The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1881-09-15
A TORNADO or FLAME.
Particulars ~ the Terrible Michigan
COnGIngrntiOns-Ap Deslrmc.
siOn Of Life and Property.
new Ae.s


Particulars ~ the Terrible Michigan
ConSlngrastOns-AppallinE Dcstrmc.
tiOm of Life amd Property.
DETROIT, Micn., Sept. ..
The scene Of tho terrible tornado Of 6amo IN
the lower Michigan peninsula may 10 readily
placed In tho mind Of tho casual reader by the
aid of tho following explanation: Tho southern
peninsula Of Michigan has tho form, on tho
map, Of left-hand mitten, laid on its palm.
The space between tho thumb and fingers 10
represented by Saginaw bay. Huron county
forms the end OF the thumb, and beneath II,
on tho map. lie Tuscola and sanllac counties,
aide BY side, Sanilac to tho eastward. Bad Az
v In tho center Of Huron county, and Ii the
county sUat. aud Caro- 10 In tho center Of Tus-
cola county, and II tho county scat. Each OF
the three counties has about twenty -four town.
ships SIX miles square.
The loss Of life and property IL immense. A
dispatch from Lexington says that dead
bodies are being brought in from al directions.
It II estimated thnt 5O0 people are homeless and
In immediate want Of assistance. The farm
ers IN newer townships lose live stock, houses,
barns, crops, everything. farmer who Just
came III from Austin township saved his family
Of eight children IN 6eld Of buckwheat. but
he says the whole country In that part Ia total
" destroyed and many lives have been lost.
The older settled townships escaped with but
little loss. but in most Of the newer townships
nothing remains but arc-swept, blackened
wilderness,
dispatch from Marlettc, Sanilac county,
says terrible state Of effairs exists At that
to the north and east Of that place has been on
6re, and the number Of families rendered home
less will reach tho hundreds Up to this time
seventeen persons ars known to have met their
death BY fire. The horse OF Ira Humphrey, tho
mail carrier between this place and Davies
Corners, came homo badly burned, with : card
attached to the saddle written by Humphrey,
stating his peril from fre. A relief party
found him on tho road dead. He was entirely
denudtd OF his clothes, either having been
burned on his person, or torn Off by himself In
his desperation. In the township Of Argyle
Huron county, the following were burned dead !:
Paul Wetxel, wife and fivo children; George
Krotch, wife and three children; Mrs. Morris
WEIGH and two children; James Gibson, and
two women, recently from Canada, names un-
known.
The Rev. 2. Grenel, Jr., pastor Of tho First
Baptist Church, 0f this city, arrived from Sand
Beach at noon to-day by tho Narow-Gange and
burned region IN Sanilac county. He gave .
| reporter graphic and fearful description Of
the calamity - he saw Il, and heard of il from
eye-witnesses. On his way 70 Port Huron by
! the Narrow-G Gauge railroad II WAS noticed that,
IN somo places, the railroad track had
proved IN cffectual barrier to tho flames,
which did not find fuel In the gravel of the
road-bed. In other places, however, 1t burned
the ties and twisted and destroyed the rails,
l which had to be replaced. In other places It
| had leaped clear over the road, aud taken 4 new
start on the other side. For tho most part, it
/ got across in some way, and the spots Of un-
burnt country were small, few, aud far between.
From tho car-wlndows, all the way. II pre-
scented 10 the view tho aspect OF burned
desert OF ashes aud smoldering embers, without
/ q sign Of animal or vegetable life, q country
abandoned by God and man. and 10 wl:nh i
was impossible TO imagine any one returning.
The telegraph poles had oil burned, and the
he found, and. for long distances. were merely
laid along the ties beside the rails.
One Of the most singular and appalling pho.
nomena accompanying the calamity was the
awesomc darkness which preceded il and rs-
Mslned until all WAS over. The experience ot
Sand Beach will illustrate that Of the whole
lake shore. At sunrise Monday tho air WAS Al
clear as usual. At lp. M. the people began to
observe : singular copper-colored appearance
Of the whole armament. A little later thil
deepeied to . red. and by O'Clock II
, Was No dark that people were compelled to take
lanterns to find their way out Of doors. Mr.
jerks, Mcll-known citizen, said that hc passed
his ha..d tack and forth lcrarc his face and
could not See. The fearful darkness continued
oil tho afternoon, with an occasional rift,
through which tho rays of the sun darted f,,r>
lively with unnatural brightness, 70 be snc.
ceedad immediately by still moro binding
| blaSkness.
Many thought tho end or tho world wSs a
hand. and were filed with terror. The horror,
| approach Of tho flames, the stories Of the uni.
| versal desolation to tho west OF them. the
dread that they wore fsted to frightfIl DEATH
and then BY tho arrival or tho cAarrcd
blackencd and shapeless remains oi
the poor victims. This awful condition
continued all along the shore until Wcdnesda,
morning ut O'Clock, whom the wind, which had
been blowing steadily from the west, turned
suddenly from the north. carrying the cool
moist air Of tho lake to the fcvered heads and
smoke-and-ash-begr faces OF tho people
II WAS sweet ~ the breath OF God, aud was 40
cepted N thankfully.
The scenes Of horror in the woods were to<
frightful for any pen to portray. Tho deae
were found everywhere, very rarely rccognixa
bic, and IN moet cases undisting ushahle ~ hN
man benga. Many were MUro masses VI burn
0esh which fell apart when touched. aud /,
vcrv few could COX or ago he distinguished
From ono body the head feu whom Il vas lifts
up; from another, that Of . young woman
= the leg separated aud hung suspended b
the tendons. In some placea f6milies wer
found reduced TO An undistinguishAbls heap Q
roasted and blackened bl0cks Of 0oah. wher
they fell together, overwhelmed by the rushin
flames. The manifold horrors Of tho cAlamit
wtre multiplied by fearful tornad0es, whic
cut on retreat IN every direction. Tho AVN
little from the ground, and it hung above IA
earth in Al impenetrahle mass, shutting out
light, and leaving tie poor creatures bolO
helpless and blind, until the fre caught thel
and closed thor agony in death. Now IN
then flames shot up in tremendous masses
bodily quarter OF mile away, and the
pushed down again TO start the flames In me-
quarter. In this way helpless fugitives nyin
for HE were penned in by seaa Of hAm'
and roasted like rats in . cage. One fArme
few miles from Sand Beach, who was plov
ing with oxen. on noticing tho approachin
darkness. and thinking he had plenty I
time, waited 10 turn hia cattle aud horses lo0s
He then hurried to the house, and. finding b
wife gone 10 neighhor, took two children hin
self, aud gave three others in charge OF his OH
cat daughter. Before they got many rods fro
the house the dames had got before them. !
hurried olR IN another direction with his tv
youngest, but the girl pushed on over the burr
ing grass with the other three. He escapes
The bodica OF the other four wore AfterwAl
found in heap, charrcd beyond recognition.
John Dalientine. Of Verona Mills says tn
fifty-three lives were known to be lost IN Il
n.igLborhood Of Sand Beach. The hre sn'
denly reached Verona Mills on Monday, Il
the town was soon wiped ont. The wind VI
20 strong that Ballentine aud wife were pick,
mp and blown fifteen or twenty yards.
woman and her husband wero found lyll
: against = tree. dead, the woman being part
delivered Of . chile, The devastxti'
caused BY the iires Of 1871 il nothil
in comparison to the fires Of tho ps
few days. In the vicinity Of Rchmondyll
Western, Forester and Msrcer townships reli
BILE information leads ono 10 say that npwa
OF 500 persons pcrlshcd in the flames. The
/ was no escape for them. The woods =,
ground were 80 dry that no warning of dang
was given. Faster than race-horse came I
fire. II would embrace house or barn wi
, i,s contents and away 10 tho next. Ferso
/ who have been through the terrible Ords
say that In ten minutes from tho time
fire struck there would be no sestige Of hou
0 left.
correspondent SAYS: II have just return
!. from trim through the burned district. snd
description OF the Sights would make tho rcA
!. ers blood turn cold. M many instans
men, women and children were found lying
-. s.,s 81 Srl,a Ahav lad -