Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1889-04-11
WALLS OF FLAME IN DAKOTA.
Terrible Work of Prairie Fires.
VILLAGES DESTROYED AND HUNDREDS
OF FARM HOUSES IN ASHES.

r MITCHELL, Oak. April 4-NobOdyb bu
man who has stood before a prairie fir
!. and tried to stay its awful rush and roa
when it is famed by fresh wind can ap
preciate its almost resistlesS force. Th
: fires that have brought so much loss ant
suffering to Southeastern Dakota in tn,
, last few days were practically irresistible
, The flames in some instances leaped ont
hundred feet of plOwed ground and rush
ed away again on their career of deStruc
ton. All ordinary precautions were vain
The spring has been very dry, and the tOI
of the ground has been dusty or baked
The signal observer at HanktOn says the
humidity of the air was but per cent. OF
Tuesday. condition of dryness never be
fore attained. As the mean annual hui
midity is 90 this shows that the atmOS
phere was practically devoid of moisture
Then the wind from the Northeast blew
between forty and fifty miles an hour
tanning the flames into fury.
Under these conditions. wherever fire
touched the grass 1t burst out with tiaSl
almost like powder, and shot away across
the prairie like an arrow. its course ever
widening. To eXtinguiSh it by water OF
course was out of the question. Flowing
fire breaks was slow work, and the high
wind often drove the fire across them.
1t was o'clock in the afternoon when
the people of Mount Vernon saw the wide
spreading prairie Northwest of them in a
blaze The smoke was dashed into and
through the town on the wings of the wind
The flames rushed after with savage fury.
Mitchell was telegraphed to for aid, and
one hundred men with hook and ladder
were sent at once The entire population
of Mount Vernon met the flames on the
outskirts of the town and fought with
desperation, but in vain. No lives were
lost but forty-fYe buildings were burned
and one hundred families left homeless.
! The loss is estimated at $4,000. Outside
of the town it is impossible yet to estimate
what the loss is. Lonely farm houses
scattered over the prairie are wiped out
by dozens. Stories of losses of life may
come in later. As near as can be eStima-
ted this morning, the losses in South Da-
kOta will aggregate S2,C0O,GOO.
THREE VILLAGES WIPED OUT.
YANKToN, Oak, April 4.-The stories
of the terrible losses by the hurricane of
fire which swept over the country North
of here continue to come in. Columns
might be written of the horrors of the few
days last past. and the heroic struggles to
save home and property that the farmers
have worked so hard to secure. Violin
village has only three buildings standing;
! Olivet. Hutchinson County, was burned;
Pukwanna was wiped out. In the vicin-
| ity of GAINESVILLE, twelve miles North of
Yankton, eight farmers sustained losses
running from 1000 to $1,000 each. In
| the vicinity of GAINESVILLE the loss will
foot up $10CO0. One man lost 81 ,CG0 in
money which he had in his coat on bit
of plowed ground three hundred feet from
the grass Two new wagons were burn
ed one hundred feet from the fire. Sixty
miles of Western Union wires are down.
A wHIRLwIND OF FLAME.
BLUNT, Oak, April 4-The stories of
the fury of the fire continue to be brought
into town by stragglers. They say that
the wind would gather up the loose tin
der, and whirling it high in the air, carry
it ahead of the surface fire, alighting on
barns and houses and igniting the prairie
fifty yards in advance of the surface fire.
Houses and barns were burned where the
fire was carried over one hundred yards
across new broken ground. The losses
WOMAN AND BABE BURNED TO DEATH
OTHERS FATALLY BURNED.
HIGHMORE, Oak, April A destruc
tive and calamitous prairie fire started
on the evening of the 1st, five miles from
Highmore on the farm of James Ingram.
While he was smoking his pipe his barn
caught fire and was destroyed. A fierce
wind carried the fire to the prairie, and
the work of destruction began. Houses,
barns and some stock were burned
Tuesday morning the wind reached a
terrific gale. No ordinary tlre-break
made any resistance to the sweeping wall
of flame. At p. NJ. the fire reached Bee
Heights, fifteen miles east of HighmOre,,
where thirteen residences in the town
were destroyed. The losses, estimated,
in Hide county are $4,000. At sundOwn
Tuesday another fire started in the north
ern part of this county, sweeping away
six houses, burning to death Miss Annie
Sweeney and tive-yea baby. Eugene
Tibbs, Mr.. and Mrs. Tibbs, Mrs. and Miss
Ruby are dangerouly burned, the two
former fatally. Returns of losses are not |
in but will reach many thousand dollars !
TWENTY FIVE FARMERS LOSE THEIR ALL |
SCOTLAND, Oak, April At would
take 100000 to cover the loss in this !
county. The Hutchinson Herald Office
was burned. The losses amount to $4,000, |
with less than $4,000 insurance. David
Ischettar and Howard White, farmers
near OGvet, were completely burned out !
Another fire, east of StOckland, destroyed |
everything on the farms of A. 0. Fansky,
Gus Evenson and NJ. Shook. On the |
stock farm of f. S. Sweet three barns were
burned: loss, $1,000. Twelve miles west
of Stockland prairie fire ragged. Twenty
five farmers are known to have lost every
thing.
LEOLA IN RUINS.
ABERDEEN, OAK, April 4.-The terri
bic story of the complete destruction of