Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1906-05-25
CITIES ESCAPE THE FIRES.
PROPERTY LOSS IN VILLAGES, SET
ELEMENTS AND CAMPS MAY
REACH MILLIONS.
FOUR COUNTIES SUFFER.
Whether or Not Any Humans Lost Lives
According to Runners, Is Hard
to Confirm.

resulting, but the large towns are no
longer in danger.
Whether or not any human lives were
lost it is impossible to say; nor is it
possible to tell this afternoon how much
damage 10 property, industry and means
Of communication there has resulted
DARK STORY TO BE TOLD.
When communication by, railway, teIe-
graph and telephone is established
which will probably be within thirtysix
hours-a forest tire story can be told
which. it is believed, will rival any sim
liar piece Of news that has ever come
out Of this section Of the United States.
An Evening Wisconsin correspondent
spent all night and several hours this
morning in an effort to get a general re-
view Of the fire situation for his news
paper, and finds that the loss will be
several millions Of dollars. He has been
unable to find any loss of life, but 400
people are homeless, it is estimated
CONFIRMED NEWS OF LOSSES.
The damage, known positively to have
been done, cptomzcd as well possible
under the circumstances, follows:
RALPH-T0wn Of 100 people almost
wiped out.
ALFRED = Population. 200: every
house and huge piles of logs burned.
SALNOIE-Population 400; boarding
house, railway station, big stores of logs
and ties destroyed.
QUINNI1SEC-POpu 100; de-
stroycd; AL residents homeless.
CORNELL-All but one store burned;
300 people homeless.
NORTHLAND-AIilI and six houses
burned, many Of 600 population home
less aud without food.
Mining town; houses and
destroyed and all but a few of 100
people homeless
FETCH BRANCH, NORTH WEST
EItN RAILWAY-AIl bridges burned
and scores Of homesteadcrs in that sec
ton covering ten square miles, are
homeless. Il is feared there was loss
Of life here
NORTHLAND BRANCH. ESCA-
NABA q LAKE SUPERIOR RAIL
WAY-Fiye million feet of cut logs
burned, bridges down, and line tied up
completely, perhaps for weeks.
FOUR COUNTIES SUFFER.
Mcnomnce Delta. Dickinson. School
craft, and Marquette counties bear the
brunt of the loss The Isaac Stephenson
Lumber company, the Pittsburg and
Lake Superior Iron company the Esca-
naba Wooden Ware company and other
concerns suffer the greatest loss. Some
Of the towns partl. or wholly destroyed
belong entirely to these corporations
Three trainloads of homeless people
have already arrived i'll Escanaba. Thou
sands of others are believed homeless and
suffering from want of food, clothing and
other necessities.
SUFFERING IS FEARED.
There viii be intense suffering, of that
there is no question. Arrangements for
aid and offers to give assistance are
reaching this city from lower Michigan
and Wisconsin, which must bear large
share of frelosses, directly or indirectly
the result of the forest fires.
Reports reaching here give Wisconsin
losses in brief as follows:
Stanley, population POO people, loss S4Oo,-
600; Ccdnrvillc and Wausaukee, 1000 people,
loss 100000: Marathon City, population 600
loss 100000 Auburndale. population 400
loss $1,000; Oc0utO, COCO population loss
SI5, 200
BIG TOWNS ARE SAFE.
Indications this morning are that the
fro ii being swept northward. and that
it is dying out in many places. The
wind has changed so that such towns as
Escanaba, Marquette and the larger
places III the district, are out of danger.
But there is stu an immense amount of
hardwood timber, of the best in the
country, in the path of the flames.
The fires went as far rs Goose Lake
on the northwestern railway, north of
Wisconsin. and west to Stambough,
Mich, while on the east the border line
is in Alger colnty.
MANY RUMoRS AFLoAT.
One report says that three children are
missing in Quinnisec. but this cannot be
confirmed. Foster, Mich. has had a mar
row escape. but only one house was
burned. At Woodlawn, Mich, several
cars of ties burned up. Other reports
Al. y-olt~ Il.
Stamhough, is surrounded by flames and
people are fighting hard to save it. 1t
is also said that the hig hardwood fac
tory nj Hermansville. Mich. has been
destroyed.
Perronville. in Menominee county. was
surrounded by flames last night. but
saved. At Loomis. Wis, n schoolhouse
was wiped out and the teacher and pu-
pills had narrow escape.
MANY REPORTED DEAD.
The only rumor of large loss of life
comes indirectly from Saunders in Iron
county. which is said to have been
burned 1t is absolutely impossible TO
get definite information.
MARQUETTE VIEW OF FIRE.
MARQUETTE, Mich. May 19.-[Spe-
cial IA stretch of territory over go
miles in length, reaching from Newberry
on the east to Bessemer, Mich, on the
west, and north and south between the
short line of the Lake Superior and the
southern boundary of the Upper PENN
sula, is dotted with forest fires
Settlements and farm houses have
been wiped out. timber lands destroyed
and hundreds of persons rendered home
less.
1t is impossible to estimate the finan-
cial loss, but figured on the basis of local
conditions it is probable that hundreds
of thousands of dollars worth of property
have been destroyed.
The loss in the immediate vicinity of
Marquette is over $4,000 Involving only
the destruction of personal property and
not including devastation of timber lands
or damage to railroad property.
The town of Quinnesec and several
hamlets III Menominee Iron range are
reported wiped out. Northwest of Mar
quette the town of Birch. where the
Northern Lumber company has fully
100000 worth of property, was threat
ened with destruction, and men were sent
from here by special train to fight the
flames.
MANY WIRES DOWN.
Because of the destruction of telegraph
poles wires are down in all directions.
and communication by that means is i'm
possible.
Unless rain falls soon much more
SAVES TRAIN BUT DIES,