New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-06-20
RAGING FOREST FIRES.
LIVES LOST AND TOWNS WIPED OCT IN
WISCONSIN,
TRAINS LOADED WITH HUNGRY REfu"EE'
REACHED DrIUTH-PATHETIC STORIES FROM
THE BURNING DIsTRIcTs-THE PROP
rRTY LOss WILL REACH MILLIONS.

TIE BURNING DIsTRIcTs-THE PROP
rRTy LOSS WILL REACH MILLIONS
nuu,h Mimi. Jun" lo.-Thc first train bearing
the refugees from the MssaDa Range o'r',''H
nooplc mostly wsmcn and children, arrive" !" ~"
luth at 80 this morning and the wearea. h"hS's
rass,ncers hurried from the coaches TO the baeeaso
roons where elaborate lunches were spread. "i al
the crowd the greater portion were pchhhe's, w
rendcnt absolutely upon what charity might oe
altered Few had saved anything beyond the most
scanty effects nnd for the whole trainloah tne'e was
not single trunk. Among the hrst "" ""o
auehicd from the train were two urcdioohp6
women each with baby on her arh' ana 'hc e"
tire absence OF other belongings told the story OF
mothcrs love. There was another family. u mother
,,thcr and ono child Rctween them they had saved
opl, one fling n haby's picture. Ample prepara-
lions had been made 10 care for the people lhe
table, wer- what first attracted the eyes "t 'le
hungry crowd. II was a pathetic slglt-sahu'
wiches coffee. anything to ea', usaPp'aro" "S i"'
As II could be supplied
\ graphic description If the fire at virginia was
.ve, hv lame, Mccarthy. all actor. who had been
PLAYING M the star Theatre. lie was accohpa'''"
by his wife and little child The hre had oceh
burniuc about Virginia for several days, he sald,
"but no else seemed TO worry. so we did not sat
nrdav night We were called out 10 fight the fire,
but II was easily got under control. Yesterday
surrounded by fire. About o'clock III" wlhd,
which had been rising all tho morning began 10
blow perfect gale and houses on the edge ol Tue
town began to burn. People went mad Ihey az
tempted al first to save everything. anu oeEan
moving furniture Then they tried 10 save lighter
articles but as the fire grew feroer they were giad
70 SAGE ANYTHING and escape with their lives The
town burned like tinder. The Light frame buildings
wer, Ike so much paper. The whole town was In
rns IN less than an hour The terrified people
gathered about the Mcsaba depot where the oihcerS
OF tho road were doing everything for their saie'y'
A train OF ore backed into the depot
md the people loaded iE. All the way We came
through a lane Of fire..
4 second train bearing refugees from the burned
district arrived here at noon bearing nearly 200
people Advces from Virginia are TO the effect that
only ten houses escaped The haile>.
virginia was a town Of $500 people With all that
goes 10 make a thriving town. IL Is Impossible nj
tins time 10 secure an estimate of the loss. The
city was Just completing ah elaborate electric plant
and this. too. is n total loss.
Mountain Iron was not - badly damaged ms at
first feared 30 far ns reported only the Methodist
church and half a dozen houses were burned. Mer-
riit and McssanIa completely burned out, not
house remaining. There are numerous fatalities
and injuries reported. but no deaths have as yet
been verified. Edward Kelley and Ida Vurth,
song-an nd dance pair. who were playing at one OF
the Merritt theatres, Went Ddth to tHc W
recover their wardrobe when they we're cut of from
all mean, OF escape by the lake. and 1t Is feared
they were either drowned or burned. young
woman whose name has not yet been learned went
back into her burning house 10 get her babe and
probably perlshed with the infant as they have not
been seen since. A labOrer named Murphy was so
badly burned about the face and neck that II was
thought foolish to bring him to this city, so critical
was his condition. Lena Ilobensien, twenty-nine
ycars OF age who was suffering from typhoid fever,
WIS brought here on a strcchcr. was also mid
dlc.ngcd man suffering frcm the same malady. "A
younc mother with attack OF rheumatism
was taken TO the hospital.
There were many mining camps. employing a large
number Of men, In the neiGhborbood Of Virginia. aud
they were undoubtedly burned by yesterdays forest
fires Among them were the Mountain 1ron New
England Pouchca, One Jack and Poca mines. All
tho camps had large storchouses II Is feared some
~ the men NAV have pcrished In the fierce names
II is difficult to estimate the total loss. but II the re-
nor, he true ms 10 the extent OF the destruction at
the vorious towns mentioned II will amount to over
81 100000.
A dispatc. from Ashland to The Herald says
Z" Sanborn A small Iumleiing town on the Dnuih ana
south shore road entirely wiped ont by the forest
fires Two children of a hcmesteader there were sep
aracd from their parents and pcrished In the names
one bridge nearly 100 feet long was also burned
Ashland, Wis. June l0.-forcst fires are sweeping
Hsef in danger John Mees.r pcrishcd near Moansh
Two children names not Known were burned 10 Seh.h
sanborn and the town Is %lpsa @ mS out hrSss ao
tsct long on the Shuth Shore Al Sanoofn was DE-
s,roved MANY freight cars are destroyed The fota
property loss IS In the millions