The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-30
WISCONSIN, FIERCE FIRES.
A Hundred Miles Square Of Forest Un-
der a Canopy Of Smoke.

NSA u NuANiJ Va bhAOhSa
Three Relief Trains Roll Intc the Des-
olate Town of Phillips-Twenty- Ave
Hundred of It's Inhabitants Fugi-
tives in the Forests and Nearby vii.
laRes-Gov. Peck and his STAFF On
the Scene.
Phillips, Wis, July 29.-At daybreak
this morning dense smoke covered an
area of forest for hundred miles square,
and the country was desolute. Fire
swept this little city. More than $500
persons have fed into the forests or to
the villages near by. The town this
morning was a heap of ruins, and
the smoke was so dense that
the headlight of locomo-
tive could not be seen fifty
feet away. Three relief trains reached
| Phillips soon after 6 o'clock this morning.
One was in charge of Gov. George w.
! Peck and his staff. The second came from
| Stevens Point In charge of Frank
Lamoreax and Crosby Grant, and
the third from Marshfield in
charge of Maj. II. w. Upham, the
republican nominee for governor. As
soon as he arrived, Gov. Peck called his
staff together and saw to the work Of un-
| loading the provisions. A warehouse
was opened in one of the few buildings
that was left. Through the dense smoke
| Gov, Peck started out on tour
Of inspection. He soon found
two heavy walls of masonry which
marked the place where the two banks
had stood. On inquiry it was learned
a.. IL IA A..
! S52, 600 and Gov. Peck Immediately swora
in a dozen men to guard the money in the
vaults, They were armed with Winches-
ter rifles and ordered to remain on duty
in two shifts day and night.
768 BUILDINGS BURNED.
| The loss by the great fire in its entirety
is difficult TO estimate Out of 500 build
ings in the town, only 81 remain. b. w.
Davis Of the Davis Lumber Company ess
Inmates the total loss at 81 ,5O0, 900, with
scarcely half of the full amount insured.
The Davis Lumber Company lost $500, 900,
but is fully insured.
The next largest loss is that of the
Fayette-Shaw Tannery Company, operat-
ing one of the largest tanneries in the
| United States. The tannery was de-
strOyed with its stock, aggregating loss
| of nearly 100000
The Blatz Brewing Company OF Mil
waukee had distributing depot here,
which was destroyed with loss Of
| S., 900.
There is no way of estimating the num-
Der of lives lost in the fire, and even after
! forty eight hours have passed. no one can
be found who ventures an opinion of the
loss of life. The people who fled before
the wave of fire became scared and can
| give no account 1t is known that sixteen
! persons perished on a raft that burned in
the bayou. A bridge crossed the bayou,
and when the supports OF this were
burned away it fell. Women and chill
| dren were crossing at the time and some
| must have perished.
The charred body OF Anton f. Lentzer
can be seen in the wreck Of brick chim-
ney. The man was attempting TO carry
! his trunk from a burning dwelling when
the brick chimney fell on him, crushing
out his life.
CHILDREN RUSH INTO A DEATH TRAP.
AS the fire swept toward the bridge
| number of children were seen TO take
refuge IN the big lumber yard. Their
cries were heard by others who fled to-
ward the water, but the children have
never been found.
| OF 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 q. Liss, q machinist, was found
under pile of drift-wood at noon to-day.
The bodies OF his wife and children were
recovered afterward. Dynamite was ex-
| ploded all day in the bayou, and a NUM-
Der of bodies were raised by this means.
Jim Locks body was brought TO the sur
| face. He was the butcher who was
drowned with his child in his arms.
THE STORY OF THE RAFT.
The true story Of this ill-fated raft has
never been told. The only man who tells
comprehensive narrative of the horror
is Joseph Bolten, a lumberman. He was
standing near boat house when num-
ber of women and children came toward
him. There were three or four men fol-
lowing They went to the raft and
attempted TO push it from the shore
when IL caught fire Some jumped into
small boats and others remained on the
raft. All these perished. AS the boats
were overloaded they sank. The raft
| burned to the waters edge.
Gov. Peck discovered that a saloon OUT
side the city limits was opened and sew
eral men had become intoxicated. The
governor ordered the sheriff 10 close the
saloon.
A temporary Jail was made by appro-
prfating an empty box car.
The local relief committee has issued a
statement to the public thanking the gem
erous citizens of the state for their
liberal contributions.
RUNNING IN ALL DIRECTIONS.
Wausau, Wis, July 29-News from the
country is that the forest fires are run
ming in all directions and destroying
much property. All day long the SUI
has been obscured by dense smoke, but
this city is in no i'm mediate danger.
TWO MORE BODIES FOUND.
Stevens Point Wis, July 90 Late
this afternoon two additional bodies were
taken from the bayou at Phillips, making
ten in all.
STRUCK AGAINST A CUT.