The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1894-09-06

headed, but it proved no protection.
The fire gave them no opportunity
to 60 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 this morning in a
space of little more than five acres
were counted over 130 corpsee.
There were many families of FIVE, six
and seven, and there they lay, the
man generally little in advance, the
mother surrounded by her little ones
cut off by the most horrible of
deaths. Nearly all the bodies were
nude, the fire having burned every
vestige of their clothing and black
ened and charred mauy of the
corpse beyond recognition and where
whole families were wiped out, as
they were, and some OF the bodies
completely incineratsd,i identification
is absolutely out of the question.
Those who fed 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 fed, falling on the
right of-way for distance of three
miles of more. Nearly thirty bodies
were recovered along here.
Some of the foremost escaping
citizens met the Duluth train coming
in from the north. 1t was due at
Hinckley at 4:O5. Engineer jim
Root was at the throttle. He stop
ped the train aud took on board
about 125 OF the refugees who crowd
ed into the train, completely filing
it, for it had passenger list almost
as large. By this time the woods
were blazing on each side of the
track and as Root reversed his en-
CINE and started back TIE car scorch-
ed AID cracked in the heat Root
ran the train back about three miles
to Skunk lake and the people sscap-
ed from the burning cars to the
water and no lives were lost, either
of passegers or refugees
The people who remained ia
Hinckley Jared the best of all. The
Eastern Minnesota tracks mark the
eastern edge of the city ppper.
Just beyond the road owned tract
of land probably embracing at least
ten acres. 1t was purchased for a
gravel pit to furnish material filling
up tue approach to the company's
bridge across the Grindstone and at
other points OF it's line. To the fact
that it had been used for this pur-
pose almost TO its exhaustion, about
100 Hinckleyites owe their lives.
The whole area indicated had been
excavated to depth in the center
of thirty or forty feet. There was
a stagnant pool of rain water in the
center, three feet in the greatest
depth. The pit was wide and deep
and to it fed those of the citizens
who were willing to trust to it's
friendly depths. There were prob
ably 100 of them. 1t was really the
safest place about Hinckley. Here
they remained four hours, while the
smoke and flames from the burning
city rolled over their heads. They
dashed water over each other and
covered their heads with wet cloths
to prevent suffocation. One un-
known mar, succumbed to smoke,
fell in the water and was drowned.
Others of the citizens sought refuge
in the Grindstone river under the
asutment of the railway bridges and
at the footbridge. The exact number
can not be known as they were scat
tered along considerable stretch OF
the little stream That many es-
capped and some were drowned is
is we'll known. Mrs. Martin Martin
son and her four little babes were
taken, drowned, from the water this
morning, as pitiful sight as mans
eyes ever witnessed.
In the meantime Hinckley was
burning with the utmost rapidity,
and in few hours nothing was left
but ruins. The total loss to tbs
city will exceed S1,000,000, with a
comparatively light insurance.
The situation at Sandstone is even
more appalling than Hickey, except
in point of numbers. OF the 200
residents one fourth are dead. Otto
Stafferfeldt of Sandstone walked in
to Hincklev and rode down to Pine
City tonight, and tells a graphic
story of the disaster. He says that
last night about $50 flames neared
the town and the people prepared te
5 leave The wind blew like hurri
/ cane, and as the people were getting
: ready 10 leave. the fire closed i'll
: on th'-~ sides. not single person
| saving hing except his clothes
t About 100 went to the river ant
! fifty or sixty We're burned To death