The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-10-12

1
had seen evidence of the terrible work
! of the flames which drove them to
desperation. Weeping children, white
faced women and men, some broken
down by their loss and some facing
the future with white set faces, were
crowded into the bare box cars like
sardines. 1t was not possible to sleep
even, though mental condition had
not prevented, for there was no room
Mrs. Jensen said last evening that
she stood all night and the father and
mother took turns in holding the
! smaller children. The box cars were
pulled over to Rainy River and here
some of the refugees found tempo
rary stopping place.
| The Jensen family, however, made
their way to International Falls, and
! here the refugees were offered trans
portation by the railroad company to
any place where they could secure
aid. Mr. Jensen secured transporta-
ton for his family to Grafton, there
being absolutely nothing left for him
to do in that section. He arrived in
the city last evening almost penniless.
Captain John Sullivan, of the police
force, took charge of the family and
secured the consent from Commission
er ]. R. Poupore to get supper. lodg-
ing and breakfast for the family.
AnnihiIation of 5roten Family.
OF the terrible death of the Broten
family, father and mother and seven
children, Jensen was able to speak
with considerable knowledge, for his
brother, James Jensen, was an eye
witness to that awful tragedy. James
Jensen, a bachelor, lived about mile
south of his brothers. claim and the
Brotens rented two miles further
south. When the Broten family found
the flames almost upon them, they
fed In terror to the James Jensen
clearing, thinking that there they
might find some protection against the
flames. Their hopes were vain. how
ever, for the conditions were ever
worse than at their own home. There
was no avenue OF escape and the
BrOten family and Jensen endeavored
TO protect themselves from the flames
in cgIEse bed There was not water
In the c3uEeS. but the earth at this
bEtton was rather wet and all Gov
cred themselves as best they could
with the clay Jensen took particular
pains TO burr0w down into the
ground and this preesUti0n saved his
life With roar like tire roar Of a
| tremendous whirzw5R5 the cOnf1sgra-
| ton swept over them. Jensen saw
| that Mrs. Broten was on IRE and start
/ ed to save her from the flames. When
| he reached the woman, however. she
| fell over dead. The general belief is
! that she inhaled the fame. for death
| in such cases is almost instantaneous.
/ Jensen then devoted his efforts To uro-
| tecting himself from the flames and
when he was finally able to look
around he found that every member
| of the B-oten family was dead Fa-
| Their and mother and the seven chill
dren, most of them very young, lay
around him. stone dead and the bodies
badly burned, victims of the flame
monster. The sight was a terrible
one and almost unnerved Jensen, who
was in a pitiabIe condition himself
with his hair burned of and bad
burns about the face and hands.
Only One Saved.
| In another case, family took to
| the cellar and all but one boy who
ran to a coulee bed and covered him
self up were burned to death. The
cellar proved a death trap, for when
/ the house went the burning embers
covered the occupants of the cellar
and they were burned literally like
rats in a trap. The only member of
the family to survive the flames was
| the boy who had covered himself with
mud and water in the coulee bed
| Settlers in that section of the coun-
try, according to Mr.. and Mrs. Jensen,
are left practically penniless. Jensen
| himself lost some twenty tons of hay.
all of his stock, his home and furni-
ture and all else with 1t. His timber
valued at about $4,000 was all de-
stroyed and all that remains for him
! to do is to go back and begin over
again with practically nothing to be-
gin with. A single acre of potatoes
represents his capital. Mr.. Jensen
said last evening that he did not dig
1.-The potatoes because he was afraid OF
fire and he knew. that If the IRE found
/ the potatoes in the cellar the entire
crop would be destroyed. Under the
conditions he thinks that he was
family.
Il A DGAACNC TIC NhOlCt GOMIItIY COW
cred by the woods will be burned, /.
i was Jenson's opinion, expressed last
evening. 81 don't see how anything.
can stand before that awful wall OF
flames that seemed to cover the sky
i The sight is one cannot describe.
but some way had been afraid that
the fire would finally come and wipe
i US OUT
/ Prairie Fires Seen.
Mail Clerk Kirsch, who came In
| last evening on No. 3S, which runs
between this city and Duluth, reports
ed that the fires were not very far
from Bemidji and that prairie Ares
| between Crookston and Gagley were
destroying hundreds of tons Of hay.
/ The latest reports received last even
! Ing, however were to the effect that
the forest fires around Bemidji were
i dying out and no trouble was anticl-
pated.
/ Fashionable Coats.