Hath 80