The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-09-05

on each side or the track, and as he re-
versed his engine and started back the
cars scorched and cracked I'm the heat
Root ran the train back about three
miles, TO Skunk Lake and the people
escaped from the burning cars TO the
water. and no lives were lost, either of
passengers or refugees.
Took Refuge I'm Pit.
The people who remained In Hinclxley
Jared the best Of all. The Eastern Min
nesota tracks mark the eastern edge Of
the city proper. Just beyond. the road
owns a tract of land probably embrac-
Ing at least ten acres. 1t was purchased
for a gravel pit 10 furnish material for
the fll-up approach TO the company's
bridge across the GrndstOne and at
other points on its line. To the fact that
1t had been used for this purpose almost
TO It's exhaustion about a hundred Hlnck-
leyites owe their lives. The whole area
indicated had been excavated to a depth
IN the center Of thirty 20 forty feet.
There was a stagnant pool of rain water
In the center three feet I'm greatest
depth. The pit was wide and deep and
to II fled those Of the citizens who were
willing to trust to It's friendly depths
There were probably 100 of them, and In
addition TO the human beings quite n
number of domestic animals. horses.
cows. oxen. pigs. chickens, etc. sought
safety here. 1t was really the safest
place about Hlnckiey. Three or four
hundred trunks which were rolled half
way down the sloplng bank passed
through the fire unscathed. The people
went In here as the Eastern train pulled
out few minutes after o'clock and
here they remained until after night
while the smoke and flames from the
burning city rolled over their heads
They dashed over each other and covered
their heads with wet cloths 10 prevent
suftOc8tion. One unknown man sue
cumbed to the smoke or TO the terrible
strain and fell in the water and was
drowned. 50 far as known today this
was the only tragedy Of the gravel pit.
Other Of the citizens sought refuge In
the Grindstone river. under the abut-
ments of the two railway bridges and
the foot bridge. The exact number can
not be known as they were scattered
along a considerable distance. That
many escaped and some were drowned
is well known. Mrs. Martin Martinson
and her four little children were taken,
drowned, from the water this morning.
In the meantime Hinckley was burning
with frghtful rapidity and i'm a few
hours nothing was left but blackened
ruins. The loss viii certainly exceed a
million dollars, but with little insurance.
The Fire Closed In on Them.
4lit ntLuaL Lttli dAt CdnQhlUlle Is even more
appalling than at Hinckley. except IL
point Of numbers. or the 200 people in
the town one-fourth are dead. Otto
Stafferfeldt reached here from that place
tonight. He says the people were just
preparing to leave when the fire closed in
on three sides and not d single person
saved a thing except his clothing About
160 went to the river and fifty or sixty
were burned TO death. At 4 o'clock this
morning he saw over forty bodies.
charred and burned, lying on every side.
The people who were saved are living on
potatoes and carrots left i'm the ground.
As night closed in the people began to
come out from their hiding places and
make their way over the hot embers Of
their city. They We're absolutely dazed
By the catastrophe. md the night was
spent in an endeavor to find relatives or
ascertain their whereabouts. Commuui-
cation with the outer world was cut off
for hours as completely as If they were
on a desert island. The fire had spent
its force, but the air was filled with
smoke, through which CLEANED the dull
blaze Of smouldering fire in the more
substantial stocks Of goods Two huge
heaps of coal, which marked the location
of the Duluth coal sheds, were blazing,
and by the fitful light people wandered
about picking out the places where but
six hours before their happy homes had
stood The fact that so many had es-
capped by train added 20 the anxiety Of
those whose friends and relatives Were
not to be found, while ii furnished at the
same time a basis for hope that they
were in safety.
Recovering the Bodies.
When the morning broke, a few ener-
getic spirits began to organize the work
of the recovery OF the bodies. J. W.
Sargent, a passenger conductor on the
Duluth road, got into Hinckley during
the night and he organized a volunteer
crew. who manned two handcars, whose
capacity was increased by the use of
plank They went UP the Duluth track
to the north and picked up thirty-one
bodies between the river and Skunk
lake. The bodies were wrapped up in
blankets and such cloth as could be OBJ
tained and laid out by the side of the
track where the depot stood. Here also
were brought the two little Sons Of Tom
Henderson, Sandy and Johnny: the
drowned corpses of Mrs. Martinson and
her four children, Mrs Blanchard and
her two children, who were burned 10
death Just above the Duluth round
house. and a man named Lambeson, who
was found near the Martinson party.
Citizen volunteers harnessed up the
available vehicles saved in the gravel pit
and went out TO the swamp across the
Grindstone. They brought in ninety-six
bodies which were carried out to the
desolaUe burying-ground a mile east of
town. There was neither time nor Oppor-
tunity to observe the sacred formalities
usually surrounding death. The excite
ment of the occasion, the horrible ex-
perience through which the living had
passed, and the more horrible form in
which death had come TO the lost, had
temporarily blunted the finer sensibili-
ties and the dead were heaped high on
the wagons and laid in piles at the ceme-
terry, among the smoking embers and
stumps that surrounded Gods acre. 1t
was a gruesome sight.
VIII He Buried in Huge Pits.
Dr. D. w. Gown, the coroner. who was
here, there and everywhere, in general
supervision, directed the digging of two
huge pits, twenty-four by twelve feet,
in which the interment will be made
tomorrow. One of the saddest features
of the calamity is the impossibility of
Identification in such a large proportion
of the cases. The ninety-six bodies
brought into this point were examined
by many Of the surviving residents Of
HinclIley and but four could be identi-
fed, Charles Anderson, AXel Hanson,
Dennis Riley and Mrs. William Ginder.
The balance will have to be buried to-
rangements, and II seemed impossible
otherwise under the circumstances, due
regard was not paid to a proper, separate
preservation of articles found on the
bodies and the last chance of identifica-
ton was lost. Those who brought in the