The Lewiston teller. (Lewiston, Idaho) 1900-1905, 1902-09-18

AlVeS Sun.
posed to he Lost-People Take >,
the Rivers to Save Their Lix..
Tacoma, Wash. Sept. 15.-Special a,n
patches from Olympia state that tho o..
est fires in that vicinity have OBJ.
somewhat. and the atmosphere ia NIL
clearer Small fires are burning alonp .h-
logging roads near Shelton. but M 49,.
age Of consequence has been done
cept the burning Of one or two sr.r
trestles. Trains are patrolling the track,
all the time to keep the fires under COW
troll. The state land commissioner h..
called In all his cruisers until such t,n,s
as 1t will be safe for them to again o.
into the woods.
To the north and east Of Aberdeen +ha
greatest damage has been to the tirh..
on the upper Wishkaha river. 1opoo,.
estimate that on this stream and the Ch..
halls at least 100000 Of timber hav.
been burned. Two Of Poison Rros.
camps. including 20 horses and outf7ts
have been destroyed. The great dam m
the Hoquiam river caught fire and MO.
destroyed.
1t Is feared many loggers and cru,sers
in that vicinity have persisted.
Dispatches from Elma say the d.r.o,
IN that vicinity has passed as the wind
fell and the fires slowed down. Abou,
100 families are homeless. Several ner.
sons are missing. but no lives are known
to have been lost. The fire in the Cove
man country has swept all before 1t for
20 miles down the river and across K..
lama river. Two men escaped death nv
lying in the river for several hours III.
loggers in the J. b. Hills camp war>
awakened at midnight and fed for their
lives, leaving everything to burn, and the
camp was destroyed. Many houses have
been burned, and the loss is very heavy.
Portland, Ore. Sept. 15.-Driyep
from their homes in the darkness of the
night by RAGING forest fire which
swept everything before it from Ariel.
Cowlitz county, Washington, to-
Mount st. Helens, a distance of Oh
miles, II people are dead, four are
missing and over 200 people have been
left homeless, and many have not even
clothes enough to cover them.
The dead in Cowlitz county, as far.
as known, are:
D. L. Wallace, wifeand two children:
Twelve year old son of Mr.. Hanley:
John Polly, his brother and child;
w. E. Newhouse; Mrs. Graves.
-Four men who were working on a
claim belonging to James Hawthorne
have not been found, and it is thought
they are dead. Some SO or go people
were camped at the lake at the foot of
Mount st. Helens, and they have not
been heard from since the fire.
1t is not known whether they escaped
or not. The first news Of the devasta-.
ton was brought to the city by Milo
NJ. Dimmick, who experienced many
difficulties in making the trip out to-
send aid to the sufferers. From his de-
scription, the suffering there is great,
and the devastation is the most appall--
ing Of any that has been reported.
For a stretch Of rs miles, he says,
there are but two houses standing.
The fine timber from which the peo-
pie expected to realize fortunes has all
been ruined. The fire came on them
in to night, and was entirely unex-
pected. Dimmick was asleep, and was
awakened by the barking Of his dog.
II hadscarcely got to the river my
self, when the flames were upon me,
and if had had to take time to save
any one else we would not have got
away.
While immersed in the river, DIM
mick saw one Of the grandest, but most
APPALLING sights, Of his life.
Great balls of fire would roll up
like cotton balls" said he, land then
burst with q mighty roar.
have never heard q noise to COM
pared with it, As soon :as the fire
passed over him, he rushed to q neigh
boris house and found that the family
had been driven from home, but had
escaped death. When morning came
he set out to bring the information.
The bridges were all burned and the
roads were DISTRACTED by trees that had
fallen across them, 80 that his progress
was very slow.
Fully 100 families have been burned
out in the vicinity of Elma, Wash.
The total loss is estimated at $500, 900.
Families Homeless.
Portland, Ore. Sept. 15.-About 800
people are left homeless in Multnoma
and Clackamas counties as the result
OF the forets fires which have ragged for
the past week. Fires have burned over
vast scope Of country, but the great
of do, In,