The Irish standard., 1894-09-08

r
committee, which has headquarters at
Pine City, announced that at least $50
persons have died hideous deaths; 1900
more are left absolutely destitute, hun
CRY, shelterless and half clothed. This
Is the death list as given out by the
committee Tuesday evening:
Between sGnns Lake and sandstone scis0''
Sandstone Junction ...:............ Is
sandstone .,.-t4... ................ 77
POk6Rama. a.. .................... 2S
Surrounding camps ..........,...... 80
~ Iotal ...- ......... .................447 447
OF these figures, those given from
Hinckley are absolute record of
bodies recovered. How many more lie
hidden in the blackened waste, in the
lakes, morasses and streams nobody
knows. The figures In the following
table are careful estimates. Besides
these there are other deaths probably
still to be enumerated.
Worst WIN Never BE known.
More than 800 square miles of pine
land have been burned over, dozen
towns have been absolutely swept
of the earth, and railways and
telegraph lines crippled and half de-
stroyeC. No man will ever know exact
" The number Of poor wretches who
have perished under this visitation, no
one will ever be able to guess within
millions what has been the property
loss.
From one cistern in Sandstone Tues
day they took fifteen corpses. A deep,
black pond near the sawnill just north
of Hinckley was the refuge of scores
of panic-stricken Inhabitants. It's
shores are steep and slimy, composed
OF sawmill refuse; anyone veptur-
ing near it would almost certainly
slip into deep water and drown.
Men OF Hinckley believe that there
are fifty bodies or more in the bot
tom of this pond. The edges of it are
slnoldering now with fierce heat and
no one can approach it. Along the
south branch of the Grindstone river
there were over 100 settlers in little
clearings scattered through the forest.
No one has seen or heard of single
one of these unfortunates yet. The
worst of-the hideous story is yet to be
told
Death Everywhere Abounds.
Death is everywhere. The sight Of
D living man in this charcoal desert
gives one a start of surprise, The
wild deer, swift as they were in fight.
were caught by this flying hell and
burned as they ran. About the ash
heaps that were villages fowls, dogs,
cats, horses, cattle, all domestic beasts
lie half eaten by fire. The sight of the
hideous human corpses, unspeakable
torture written in every fiber of the de-
nuded, half-charred muscles, is enough
to make man faint and sick, but
these horrid fragments are handled at
Hinckley like SO many dogs, There is
a surfeit of horror People are going
doggedly and sullenly about the never
ending, heavy task Of buryine their
dead Their capability for anguish
has been stunned. 4.
Discovery OF New Bodies.
Bodies are still being found. Fifty
seven of them were brought to Coroner
Collins at Hinckley Tuesday, not
counting others sent directly to the
cemetery. There are searching parties
out all through the burned woods,
hunting patiently about, straining
their eyes to find corpses that are
hardly distinguishable from. the
charred logs among which they lie.
They are burying the bodies where
they found them in many cases, so
there Is still less chance for an accu-
rate computation Of the number Of
dead. '.
- Fires i'm Wisconsin.
ASHLAND, Wis, Sept 5.-Port Wing,
a small town ut the mouth of. Flag
river, 40 miles east across the bay.
from Duluth, according to reports re-
ceived, was totally wiped out by the
fires Tuesday afternoon. 1t lis town
Of about 900 population, and is the
headquarters of the Cranberry Lumber
company. AS there is neither railway
nor telegraphic communication with
the place the report cannot be con-
armed. The report did not say whether
there had been any lives lost.
Fires In ALI Directions.
Fires are burning on all sides Of Ash
land. The same is true of Washburn,
and, Ii reports brought in by trainmen
pre- true, Ironwood. Hurley, Odanah,
bayfield,, sanborn, MarenRo, Benoit,
Iron River and dozen other impor-
tant centers Of life and commerce are
In a situation equally dangerous. A
blanket of smoke envelops this entire
region, and it is as dense as the pro-
verbal London fog.
Rain Abates the Fires Fury.
IsHPEMINs, Mich. Sept. 5.--Fear or
further da uage from fire In this vicin-
sty has vanished, rain having fallen.
There is no fire within many miles Of
here. The damage to crops. timber
and other property in Marquette coun-
ty is small compared with the loss in
Baraga, Iron and Dickinson counties
The total loss in counties west Of hsre
will aggregate anywhere from aso.-
DOo, 900 to $40. OOo, 900.