Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1908-07-15
FOREST FIRES RAGING.


-. Damagc Being Done Through
out the State.
,,.,oock county has not escaped from
.sa forest fires which are devastating inrge
w M. az timberiand throughout the State.
.,asst estimate places the damage so
dore bv forest fires at = 500, 900, and
- s-es are still raging, with little hope
.,,elief except by heavy rain. The soil
.odrv owing to the prolonged drought
,s,, the fire burns far into the ground,
"a ,snders the tract burned over worth
,o.. for years to come.
Tho largest fire in Hancock county is in
.sa rieinity Of North Bluehill and near
.hs head Of Teddy pond. Here 1000 acres
Leo already been burned over. The
salecfnen have had crew OF men at work
,,rht and day for over two weeks fighting
,hs sre. but it still RACES fiercely and
.hrestens valuable cumberland as well as
buildings on the road.
The fire started in 8. B. Billings pasture,
oor his house, from brush fire, three
weeks ago. 1t was supposed the fire was
N out. but the wind famed it to life
scain and it was soon beyond control.
The largest losers so far are e. E. Chase
and s. B. Billings and his sons. L. G..
webber. S. J. Treworgy and Emery
Howard are smaller losers.
There were light showers in this section
from 10 10 O'Clock last evening, and a
bsra shower OF short duration at mid
night. but not sufficient to extinguish the
fire.
Several fires are burning in the up-river
sections OF Hancock county on land
owned by Whitcomb, Haynes & Co., OF
Ellsworth Falls. Two were reported from
the fire lookout station at Lead mountain
Monday. The largest Of these is near
Lead mountain, about on the line OF town.
sbips % and IS. The fire had burned over
800 acres yesterday, but crews were
started in at once from DeBlois and Au-
rora. The fire can simply be held in check
10 prevent its running, but it continues to
spread The fire is in the bark works, and
last years peeling is still in the woods.
Several cords OF bark have already been
burned. There was no rain in this section
last night.
The second fire reported Monday from
the Lead mountain station was in the
vicinity Of Rocky pond, but yesterday
morning the lookout reported no trace Of
it,
Another fire on Whitcomb, Haynes &
Co.'S land is on the Jones' tract, near
Nicolin station. This fire was started near
the railroad by sparks from q locomotive.
1t was burning briskly yesterday, and has
burned over 200 acres OF good timberland.
There was no rain there last night.
The Lookout on Lead mountain also re-
ports big fire on Machias waters, town
ships "a and 25 being apparently all on fire.
a fire which threatened cottages in the
vicinity Of Somesville, burned over con-
siderable timberland. One cottage caught
fire but was saved.
At fremont q fire started in Edward
Kelley's pasture, and was still burning
fiercely yesterday. Another fire on Mt.
Desert island is in the vicinity OF Sails
bury Cove. The selectmsn OF Eden have
q crew at work, and believed yesterday
they had the fire under control.
There were showers on Mt. Desert last
night.
A fire is raging in the woods between
East Franklin and Sullivan. Another fire
started at Gouldsboro from q burning
house, but was soon under control.
There have been several small fires on
Deer Isle, in the town of Stonington, but
prompt action Of the selectmen prevented
their spreading far.
From all sections OF the State come
reports OF disastrous fires. One of the
largest was in the vicinity OF Brunswick,
where several thousand acres have been
burned over. In the vicinity of Kineo q
fire has destroyed 5000 acres OF timber
land. Big fires are also raging above
Bangor. There were showers in many
sections of the State last night.
FIRES REPORTED TODAY.
A fire started this morning on the Amos
Rocks property on the Trenton road, Ellis
worth. A crew started promptly to figh
1t, and it is believed this afternoon it can
be stamped out.
1t was reported in Ellsworth this fore
noon that there was fire in North
Lamoine. First Selectman Ralph T.
Young, in reply to THE AMERICANS tele-
phone this afternoon, said there was no
nre IN Lamoine. He reported, however,
that fire had sprung up in Hancock to-
DAY, apparently along the line OF railroad
between Hancock and Franklin Road
stations, and was burning briskly.
franklin Road reports two fires-one
ABOUT half mile below Franklin Road
station, which started yesterday and just
before noon to-day started up again, and
another which is burning nearer Hancock
village.