Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1894-08-02

PuLtIr-, Wis July AT day
hrcak to-day smoke covered an area of
loo miles square. Ah-sat $500 people
have fesi into the forests or tn the vii
lagos near by. The town this morn
ing was smouldsrinx heap of ruins
AMI the smoke was ~ dcnse that the
headlight II locomotive could not be
seen ffty feet away. Three relief
trains reached Phillips som after s
o'clock this morning one was in
charge Of Gov tseorg- ". Peck and
his staff. The second came from Stew
ems Point in ehargc ~ Frank Lame
reauN and Crosby Grant. and the third
from MarShield in charge of Maj. W.
IL UPharn- republican, nominee for
governo<.
As SON a. he arrived TOW Peek
called his stan together and directed
the ~c-k ~ Misleading the provisions
There were several car loads OF food
and a warehouse was opened ia one Of
the few buiidings that are left stand
ing IN the town Through the d~rsS
smoke 1ov- Peck made his way and
found two heavy walls that marked
the place where the two hanks had
S'a-SL On inquiry il was learned tina;
the vaults of the banks contained Sc. =
ssl. and Gov. Peck immediately swur~
IN dozen men 10 guard the money in
the vaults They were armed with
Winchester rifles and ordered To ~
main On duty in two shifts day aud
night
| The loss by th.. e.,nHaxratioa in its
entirety i difticult To- estimate. Out Of
80 Building in the town only thirty
seven remain Il W Davis. of the
Davis Lumber Co.. estimates the total
loss at si.s@aosA with scarcely half
that amount covered by insurance. The
Davis Lumber 60. lot SID. col, fully
insured The next highest lass Is that
OF the Fayetss->haw Tannery Co. op~r-
ating one Of the largest ;&nneri-s in
the United States. The tAnnerv was
DESTROYED with it, sts-k. axxrexstinx
a lus> Of nearly <sD.era- The P1a.x
Brewing Co. ~ Milwaukee. had dis-
tributins depot here which was de-
stroyed with a loss of sl.ooo.
| There Is M way of estimating the
numher Of lives lost in the arr. and
even after fortr-cight hours have
passed m one can ~ found who ven
tures an opinion of the los of life.
When the people fed before the wave
Of hre they beeame separated. and can
give no account ~ each other IL il
known that sixteen persons p-rish-d
on the raft that burned in the hayou.
] bridge OF trcStle crossed the havou.
and when the supports Of this bridge
burned away il fell Women and chill
dren were crossing at the time. and
sotne must have p-riShed
The eharrs-d BODY Of Anton Flentz-r
can ~ s-cn in the wreck Of brick
chimney The man Was attempting
Z" carry his trunk from a burning
dwelling. when the brick chimney fell
on him. crushing on, his life
A. the ere swept towards the bridge
a number of children were sern 70 take
refuge in the big lumber yard Their
cries were heart by Others who iei To-
wards the water, but the children have
never heen found
Df the sixteen perSonS who lost their
lives On the raft that burned in the
bayou eight are yet in the water. The
body Of Frank CIiSs. the nsaehinisf.
was found under pile of driftwoo-i at
noon to-day The bodies of his wife
and children were recovered after
wards Dynamite was exploded all
day in the bayou. aud a number Of
bodies were raised by this means Jim
Lock body was brought To the sur
face. He was the butcher who was
drowned with his child in his arms
The true story Of the launching Of
this Inflated raft has never been told
The only man who tells a eomprehen-
siTe narrative of the horror Is Joseph
Bollen, lumbermzn He was stand
ing near boathouse when a number
women and children came toward
him There were three or four men
following. They went to the raft
and attempted to push il from
the shore when Il caught IRE
Some jumped into small boats and
others remained on the raft AL per
ished- as the beats WERE overloaded
and sunk. The raft burned TO the
waters edge
The local relief committee has issued
a statement Ia the public thanking the
generous citizens of the state for their
literal contributions
To briefly summarize the ires have
burned a. follows.
The city IF Phillips. entirely wiped
out; the city Of Mason. practically de-
stroyed. with the White River Lumber
Co. and D.. OIL. doo feet Of lumber. head
quarters Of the Ashland Lumber Co.
near shorts Crossing, entirely wiped
out: a special train Of the Chicago. St
Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha. consist
ing Of sixteen ears and two loeomo-
tives. all burned. broke through the
burning bridge near Ashland Junction:
the camps of the Thompson Lumber
Co. burned At White river. two bridges
on the main line Of the Chicago. 81
Paul. Minneapolis q Omaha railroad.
ene near Ashland Junction and one
near Mason. two bridges on the Wis
eonsin Central. one at Chelsea and the
other At Phillips. both ON the main
line south Of Ashland
Several parties Of berry piekers from
Ashland narrowly escaped with their
lives
sixty Ba.ine~= Hsas~s And Several Dwell
iaEs In Belle Ptsia- Ia. Destroyed
| BELLE PLANE. Ia. July ss--The cry
Of fre was heard throughout the town
late yesterday afternoon The citizens
soon had the fre apparatus out. but
owing 10 the engines stezming slowly
the flames, which had started in the
roof Of a livery stable and were famed
by a strong west wind. had leaped
across the street TO the business part
of the city. and were soon beyond the
control of the hremen-
IL WAS impossible To stop the spread
of the flames with the apparatus ai
hand and sixty buildings were burned
kilograms were hurridly sent TO Cedar
Rapids and Tama. but By O'Clock ths
entire business portion OF the towr
was in ashes
| In all over sixty buildings and busi
ness concerns were burned out. with /
los of $4,000. with $50. 900 insurance
| Several dwellings and their content