Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-09-03


more remarkable from the fact that it
stood directly in the path of tho flames,
which seem to have jumped it IA cleanly
as IL playing leapfrog.
The townspcople had been apprchensiye
for days. The smoke rolling up from the
south told a story Enthusiastically plain to
those accustomed TO wooded country
The fire kept advancing, famed by the
wind, which was blowing gale.
About IL O'Clock at night tho fire com
pany got out their engine and laid an
l,SO0 foot line of hose to the southern out
skirts of the town. Tho hose was all too
short for tho measure of protection desir-
ed, and n telegram was sent to Rush City
for more. Five hundred feet were sent
but il mover reached Hinckley.
The main part of the village lies In tho
north fork made by the crossing of the
| Duluth and Eastern tracks-the latter
to the east and the former on tho west.
On the west side of tho Duluth tracks
were n few small houses belonging to the
railway employees. The firemen's atuen-
ton was mainly in tho direction of keep
ing the fire away from them, rs the main
business part of the city was built in solid
ly just across the track.
About o clock in the afternoon tho
fire literally jumped into the town. Its
approach was not gradual 1t did not eat
its way along, devouring everything in
its path, but came in huge leaps, rs IL TO
overtakc everything fleeing before IL and
then burned back ut Its leisure.
1t is described by those who witnessed
its onward progress Mt Hinckley and else
where rs II it were forced along by cy-
clones of its Own generation. The intense
heat would develop a veritablo whirlwind
of flame that actually twisted off poplar
trees several inches in diameter and car
ried them forward for some 10 to so rods.
there let them fall and begin the work of
| devastation anow.
The fire first struck Hinckley on tho
east side of the Duluth track, and brave
| fighters for tho first time gave up the I'M
! equal battle and, already too late In many
! instances turned their attention to their
! personal safety. The Eastern Minnesota
train from the south had just come in,
and the people of the panic stricken city
! fled to 1t for safety. 4 number OF box cars
were coupled on and filled and covered
| with men, women and children.
Fleeing From the lanes.
Some were barehcadod, some were coat
! less, some few clutched pitiful bundle of
| the more precious of their portable pos
sessions. Families were separated; chill
drcn joined the throng and left parents.
In all there was IA motley crowd of about
$50 or moro people.
The train pulled out just ahead OF tho
fire and succeeded I'm ultimately reaching
! Duluth. This circumstance, while fortu-
nate in n degree that cannot be estimated,
| had made the confusion greater, for it Is
not known who escaped in this way, and
/ many people are reported dead who may
| be in safety.
Had not this number of people, largely
women and children. left the doomed city
II . T.
| been increased, for their presence would
! have added UNNECESSARILY to tho subsc-
! quent confusion.
! About the same hour the accommoda-
! tion train on the Hinckley and st. Cloud
I branch left for the latter place with about
% passengers. Its path lay directly across
the path Of the fire and their situation
| speedily became desperate. Tho ties were
burning, the rails were warming, and the
! trrstles where sarging under the train.
| The sn. oke had increased that tho en-
! gineCr was helpless. He could not see tho
train behind him. Burning trees lay on
the track and were tossed aside by the en-
ginc.
suddenly the track gave way and tho
train topplCd of to the side. No ono was
| injured, and they pressed on To Tukcgama
! station, IA few rods ahead. But "a few feet
: Ia front OI the 3ngi;e I.ES discovered u
gorge TO feet wide and 30 feet deep
I where the trCstle had been burned away.
They succeeded In reaching the clearing
about the station and escaped with n few
burns and bruises. There were burned
| along the track, however, four or five
people, including DR. Kelley of New
| Brighton, who had come to look after his
brother.
The people who wcro left In the city were
in what seemed to DO an almost hopeless
condition. EErcss by the only means of
transportation that could hope to distance
the swiftly advancing flames was out of
the question. The mon had been fighting
fire for hours, nnd the women and chill
drCn were in panic stricken condition.
Many Of thoIe were of the moro ignorant
population, for "A very large percentage OF
the people who got out on tho Great North
Crn railroad was of the moro intelligent
class.
4 Race For Life.
Horses wcrc harnesscd to buggios and
wagons Women and children were hur.
ricdly loaded. In some cases attempts
were made To carry of some household
goods, but in most instances the people
had no thought for aught but their lives
Probably 200 of them left town on foot OF
in vehicles, plunging into the woods to
tho north across the Grindstono river,
which skirts the town to the north.
They were literally fleeing before tho
| pursuing demon Of fire. Over tho hill
that riscs behind Grindstone is a camp
AMI To this most of tho people with teams
headed, but it proved no protection. The
fire gave them n" opportunity To go fur
| thcr.
Some abandoned their teams and rar
into the lower portions of the norass. but
the fire sought thcm out Not one was left
to tell tho tale. and there Sunday morn
ing. in a space of little moro than four oil
five acres, were counted $50 corpses.
z There We're many families of five, six
and seven, and there they lay the mcr
? generally a little in advance, the mother
5 surrounded by her little onos, cut off BY
the most horrible of deaths. Nearly al
the bodies were nude. the fire having burn
cd every vestige OF their clothing anC
] blackencd and charrcd many of the corpse
beyond recognition. Where whole fnmi
lies were wiped out, as they We're, ant
some OF the bodies completely moderated
c Identification Is absolutely out of tn
question.
d. Those who fed To- the north on foot fol
/; lowed tho Duluth track, and so rapid wa
d; tho progress Of the flames that many O
= them were actually burned as tho fled
falling on the right of way for n distanc
= of three miles or moro Nearly 80 bodie
n were recovered along here.
l. ! Some of the foremost escaping citizen
$ met the Duluth train coming in from tn
4 north. Engineer Jim Root was at tn
; throttle. He stopped the train and tool
D | on board about les OF the refugees, VIII
0 crowded into the train, completely film
!, it, for il had a passenger list almost a
n large.
t by this time the weeds were blazing o.
: each side of tho track. and rs Root II
i vcrsed his engine and started back tn
: cars scorcacd and cracked in tho heat
J. Root ran the train back about three mile
l. to skunk Lake, and the people escape