Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1881-10-05

The late terrible fires in Michigan, BY
which hundreds ofpeople lost their live:
in the woods, appears to have taken it.
victims by surprise. 1t may be though
strange that with forest fires known t.
be in the vicinity, with the losses of tel
years ago remembered, and with othel
instances daily heard of, that any ON,
could be surprised. But there are Woo
fires yearly; they rarely amount to much
Then all hoped to escape and we're will
ing to believe that the worst was over
The people did make preparation; the,
often packed their valuables to tax,
away; they set back fires; they plough
ed burrows about their farms; they re
solved to fight bravely for their homes
The danger sent out forerunners; tn,
earth was parched, the air heated, every
thing dried up generally. There hai
been brisk winds, but as the fir,
approached the winds died away, Great
ing delusive hope of escape. Then
finally, preceded by showers of burning
cinders, the fire, after lingering long OF
its road, perhaps, suddenly rushed foI
ward with the speed of fast trottine
horse and the roar of a railway train.
The dead wind sprang up and blew q
hurricane just in front of the flames.
Every barrier was leaped, the very all
seemed all on fire. There was no re.
sourse save in swift flight for the lake oil
the nearest living water. So awful was
the heat, and the shower of cinders that
man placed in the centre of a newly
ploughed field of twenty five acres would
inevitably burn to death in short time.
A dense and deadly smoke clung to the
ground. In flying for life along the
roads, the falling trees madeit necessary
to abandon teams, evenif the frightened
animals could be managed.
The dense smoke made it dark as night
in the day time, and awful in the night,
but the roads were the only paths to
safety. One man, riding toward the
fire, found it suddenly behind him; and
only escaped by abandoning his horse
and buggy to the flames. Those who
escaped cmae in with their clothing
scorched and often with blistered hands.
faces and feet. On space of seven
miles on one road six persons dead and
dying were found. One family consist
ed of the husband, nearly dead, with
hair and whiskers gone and face and
hands peeled, but his feet protected by
high boots; his wife, lying near, had
her clothing burned off up to her waist
and her legs singed; their two children,
which they were trying to save, were
dead. Probably number of parents
could have saved their own lives but
they died in trying to save their children.
The awful fury of the fire is shown in its
effects upon the earth. In places, the
soil is actually burned to a depth OF
several inches, acres and acres of land
have been divested of every living thing,
clear down to the very roots in the
ground, leaving the country as bare as
a desert and strewn with ashes. In
many cases one cannot tell by the looks
the difference between ploughed field
and one on which there was a dense
wood. There are square miles of lands
all ready for the plough, cleared as
thoroughly as if years of labor had been
expended upon them. And there are
other square miles where the pioneer
can now make farm by removing a
few scattered chunks not wholly con-
sumed and putting up fences. There
are places where the telegraph lines
were so effectually destroyed that one
cannot even find vestige of the iron
wire.
One experience IN escaping is also
typical. The wife was confined to her
bed, sick; the husband was tired with
fighting fire. There we're several
children. At noon on Monday it was
evident that they must fly for their
lives. 1t suddenly grew dark, so dark
that the man had difficulty in getting
the horses. By the time he got them it
was so dark from the smoke that he
could not see to harness them, besides,
the smoke blinded the eyes and oppress-
ed the lungs. He got the horses harness.
ed to the wagon; then he went into the
barn for neckyokc, and when he came
out he could net find the wagon and
team. For minute or two he had to
feel about for them like a blind man.
Then he went into the house and carried
his wife out on her bed, bed and all,
and put herin the wagon. The children
got il anda girl of fifteen drove the team
off three miles, in the darkness and
binding smoke, over bad road, with
trees falling and horses perfectly frantic
with terror. How she did it she hardly
knows. The man being left behind, to
make last effort to start his cattle,
escaped on foot. Beforehe left the barn
and farm were literally covered with
flying cinders, the glass of the windows
broke with the heat, the believing,
moaning cattle gathered together and
staggered aimlessIy about, and as he
got into the road the buildings, fences,
stacks-the whole place-burst into
flames, which made an awful yellow
glare In the smoke. With all this the
wind blew with frightful violence and
varying gusts. sometimes the smoke
settled down about him in dense dark
ness, so that he staggered from suf-
location. Then the smoke would rise
before gust of air, an awful blistering
heat took the place of smoke. The
woods along the road took fire behind
on each side and in front of him, but
he got through safely, happy to find
that the wagon with his family had