The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1884-04-09
Fire, Field, end Flood !--Storms
ShIpwFecks.

much fun in 1881 but it looks as if she
might deny kinship with the False
Prophet" ere 1884 is DER. The world
lives so rapidly nowadays that even the
mightiest events are soon forgotten. else
would We be alarmed al the succession
of dire Disasters that have occurred
within the past year or two. The list
OF deaths by casualty, such as volcanic
overthrow, tidal waves, shipwreck.
forest fires, cyclones, railway accident,
mine explosion, and similar causes,
would amount 10 tens of thousands.
Human life IS cheaper han at any
period of the worlds age. And the
remainder Of 1854 bids fair TO exceed
what has gone before.
Another horrible sh.pwreck. almost
Identical with the loss of the CITY or
Columbus (by which los lives were lost
is reported. The big ocean steamer
Daniel SteiamqH. when near Halifax. y.
), ran upon the rocks within 200 wards
Of the Scarborough lighthouse. The
storm and fog was too dense TO reveal
even the powerful lights of the tower.
The ship speedily sank, and one hundred
and t~reHty-fotr iircS cere lost.-ninety
Of them passengers, Five sailors and
two passengers escaped in a boat.
Next morning two men were seen
hanging TO the rigging OF the sunken
vessel. They were rescued and proved
to be Capt. ~Schoonhoven and a boy.
The steamer Rebeccd ErerinQton
was burned by a spark from the electric
light. Seven lives and S24, 600 worth of
cotton lost in the river below Savannah.
Mr.. G.. b. Davis, (to whom we sent
a copy of the last weeks paper,) says
the mine at Pocahontas, Va, still re-
mains closed, and it is believed there
are full 200 dead in the mine.
FIFTY MILES OF FOREsT FIRES.
Fifty miles?-Yes, and much more.
The whole country from Cameron TO
Chester, S. C.. seemed to be in flames
last week. There were, in fact, foul dit
ferent fires, but the effect was one GEN
eral cont1agratlon. One fire started near
Lemon Springs and burned far beyond
Manly. Another started near Wlnder
and burned nearly up to Fayetteville.
Another burned between the Forks of
Drowning Greek and Little river. Then
an immense FIRE ragged from Hamlet to
near Laurinburg. And in South Caro-
lima a tract of 40 miles along the C.. G.. 4
A. r. r., was destroyed. Several trains
were hemmed in by the flames, and in
one case a train, finding that the flames
were blocking the track in front and rear,
took refuge In a deep cut until the frey
storm sped past.
Trains on the Raleigh and Hamlet
route had a Uarm, experience. The
flames lined the track for miles, and the
smoke was stiffling. Windows had to be
shut, and men sent ahead to make
sure that the rails were safe, as the In
tense heat causes the iron to crawl, and
bunch. The Construction trains were
kept busy for days replacing rails which
had been ruined.
To comprehend the situation you must
understand that the country for fifty
miles South of Sanford is mainly grown
in pines, Including vast turpentine or
chards. These ''orchards' are large
tracts OF well-grown pines whose trunks
have one or more sides chopped to a
straight surface, and then hacked as high
as ten feet from the ground, forming
little cutters to drain the sap, or spirits,
from which the rosin is distilled. Of
course n Of these Orchards" If
burns like a finder box. The
flames run up the trees like flashes of
lightning, and often dart high into the air
with popping of musketry. The very
ground when saturated with rosin forms
fuel to the flame. And if the wind be
high, the frey serpents race in all direc
at a speed which the fastest horse
could not outstrip The danger to hui
man life is often enhanced by proximity
Of the orchard to the houses of the own
ers,-the trees being too valuable to thin
out.
Thus the flames were enabled to get so
near to the fourishing village of Manly
hat the place seemed doomed. A
new and commodious Methodist church
destroyed, the depot damaged,
Agent W. c. Petty having greatly diff
'uIty in saving it His " stables, with
everal animals, and one or two cars with
5000 worth of guano we're destroyed.
The cottage of a Mr. Mashburn near
Manly was destroyed with all its contents
the family escaping half dressed. 8
lilies on miles of fencing, millions on
Millions of valuable lumber, and an i'm
nense amount of rosin, and turpentine
llstlllerles, make a SUN total of loss not
asy to compute.
FIRES IN JOHNSTON.
A fire was started near Smithfald on
' ednesday night, and rapidly spread
Selma, and for miles through an
timber section, destroying a
asst amour of wood, fencing and the
Ike.
TIL FIRES.
While these events were in progress
mother area of fire was doing its devas-
ating in Fender county, near Rocky :
The Star says: DR.. S. S. Satch.
ell had oil his fences destroyed, and
ould have lost a good portion or his
,ock but for the fact that he caught
lem and tied them in the yard sur
)undlDg his dwelling. DR.. +. Porter
'st his crop and fences and the flames
FeDt through his woods, burning many :
tress. Mr.. Evan Larkins lost {
IS crop and fences and two hundred cords
wood.
-Farrars or Ca ldwelrs Mill, one mile
.orth of Greensboro burned yesterday +
US Bugte.-Lower's lumber mill pear
'aynesville burned .-Nr. Henry Hills +
IS near Manly is about s.. 600. \
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