The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-09-03
p. BLANcHARD. wife and two children

DIR. c. III. KELCEY, of New Brighton.
LOUIS NELSON, employe OF the Eastern
railway.
PETER ROBERTSON.
NELS ROBERTSON.
MARY ROBERTSON.
- ROBERTSON, child.
- HOFFMAN and wife.
EMMA BOLAND.
BELLE OBRIEN.
ANNA WALLACE.
MRS. KOSTIGAN and three children
WILLIAM PINNORR, sawyer.
PATRICK MURPHY, sawyer.
ORvILLE cox
THOMAS DUNN, wife and four small
children.
AID PROMPTLY GIVEN.
The generous instincts of generous peo-
pie have been aroused, and adequate meas
ures of relief are now under way. st. Paul
responded nobly to the call for assistance
published yes. 2rday morning, and when. at
$50 O'Clock this afternoon, the train from
st. Paul bearing the members of the re-
lief committee and their generous dona-
tions arrived at Pine City the people were
more than grateful for the quick response.
st. Paul sent tents. food and money in the
first train, without waiting for the inter-
vention of committees to see what was
needed The people of Pine City were very
active and all day long trains run from
this place to near Hinckley, bringing the
living to Pine City. where the people did
everything in their power to relieve dis
tress The horrible visitation of death was
not vvitbout feafuro of notable heroism
which tighten up the gloomiest page of
Minnesota's history that has ever been
written. No one seemed to have a first
thought for himself, and many of the lives
saved were those of people who were ut
terly unable to take care of themselves
Tomorrow the relief work will be extended
until it reaches every sufferer. and there
are hundreds of them in isolated positions
all through the country.
The walls of the schoolhouse. the iron
fence about the Town Hall property, the
bank vault and one uninjured clubhouse is
all that is left to mark the site of Hinck-
ley, where yesterday stood a score of store
buildings and dozen times many dwell
ing houses The story of the catastrophe
which wiped out the material possessions
that had made Hinckley busy, prosper
Gus little city is a short one The town
was built OF wood. The schoolhouse,
erected last year at a cost Of $4,000, and
one-half the Duluth roundhouse were the
only brick structures in the city. BY one
Of
is no accounting. the Eastern Minnesota
roundhouse and water tank, the south
western edge OF the town, almost in the
woods, escaped the fames-a circumstance
the more remarkable from the fact that it
stood directly in the path of the fire, which
seems to have jumped it as cleanly as if
playing frog-leap.
WIND BLEW A GALE
All yesterday forenoon the townspeople
were apprehensive. The smoke rolling up
| from the south told a story unmistakably
| plain to those accustomed to wooded
| country. The fire kept advancing, famed
| by the wind which was blowing a gale
| About IL o'clock the fire company got out
| it's engine and laid an 1,SOO-foot line of hose
| to the southern outskirts of the town. The
| hose was too short for the measure of pro-
| lection desired. and telegram was sent
| to Rush City for more. Five hundred feet
| were 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 the Eastern tracks, the latter
| to the east and the former on the west.
| On the west side of the Duluth tracks were
| few small houses belonging to the rail-
way employees. The fremen's attention
was mainly directed to keeping the fire
| away from them, as the main business
| part of the city built just across the
track
About o'clock in the afternoon the fire
| literally jumped into the town. It's ap-
| proach was not gradual. 1t did not eat
| it's way along. devouring everything in its
| p@th, but came in huge leaps, as if to
| overtake everything fleeing before it, and
| then burned back at it's leisure. 1t is de-
Il
| progress at Hinckley and elsewhere as if
it were forced along by a tornado of its
| own generation. The intense heat would
| develop veritable whirwind of flame that
actually twisted off poplar trees several
| inches in thickness and carried huge blaz-
! ing firebrands high in the air, f1inging
them forward for from forty to eighty rods,
there to fall and begin the work of de-
vastation anew.
FLIGHT OF THE PEOPLE.
The fire first struck Hinckley on the east
! side of the Duluth track. The brave fire.
fighters soon gave up the unequal 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 peo-
pie of the panic-stricken city focked to il
| for safety. A p'Imber of box cars were
coupled on and fnled and covered with men.
| women and children. Some were barehead-
ed, some were coatless, some few clutched
pitiful bundle of the more precious of
their portable possessions. Families were
separated; children Joined the throng, leav-