Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-05-19
Forest Fires Devastate a
Strip ESQ Miles in
Length.
LOSSES ARE HEAVY
Destruction of Wires Prevents
Details of Disaster Be-
ing Learned.

Escanaba, Mich. May 19.-The DAM
age done by the forest fires, epitorized
as well as possible owing to the inter
ruption of communication, is as fol-
lows:
Ralph, town of 100 people, almost
wiped out.
Alfred, population 200, every house
and huge piles CT logs burned.
Aaivoie, population 400, boarding
house, railway station and big stores
Of logs and ties destroyed.
Quinnisec, population 100, destroyed,
all residents homeless.
Cornell, all but one store burned, 800
people homeless.
NorthIand, the mill and six houses
burned and many of the 100 population
homeless and without food.
Antoine. mining town-Houses and
one lumber mill burned; boarding
houses destroyed, and all but few of
the 700 people homeless.
FeIth-On branch of the Northwest
ern railway; all bridges burned and
scores of homesteaders in that section,
covering 10 square miles, homeless. 1t
is feared there is loss of life here.
On the NorthIand branch of the Es-
canada & Lake Superior railway, 5000,
COO feet of cut logs burned, bridges are
down and the line tied up completely,
perhaps for weeks.
BEAR BRUNT OF LOSS.
craft and Marquette counties bear the
brunt of the loss. Three trainloads of
homeless people have already arrived
in Escanaba. Thousands of others are
believed homeless and suffering from
want of food, clothing and other neces-
sites. Reports this morning indicate
the fires are dying out in many places.
The wind has changed, and such towns
as Escanaba. Marquette and the larger
places in the district were out of dan
ger.
Large Area Burned.
Marquette Mich. May ia stretch
of territory over $50 miles in length.
reaching from Newberry to east of
Bessemer on the west and north be-
tween the shore line of Lake Superior
and the southern boundary of the up
per peninsula, is dotted with fores,
fires. Settlements and farm houses
have been wiped out. timber land de
stroyed and hundreds of persons rem
dered homeless.
No Estimate Possible.
1t is impossible 70 estimate the finan- |
cial loss. but it probably runs into |
hundreds of thousands. The loss in the |
Immediate vicinity of Marquette is over
$4,000. The town of Quinnesec and |
several hamlets in the Monominee iron |
range are reported wiped out. Because
of the destruction of telegraph poles. !
wires are down in all directions
VIII BE Thrilling Tale.
Escanaba. Mich, May 19.- Forest |
fires in northern Michigan have almost |
swept blank an area of 100 square
miles. Whether or not any human lives
were lost il is impossible TO say When |
communication by railway. telegraph /
and telephone is eStablished-whichl |
will probably be within SO hours-a for
est fire story can be obtained which |
it is believed will rival any similar
piece of news that has ever come out |
of this section of the United States.
Town Hemmed In.
Wausaukee. Mich. May 19.-Wausau
kee is hemmed in by forest fires. Mil |
lions of feet of lumber burned and the
loss is estimated at 100000. AT Ce-
darville fires have destroyed many cars
loaded with lumber on the tracks and
the big kilns filled with cedar are
burned. fierce wind is blowing the
sparks and burning embers for miles.
All trains are being held here, as the
rails are twisted from the intense heat.
Wind Changes.
Marinette. Wis, May 19.- Forest |
fires, famed by a gale. swept over
Delta, Dickinson. Menominee, Mar
quette and Alger counties in Michigan
and one or two counties in northeastern |
Wisconsin, including Marinette, Friday
afternoon and night. destroying thous-
ands of dollars worth of property and
wiping out several small towns. 1t is |
hard to estimate the loss which will
reach 100000
Reports this morning indicate the
wind has changed to the north and the
fires are dying out.
Three Children Killed.
Menominee. Mich. May 19.-The de-