Oakes weekly Republican. (Oakes, Dickey County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1898, 1894-09-07
THOUSAND LIVES
MAY BE LOST,
TERRIBLE FOREST FIRES SWEEP
OVER NORTHEASTERN MINNE-
sofa AND NORTHWESTERN
WISCONSIN ',
"A Veritable Whirlwind of Flames
= Towns Out of EXistence-1t is
Thought That 500 People Have
Been Burned to Death md the
Number May Reach a Thousand
Fires Still Raging in Wisconsin,
Excellent Relief Work.

Pine City, Mimi, Special-Minnesota
has never known a calamity attended
with such a loss Of life as that brought
by the fire which wiped out Hinckley,
Mission Greek, Sandstone Junction,
Pokegama and many other settlements
in that vicinity.
The wallis OF the school house, the
iron fence about the town hall prop
erty, the bank vault and one absolutely
uninjured out house is all that is left
to mark the site Of HiLckley, where
yesterday stood Il score OF store build
ings, and a dozen times as many dwell
ing houses. The story of castrophe
which wiped out the material possess
sions that Lad made HincEley a busy
prosperous little city is short one.
The town was built of wood. The
school house erected last year at cost
of $4,000 and one-half the Duluth
round house were the only brick struc-
lures in the city. BY one of those
peculiar freaks for which there is no
accounting the Eastern Minnesota
round house and water tank on the
southw esterr. edge of the town almost
in the woods, escaped the flames, a
circumstance the more remarkable
from the fact that it stood directly in
the path Of the flames, which seem to
have jumped it cleanly, as if playing
leap frog. All yesterday forenoon the
town people were apprehensive. The
smoke rolling from the south told
story, urmistakahly plain to those ac-
customed to wooded country. The
fire kept advancing farned by the
wind which was blowing gale. About
IL o'clock the fire company got out
their engine and laid an eighteen hun
dred foot line of hose, to the southern
outskirts Of the town. The hose was
all to short for the measure of protec
tion desired and Il telegram was sent
to Rush City for more. Five hundred
feet was sent, but it never reached
Hinckley. The main part of the village
lies in the north fork made by the
crossing Of the Duluth and eastern
tracks, the latter to the east and the
former on the west. On the
west side Of the Duluth tracks
were a few small houses
belonging to the railway employees.
The fircmen's attention was mainly di-
rected to keeping the fire away from
them as the main business part of the
city was built in solidly just across
the track. About 3 O'clock in after
noon the fire lietally jumped into the
town. Its approach was not gradual.
It did not eat it's way along, devouring
everything in its path, but came in
huge leaps, as it to overtake everyone
fleeing before it and then burned back
at its leasure. 1t is described by those
who witnessed its onward progress at
Hinckley and elsewhere as if it were
forced along by cyclones OF it's own
generation. The intense heat would
develope avcritable whirlwind of lame
that actually twisted off poplar trees
several inches in thickness and carried
huge blazing fire brands high in air,
and carrying them forward for from
forty to eighty rods there to fall and
begin the Y ork Of devastation anew.
The fire first struck I1inckley on the
east side of Duluth track and the brave
fire fighters for the first time gave up
the unequal battle and already too
late in any instances, turned their
attention to their personal safety. The
Eastern Minnesota train from the south
had just come in and the people of the
IL
safety. A lumber of box cars were
coupled on ard filed and covered with
men, women and children. Some were
barefeaded. some were coatless, some
few clutchd pitiful bundle of the
more precious of their portable pos
sessions. Families were separated.
Children Joined the throng and left
their parents In all there was
motley CIT wd Of about four hundred
and fifty OF more people. The train
pulled out just ahead of the fire and
succeeded in ultimately reaching Du-
luth. This circumstance, while for
tunate in degree that cannot be es.
timated has II ade the confusion great
er, for it is not known who escaped
in this city, and many people are re-
ported dead who may be in safety.
Had not this number Of people, largely
wome, and children, left the doomed
city when they did, the loss of life
would have il creased in a geometrical
ratio, for their presence would have
added imn easurably to the subsequent
confusion. About the same hour the
accommodation train on the Hinckley
and st. Cloud branch left for the latter
place. With about twenty-five passen-
gers its path lay directly across the
path Of the FIRE and their situation
speedily became desperate. The ties
were burning the rails We're wappng
and the trestles We're sagging under
the train. The smoke had increased SD
that the engineer was helpless. He
could not see the train behind him.
Burning trees lay across the track and
were being tossed aside by the engine
Suddenly the track gave way and the
train toppled eff to one side. No one