Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1889-05-11
AWFUL FOREST FIRES
MANY MICHIGAN VILLAGES SUE.
ROUNDED BIZ TIE FLAMES.
A Number of Settlements Destroyed-Th
Inhabitants Fleeing for their Lives.
Hiding in Swamps and Other Secure
Places = Many Have Perished-Great
Distress

4 -
Hiding in swamps and Other Secur,
Places = Many Have Perished-Grea
Distress.
MARQUETTE. Mich, May 9.-The terribl,
forest fires are still raging. The village o
Norway is surrounded by flames. Bruct
Crossing and Matchwood have been de
lstroyed, and the refugees sought safety in
bitches and cellars. Many are missing.
All the telegraph wires have been down
for two days.
Reports are now arriving Of terrible for
est fires in the country recently settled by
the homesteaders. The flames started
Tuesday morning, and swept across miles
of dense forests until checked by the rain
in the evening. Many homesteaders were
burnt out, and great suffering is reported
among the women and children, who could
hardly breathe on account Of the suifo.
eating smoke. Many reached the railroad
track and others sought shelter in the
swamps, whore by burying themselves in
the mud and lying face downwards, they
managed to survive the heat and smoke.
Bruce's Crossing was destroyed. Watch.
wood has also been burned, and a tract
many miles square is in ashes.
Relief parties are out to look after those
known to have been in the burned district.
1t is feared many perished.
Great damage is reported at Anthony, a
numbering town in the homestead country.
Vulcan lost a large engine house. several
Thousand cords OF wood, twenty houses,
homes of miners.
Norway fought the fire on all sides for
1S hours, and was just on the point OF
surrendering when the rain came and saved
the town.
Fears are entertyined of the loss of life
in towns remote from the railroads.
NOT so BAD AS REPoRTED.
MARQUETTE, Mich, May 9.-The ''Mining
Journal will say tomorrow: Misleading
and exaggerated reports OF the damage
done by forest fires in the Upper PENN
sula during the early part OF the week. are
being sent to the outside press by one
or two special correspondents up here. In
q section where so many homestead and
presumption claims were located within the
past six or eight months, there were numer-
GUS brush fires, Monday and Tuesday, but
no considerable amount of territory
was burned over and the property
loss is trifing. The station house was de-
stroyed and at Bruce's Crossing several
settlers lost their shanties with contents
and beyond this damage did not 60 in that
region, there was no loss of life as reported.
On the Menominee range outlying build
ings were destroyed at q couple of mining
locations, and the hamlet of Spaulding got
a severe scorching some days ago, but
there have.been no heavy losses of timber
or other property in this region.
NORWAY, Mich, May 9.-Norway apd
vicinity have been surrounded by fire for
two days. The fire to-day reached the Vul.
can mine, two miles from here, burning
over 1000 cords of wood, an engine house
and twenty dwellings, most of which were
owned by employees of the mine, who lost
every thing. .....
RAILROAD PASSENGERS NEARLY sUFFo-
GATED.
CHEBoaYAN, Mich, May 9.-Forest fires
are raging to an alarming extent along the
line of the Michigan Central road. On sew
eral occasions trains have been delayed for
hours on account of the fires along the track,
the dense smoke nearly sitting passengers
inside