Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-08-25
FROM BAD To WORSE.

Elsewhere in the fire zone the situa-
tion has gone from bad to worse to-
day The most serious incident is re
ported late this afternoon from the
St Coo country. where $50 men en-
gagged in the forestry service are miss
| ing. and 1t Is feared they have burned
to death. When the fire approached
the camp whore there were 200 men
two of the fighters took horse. and
riding the animal To death. reached
another camp and organized a rescue
party. which penetrated the fire at
| Bird creek.
Eighteen of tho men We're found In
the water, where they had gone for
safety They We're unframed.
OF the remaining $50 no word has
been received.
The forestry service has organized
relief train we'll equipped with pack
animals. carrying provisions and hos
pital supplies. and viii endeavor to
get through the fire.
| About a thousand refugees have
been brought into Missoula to-day.
There Is much distress among them.
Their wants are being supplied by
|
given temporary homes.
| TRAINLOAD OF REFUGEES,
The first Of the trains came in over the
Northern Pacific's Occur dAene branch
and brought the patients who had been In
| the Sisters Hospital at Wallace and as
many refugees Us could find place on the
| small train. There were 30 on this train
and "a second train at noon brought a
many more. These people came from tn
small towns along the line between here
and Wallace. Many of them had been
reused from their sleep by the people on
the trains whose Summons had been the
| first intimaton that the fire was near:
| there had been no slsn of it when the
people went to bed Saturday night II
most instances these people escaped only
scantlly clad. woman who had fed
from her house at midnight gave birth to
a child in Il box ear just after the ar-
rival OF the first train at Missoula.
Local hospitals are caring for the sick
Missoula homes have been opened freely
and the homeless are comfortable for the
present
| Another train with 800 persons on board
is expected over the Chicago Milwaukee
| X Puget Sound railway.
| dense pail of smoke hangs over all
eastern Montana. In Missoula it was as
dark as midnight at five o'clock, the
dense smoke being given lurid hue
which had all the sembance of the glow
OF fire. but which was probably due to
| the sun,
TOWN or TAFT BURNED
I The town of Taft, near the Idaho line,
was destroyed by fire before daylight this
| morning.
Saltese, just below Taft. has been aban-
doned by It's inhabitants and is known to
| be surrounded by fire
Dcborgia Is threatened and one man Is
missing.
At ST. Regis the fire has crossed the
| r;er and threatens outlying BUILDINGS.
| though no fears are entertained for the
| town.
| Haughan Is reported to be deserted The
| last word from there is that the fire is
| dangerously near and the telephone oper-
| ator is preparing to flee. The area coy
cred Is roughly estimated at a hundred
miles square. most of it in the mountains
| and sparscly settled, 1t Is difficult to oh
| tain Information from any of the points
| and impossible to reach some of the iso-
| lated places at all.
There is a probability that there has
been serious loss of life, as there are
| camping parties and lumbermen all
| through the mountains ana the fire may
have come upon them while they slept