The People's friend., 1894-09-07
MlNNESOTA'S HORROR.
Further Details of the Destruction by Re.
cent Forest Fires-A Scene of Awful Des-
nj atiOu.

cent Forest Fires-A Scene of Awful Des-
olatfon.
ST. PAUL, Mirn., Sept. A Pine
City special to the Pioneer Press says:
Words cannot tell the story of death
and destruction that is revealed to the
travellers on the st. Paul & Duluth
from Mission Creek to miles above
the little town of Miller or Sandstone
Junction. The awfulness of the desc
lation which strikes upon the eye OF
the observer as he reaches the camp
which was once the town of Hinckley
is still more strongly impressed in his
vision as he Journeys nOrthward.
Members of a relief party started on
a hand car loaded with provisions to
relieve the people of Sandstone, who
were reported in great distress
The house of John Robinson was
near Skunk lake in the edge of the
woods, and the family sought refuge
in the cellar. There was no escape
from the fire and the party found the
bodies of John Robinson, his wife,
Mary, their eldest daughter, and two
small children. All their clothing was
burned from the bodies, but the victims
had evidently been suffocated before
the flames reached them. The hands
of the oldest daughter We're upraised
with palms together in an attitude of
prayer.
Within GOO yards of the spot where
Engineer Root stopped his train was
long trench, running from the little
body of water, which proved place of
safety for the passengers on the limit
ed, to swamp on the lake. Following
along this trench the party came upon
the partially clothed body of man,
who, in personal appearance, CORE
sponded to the description of General
Passenger and Freight Agent Rowley,
of the Duluth Il Winnipeg railroad. An
collar showed the name, O. ROwley,
and it is supposed he was passenger on
the limited, and in taking to the ditch
expected to reach the lake.
Other bodies found by the party were
those of a man and woman, who had
evidently fed from farm house near
by, and the bodies of two men, who are
|
the burned train.
The latest verified report of the mum.
Der of dead do not materially alter
former estimates. The number of dead
at Hinckley is placed at 200, and the
Pioneer Press correspondent has actu-
ally counted 1914 of these, and the mar
gin allowed is about all that is neces-
Tho fiu11raC ara folio
Hincl1ley, 200; Sandstone, 62; Miller,
10; between Skunk lake and Miller, ~;
Pokegame, 2s: in lumber camps and
scattering, estimate, so; total, 364.
Yardmaster Dave Williams, of Du-
luth, is something of a hero. He is
the man who grasped the situation,
acted on his knowledge promptly and
relieved the people of Sandstone. He
received a message from Miller last
pie at Sandstone without food OF
shelter. For Gods sake get them out
ofeAere." Within an Incredibly short
IitjmeAan engine in charge of Yardmaster
/ Williams was on the way to Sand
stone. The entire road after the burned
district was reached was patroled and
the engine kept up a continual whist
ling, so that any persons who might be
near the railway would come at once
! to the track.
When the train arrived at Sandstone
! junction, or Miller as it is 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 17(
people were taken aboard and mes
senger was sent to Sandstone, who in
formed the people Of the arrival of re
lief.
Very few remained and they were
those with loved ones lying dead. Nc
one was burned seriously who was not
fatally injured. There was no attempt
to care for the dead who lay scattered
with irregularity through the street:
of the town. Everything infammablt
at Sandstone was destroyed, and yes
terday's Investigations brought the
number of the dead at that place tC
sixty-two, with twenty-one people
missing. Mr.. Webster, the father o.
Mayor Lee Webster, of this town, wa:
among the dead, and this after
noon Mr.. Webster went to Sandstone
to bury his father and mother.
The scene at Sandstone as discovered
by Mr.. Webster was heartrending. The
streets of the town were only lines O
sand, between heaps of ashes. Within
these lines Law forty bodies scattered
49,
found afterward in the outskirts of th
town, and along the hOllOws ant
marshes toward the river bank. Thu
bodies were lying exposed to the SUI
and rain alike and were rapidly becom
ing decomposed.
Sixty-fve uni entitled dead were in
tered in the trenches; fifty-siX more
were put in boxes and thirteen were
buried by their friends, making tota
of 1874 bodies handled at the cemetery
On the afternoon train arrived tn
committee appointed by the citizens o
Minneapolis A report was submitte'
to the gentlemen for their approval
The report contains an estimate of tn
populate of the burned towns, as fol
lows: Hinckley, 1000; Sandstone, 800
Mission Creek, 200; Brook Park o
Pokegame, 113; Partridge, 100.
From this number about 400 a1c t.
be deducted as dead, and with a fur
ther deduction of those able to hel
! leaves about 500 to be relieved in vari
Gus ways.
Butchers May Fight the Packers.
KANSAS CITY, Mo-, Sept. 4.-To forr