Omaha daily bee., 1910-08-25

Ill OF sixteen Years Ago.
Just sixteen years ago the present month.
"a section Of Minnesota forests swept by
fire entailed losses Of life and property ex-
ceeding in the estimates the present disaster
in the Idaho panhandle. The number Of
known dead in the Idaho calamity is placed
at thirty-four. and the indication points to
a total OF of lives lost under 100 In Mime
sofa the death roll mounted TO 1856, of un-
known 200 persisted in the destruction of
the town OF Hinckley -Four other COM
munities besides Hinckley were swept away
at the time, but Hinckley was the largest
of the settlements reduced to ashes in that
appalling storm of flame and smoke. Many
stories Of heroism and sacrifices came out
of the Minnesota inferno. the most thrilling
and tragic being the flight OF a train
damned with refugees through seven miles
OF road walled in with fire.
st. Paul and Duluth train No. 1. south
bound, with eighty passengers. ran into
Hinckley at 2 o'clock In the morning Of
August 80, 1894, and proceeded thence to
Mission Creek, two miles further south. only
to find that village in ashes. Conductor
sullivan issued immediate orders to his
crew to back into Hinckley. but before the
train, running at twenty miles an hour,
could reach Hinckley, the place was in
flames. The train stopped at the depot one
fatal minute, during which the woodwork
of the engine and the baggage car caught
fire The train quickly resumed its back
ward journey toward Duluth, and the very
motion Of the cars famed the flames to
fury and they soon enveloped the sleepers,
passenger coaches and the smoker. While
the train was stopping at Hinckley nearly
300 panic-strioken persons Of the place
rushed upon the platforms and into the
cars. When they discovered the train was
on fire, they began to moan shout and
pray, which. with the roar of the flames
made the picture of Satan's realm perfect
A mile out Of Hinckley those on the plat
forms were made lunatics by the heat
and in their terror began TO jump from the
cars and plunge into streams, into sand
heaps or into smoke-encompassed forest.
A little farther on, those the cars
stifled with smoke, began to smash the win
dows of the coaches in a frantic attempt
to get a breath of fresh air. Driven back
by the flames making their way up the
sides OF the freshly vanished coaches, they
stood in bAffled amazement for a moment,
when dozens of them in sheer desperation.
tumbled themselves out through the open
spaces to the ground below some being in
stantly killed by the fall and others linger-
ing in the horrible heat and smoke until
suffocated.
In spite of the fact that the train was on
fire from engine to rear end brake, the
train crew bravely stood at their posts and
ran the train back six miles to Skunk Lake,
where the passengers rushed out and into
the water. Some Of them were in such
state OF exhaustion that they were unable
to walk and half a dozen were entirely
unconscious. All of these latter we're rolled
in the mud and water and laid on their
| backs just far enough out in the lake to
keep the water from running into their
mouths.
1 All around the lake the forests were roar
ing. Many Of the people in the water were
in such a state of excitement that they Of
feTed prayers in q loud voice for deliver
ance. The scene was one of the most re-
markeble ever witnessed.
Engineer John Root, who had so bravely
piloted the train through the six miles of
1 furnace, was found to be fatally burned.
Conductor Sullivan, cool and collected all
through the terrible journey, had, after 1t
was all over, become a raving maniac. A
little later he was put aboard a special and
taken to Duluth hospital
Along toward nlghtfall many OF the pas
sengers. most of whom were bound for ST.
Paul, began to make calculation on how
to get home. AS rule they agreed that 1t
would be best to go to Duluth and make a
circuit through Wisconsin. Three men, how
ever, resolved to walk back by way OF the
track to Hinckley. These were James Ed
ward Lodbell, of st. Paul; James Anderson,
of Minneapolis, and Charles Holt OF Duluth
The thrilling story of their trip thus told
by Mr.. Lodbell
Il had been a travelling man for the past
dozen years, and had been over the Duluth
} line 80 many times that felt safe in MAX
: ing a trial was SO we'll acquainted with
the location of the streams that thought
that IL we got in tight place We could run
into one of them and save ourselves. We
! had lost all OF our Baggage, as had the rest
! OF the passengers, and we had nothing
whatever except the clothes we wore and
, each a light overcoat. Mr.. Anderson had
| lost 81, 900 worth of bonds which could not
} be replaced. We got along pretty we'll for
} the first half hour but we then ran into
smoke so dense that we could not see 3
feet in front of us. We were in imminent
danger OF being suffocated We could not
see the track, and the ties were burning
beneath our feet. Each of us took an over
coat and wrapped II about our heads, leav-
ing only a small opening from which to
breathe. To add TO the horror of the situa-
ton, we frequently came across a dead
body. We were only saved by occasionally
arriving at railway cut where there was
generally but a little smoke.
NEWEST "POLITICAL MACHINE"