Telegram-herald. ([Grand Rapids, Mich.) 18??-1892, 1891-05-13
HENNID IN By FLAMES
ESCAPE CUT OFf1s FRONT AND REAR
seven Hen Kaowa 10 HAss Loot Their
Alyss ip the Raging Forest fire.
Aad aAay oxhsFs Are B~iisvsd
g Have fsfisasa

sCouDEEsPoRr. Pa. May fz-The pretty
httIa Notwithstanding towns of Austin,
Costello. Gaieton and Moore's Run. In
Potter county. are on the verge Of
panic, two especially being threatened
with snnihilatioa- from hrss that seem
% form - impenetrabls wall
On every side For several
DAYS the skies have been lighted
up with fires apparently in every
direction. but little fears were enter
tanned by people living In the towns,
Is those threatened were farmers la
the country districts and the lumber
camps In the midst Of the blazing for
ests- In spite of every effort. however.
the flames crept steadily. in snaky
lines Of smoke and flame, toward the
helpless towns until IL was seen the
people must fight back the flames or
have their very houses burned down
over their heads Details of the disas-
,er 10 the relief train on Sunday are a.
follows:
At Moore's Run, on the pretty Sim
nemahoning road, . traiaload of
seventy five willing men who had been
sent out from Austin Sunday night had
been dghting back the fire by every
conceivable meanA They made
trenches. piled up earth and lighted
back fires, bat were finally obliged to
retreat The men hastily boarded the
train and started To make run To an
other point. when It was found they
were hemmed in BY the forest fires on
one side and huge skidway of logs on
the other. IL was finally decided To
dash past the burning slzidway, and the
engineer and firemen, with faces COW
cred with darnpered cloths and their
hands and arms wrapped in wool.
mounted the little engine and pulled out
through the wall of fire. The seventy
i've exhausted uen gathered in groups
on the fats for protection, or lay on
their faces on the floor As the blazing
furnace Of logs was approached the
heat became unbearable and the
smoke so binding and sitting the men
were obliged to cover their mouths
with cloths.
Just opposite the million feet Of
burning logs, where the heat and
smoke and fame were the greatest, a
terrible thing occurred The en-
gineer had forgotten that such
great heat would surely spread
the rails and he pulled the throt-
tle wider In the hope of sooner
escaping from the torment Of heat
and smoke. Then there was a lurch,
an opinous heaving and q shrek of
despalr al the train toppled over into
the hell Of fire beneath A scene en-
sued never TO be forgotten by those
who escaped, though every man will
bear TO his grave mark of
that awful moment The cars
caught Ore like 80 many paper
playthings. and the men within half
blinded and scarcely realizing anything
except that they were being slowly
roasted to death, struggled fearfully to
regain the track where safety lay. for
time at least. Those uninjured from
the fall and only smarting from the
pain Of intense heat bravely turned
their more unfortunate fellows
At this hour it Is impossible to secure
Details. though enough Is known of the
scepe that followed the hurting Of the
struggling mass of men into the furnace
Of 6snes to say its like had never oc-
Surred before. Superintendent Badger,
superintendent of the Sinnemahoning
Valley railroad. was in charge Of the
relief train and had worked the hardest
Of all 10 save the properties Of
others. When the train ditched and
rolled over so suddenly he must have
been injured so as 10 be unable to help
himself. and owing To the smoke and
panic he was not found until toe
late-jammed in the wreck. he had
evidently slowly burned to death.
IL IL known that six others
also miscrably persisted At once
or died soon afterward and thirty
others of the party were badly burned
many probably fatally, owing to theiI
}nhalifg the flames that seemed to fair
" spring into their faces. Seven otherl
Of the party are missing and their fate
5 unknown, though they are likely 10
be found in the charred wood Of the logs
Dr. train Relief parties started fol-
he scene ~ soon as the fearful news
spread. many male relatives of the mer
injured insisting on accompanying the
tram. though they will hardly be able
10 reach the place Of the wreck unless
the fires have burned themselves out
The body of tho superintendent has
been found burned TO q crisp and the
entire party would have persisted In
the burning train or forest fire had
they noe immersed themselves in q
creek. The fires have been raging
forty-eight hours, twelve solid miles OF
lumber in one district have already
been burned
Owing 20 the great devastation done
70 everything in the way Of the hrs
communication 10 badly interrupted
and 10 is impossible TO learn the names
OF the men burned or those still miss
ing. As TO the damage. il is known
20. 600. 900 feet of hemloek logs and tim
Der and q, 600 cords of valuable bark
have already been destroyed. and the
fires are raging without any spprecis
bic diminution.
ANorHER TRAIN IN PERIL
PrrrssussH. Pa. May f2-News ha'
been received here through Erie rail
way trsinmen Of the destructive work
done by a pecsliar forest fire nea'
Randolph. Cattsrsnzus county, on the
western division of the Erie. The are
started IN large tract of old bark
where The dead hemlock, feller
and standing. afforded usateria
on which il fed and spread with fear
ft,i rapi3itv Millions Of feet Of luTn bel