Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1894-09-14

The forest fires in Minnesota and
Wisconsin are something terrible. A
wide district has been swept by fire
that came almost as suddenly as q
Cyclone, q dozen o more cities and
towns have been destroyed, hundreds
of lives have been lost and thousands
of people have been made homeless.
The details of the calamity r simply
appalling and the story OF disaster
told in the dispatches is almost with
out precedent in the record of thrill
ing and horrible incidents. In addi-
Ition to the loss of life and the destruc-
ton of homes and establishments repre-
senting business activity, wide stretches
of valuable timber have been destroyed
and the losses will be counted
by millions. The story of the struggle,
Aight and death or r escape OF
thousands of people in the fre-swept
district in Minnesota and Wisconsin
makes a lurid and thrilling narrative.
The fury of a forest fire in dry sea-
son is not to he stayed by mans in
genuity. In the old prairie fires meas
ures could be taken to turn the tide of
destruction, but before the fierce blazes
of the forests man stands as helpless
as we're the victims of the Johnstown
flood. Railway trains are overtaken,
whole towns swept out of existence,
isolated homes by the score or hum
dred burned, leaving no trace Of those
who occupied them, and a wide extent
of country blackened to a desert. This
A. H. o-. t. l-sk 81 Al. g.. T.
Minnesota and Wisconsin.
own way and his legions we're rium-
phant. Hinckley. Partridge, Kerrick,
Sandstone, Mansfield, Dedham on the
Great Northern, Barronett, She'll Lake
on the, Omaha and Poplar on the
Northern Pacific lines were destroyed
saturday night and Sunday, with the
exception of She'll Lake, where only
sixty houses are burned. 1t Is not pos
lsible to give anything like accurate
details. but the loss of life and
property has been terrible. The fires
loriginated in the forests. the wind was
blowing a gale Sunday night, and the
%emoldering fires sprang suddenly into
formidable life, and leaped with almost
incredible activity upon the unsuspect-
tng towns in their path. The worst
suffering is reported from Hinckley,
lMinn.t and vicinity. The estimate Of
the loss of life there and in the sur
rounding towns Is being increased by
on one street of Hinckley the bodies
of twenty-nine victims were found,
while in another spot the charred and
unacceptable remains of lob citizens
were counted. A low estimate of the
fatalities in that town alone is now
placed at 300 persons. Scores Of others
were discovered severely injured,
while the list of missing was in the
hundreds. It is believed that at least
100 victims r on the farms and clear
ings throughout the burnt district.
The loss of life in and about Hinck-
ley, Sandstone, Pokegama, Skunk Lake
and Mission Creek will not be known
Tor weeks, if ever The survivors were
taken to Pine City, where physicians
cared for the injured, while relief
trains from Duluth, Minneapolis and
st. Paul carried in tents, clothing, food
and everything necessary to cover the
wants of the suffering survivors. Very
few persons are left in Hinckley.
Score of Towns Wiped Out.
Nineteen towns are known to have
been wiped out, and the property loss
HOoCA0e ~A.,OOUSU-W CO11OWlu& is t00
list of towns destroyed:
Bashaw. Burnett County. Wis.
Bsrronett, Barron County. Wis.
GG.EswrM,F,h nS chtppew. County. Wis.
Efeld, PIN County, Wis.
Granite Lake, Barron County, Wis.
4rantsburk, Burnett County, Wis.
&idden, Ashland County, Wis.
Rinckley, Pin County, Mimi.
Mission Creek, Pine County. MINI.
Mareng0. Ashland County, Wis.
Mtlsca. Pin County, Mimi.
FAusc0da, Grant County, Wis.
Shell Lake. Washburn County, Wis.
South Range. Douglas County, Wis.
stdnaw. Houghton County. Mich.
: Sandstone, MINI.
Trout Greek. Mich.
Many other towns were reported in
danger late Sunday night. Cadott,
near Chippewa Falls, Wis, was sur
rounded by flames. and the people of
Chippewa Falls went to the rescue
with steamers. Good news came that
the town Of Washburn, Wis, across
the bay from Ashland, had finally been
saved. But other reports are that the
flames elsewhere are increasing their
fury, and are now advancing into the
vast forests eat of Ashland and to.
wards the cities in the iron belt, lead
ing to Marquette. The losses at
Hinckley and Barronett were each
49, .Na .NN