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

and his little twelve-year-old brother
struggled for the Duluth track. The lat
ter fell in ditch and was too exhausted
10 rise lie lay there all night and this
morning made his way 20 the track, find
ing the dead body Of his brother but a
few feet from the place where he had
been saved. The other daughter was on
the eastern train 10 Duluth. one family,
consisting Of a man, mis- wife and four HI
tie children ana the wfe's brother,
crawled out on a boom in the river,
where they remained all night They
made their way to HinclSley this after
noon and came down 20 Pine City, where
they are now. none the worse for their
experience. A few miles below Hinckey
stands the miracle OF the FIRE. a claim
shanty belonging 10 Frank Baumcher,
the Duluth section foreman Ii was COW
cred with ragged building paper, and pre-
sented a most inviting opportunity Tor
the flames, which ragged close about II on
all sides There Ii stands unnjured. The
paper Is not even scorched. In the same
vicinity stands grove OF twisted poplar
trees, almost stripped OF their branches,
and evidence Of the cyclonic popularity
Of the fire.
Pokegama Lake, six miles west OF
Hlnckley on the ST. Cloud branch was
wiped as clean as the other towns. II Is
said about twenty lives were lost at that
point.
Jim Root the Hero of Heroes.
Engineer jim Root Of the Duluth
limited Is the hero Of heroes Of this terri
BILE calamity. He stuck TO his engine
when the cab was all on fire about him
and ran his train with its precious freight
Of 300 souls back to the safe waters Of
Skunk lake. Hnckley people say Jim
Root shall wear diamonds as long as they
live. Fortunately he escaped with COM
paratively slight injuries. Poor Sullivan,
the conductor OF the train, has tenn
pOrarily lost his reason and was taken
back to Duluth. He rendered noble serv-
Ice in disembarking the passengers,
throwing one little girl through the car
window. This was the last impression
left on his disordered brain, and as he
lies in a lethargy he arouses at intervals
TO say: Il threw the little girl through
the window Did 1 do right? Does any
one blame me?" and then relapses into
unconsciousness. It is. expected that he
will recover In a few days There is
little probability of Hinclxley ever being
rebuilt TO Its former prosperous proper
tiOns. The Brennan lumber company Is
not expected to rebuild its plant. Work
had been crowded this season in the
hope of clearing up all its timber and
another season would have been the last.
The company has but about 12,000,0 900
feet of timber remaining, which is so
located that it can be sawed TO better ad-
vantage at other points than by rebuild
ing here at a probable cost Of from $50
600 10 $4,000. The timber in the vicinity
is well cut and burned off and there is
no chance of any other company com
ing in. without an enterprise Of this
kind there is no future for Hinchey, eX-
cept as a junction point.
The total loss Of life will never be
definitely known. There were scattered
through the woods settlers clearings
81 ,fgef,,, ,.e.r,
and many people We're undoubtedly
burned whose bodies were completely de-
stroyed and will never be found.
About o'clock this afternoon the
work train from st. Paul reached Hinck-
lev With Undertaken O'HallOran and his
thirty-two caskets. He went quickly to
work upon the thirty-one corpses that
lay beside the track. A close description
Of the bodies was kept, and every frag-
ment OF clothing. the jewelry and any
thing else that could lead TO identifca-
ton was carefully preserved. The
work progressed rapidly and by evening
the bodies were all wrapped up and laid
away in the caslIets and returned to
Pine City. No attempt was made to
bury the dead at the cemetery. y last
effort 10 identify them will be made in
the morning. Assistant General Mana
ger Miller. who arrived here at an early
hour yesterday morning, and whose la
bors had been as efficient as indefatiga-
bic, sent up a carload Of lumber and a
force Of carpenters, who went TO work
knocking together rough boxes, which
viii be used so far as possible at the
cemetery.
Not "a Life Lost Mt Mission Creek.
The little settlement at Mission Creek,
peopled largely by the employees Of the
| old John Martin mill. now owned by
Boyle & Laird, was wiped off the face
Of the earth almost as Hinckley. its
larger neighbor, a half-dozen miles up
the road. There was there the mill,
valued at perhaps $4,000, about a dozen
houses ana the company store. The
mill had been sold 10 Mr.. Wisdom Of
Rush City, who was dlsmantling it pre-
paratory 70 shipping il to Arkansas.
Much of the machinery had been taken
out and was about 10 be loaded on q
train Of four fiat cars which stood on the
side track. There was perhaps half n
million feet OF sawed lumber IN the yard.
The total population Of the place was
between forty and fifty.
over on the west side of the track. for
tunately, well removed from the mill
and ward. stood an old log house in the
center of a large potato patch. The
women and children were all huddled in
to this solid old structure and the men
remained outside of necessity fighting
away the fire. The log house was a lit
efdl maven OF refuge. livery lllus e'se
went but the fire could not run through
the green potato vines, and the solid
walls resisted the waves of sparks and
flame that rolled up against them. Not a
life was lost at Mission Creek. The mill
property was totally destroyed with the
rest Boyle & Laird's loss viii be quite
heavy, as the transfer Of the property
to Wisdom had not been fully completed.
Three deer and two rabbits came out
of the woods and took refuge among