Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1910-10-14
300 ARE DEAD;
LOSS MILLIONS
Fearful Cost Of Minnesota Can
ada Border Blaze.
Nine SMALL TOWNS BURNED

Searching Parties Over Devastated
Area Find Many Bodies and Starv-
ina Survivors-Wild Animals Joined
Exodus.
A. X. Stauning, publisher Of the
Warroad, Mimi, Plain Dealer. says he
was sure that the number of dead In
the forest fires along the border would
be at least 300, and 700 persons are
missing. Five thousand are homeless.
Mr.. Stauning has been keeping in
close touch with occurrences of the
past few days and his word should be
an authority.
He places the estimate of the tim
Der and building loss at $25, 100000.
Men who have just returned from
district back from the railroad track
will reach $50.
The mayor of Baudette says that
seventy-five bodies have already been
found, and refugees coming in every
hour report having seen many dead
bodies in the roads.
The situation around Warroad is
not critical at present A big fire Is
burning between Warroad and Spra-
que, but the town is well guarded.
All settlers in the district bounded
by the Rainy river and Lake of the
Woods on the north to twenty-five
miles south of Fort Frances, Ont, and
from Spooner and Baudette, Mimi, on
the east to Warroad, on the west, who
be dead as there was no known means
of escape for them.
Fer distance of fifty miles from
Baudette and the Rainy river west to
Warroad the woods were a solid mass
of fire Sunday.
The fires have wiped out the vii
lagos of Baudette, Spooner, Swift.
Graceton. Pitt, Cedar Spur, Roosevelt
and Malcolm. The last two named
places are small settlements in Bel
trami county, south of Warroad.
The greatest property loss occurred
at Baudette and Spooner, which is
practically one community, being par
alleled by narrow river. The other
towns consisted of only a few small
buildings.
Search For Dead and Dying.
The terrible results of the forest
fires are beginning to be realized by
the disheartened and homeless thou
sands.
Bodies found along the railway track
three miles west of BaudetIe were
taken to Rainy River, Ont, for burial.
There was not particle of clothing
left on any of them, save parts of their
shoes. The bodies had the appearance
of having been baked in a red hot
oven.
Searching parties were organized
and went south to relieve suffering
and pick up the dead. 1t will be days
before all the dead can be reached
owing to the great trees which have
fallen over the roads. These will have
to be chopped away before wagons can
get through.
In some instances houses near town
are filled with refugees who are with
out food.
Matt Hendrickson came in from his
clam, three and half miles south
west of Baudette, and told of se;rtv
persons who were housed III .iis shack
without food.
He says that when the fire struck
his place sixteen of them got into a
dry well eighteen feet deep and re-
manned there, nearly suffocating from
the heat and smoke. until the fire had
passed.
While the tornado of fire passed
over the we'll it veered to the south
east of his house, which was not con
sumed
Many settlers got into the Rapid
river and saved themselves by wadine
into the water, although their faces
were blistered by the heat.