Telegram-herald. ([Grand Rapids, Mich.) 18??-1892, 1891-05-14
MANY TOWNS LAID LOW
nax Yiourtshing Villages az nichi-
gan Burned
HElyY LOSSES OF BIG IUNBER FIRMS
The Ssrsss fire. worse Thaa ths Hole
eszss Of fs1f-H OF Families
Are kooffsss Aaa nsnis0
trona ghs Utgoa

40 koonooo ANA 4On11o
frena shs Utss&
Bro RAPIDS. Mich. May ia-The for
est hres raging through the lumber re-
gion surrounding this town have mown
. fery swssh through shs heart al
three counties. aai besides INJECTING
Immense damage 70 property
have probably destroyed HUI
man life In many plscea Whole
towns have been completely wiped
cut Of existence aad others are
threstsned The Ire continues To rod
over the immense Forests and from
this town it appears that the whole
country Is Ia blaze. Families are dee
ing for their lives from the iamber set
Elements after vainiy attempting TO
make q successful battle against the
furious flames
The town of otia burned Sunday. II
was . lumber village Of $50 inabitants
and the buildings were cheap wooden
shAntieA When the fire reached than
they were dry from . long period Of
warm weather aud they flashed up like
gunpowder. Then Fields. another pine
town, fell before the ire. In neither
town were the people able 10 save any
thing. They ied southwark with their
little POSSESSIONS and are now
cared for in the towns which
have SO far escaped the flames
Lilley, in Newaygo county. on the Big
Rapids branch Of the Chicago & West
Michigan road. was also swept from
the face of the earth. Clinton. In Clare
county, Is also lost, and SO II Walker
vile. in oceana cocnty. Alma, in Gratiot
county; Scotville, Custer and Free
Soil, Mason county. are also threatened.
The list OF towns 30 far known to
have been destroyed is as follows:
TOWN. COUNTY. POPULATION
Ot.a. ....... Ne~Aygo eouaty ...--........2 80
Fields. .,.-. Newaygo county. 200
Park city -.Newaygo county 49, go
I.iiey ........ Ncssygo county 40
Clinton are coanty .........-...--.-.l O
Waikerytiie. oceana county Ito
Ia each case the destruction of the
homes of the inhabitants was accom-
panied by heavy loss TO the lumber firms
having sawmilis at the places named
The firms burned CA. are Il. H. Haw-
ley. L. 7. Kinney, Plowman & Tibbets
and j. j. Williams, at Fields; T. ID.
Hyde & Co, Wayne & Pierce and A. s.
Pringlc at Clinton's. and Bachelor 4
Co. at Bachelors station Tho loss to
these firms on buildings and machinery
amounts To over 500, 900. In addition
20 this On amount not easily TO be reck-
oned has been lost in the destruction OF
the forests.
At present there Is little hope that
the FIRE can soon be staid, and the en-
tire lumber district Of four or Eve coun-
ties lies at IT'S mercy. There has been
little rain this season and the country
Is in the same condition 1t was
when IL was devastated in 1871. The
forests are as dry as kiln There was
two hours rain Sunday night, but 1t
only settled the flames for little while,
and they are again roaring IS fercely
Us ever. Great fears prevail that many
lives win be lost before tho progress of
the fires can be interrupted
~ MINNESOTA.
DULrrH, MINI. May Is. Forest fires
ore raging in nearly every direction
from Duluth and large amount of
damage has been done. The Duluth
fire department was called to Lester
Park Tuesday afternoon and 1t took
hard fight 20 save the place
from destruction. IL Is reported that
che houses OF several farmers have been
burned. The St Louis Land Company
was Obliged to send large force of
men to fight fires again. The Omaha
rains are all delayed in Duluth on ac-
count Of the burning Of 100 feet of the
bridge at Hawthorne. The Northern
Pacific road from here TO Ashland suf-
Tered very severely.
IN PxSxsYLvAyrA.
HUNTINGDON. Pa. May i3.-Over Z. 900
Gcres of valuable timber lands are
ndame within . radius Of miles OF
this place. and in distant parts of the
county the woodland is being swept
away a. an alarming extent The
mountain fires are beyond all
human control. and can only
b extinguishcd by rainfall
The sections suffering most are
Ia The Eas. Broadtop region, where the
Gre extends nearly 20 Wells tannery,
in Fulton county. and on Tusscy's
mountain. Rays Hill and Warriors
ridge. The farmers in the whole
burning district have sustained ire
parable losses 10 fencing and hundreds
81 acres Of growing grain have been
ruined
rrLfxroSrv, Pa, May 1s.-The dam
ers done by the forest fires that has
been raging throughout the county has
been something enormous and iucalcu-
Liable. All along the Buffalo Run rail-
road through nearly every patch OF
timber the FIRE has ragged burning
miles and miles OF fence. orchards, val
usblc standing and cut timber The
toss cannot as ret be estimated. but
counting the damage 20 standing tim
her. IL win ran into the hundreds OF
thousands OF dollars
WILLIAMSBURG. Pa, May lathe
North mountain, IN Columbia county.
has been burning for some time. The
town Of Middlebury. near wellshoro.
was wiped out and the town of Gaines
was severely scorehed Tuesday. two
stores. = meat markes. = saloon and
soae dwelling houses being destroyed
A man suspected % having fired the
woods vas arrested. but escaped from
room where he Vas being guarded
before being brought here 70 jail
Refined ssssy from ehsns-
sax FRANCISCO, Msy fs--The LAST
two steamers from China have broush.
here over a.eeo. 900 pounds Of refined