The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1908-10-01
Historic Forest Fires

The following interesting informa-
ton is issued by the government
forest service:
The terrible work of the flames
which burned over and destroyed
hundreds of thousands of acres of
timber and property to the value of
millions in the Lake States, recalls
to memory other great forest fires
which have attained historic import
ance.
One of the earliest of these was
the great Miramichi fire of 1925. 1t
began its greatest destruction about
one O'Clock in the afternoon of Oc-
tober of that year, at place about
60 miles above the town of Newcas-
tie, nthe Miramichi River, in New
Brunswick. Before ten O'Clock at
night it was 20 miles below Newcas-
tie. In nine hours it had destroyed
belt of forest 80 miles long and
rs miles wide. Over more than two
and one-half million acres, almost
every living thing was killed. Even
the fish were afterwards found dead
in heaps on the river banks. Five
hundred and ninety buildings were
burned, and number of towns, in
IcludingNewcastel Chatham andDoug-
lastown, were destroyed. One humid
red and sixty persons persisted, and
nearly a thousand head of stock.
The loss from the Miramichi fire is
estimated at 100000, not including
the value of the timber.
In the majority of such forest fires
as this destruction of the timber is a
more serious loss, by far than that
of cattle and buildings, for it carries
with it the impoverishment of a
whole region for tens or even hun
dreds of years afterwards. The loss
of the stumpage value of the timber
at the time of the fire is but a small
part of the damage to the neighbor-
hood. The wages that would have
been earned in numbering, added to
the value of the produce that would
have been purchased to supply the
lumber camps, and the taxes that
would have been devoted to roads
and other public improvements, fur
nish a much truer measure of how
much, sooner or later, it costs reg
ion when its forests are destroyed
by fire.
The Peshtigo fire of October. 1871,
was still more severe that the Mira
michi. 1t covered an area of more
than 1000 square miles in Wiscon-
sin, and involved a loss in timber
and other property, of many mil
| lions of dollars. Between 200 and
1900 persons persisted, including
nearly half the population of Pesh-
tigo,a that time town of 1000 in
habitants. Other fires at about the
same time were most destructive in
Michigan. A strip about 40 miles
wide and $50 miles long, extending
across the central part of the state,
from Lake Michigan to Lake Huron,
was devastated. The estimated loss
in timber was about 1000, 000,0 900
feet board measure, and in money
over S10,000,000. Several hundred
persons persisted.
In the early part of September,
1881, great fires covered more than
500 square miles in various parts
of Michigan. The estimated loss, in
property, in addition to many humid
red thousand acres of valuable tim
Der, was more than $4,000, 900. Over
1 pSISOuS N6lt QCoNitdbOs
and the number of lives lost is va
riously estimated at from $50 to 500.
The most destructive fire of more
recent years was that which started
near Hinckley, Minnesota, September
| /, 1894. While the area burned
over was less than in some other
great fires, the loss of life and prop
erty was very heavy. Hinckley and
six other towns were destroyed,
about 500 lives were lost, more than
| 1000 persons were left destitute,
and the estimated loss in property of
various kinds was SIS, 100000 Elk
cept for the heroic conduct of loco
motive engineer and other railroad
men the loss of life would have been
much greater.
This fire was all the more de-
plorable, because it was wholly I'M
necessary. For many days before the
high wind came and drove it into I'M
eontrollable fury, it was burning
slowly close to the town of Hinckley,
and could have been put out.