New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-10-10
FIRES TAKE 500 LIVES.
Continued from first pase'

Continued from FIRST pase'
Unless the wind changes again the Town
will be saved.
Canadian Northern Railway traiii5
have been stalled here Since
night. when freight train went !,
/ bridge near Pitt. The crew was saved
and the conductor walked lhto
dette, which town he reporleo 60
stroyed, with only the water taiih' ''.o
schooIhouse walls and the station s'alo-
| ing. He saws he walked over DouleS On
the way, but could not say no" many .
Manv settlers took TO the WOODS anu
have not been heard from since. a
mother and five children are known ~
have been burned.
The fires are still raging and the sr1lohe
is sitting. Men from Warroao neipe"
save Roosevelt Calls are co1iiiIls III ~
help settlers twelve miles SOUTH
are down, and news is obtainaple only
as refugees come in The damage Is
immense and the loss of life uncertain
ST. Paul. Oct. Ex-Governor Eberhart'
as president of .he state Red Cross
issued a proclametnu this afternoon
calling on the citizens of the state Tor
contributions OF money, provisions anu
clothing for the sufferers from the forest
fires in the northern part OF the state.
Mayors of cities and towns are aulhor-
lied to receive contributions as well as
Kenneth Clark, of St. Paul, treasurer Oh
the state Red Cross Business men OF
the Twin Cities started the contributions
with donation of $1,000.
J. H. Beck. president of the St Pau
Jobbers and Manufacturers Association
and Wallace Me, represe nting Mime
apolis business men, left here to-nigh.
for the fire zone to assist in relievin.
the sufferers.
The stricken towns along the northern
border of the state are mostly numbering
towns of a few hundred inha bitants.
principally Americans.
Rainy River, Ont, Oct. 9.-Those re-
ported as missing i'll the frestricken
towns include some two thousand resi-
dents OF Beaudette, Spooner and Pitt,
some of whom are dead. but the most of
whom are safe at Rainy River. and the
adjacent towns on the Canadian side Of
the line. The most serious aspect of the
missing includes the homestea ders and
farmers in the bush for a distance of
one hundred miles east and twenty miles
south. Of whom nothing can be learned
for some time, as searching parties dare
not try to penetrate the still smoking
forests through which the cyclone of
fire has swept. While a wind is sweep
ing a sea of fire eastward on the south
side of the Rainy River at a velocity Of
fifty miles an hour, the great body Of
flames passed this section. revealing a
calamity that already reaches the pro-
portions Of an international disaster.
Railway and wire connections with the
scene of the disaster from the west is
cut off by a burned district from War
road. Mimi, on the Canadian Northern
Railroad, a distance of forty miles.
through which the last trains passed last
night at the peril Of the lives of the
crews The road is open to the south
and east, however. and relief is being
afforded from Fort William.
The fires have been gmouldering in that
district for months, and were started
anew by the strong wind which began
to blow two DAYS ago. The wind in
creased in velocity until a wave Of flame
more than a hundred feet high and as
long leaped as far as half mile wide.
1t was this situation that caused so
many to perish on the railway track.
They sought this opening in the bush,
but were burned to a crisp by the heat
waves leaping this barrier Of some 300
wards along the clearing Of the railway
track.
The most intelligent description of the
fire is related by James Ramsay, a ciu-
zen of Spooner.
IT was several miles south of Beau
dette when I nrst heard the roar of
the flames" he said. Il started to run
for the town. but the fire was coming
fast and was very close. 1 caught UP
with man who was accompanied by a
woman with a baby. They were ex-
hausted and l seized the child and fed.
There was a wall of fame ahead Of us,
but the wind shifted and we passed
through. ! can't understand how any
of the homesteaders of that section can
have escaped. I believe this fire will
go through hundreds of miles of brush
and timber. and hundreds of persons
viii perish
The Canadian Northern Railway has
practically been running relief trains in
every direction, stopping at any point
where frantic people were to be found
along the track. The heroism of these
train crews is a part of The heroism dis
played by many. Trains have been run
through suffocating smoke and burning
bridges and timbers, regardless of dan
ger to the crews.
The most dramatic incidents were
those incident to the escape of two
thousand fuEitives in a long train of
box cars. The crowd Of men, women
and children awaited the trains while
their homes were in flames"
The first trainload steamed across TO
Rainy River with men hanging to the
sides and to the trucks. First places
were given to women. Many Of those
left started running down the tracks and
persisted thus. Others, with great cour-
age, stood their ground and were res