Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-08-14
WHAT MEXICO THINKS.
InE GREAT FOREST FIRES.
Reports Of Desosatton and suffering
. Not Exaggerated.
IBy telegraph to the Dispatch.l

= Not Exaggerated.
tBy telegraph to the Dspatch.l
CHICAGO, August l3.-The Daily
Neps's Fort Howard Wis., special
says: Reports from the great fires in
this region have not been at all exag-
gerated, and it requires but glance to
show that but little Of the real misery
and destruction they have caused has
yet been brought to light. Fort How
ard and Green Bay arc enveloped in
dense volume Of smoke, and oil around
the outskirts of the town can be seen
the flames as they burst from the dis
tspt woods.
Since the train left Milwaukee the
effects Of the late drouth have been
more and more apparent. The railroad
seems as though it had been built by
an INSCRIPTIONS board Of county COM
missiopers, and contracts let to rs many
culvert.builders as possible. The road
north Of Appleton seems to consist OF
culyerts built without any cause, for
there is not sign Of one Of the creeks
which they are designed to cross.
Everything is as dry as finder, and the
fences and grass along the tracks are
either burned or now are burn
ing, and the bushes are all on
fire and burning fiercely. Here,
too, the smoke became more
dense, and hung in the atmosphere sui
lenly, as though waiting an opportunity
to settle down and envelop the country
in Egyptian darkness. Over the water
in Green bay it descended like dense
fog in all but its color. The smoke is
q light-brown, and the wind alternately
clears it away and allows it to gather
again. The sun shines through it like
huge orange, and casts q sickly
shadow. The scarcity Of water makes
every one spprehensive of fire,
and the proximity Of the forests
are a constant source of dread.
One of the most peculiar effects Of the
fire is the action Of the animals, which
seem to be apprehensive of some great
danger. The cattle and horses hubble
together, forgetting to feed and stamp
the ground restively. Even the birds
seem frightened and fly around in an
aimless sort OF way. Around Green
Bay the damage has been heavy, but
the greatest loss has been suffered In
the Oconto region. Depsre, too, a
village half o dozen miles south
Of here, has suffered heavily. Last
Monday night q conhagration broke
out and consumed fifty-one build
ings, including q church and seve-
raj stores. The fires, according to
the latest reports, are rapidly dying out,
and unless gale ofwind should spring
up, will probably cause little more dam
age. The loss of life, too, is less than
was anticipated, although doubtless
greater than has been reported. Com
munication with the timber districts is
slow, and investigation will doubtless
bring to light great deal of suffering.
LUMBER REGIONS LAID WASTE BY
THE IRRESISTIBLE FLAMES.
EAU CLAIRE, WIS, August l3.-
The latest reports from the Chippewa
fire districts were received from several
woodsmen who arrived from Deer Tail,
an important feeder of the Chippewa,
last evening. They have travelled con-
sidelsbly over the burnt and unbnrnt
districts north of here, and say no ter
Iitory can escape the devastation of the
flames in the present dry condition.
The Superior regions are we'll burned
over, but fires have broken out afresh
in a number of localities on the Upper
Chippewa since Tuesday, and are raging
fearfully. OF the escaped territory so
far arc the tracts along the Deer Tail
toward the Sault Ste. Marie, on which
there is plenty of choppings and wind
falls, which will offer the most CON-
bustible food for the flames, which are
expected TO reach that locality in a day
OF two. The settlements are sparse in
that direction, and the loss will be
confined TO standing pine aud hemlock.
On Yellow river, forty miles northeast
Of here, the flames have done irrepara-
bic damage. Hurlbut Brothers, of this
city, narrowly'escaped, with the loss Of
their mill and a quantity of lumber.
The fires are having their own way
but men ave now stationed at the log.
giug camps and the hay marshes to
save that property if possible. The
Chippewa districts have so far escaped
with less damage than other districts
eastward. The Lumber Manufacturers
and Mutual Insurance Company have
sent an agent TO the fire districts to
look over matters and see that all the
protection necessary is furnished to saw
mills and other property on which the
corporation holds risks.