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

medical forces. and all that is possible
to be done will be done.
a private dispatch received this even
ing from the burned district states posi-
lively that $50 dead bodies have already
been recovered, so that the estimate
made above may be considered as de-
cidedly conservative.
The loss in the neighborhood of St.
Cloud, which is on the western edge OF
the fires, is estimated at 5000 000 and
from that point east and north nearly
everything is burning. The fires are
raging in Becker and Aitken counties,
where many farmhOuses and much grain
has been lost, as well as the timber.
HerOism of the Train Crew.
From the stories of passengers on the
limited train, which was burned near
Hinckley. the entire train crew deserve
TO be placed on the roll Of honor for per-
soral heroism. Engineer James Root of
White Bear heads the list and will have
thrilling story to tell If ne RECEIVERS
from his injuries. He was badly burned
and almost blinded and fell from his
seat unconscious Immediately on getting
through the fires. Fireman John Nc
Gowan was a good companion for him
In the cab. and the other members of
the crew-Conductor Jerry Sullivan,
brakeman Monahan, Bagga geman John
Morris and Porter Blair-were fit asso-
ciates for the hero who led them into
what was literally a fiery furnace. When
about two miles north OF Hinckley, En-
gineer Root first discovered that the fires
which had been raging on both sides of
the track We're racing him for his life
and the lives of his passengers. Cinders
were flying in every direction and the
smoke was so dense 1t was we'll nigh inn
possible to see beyond the cab windows
NIT fha uf1 Of har rtarerr If.raT
light. At first he thought TO outrun the
flames, which were coming after and
bearing down upon him at a siXty-mile
gait When about a mile and a half
from Hinckley he discovered that the fire
was too fast for him, having overtaken
the train and leaped it, so that the train
was literally surrounded with flames.
The air was sitting and the heat so in
tense that the clothing of the cabmen
was ignited MCGOWAN leaped into the
water tank, eXtinguishing the fire in his
own clothes. and then seizing a bucket
dashed water over the burning engineer.
Root steadily kept at his post, although
scarcely aDle 10 sit upright
Leaped Into the Roaring Furnace.
In the meantime the passengers could
see nothing. but heard the roaring of the
oncoming tornado of fire, and soon the
glare outside was too much for the rea-
caught fire and as the flames overlook it
and the passengers rushed headlOng into
the forward cars. Conductor Sullivan,
with his plucky associates, walked up
and down the aisle, doing their best to
soothe the frightened passengers. The
shrieks of the women and children, as
well as the terrified shouts or the men,
increased the terrible feelings aroused
by the uproar OF the flames on every
hand. The windows broke from the heat
and several of the men passengers, too
terrified for further self-control with a
terrible cry leaped headlong through one
of the open windows and were swallowed
up in the flames outside. Others seeing
this act quickly followed. and altogether
in the next ten minutes a dozen men
leaped to death in the flames in a like
manner. The women, whose terror had
been pitiful a few minutes before, now
came heroically TO the help of the train
men in endeavoring to soothe the fright
ened children. Engineer Root saw that
there was no outlet for his train and
concluded to turn back through the dis
trict already burned over, rather than
encounter possibly greater perils. He
backed at a fast speed TO Skunk Lake,
seven miles north of Hinckley, and the
passengers deserted the burning train at
that place, seeking refuge In a swamp,
where they spent the night This morn
ing a relief train from the north brought
them through Hinckley and on TO this
city. The relief train carried a supply
of handcars, which were used In picking
UP the bodies of the dead along the
track One hundred bodies were picked
up and brought into Hinckley before the
relief train came on to this city with the
injured passengers and trainmen.
Hincxley was a mass OF ruins, nothing
being left standing except the walls OF the
round-house. So fast did the flames come
that the people had no chance to save
themselves. They fed on horseback and
on foot, but were quickly overtaken, and
very few seem to have escaped. One
party Of about forty or fifty people sought