The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1894-09-04

and In the Ashes of Ruined Homes
The Death L,Ss So Far ss Known Will
Probably Reach Three Hundred and
siEty-four.
81. PAUL, Sept. "A Pine City special
70 The Pioneer Press says: Words cannot
tell the story of death and destruction
that ID revealed to the traveller on the St
Paul and Duluth from Mission Creek, two
miles above the little town of Miller. OF
Sandstone Junction. The awfulness OF
the desoiation which strikes upon the eve
Of the observer as he reaches the camu
which was once the town OF Hinckley. is
more strongly impressed on his vision as
he journeys northward
Yesterday the smoke lifted, revealing a
landscape bare and black, the few stand
ing trees being charred to height OF
forty feet, while the ground was of that
peculiar tint of brown mixed with gun
powder, for the grass has been burned to
the roots Here and there, in the bleak
and dreary stretch of country in what is
now great lone land, was seen the body
OF deer, whose fleet feet had not been
able to outrun the flames, or Of a human
being who had been absolutely powerless
against Jhe grim destroyer.
A Pioneer Press man accompa MED
Judge Nethaway, of Saltwater, and mem
bers Of relief party which started on
hand car loaded with provisions to relieve
the people of Sandstone. who were re-
ported in great distress. Two miles above
Hrnckley they found lying by the trunk
OF tree the body of a man which was
evidently that Of a lumberman The re-
lief party proceeded as far as Skunk Lake,
where the Duluth limited train was
burned. Here they found Engineer Will
Jams in charge of q gang of men, rebuild
ing the burned bridges. From them it
was learned that the living of Sandstone
had been taken to Duluth on special
trains, and their pressing necessities re-
lieved, 80 that the help from Pine City
was not needed. Tue party, therefore, re.
solved itself into one of ssaTchers for
bodies.
The house of John Robinson was near
Skunk Lake, in the woods, and his fam
lily haa sought refuge in the cellar There
was no escape from the fire, and the party
found the bodies of John Robinson and
his wife Mary Robinson. their eldest
daughter, and two smaller children All
the clothing vas burned from the bodies.
but the victims had evidently been suf-
located before the flames reached them.
The hands the oldest daughter were
appraised in an attitude Of prayer.
Within zoo yards of the spot where En-
gineer Root stopped his train was a long
trench, running from the little body Of
water which proved "a place Of safety tor
the passengers on the limited to a swamp
on the lake Following along this trench,
the party came upon the partially clothed
body Of Otto Bowley, general passenger
and freight agent of the Duluth and Win
nipeg railroad. 1t is supposed that he
was passenger on the limited and in tax
ing to the ditch, expected to reach the
lake. Other bodies found by the party
were those of a man and a woman who
had evidently fed from farm house
nearby and the bodies of two men who
are supposed to have been passengers on
the burned train.
The latest reports of thenum Der of dead
do not materially alter the former esti-
mates. In fact, that estimate is proving
remarkable exact, considering the CON
fusion of the first day. One element that
makes close figuring very difficult is the
fact that bodies seen in the woods and
along the track are not infrequently re-
ported to two points, and sent out from
each as among its dead. Then, too, the
tendency of the occasion, bad as it is, is
to eXaggeratioD. However, eliminating
these doubtful reports as far as possible
from its approximation, The Pioneer
Press is convinced that the total is as near
correct rs possible The figures are as
follows; Hinckley, 200; Sandstone 62;
Miller, II; between Skunk Lake and Mil.
Ter, l2, Pokegama, 2S. In lumber camps
and scattering, estimated, so; total, 864
Yardmaster Dave Williams, of Duluth,
is something of hero himself He is the
man who grasped the situation, acted on
his knowledge promptly, aud relieved the
people OF Sandstone He received a mes
sage from Miller last night which said:
There are 1850 people at Sandstone with.
out food or shelter For Gods sake get
them out Of there"
Within an incredibly short time an en-
gine in charge Of Yardmaster Williams
was on the way to Sandstone. The entire
road after the burned district was reached
was patrolled, and the engine kept up an
tncessant whistling, so that any persons
who were nearby would come at once TO
the track. When the train arrived at
Sandstone Junction, or Miller, as il ~.
generally called, it was met by nearly the
entire population of Sandstone and Miller
The depot platform at Miller had been
burned, and there was not a house left
standing anywhere in view About no
people were taken aboard aud a messen-
ger sent to Sandstone, who Informed the
people Of the arrival Of relief Very few
remained but those with loved ones lying
dead.
Mr. Webster father Of Mayor Lee Web.
ster, OF this town, was among the dead
and yesterday Mr.. Webster went TO Sand
stone to bury his father and mother The
scene at Sandstone, as descr bed BY MIR
Webster, was heartrending The streets
OF the town were only lines Of sand be.
tween heaps Of ashes. Within these lines
lay forty bodies scattered at random aud
twenty-five more were found dead on the
outskirts of the town and in the hoilows
and marshes toward the river bank The
bodies very lying exposed TO the sun and
rain and were rapidly decomposing. They
were Identified as far as possible, and to.
day the victims were buried in two huge
trenches Those hereafter discovered will
be buried were found, as it will be impos-