The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1908-10-17
METZ, CENTER OF THE
WHOLE CONFEDERATION


The little village OF $50 souls was
the center Of the whole fire.
The place was the railroad port OF
entry to Rogers City. the county seat
IL miles to the north. and was the out
let to a~large and thriving farming
settlement Of Germans and Poles. Lum
bering and agriculture were the main
industries. The town laid on a north
and south road, and had practically
but one street. On the east side\ OF
this street stretched the business
places. Across this road, only 10 feet
away, was a large tract OF cut-over
land. literally covered with dry tree
tops and drier brush.
On the south side OF the railway
were the school house, station agents
house and the large mill of Lombard
& Rittenhouse, with several hundred
the north was the fine large German
Lutheran church, and the country was
thickly dotted with farm houses.
Church Consumed First.
The fire first broke through the
forest to the doomed town at this
church, and 1t was soon a-mass- oi
flames
Then to the railroad track II pene
trated, catching the large mill and
nearby houses. After that nothing
could be done. 1t was simply the mat
ter Of a few minutes when everything
would be in flames. People gathered
what they could and fed each for him.
self. seeking only safety from the SUI.
locating smoke and the death-bringiIg
flames. A freight engine was there
trying to help stay the progress of the
fire.
When all hope OF saving property
was gone, Conductor kinville switched
out several freight cars and got to-
gether As men, women and children,
planning to make dash to Posen,
five miles away. Many OF the people
got together such household effects
as they could and piled them into the
cars. Engineer Foster took the train
out.
The rest of the tragic story already
Is known.
Metz Fire Cost $4,000.
The loss of property In Metz will be
not less than $4,000 The loss
throughout the burned district cannot
ever be estimated. The entire farm
ing district around Metz and South
Rogers Is almost blackened waste.
Fire spread through meadows and
along fences with as great rapidity as
through the brush. A traveller driving
from Rogers City to Posen counted
the ruins Of &c farm houses.
Posen and La ROGUE village on
either side OF Metz were threatened,
but the. fires were kept from getting
into them.
At Williams, mill, east OF Millers-
burg. 80 men labored hours and final.
ly saved every bit OF lumber and tim
Der. although at times flames were
only eight or ten feet from the lum-
Der piles. and at one time logs in the
very yard were blazing.
In Allis township, west of here.
flames swept through some OF the
finest hardwood timber in the country.
Detroit Concerns Lose.
The Michigan Contracting Co. OF
Detroit. had new band sawrSil and
fine tract of timber located there. Ten
men. I'm charge of Dick Plume labor.
ed necessarily until evening, and
thought they had saved the property.
iN' ~ hNhtt VAC ~ vi ~
flaming brand into a Bkidwav of dry
hemlock and the~hre was soon beyond
human control The mill, more than
a million and half feet OF lumber,
the camps and thousands OF feet OF
logs In the woods were all destroyed.
Plume and his men. together with his
wife and children, drove through SO
rods Of flaming forest TO safety. Plume
nearly lost his sight.
The loss OF the Detroit company
will reach $4,000. N\
s. r, Derry. formerly OF Saginaw.
places his loss at $4,000.
Fire swept through tract ~ 1000
acres ofshis timber. fine hardwood. lie
also lost camps and numbering equip
ments
In Ocqueoc township. north of here,
Fred Tatro, Mr.. King and Mrs. Walk
or, lost their houses, as well AS sew
eral barns.
"A half million dollars viii not cover
the total loss I'm this county. What
the farmers can do TO make up the
losses they have sustained Is probe.
maticaI. As this story 10 written. fires
still continue to rage through those
portions OF timber which had hitherto
escaped.
SEVEN TOWNS MENACED