Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-10-19
THROUGH FIRE AND. SMOKE.
Exciting Ride ON Train Amid the
Kissing and Cracklins or Blaz,nR

Exciting Ride on Train Amid the
Kissing and Cracklins OF BLAZING
Wood. @.e =z=,... III E II
From q Portland tOregon) Letter. S
Through Idaho ard down the mighty
Columbia is q journey worth pilgrim
aye around the world. We have seen
it's wonders, but ran guantlet Of fire at
its portal, where, in an hour, NATURES
labor of hundred years was being
swallowed up in smoke and roaring
flames. All day yesterday the air was
blue with smoke. The mountains looked
din ,.or drew their jagged peaks clear
out Of 8 ght. For day or two it mad
been hay toward the west, and we had
heard stories OF the forest fires. Yes
terday, however, the smoke grew thick-
or and rolled upon the westerly winds
in dense clouds. Last night We had q
glimpse of the Inferno. We had
left Montana to cross Idaho, when about
9 O'Clock the train came to stop with
out q moments warning in the midst Of
wilderness. We FASTENED tn the plat
form and looked forward. There wss
spread out 4 lsanor ma such as seldom
greets the eye Of man. The forest WAS
one mass of seettiing fame. The engine
painted time or two, and then, gather.
ing courage, crept nearer. A few hum
dred yards, and it again came to stand
still. 1t was Impossible to pass. The
heat made the paint ON the cars crack.
The glass Of the windows grew feverish
under the heated breath from the fire.
There was, amid all the glare, the roar
ofan approaching tornado, cracking
and popping like giants whip. This
was accompanied by q kissing like the
sound of frying salt, as the green foli-
age of the living pines was consumed
with white fash. This raring and
cracking and swapping, terrible as it
was, only set off the grand accompAni-
ment offalling trees Every five seconds
a giant, With the strength of a score of
centuries, measured his 200 feet across
the fiery bed to which he hal been
lelled. He stood still, scared to the core,
and his hoary top was crowned with fire.
AS he yielded the mountain rolled hack
the booming OF cannon from one height
to the other. We hold our breath and
smoke, tinted here and there with a
r'sy tue. ina crashing OF Tie hitting
giant is still Tor a moment. The Gre
breaks through the gloom of the forest
in q new place. The fl mes 20 racing
like demons Up tall trees and culver in
their top like ruddy lanterns
for. moment. The foliage melts
away with the first hot
breath, and then the crashing and boom
ing goes on again. For the moment the
rush and crackle is drowned, and the
very crags Of the mountain side seem to
be rolling upon us from their seats above
our heads. We ask the conductor when
we can 60 on. He says two hours. Long
piles of wood stored all about the track
have caught fire, and scores of China
men, with long poles in their hands, are
hurrying up from the nearest station to
save the track from ruin. Two hours
pass, and still the Internal pendenomium
of Kissing, roaring, cracking, booming.
crashing devastation goes on. The con-
ductor and engineer are afraid to 20 on.
They fear the heat will fire our train.
Should it yield to the first spark it would
melt away tike finder in a furnace. For
over tour hours we watched the scourge
till it drew away from US and let US
60.