The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-09-19

much smoke, however. that many persons believe
| fires in the West
drove 20 miles north Of here to investigate,
ana found not less than dozen fires burning in
| the woods. Most of them were north of the
| lakes in the neighborhood of Cagoga but they
| tracts lying south of Caroga The fires are being
| fought stubbomly by the farmers, and it is be-
| prevented.
Two fires burning on Oak mountain. near
Devereux, with a prospect of taking off of
the timber. There is telegraph communica-
| ton north of here. and no details as to the dam
age can be obtained Reports have been re-
| ceived however, of extreme disastrous fires in
| Lewis and Ulster counties.
There has been no rain in this section with
the exception of one light shower, for many
| weeks, and the soil is exceedingly dry. Unless
| rain falls soon the damage in the Adirondacks
| will be enormous.
Forest fires in Chautauqua county are still
| raging with increasing force through meadows
| woods and farms, reducing to waste the source
| OF livelihood Of a considerable portion of the
farming population.
NO one feels safe, for the fires progress with
such incredible velocity that those on picket duty
sometimes : are barely able to give notice of APP
proach before the flames in possession of the
| property, and sometimes have to flee for their
| Forest fires are raging fercely all around
jamestown. At Falconer during the last few days
farmers have had to organize bucket brigade
| and work hard to keep the flames from setting
| fire to their houses and barns.
| ABOUT CHICAGO'S GREAT FIRE
Mr.. Donnelly, in writing Of the great
| NHICdSO IRE, SVncnECnOuS with forest nreS,
| says: The fire was spontaneous. The
story of Mrs. O'Leary's COW having start
| ed the conflagration by kicking over a
lantern was proved to be false. 1t was
the access Of gas from the tail of Bella S
| comet that burned up Chicago.
To substantiate this theory of spontane-
ity Mr.. Donnelly quotes from the city fire
marshals evidence and report:
Il felt in my bones that we were going
to have a burn. We got the fire Gin the
| barn) under control, and it would not have
gone foot further; but the next thing I
knew they came and told me that st.
Paul's Church, about two squares north,
was on fire. The next thing I knew the
fire was on Batehams planning MILL
Also there is quoted a remarkable SEN
tence from a press report sent out by an
eye witness. which is as follows buildings
far beyond the line Of fire, and in no con-
tact with it burst into flames from the
| INTERIOR
1T must not be forgotten" says Mr..
| Donnelly, that the fall of 1871 was marked
| by extraordinary CONGREGATIONS in regions
| widely separated. On Oct. s, the same
day the Wisconsin, Michigan and Chica go
| fires broke out, the states of Iowa, Mime
sofa, Indiana and Illinois were severely
devastated by prairie fires; while terrible
fires ragged in the Alleghanies, the Sierras
of the Pacific coast and the Rocky Noun
tains and in the region of the Red River
of the North
try for 1876, page "a, says: For weeks
before and after the great fire in Chicago
| in 1872, great areas Of forest and prairie
land, both in the United States and the
British Provinces, were on fire.
1.-THE flames that consumed a great part
| of Chicago were of an unusual character
and produced extraordinary effects. They
absolutely melted the hardest building
stone, which had previously been consid
cred fireproof. Iron glass, granite were
fused and run together into grotesque con-
| glomerates, as if they had been put
through a blast furnace. No kind of mate
| rial could stand it's breath for moment
MELTED AS A SNOWFLAKE.
| Then the writer quotes from the History
of the Chicago Fire" pages IS, Sc, as fol
| lows:
1.-The huge stone and brick structure:
| melted before the fierceness of the flame:
as a snowflake melts and disappears il
water, and almost as quickly. Six-story
buildings would take fire and disappear
| forever from sight in five minutes by the
watch. The fire also doubled on it,
track at the great Union depot and burned
half a mile southwark in the very teeth O.
the gale-a gale which blew perfect tor
nado and in which no vessel could nav
| lived on the lake. = Strange, fan
tastic fires of blue, red and green played
along the cornices of buildings
The writer further extracts from lette
written at the time by William B. Ogdel
. these words:
! 1.-THE fire was accompanied by the heroes
tornado of wind ever known to blow here
| Referring again to the History OF Tn
Chicago Fire. Mr. Donnelly cites:
, "The most striking popularity OF the mr.
was ITS intense heat Nothing exposed t
1t escaped. Amid the hundreds of acres lef
| bare there is not to be found a piece o
! wood of any description, and. unlike mos
fires, it left nothing unburned TIL
5 fire swept the streets Of all the ordinar
, dust and rubbish, consuming it instantly.
: I'm the yard of one of the large agricult
, | ural implement factories was stacked som
hundreds of tons of pig iron. This iron wa
: zoo feet from any building. To the south o
| it was the river, $50 feet wide. No larg
+ | building but the factory was in the immed
ate vicinity of the fire. Yet so great wa
: the heat that this pile of iron melted an
| raE, and is now in one large and nearl
: | solid mass"
f Mr.. Donnelly closes his comments on thes
e | facts as follows:
r "Who shall say how often the character
! istics of our atmosphere have been affecte
by accessions from extraterrestrial source!
: resulting in CONGREGATIONS or pestilences,