The record-union., 1894-09-04

stuu6n mOuDNiS before. NOW, with
! bIackened, hre-Scarred stumps and fallen
trunks OF trees all about it presents an
| appearance OF desolation hard TO describe
In the center, In an indiscriminate heap,
lay more than ninety corpses of men,
women and children. Some were burned
/ to crisp, Others only Drowned with the
/ heat, and none with fragment of cloth
Ing larger than mans hand to conceal
their awful nalledness. Some were mere
trunks, the extremities having beon
| burned of. From cracked abdomens the
| lntestlnes were protruding. Skulls were
| burned and brains We're escaping, and all
the corpses were twisted and crainped
A force OF men were quickly at work
/ digging shallow trench. The sandy soil
! was as hard as flint. 1t had been baked
/ 10 crust by weeks of drought and al
most soliditied by fire. The work pro-
| gressed slowly. Of in corner OF the
clearing smaller graves were being dug
! Tor Mrs. William Grisinger and her two
| paby girls, Caroline, aged 8, and Mabel
| aged 3. The husband and father had
recognized them in the CHASTITY heap.
! Another grave was for the Best family
whose numbers make their destruction q
/ notable event at this time of death. John
Best, Jr., was digging pit, with the
/ friendly assistance of two neighbors.
Laid in a row, decentIy covered, were
! the bodies of John Best, ST., Mrs Best
and Bertha and Fred Best, Mrs. Annie
! Welgel, married daughter, and her three
| year-old daughter Minnie, Mrs. Annie
/ Truman OF Diamond Bluif, Wis. Wis
! ltor, aged 26, and Victor Best, aged s.
Inc Inc, other sons George, aged 70, and
| Willie, aged ID are certainly dead And
| ofthis whole family OF three generations
! only the sorrowlng graye-digger and
! vile and child, who took refuge in a
| dug-out, are left. They all lived to-
Gether about two miles southeast of
| Hinckley.
The only other corpses recognized were
| Charles Anderson. Cashier of the bank;
F.! Mrs. William Ginder and her daughter
| Winfred, aged 8.
Enough rough boxes were knocked to-
! gether To contain more bodies, and they
| We're laid away under the sand, bat not
/ before other bodies began to come in.
In the swamp across the Grindstone
where these corpses were found there
were about thirty-tive others, which were
brought in this morning, making total
OF upward OF l30 dead in space OF four
or five acres.
Down near the river was found the
pody OF Ihonas Dunn, the operator at
Hlnckley. Dunn stuck TO his keys until
the depot was burnifg overhead. Up the
St. Paul ana Duluti right-of-way were
found three or four ore bodies.
Among those who perished north of
town was X. E. Rtc<ettson of Mime
apolis, who was here visiting his son. He
! was out IN wager with Dave Kane of
Rock Creek, also sitor here. and both
! perished, though their horses escaped,
lie busiest point at Hinckley was the
Associated Press telegraph Office 1t was
not much of an office, but it sutficed to
serve the public with the only press re-
| ports sent out of Hinckley to-day. The
wires were brought down to burned
stump OF pole. a dry goods box fur
nIshed the operator With desk, and
cracker box made him comfortable
seat a burned railroad spike held down
the copy from the brisk breeze. A rough
board, one end resting on the operators
| table and the other on milk can, fur
| nIshed the Associated Press corresponds
ent his desk, and his seat was beer keg.
| Here, under these circumstances, was
| prepared and sent the story OF the day in
this stricken town. An occasional
shower blurred the copy, but it was rap
IDLY led to the eager wire, despite the
discontinue OF the occasion.
the Associated Press correspondent
took hye-mile tramp through the woods
! TO tine north OF t6wn this morning
through a scene of desolation which
rarely falls before the eye OF man. The
country is absolutely swept clean. There
| is but one settlers house left STANDING
within an unknown radius of miles. IL
| is that of Miller Bean, on the edge of the
river, three miles east of town. 1t was
| new house and very substantial. Bean
and other neighbors fought the fire until
they had to abandon it. They put the
women and children into the water, coy-
ering their heads with clothes, kept wet
| oy dashlng water over them, and when
the fire had passed they came out unhurt
ana were much surprised to find the
building standing.
This morning when the Associated
Press correspondent entered the clearing
| house dog barked savagely and the
goosters crowed as loudly as if they had
not come within an ace of death. The
handcar party which went north this
morning has just returned. 1t met the
Duluth construction train eight miles up
the track with word that Duluth had fur.
nished the necessary relief at Sandstone
and Miller. They accordingly turned
back and on the way located eleven bod
les, swelling the total of those found
along the Duluth tracks between Hinck-
ley and Skunk Lake to about fifty One
OF them was recognized as Otto Rowley
OF Duluth, Freight Agent of the Duluth
and Winnipeg. lie was a passenger on
the Limited South on Saturday and had
lett the main body OF passengers and ref
ugees running backward to theT lake.
dis body was identified by his name on
his collar. On another body, evidently
that OF another passenger, was found
letter addressed 10 Israel Schrulstein,
Chicago, and u charred business card
bearing the same name. Three others
of the bodies were probably those of
passengers on the ill-fated train. Another
was young man, splendid specimen
OF physical manhood, and from his cloth
ing and high-laced boots apparently a
prospector or cruiser. The other five
were the family of settler named John
Robinson. Above Skunk Lake the work
train reported twelve bodies on the right
of way, presumably settlers
In retrospectlon, the most Sorrowful |
feature OF the terrible fatality at Hinck-
ley is the thought shat had the situation
been realized IN time not single life
among the residents OF the town need
have been lost. The Great Northern
gravel pit, where only hundred sought
safety, is about ten acres in extent, broad
enough and long enough and deep
enough to have sheltered every soul in
Hinckley with their domestic animals
There is pool of water OF considerable
depth. The banks are bare OF grass or
shrubbery, and there was no infam-
mable material on the side from which
the fire came. Those who did seek 10
pass the course of their Imprisonment
had comparative comfort.
This morning company of regulars,
under command of Captain Hall and
Colonel Mccoy, and an army surgeon
came in from st. Paul. They brought
some tents, but finding that Adjutant-
General Mahlburg had sent up $50 State
tents, the regulars turned IN and put up
fifty Of them for the refugees. The local
physician was PLAYED out, and there was
an abundance of work Tor the army sur
geon. a portion of the tents will be put
up at Hinckley.
OVERWHELMED WITH GRIEF.
Provisions Being Sent to the Desti-
tute People.
pr>-r- (rrnr,- IN1;n., S..A4 o q -. L.