The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-09-07
WIPED OUT.
Six Towns in Minnesota Burned
Up by Forest Fires.
FIVE HUNDRED PERSONS PERISH.
Scenes OF Horror witnessed-The Loss of
Property VIII BE In the Millions
Volunteers Take Provislonf
to Sandstone.

ST. PAUL, Mimi, Sept. 3.-Six towns
wiped out and more than 500 dead is
the record made by the forest fires in
this state in the past twenty-four
hours. In Hinckley, Sandstone, Poke
gama, Sandstone Junction, Skunk
Lake and Mission Creek there are 355
known dead. In addition several
hundreds are missing, while from $50 to
200 were scattered on farms through
out the district burned over. The de-
struction was complete in most of the
towns named, but some of the forest
land escaped. The loss, however, will
be in the millions and the loss of life
will not be definitely known for several
days, if ever.
| Hinckley, Mimi, about half way be-
tween this city and Duluth, has been
wiped out by forest fires and the list of
dead may reach 1000. The walls of
the schoolhouse, the iron fence about
the town hall property, the bank vault
and one absolutely uninjured clubhouse
is all that is left to mark the site where
stood score of buildings, and a dozen
times as many dwelling houses. The
story of the catastrophe which wiped
out the material possessions that had
made Hinckley busy, prosperous
little city is short one. The town
was built of wood. The schoolhouse,
erected last year at a cost of $4,000
and one-half of the Duluth roundhouse
were the only brick structures in the
city. BY one of those peculiar freaks
fn, xx-1i ial, 40
Eastern Minnesota roundhouse and
water tank on the southwestern edge
of the town, almost in the woods, es-
capped the flames.
The fire first struck Hinckley on the
east side of the Duluth track. and the
brave fre-fghters for the first time
gave up the unequal battle, and al
ready too late in many instances,
turned their attention to their per-
sonal safety. The eastern Minnesota
train from the south had just come in
and the people of the panic-stricken
city fiocked to it for safety. A number
of box cars were coupled on and filled
and covered with men, women and
children. Some were bareheaded, some
were coatless, some few clutched a
pitiful bundle of the more precious of
their portable possessions. Families
were separated. Children Joined the
throng and left parents. In all there
was motely crowd of about $50 or
more people.
About the same hour the accommoda-
tion train on the Hinckley & st. Cloud
branch left for the latter place with
about twenty-five passengers. It's path
lay directly across the path of the fire
and their situation speedily became
desperate. The ties were burning, the
rails were warping and the trestles
were sagging under the train. The
smoke had increased SO that the en-
gineer was helpless. He could not
see the train behind him. Burn
ing trees lay across the track and
were being tossed aside by the en-
gine. Suddenly the track gave way
and the train toppled off to one side.
No one was injured and they pressed
on to Pokegama station, few rods
ahead. But few feet in front of the
engine was discovered a gorge 60 feet
wide and 40 feet deep where the trestle
had been burned away. They succeeded
in reaching the clearing about the sta
tion and escaped with few burns and
bruises. There were burned along the
track, however, four or five people
The people who were left in the city
were in what seemed to be an almost
hopeless condition. Egress by the only
means of transportation that could
hope to distance the swiftly advancing
flames was out of the question. The
men had been fighting the fire for
hours, and the women and children
were in a panic-stricken condition
Horses were harnessed to buggies and
wagons. Women and children were
hurriedly loaded. In some cases at
tempts were made to carry off some
household goods, but in most instances
the people had no thought for aught
but their lives. Probably POD of them
left town ON foot or in vehicles, plung-
ing into the woods north across the
Grindstone river, which skirts the town
on the north.
Over the hill that rises beyond the
GriDastone is a swamp and to this most
of the people with teams headed, but
it proved no protection. The fire gave
them no opportunity to go further.
Some abandoned their teams and ran
into the low portions of the morass,
but the fire sought them out. Not one
was left to tell the tale and there yester-
day morning in space of little more
than five acres were counted over 130
corpses. There were many families of
five, six and seven, and there they lay,
the man generally a little in advance,
the mother surrounded by the little
ones. cut off by the most horrible of
deaths Those who fled to the north
on foot, followed the Duluth track and
so rapid was the progress of the flames
that many of them were actually
burned as they fled. Nearly thirty
bodies were recovered along here.
The people who remained in Hinck-
ley Jared the best of all.
INVENTIVE GENIUS.