Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1894-09-07
The Horrors at HinckIey,


Only One Building Left i'm a Village of
1900 NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Escaped on
Train---IOO Perished in a swamp.
The fire first struck Hjnckley on the east
side of the Duluth track and the brave
lighters for the first time gave up the I'M
| equal battle, and, already too late in many
| instances, turned their attention to their
| personal safety. This was at in the af-
ternoon. The wind was blowing a hurri-
cane. In 10 minutes the village was a
roaring furnace. The eastern Minnesota
train from the south had Just arrived and
the people of the panic-stricken city flock
ed to it for safety. A number of box cars
were coupled on and filled and covered with
men, women and children. In all there
was motley crowd of $50 or more people.
| The train pulled out just ahead of the fire
and succeeded in ultimately reaching Du-
luth. Had not this number of people
largely women and children-left the
doomed town when they did. the loss of
! life would have been greatly increased.
The people who were left in Hinckey
were in what seemed to be an almost hope
less condition. The men had been fight
| ing the fire for hours and the women and
harnessed to bugges and wagons, and
women and children were hurriedly load
ed; in some cases attempts were made to
carry off some household goods, but in
most instances the people had no thought
for aught but Cheir lives. Probably 200 of
them left town on foot or on vehicles,
punging into the wood to the north, across
the Grindstone river. Many of those who
ran into the river persisted. Over 100 who
sought safety in gravel bank were saved,
Over the hill that rises behind the Grind
stone is a swamp and to this most of the
people with teams headed, but it proved no
protection. The fire gave them no oppor-
tunity to go farther. Some abandoned
their teams and ran into the lower part of
the morass, but the fire sought them out.
Not one was left TO tell the tale, and there,
Sunday morning, in a space of little more
than four or five acres, were counted over
1870 corpses. There were families of five,
six and seven, and there they lay, the men
generally a 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 burn
ed every vestige of their clothing and
backened and charred many of the corpses
beyond recognition, and whole families
|
the bodies completely Generated. Identi-
fcation is absolutely out of tbs question.
As night closed in the people began to
come out from their hiding places and
made their way over the hot embers of
their city. They were absolutely dazed by
their catastrophe and the night was spent
in an endeavor to find relatives. Com
munication with the outer world was cut
off for hours. The fire had spent its force,
but the air was filled with smoke, through
which cleaned the dull blaze of shoulder
ing piles.
J. w. Sargent, passenger conductor on
the Duluth road, got into Hinckley during
the night, and he organized volunteer
crew who manned two hand-cars. Citizen
volunteers harnessed up the available vehi-
Giles saved in the gravel pit and went out
TO the swamp across the Grindstone. They
brought in 96 bodies, which were carried
out to the desolate burying-ground mile
east of the town. There was neither Time
nor opportunity to observe the sacred for
malities usually surrounding death, ana
the bodies were heaped high In the wagons
and laid out in piles in the cemetery VI
the 90 bodies found in the swamp only lour
were identified.
The Fire Jumped a Lake Vile Wide'
The telegraph operator at Hinckley,
Otis Green. remained at his post until all
but three buildings in Hinckley had been
burned. When the depot took flre he ran
TO the safe and took theretrom SoOoo III
greenbacks and fled to the river. A party
of Hinckley people, were fishing at Grlhu-
stone lake. They were warned OF tne APP
proach of the fire by the noise, whlch was
like that of a cyclone. They ran ihlo th5 ne
shore at the southwest end OF the lake anu
warned a lot of settlers who were BACK III
the woods, getting together parry ~
obout 1s down by the lake. The fire struck
a. iaLe at their end, ran along the shore
5 abont half a mile and then jumped the
5 Iake in a diagonal direction at polh'
. whore il was not less than mile across
The fire went across that distance IN Two
bursts of flames with lightning rapldlty
This illustrates as well as anything Iht
wav in which the fire progressed
There is little probability that HlhckieS
4 ,,;Il ba rebuilt. The main industry OF tht
: town was numbering and the forests Ill Vn"
vicinity have been swept away
> 1OO Bodies Found In the water.
1onv Of the people at Sandstone wer'
maj az n Get to any place where they
n Md NOT be caught by the tlames' an'
Eojng overcome by the heat ana slhoK'
t Ge fell by the roadside and either smother ned
Iho y. burned TO death. There are grea
eu ~ W. who went out toward the e tl9Oe e.
an nd who will probably never be iouhG "a a.
the fire lasted so long that it would enIla1 To
consume their bodies great many fnr y.s GSn
from from Hinckley to Sandstone lot ,o, SAT- 7,
lrS' 1rare at least 100 bodies tounG II
~. ineiv 5oter at Hinckley. The people MAJ
gone there for Or. P %sat and drowned n
The horrors at Hln the SStb %stV villages il