The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-11-30
RHETORIC roaEsr rlsss.


The terrible work OF the flames
which have burned over and destroyed
hundreds of thousands of acres OF
timber and property to-, the value 0f
millions in the Lake states, recalls to
memory other great forest 6res which
baye attained ricsimportance.
y One OF the earliest OF these was
the. great Mirsmichi fire of fh1s25. II
began its greatest destruction about
one o'clock In, the afternoon Of 0rto-
bery of that year, at q splace about
so miles above the town Of New
castle, on the Miramichi river, in New
Brunswick. Before ten o'clock at
night II was 20 miles below Newcastle.
In nine hours 1t had dest, Dyed a belt
Of forest 80 miles long and 70 miles
vide. Oyer 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 huadTet and nine
iy buildings we're burned, and num-
Der of towrs. including Newcastle,
Chatham and DouglastOw1 were de-
stroyed One hundred and sixty per-
sons persisted, and nearly a thousand
head OF stock. The loss from the
Miramichi fire is estimated at 100000
not including the value ofthe timber.
In the majority OF such forest fires
as this the destruction of the timber
is a more serious loss, by far, than
that of the cattle and buildings, for
1t carries with 1t the impoyerishment
OF whole region for tens or even
hundreds of years afterwards. The
loss of the stumpage value of the tim
Der at the time of the FIRE is but
small part Of the damage to the, neigh
borhood. 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, furnish a
much truer measure of how much,
sooner or later, 1t costs a region when
its forests are destroyed by fire
The Peshtigo fire of October, 1871,
was still more severe than the Mir
amichi. II covered an area of more
than 1000 square miles In Wisconsin,
and involved logs in timber and
other property, OF many millions of
dollars. Between l,200 and 1900 par-
sons perished, including nearly half
the population of Peshtigo, at that
time town OF 1000 inhabitants
Other fires Of about the same time
were most destructive In Michigan. A
strip about 40 miles wide and 1870
miles long, extending across the CEN
tral part OF the state, from Lake
Michigan to Lake Huron was devast-
ated. The estimated loss in timber
was about 4000.000,00O feet board
measure, and in money over 100000
600. Several hundred persons perish
ed. ~,
In the early part OF September, 1881
great fires covered more than 800
square miles in various parts OF Mich
igan.A The estimated loss, In property
in addition to many hundred thou
sand acres of valuable timber, was
more than $2.300,0O0. over 5000 per-
sons were made destitute, and the
number OF lives lost is variously esti-
mated at from $50 to 500.
The most destructive fire OF more
recent years was that which started
near Hinckley.. Minnesota. September
l., 1894. While the area burned over
was less than in some other great
fires, the loss OF life and property 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
S25,0O0,000. Except for the heroic
conduct of locomotive engineers and
other railroad men the loss OF life
would have been much greater.
This fire was all the more deplor-
able, because 1t was wholly unneces-
sary. For many days before the high
wind came and drove 1t into uncon-
trollable fury. II was burning slowly
close to the town of Hinokley, and
could have been put out.