Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1908-09-09
FoRL,T FIRES IN MINNESOTA.
Half County Burning--BcN Cars
Take People Away.

q
Duluth, Mimi, Sept. 5.-Forest
hres, after burning for three days,
| enveloped several towns near Du-
luth, rendered thousands of people
homeless and destroyed millions of
dollars worth of property.
h Chlsolm, Mfnn., town of 1000
inhabitants, on the Mesaba Iron
range, 80 miles north Of Duluth, was
| completely wiped out.
Hibbing, five miles from Chisolm,
was surrounded by forest fires, and
was saved only by the shifting Of the
| wind. The entire northern portion
| OF Douglas county, Wisconsin,, Is on
| fire. Renshaw, village % miles
west OF Duluth, Is surrounded by
| flames and there is no hope for 1T.
The farmers have been driven from
their homes and as passage along
| the roadway is difficult owing to the
dense smoke and the heat, 1t Is be-
lieved that some lives have been lost,
although none have been reported.
A fire at Bayfield,, Wis, damaged
! two docks and lumber company's
property to. the extent of s700,000.
For three days the woods have
been on fire west and north of CHS
olm and small bush fires were re-
ported to the eastward. At noon
IhlcS WdliS VI IRE COIlluB lfOlH ulI-
ferent directions Joined and swept
toward the little mining town with
roar, licking up every tree, stump
and vestige Of plant growth and send
ing up hurricane Of red hot brands
| that fell upon the town.
The citizens Of Chisolm went forth
to fight the fire. The fire depart
ment was not able to cover large
| territory and although Intermittent
blaZes started by the falling fire
brands were quickly eXtinguished
the fire rolled onward toward the
| town and the citizens soon realized
that its destruction was inevitable.
| Soon the roads leading from the
| pie in wagons, on horses and on foot.
Conveyances were at a premium.
A foreigner with a small wagon and
one horse offered to take woman
and three small children to Hibbing
| for S25. Il man overheard the con-
versation and drawing a revolver
| pointed it at the foreigners head,
and then climbing into the rig, COM
PEELED him to drive the party over
| the fire zone.
Business men ran home to get
| their families and many separations
occurred as they in turn fled toward
The Great Northern, the only road
running into Chisolm, took Ii box
cars crowded with homeless people
| to Hibbing tonight, where the citi-
zens are throwing open their homes
| and tents are being supplied to care
| for the refugees.
The residence districts caught fire
soon after the business portion was
ablaZe. The new high school. which
| was recently erected at cost of
$125,000, is the only building saved.
The loss on buildings at Chisolm
is estimated at $2,O0O,000. CHS
olm is in the centre of the greatest
| iron producing area in the world.
Refugees poured into Hibbing to-
night until the population Of 10000
was almost doubled.
Forest Fires Now Checked.
Duluth, Mimi, Sept 6.-After de-
strOying the towns Of Chisolm, on
| the Mesaba range, and burning over
thousands Of acres in st. Louis, Car
Teton and Itasca counties, in Mime
sofa, and in Douglass county, Wis
| consin, the many forest fires which
have been raging In these regions
were checked to-day.
If the wind does not spring up
again it Is not likely that further
damage will result.
The subsiding of the wind enabled
the inhabitants of Buhl and Nash
wauk to save these towns. Several
buildings at the edge of Nashwauk
were burned, but by working all
night 1900 miners and citizens pre-
vented the flames from sweeping
over the village. The town was sur
rounded by wall Of fire anc IL -es-
cape was remarkable. Shisolnl pre-
sents a scene of ruin and desolation.
Blackened and smoking piles of
charred wood, little heaps of gray
ashes, scorched, gaunt skeletons of
brick and mortar, all canopied with
a dense pail Of smoke, comprise what
was one Of the most fourishing
towns of the great Mesaba iron
range. The only remaining build
ings are .e new High School, a grad
ed school,, Catholic church, the
Italian church and a dozen dwellings
in the southernmost part Of the city.
The damage to real property is
now estimated at $1,000,000 and
that of personal property at $780,
900. The insurance carried by Chis-
olm merchants was about 100000.