The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-09-05
AFTER THE DELUCE OF
DEATH-DEALINC FLAMES
Concluded from First Page.

Il
probable death Of this one or this family
| and the news of the escape or another,
| who was at first supposed TO nave per
1 ished, are all discussed with the same De
! numbed air expressing neither sorrow
| nor despair in the one case nor elation and
| Joy in the other.
The night was a gloomy one. The hos
/ pital patients demanded the attention OF
| the physicians all night, and the only
! druggist In Pine City was kept busy un-
/ til daylight filling prescriptions ard sup
/ plying lotions. for most OF the Injuries
| were burns more or less serious by
( morning all were in state or compare
/ tive comfort and there were none whose
hurts were deemed fatal. Among the
/ good citizens Of Pine City who had
| opened their hearts, their homes and tnelr
/ public buildings 10 their stricken neigh
| bors all was hustle and activity. me
I town hall was kept open all night ana
| provisions served 10 al corners. Ihe
| school house and many a private nome
were thrown open. Every blanket in town
was called into service. The women ana
| children were given the better quarters
and the men stretched out in rows on the
| floors Of the two public buildings named.
| Before daylight the town was astir.
| The arrangements for the relief OF the
| destitute further up the line where nun
/ dreds Of men, women ana chilaleh were
| not only homeless but absolutely without
| q scrap OF food or bedding or extra cloth
| ing, were taken up where they were
| dropped at night. The appointed commit
tees met and got their work well in hand.
| Before o'clock IN the morning the con-
| struction train loaded with bridge ma
| terial for the repair OF the bridge across
! the GrindstOne river, at Hinckiey, came
up from Rush City. y couple hundred
| loaves Of bread and other light pro-
| visions were placed on board in charge
! of Judge j. c. Nathemy or StlllWateI'
| representing the relief committee
| party of laborers to dig graves and inter
| the bodies was collected and the train
| proceeded into the burned country AT
| HinclSley the provisions were loaded on
| to a hand-car manned by Judge Nathemy
| and a volunteer crew and a start was
| made across the shaky bridge to Miller.
nine miles further north, where dozen
/ or more We're reported dead and three
/ or four times as many hungry and nome
| less. From Miller they expect to work
| east 10 Sandstone, about five miles across
| the country on the Eastern Minnesota
| railroad. where there are between fifty
| and fiftyAfve dead and q couple Of nun
| dred living. who We're saved in Kettle
| river and in the great Sandstone quar-
| rles. About IL o'clock the bridge was
| sufficiently repaired 10 admit the passage
| Of a train, and an engine, freight car and
! caboose with a plentiful supply Of food
| and a meager store OF collins In charge
/ Of Undertaken OHalloran OF ST. Paul
! We're sent forth.
|
| At Hinckley the visible situation had
not materially changed nor improved
over night The thirty or forty caskets
and boxes with their gruesome contents
/ still lay alongside the track, whore they
| were placed last night. No attempt had
/ been made to dress or embalm the bod
| les. and they We're already growing very
/ offensive. Fortunately the day was cool
| and cloudy and grateful showers fell at
4 intervals during the forenoon. The re-
/ mains Of the dead. however were in
/ such a horribly blistered and burned
/ condition that decomposition rapidly set
/ In. Undertaken j. O.. Donnelly Of st.
! Paul was on the ground and he advised
| that the bodies be buried as rapidly as
/ possible. Every attempt at Identified
/ ton had been exhausted. From these
/ bodies by the track the officials Of the
! st. Paul & Duluth road had removed
! and carefully preserved every trinket
/ and article Of jewelry, and even shreds
| and scraps OF clothing, placing those
| from each body into a receptacle num-
| bered like the casket, so that If possible
when the relatives return they may rec
/ ognize and know whether their friends
| have been inferred.
out in the little cemetery a mile east
/ OF town was a scene which words are
I powerless to describe. At best the lit
/ tie spot would be as dreary as could
/ u
! sandy knoll. where nature is seen at her
| worst, and absolutely no attempt toward
| artificial establishment has ever been
made. There were only a few little
sandy, unsodden mounds before Now,
/ with the blackened, fire-scoured Stumps
| and fallen trunks of trees all about, 1t
! presented an appearance OF desolation
J hard to describe. But in the center of
! the opening was the browning horror.
| In an indiscriminate heap lay more than
wafHa
dren. Some burned to a crisp, others
! only Drowned by the heat. Some were
| bloated until the abdomen had cracked
| open. Skulls were burned open and
brains escaped, and all We're twisted and
| cramped In the exquisite agony of the
| death that had overtaken them.
/ A force Of men We're quickly at work
| digging shallow trench along the south
! end Of the cemetery. The sandy soil
/ was hard as flint. II had been baked to
a crust by weeks Of drought and almost
solidifed by the fire. The work pro-
| crossed slowly.
Digging His FamtIy's Grave.
Off IN the corner of the clearing two
smaller graves We're dug. One
was for Mrs. William Grisinger
and her two baby girls, Caroline, aged six,
and Mabel, aged three. The husband and
father had recognized them In the heap
and was hard at work preparing for them
a final resting place apart from the
| trench designed for the unidentified his
| labors dulling for the time the acuteness
| OF his anguish. Tie other grave was for
the Best family, whose name makes
| their destruction notable even in this
| time Of death. John Best, jr., was digging
| the pit with the friendly assistance of
| two neighbors Laid in a row recently
| covered were the bodies OF John Best sr
| Mrs. Best, Fred Best, aged twenty-three:
| Bertha, aged seventeen; Mrs. Annie
] Wiegel, married daughter, and her
| three-year-old daughter Minnie Miss
| Annie Truttmar of Diamond Bluff. Wis.
| a visitor, aged twenty-six, and Victor
| Best, aged eight. The other sons, George,
| aged twenty-five, and Willie aged twenty
| one. are missing. and are certainly dead.
1 And Of this whole family of three genera
| lions only the sorrOwing gravedigger and
| his wife and child, who took refuge are
| alive. The only others of these ninety
! odd who were recognized were Charles
| Anderson, cashier Of the ,anx; Mrs
! William Ginder and her daughter Wini-
| fred aged six. One or two others We're
| imperfectly Identified, but 1t was largely
| guesswOrk. Enough rude boxes were
| knocked together from rough boards to
| contain most Of these bodies and thew
| were rapidly laid away under the sand
but not before other bodies began to
| come in.
The Operator Died mt His Post.
In the swamp across the Grindstone
where these eorpses were found yester-
| dav were about fhfrtv ofhors r.rt,fch 49,,