The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1894-08-02
A CONFEDERATION.

/ "a NELAUAA1AStN.
The Loss Placed at One Million and .
Half Dollars.
The Insurance Probably Half That Amoens
Most Terrible OF All, Sixteen Ferrous
known to Have Been Burned or
Drowned-A Terrible Disaster.
/ Phillips, Wis, July 30.-Allthst IL
known of a certainty, forty-eight houfe
after the destruction Of this town, re-
garding the loss Of human life in the
flaming sea, is that sixteen persons per.
i! ished by FIRE and water In the burning
of the raft on which they sought an 60.
cape from the flames.
The charred bodies of many yfctiyns
are expected to be found in the debraa
of the big lumber yard, near the. bridge
) which burned over the bayou. Womsu
/ and children fed there when the
; bridge fell under the fiery wave. II B
! certain that several women.and chill.
/ dren, who were crossing the bridge
= WuClt Az PEI lSISss La SiAS AAasAAAA1W
mass.
| A semblancc Of order was created out
! of the smoking chaos Sunday morning.
on the arrival OF Gov. Peck and his stef7.
! and relief parties with provisions from
i N1arshfeld and Stevens Point. Tho
carloads Of food were welcomed more
than the visitors. All except 81 of the
buildings are in ashes.
! At.daybreak Sunday morning dense
smoke covered an area of forest one
/ hundred miles square. More than $500
! persons fastened to the forests and TO
! the villages near by. The smoke was
so dense that the headlight of loco
motive could not be seen fifty feet
away.
As soon as he arrived Gov. Peck
called his staff together and directed
the work of unloading the provisions
! There were several carloads of foods
and warehouse was opened in one OF
the few buildings that are left stand.
ing in the town.
Through the dense smoke Gov. Peck
made his way and found two heavy
walls that marked the place where the
two banks had stood. 1t was learned
that the vaults of the banks contained
e52, coo, and Gov. Peek Immediately
swore in a dozen men to guard tho
I. vaults.
The loss by the confagration in ita
entirety is difficult to estimate. Out
of eight hundred buildings in the town
only thirty-seven remain. B. w. Davis,
! of the Davis Lumber Co., estimates tho
total loss at S1,500,OOO, scarcely half
| covered by insurance.
The Davis Lumber Co. lost $500, 900:
fully insured. The next highest loss
is that of the Fayette-Shaw Tannery
Co.. operating one of the largest tam
neries in the United States. The
tannery was destroyed with stock, ag-
gregating loss of over 5000 600. The
Blatz Brewing Co.. of Milwaukee, had
n distributing depot here, which was
destroyed with loss of $1,000.
There is no way Of estimating tho
number of lives lost in the fire, and
even after forty-eight hours have
passed no one can tie found who VEN
lures an opinion. When the people
fed before the wave of fire they be-
came separated and Gun give no ac-
count of each other. 1t is known that
sixteen persons persisted on the raft
! that burned in the bayou.
| A bridge or trestle crossed the bayou.
! and when the supports Of this bridge
were burned away it fell. Women and
children were crossing at the time, and
come must have persisted. The charred
body of Anton Flentzer can be seen In
the wreck of brick chimney. The
man was attempting to carry his trunk
from burning dwelling whe1i the
chimney fell on him, crushing out his
life
AS the fire swept toward the bridge
q number of children we're seen to take
refuge in the big lumber yard. Their
cries were heard by others who. fed
toward the water; but the children
have never been found. OF the six.
| teen persons who lost their lives on
the raft that burned in the bayou.
eight are yet in the water.
The body of Frank Cliss, the machin.
list, was found under pile of driftwood
at noon Sunday. The bodies of his
wife and children were recovered after
ward. Dynamite was exploded all day
in the bayou, and a number OF bodies
were raised by this means. Jim Locks
body was brought to the surfaee., He
was the butcher who was drowned
with his child In his arms.
The story Of the launching of this III
fated raft has never been told. The
only man who tells comprehensive
narrative of the horror is Joseph l,ol-
leA, lumberman. He was standing
near penthouse when number OF
women and children came toward him.
There were three or four men follow
Ing. They went to the raft and at
tempted to push It from the shore.
when 1t caught fire. Some jumped
into small boats and others remained
on the raft All perished. as the boats
we're overloaded ard sunk. The raft
burped to the waters edge. The Local.
relief committee has Issued statement
to the public. thanking the generous
citizens of tho state for shcu liberal
| contributions.
Death to Lottcrios.
WASHINGTON, July IS. There is a