Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1881-09-17
TuEfOREsT FIRES.

s,itness states that uarhhess anu
eye,r 'roIored sky preceded the approach
cCPEo fire. Later the sky changed to
OF In' rod and Monday afternoon 1t De-
dtep , 90 dark that lanterns were necessary
eau" neonle TO find their way. Ihis con-
iC ,i;i r Of affairs continued until about
d .HIorl wednesday morning, when the
. ,.'I .hifted from west to north, cool
VIM ,he mir and bringing a slight relief.
inS woods were many scorched and
~ ,"i,rrcd bodies, which presented Il revolt
c ..., qnpearance. The high winds that
Ln,r--vsiled cut off nearly every avenue of
Pi.ranc. and large burning masses would
e. iiiifted up bodily and borne along for
,,raat distance. In many instances these
SI7rniar masses started fires in fresh
nIgces. The skill and the courage of man
loaned impotent TO combat with sucn
danes, and the flying people were caught
IN the fire traps aud roasted. One farm
or, who was blowing with his oxen lew
niles from Sandbeach, perceived the ap-
nrcaching darkness and started lor MS
house. On reaching home he found tnaC
his wife had gone to neiShbor $. ne
'ben took two of his children, his eldest
Jgpghter taking three others. Before go
;.,'r many rods thew found themselves cut
- hv fbe danes. The farmer then turned
in another direction and escaped with the
,'rn children. His daughter and the 9TH
- three children were found next day
oIl in a heap, and charred beyond recog-
,,itiop. Up 10 Wednesday night forty
Eve bodie had been found within mile.
In Paris township many are missing, most
# them Poles. The whole settlement,
bindings, fences, crops, &C., was swept
,l,an. In Delaware township, in all the
county south OF Forestville, from the lake
seven miles back, there is hardly any
tl,iDr left, not one house to the square
mile. They are new settlers, and had
small clcaringS, and the fire swept them
like hurricane. They lost all they had
and owe for their places. Many of them
fed to the lake. The shore-line has been
crowded with human beings, cattle, and
every thing that could get TO the water.
Eve-wituesseS from Forestville say that
ths utmost confusion prevailed. Many
could not see. One man who had lost his
all was both blind and crazy, and had to
be led to the lake.
Another experience in escaping is rs
follows: The wife was confined to her
bed. sick; the husband was tired with
lighting fire. There were several chill
arru. At noon on Monday it was evil
dent that they must fly for their lives. 1t
suddenly grew dark, so dark that the man
had difficulty in getting the horses. by
the line he got them il was so dark from
me smoke that he could not see to har-
ness them; besides the smoke blinded the
ewes and oppressed the lungs. lie got
the horses harncSScd TO the wagon; then
hr went into liic barn for Il neck yoke,
.ai when he came Out ne could not find
tie wagon and team. For minute or
Two lie had To feel for them like a blind
man. Then lie went into the house aud
Carried his wife out on her bel, bed and
40, and put her in the wagon. The chill
dr,u got in anal Girl of fifteen drove the
leans oil three miles, in the darkness aud
3'iu ing smoke, over a bad road, with
;ry,> ling and horses perfectly franaIc
with terror. How She did il She hardly
knows. The man being lett behind, To
i...,r "a la; effort TO start his cattle. cS-
,.lei ON foot. Before he left the barn
anna farm were literally covered with fly
Mg ,iudcrS. the glass of the windows
broke with the heat, the believing, moan-
ing cattle gathered together and stag
-yrrl uirie~slv about, and as he got into
IT, road the buildings, fences, StackS-the
WuOlc llacc-hurSt into flames, which
made an awful yellow glare in the smoke.
With eli this the wind blew with fright
ia violence and varying gusts; sometimes
The smoke settled down about him in
dense darkness, 50 that he staggered from
-UiloraliDu. Then the smoke would rise
before a gust of air. and an awful blister
iGL heat took the place of the smoke.
The woods 4long the road took fire be-
lHaI on each side and in front OF him,
bat b." rot through safely, happy to find
that The wagon with his family had Sic
CrS.Uliy preceded him.
Tie dense smoke made it dark rs night
iu ,hr day limc and awful in the night,
buJ the roads were jhc only paths 70 safe
o.. one man, riding toward the fire,
found It suddenly behind him, and only
escaped by abandoning his horse and bug
~ 20 the flames. Those who escaped
came i'm with their clothing scOrchcd
and often with blistered hands, faces and
feet. On Il space of seven miles on one
road .is persons dead and diving were
found. One family consisted of the huS-
band, nearly dead, with hair and whiSE-
crS gone and face and hands peeled, but
his feet projected by high boots; his wife,
living near, had her clothing burned oft
up 10 her waist and her legs Singed; their
two children which they were trying 70
save. were dead. Probably a number OF
parents could have saved their own lives,
hut they died in trying TO save their chill
drcu. The awful fury of the fire is shown
IN lis effect upon the earth. In places
the soil is actually burned to depth of
several inches. Acres and acres of land
have been Invested OF every living
thing, clear down 10 the roots i'll the
ground, leaving the country as bare as 4
desert and Strewn with ashes. In many
eases one cannot tell by the looks the diff
ference between ploughed field and one
on which there was 4 dense wood. There
gre square miles of lands already for the
plough. cleared as thoroughly rs if years
Of labor had been expended upon them.
An! there are other square miles where
the pioneer can now make farm by re-
moving a few scattered chunks, not Who'll
IL consumed, and putting up fences.
There are places where the telegraph
lines We're so effcctually destroyed that
one cannot find a veStage OF the iron
wire
The section in which the fires ragged
most furiouSlv and were most destructive
10 life and properly embraces the larger
part Of Huron county, most of Sanilac
county, and large tract in the northeast,
east and southeast of Tuscola county, and
some territory in the northwestern portion
OF l.apccr county. The fires were also
very disastrous in GeneSee, Saginaw and
Midland counties, but in comparison with
the widespread destruction in Huron, San
Lac and TuScOla the losses are insignifi-
cunt. An idea of the extent of the dcSOla-
ton in the shore counties may be formed
when it is said that from back of Port
Austin, or from Grindstone City, in the
extreme north of Huron county, the fire
has cut Il Swath of from ten to thirty
miles in width down to the southern por-
ton Of Sauilac county, distince of sixty
miles. Hundreds of square miles of
territory were burned over, and the num-
y i .Ia-.it ,...,-.l