River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1894-08-02
Estimate of Property losses.

Ashland Lumber company ............ 600
Shores Crossing residents ..:......-:.. 400
Two bridges G., st r., Nj. & O. rail-
Two bridges wisconsin Central. ...... 10000
Homesteaders- .........-...- t.....-s... %ooVO
The Disaster ut Phillips.
PHILLIPS, Wis, July 3l.-Out of
town of 700 buildings but twenty-seven
are left standing. Driven by the in
creasing wind the fire swept the south
west limits of the city Friday after
noon. Across the miles of swamp
where the water was from 0 to IL
inches deep il could be heard roaring
for an hour The fremen were forced
to use dynamite. This stopped the
progress of the fire, after the north
end of the city had been destroyed, in
Guiding the box factory of the John r.
Davis Lumber company and the school
house.
Perished In the Lake.
Driven frantic by the rushing gale
of flames. the familics,of James Locke,
Frank Cliss and Dave Dryden gathered
hurriedly in their arms all their pos
sessions that they could and made for
floating boathouse that was tied to
the town bridge near the box factory.
The ropes were cut and the occupants
thought the gale would drive them
across the lake where the flames
would not reach them, but the raft
was rickety affair and overloaded,
and, most terrible of all, the fire
seemed to create a current of air that
pulled them directly towards great
pile of burning lumber on the lake
shore The raft began to sink, and.
with death by fire facing them on one
side and drowning on the other, the
boats were resorted to, but in the gale
they capsized almost instantly, and all
persisted with the exception of Mrs.
Cliss, who was found floating Satur-
day morning on the opposite side of
the lake, clinging with desperation to
a boat.
Another cyclone of fire struck the
western side, sweeping through the
main business and residence portion of
the city, destroying the rest of the
Davis company's plant. The path of
the fire took in the city hall, court
house, county Jail and the Wisconsin
Central depot and swept everything to
the lake. Gov. Peck and mis- staff ar
rived from Madison Sunday morning
A dozen cars of provisions have arrived
from various cities, and the orga MIA
ton for relief has been completed.
Gov Peck met with the committee at
the town hall and offered many sug-
gestions.
other Fires.
The forest fires were still raging to
the north and west of here Monday
morning. and several small stations
between here and Ashland were re-
ported TO have been wiped out. Fires
of greater or less extent raging be-
tween Claiming and Prai, Mich, on
the Lake Superior division. Lumber
camps on the Gibson and Toleen spurs
of the road, miles west of Claiming
reported destroyed and fires running
rapidly through the woods in that
part of the country. All trains on the
| Wisconsin Central road in the section
| of the country where the fire is raging
held at various points or picking their
way through the burned-over sections
| slowly and with frequent stops.
Girdled by Fire.
PHILLIPS, Wis, July S1.--For miles
to burn Early Monday morning a
fire to the northeast swept in on the
back tack and threatened to destroy
the poor farm, the fair grounds and
all of the timber along the east shore
| OF the lake. An alarm was sent in
| from the farm and $50 men from Phil
] lips with buckets, shovels and axes
were sent to fight the fire. They
reached the scene none too soon.
The fire was coming over the
hills with a roar, and in a short time
with the freshening wind blowing
from the east would have swept
through the poor farm and burned the
| sick and crippled men who are i'm
mates of the place. A fire brigade ar
rived also from Prentice. 1t stretched
over territory quarter of a mile
wide, and fought fire by cutting the
brush around the farm and backfring
| il. After several hours work the dan
ger passed.
Nothing Left to Burn.
| Phillips is now the safest place in
this section for the simple reason that
there is nothing to burn except the
earth and a few struggling trees on
the outskirts of the town. The peo-
pie of Phillips scattered to all points
| in the surrounding country and are
coming back slowly. twill be impos-
sible to say how many have been lost
until all still alive return and the
noses are counted. Some of the eye
witnesses of the fire say numbers of
people who sought safety on the logs
a.. IL II 81 90
have been overcome by the heat aud
| drowned.
Kindness of Neighboring Towns.
The people of Prentice have been ex-
tremely generous. Every house in the
town has been open to the people of
| Phillips who wish to avail themselves
of this shelter. They are all crowded,
as the Wisconsin Central has carried
the fire sufferers free from here to
Prentice and return. The Central
has also carried free the families
of all sufferers who wished to leave
Phillips for any point on the line.
The relief continues to pour in here
from all points of the state. Eighteen
full carloads have been received thus
far. The donations &c provisions and
.lothing which have been received
have come from:
weyauwega. Unity. Chippewa Falls, Eau
| Claire Portage. Stevens Point, Monticello Colo
ma, Loyal. Marshaeld, Colby, Mflladore Au-
burndale. Prentice. Rib Lake, Merrill. Rhine
lander, Hewitt, Spencer. Oshkosh, Milwaukee,
Dale. Amherst Junction. Sheridan stockton,
Neenah waupaca. Wausau, WATERFOWL. Ash
land, washburn and Fifeld. all in Wisconsin;
Chicago ILL.,. and Bessemer, Mich.
Arising from the Ashes
The work of rebuilding Phillips has
begun. The Shaw Tannery company
has ordered in the lumber TO rebuild
It's plant and it win begin to arrive to-
lay. Twenty shanties to shelter the
unfortunate people were run up Mon
Law, and the work of cleaning away
The debris of the fire has commenced
IN all sections of the city.
Many of the people are undecided
whether they should remain at Phillips
Or go elsewhere to seek their fortunes.
II the Davis Lumber company would
not rebuild its plant the town would
DE deserted. Mr.. Davis in an address
% the people Monday announced the
company viii rebuild.