The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-05-17
rain COMES TO The
RESCUE OF THE SETTLERS
Continued From Page One.

Continued From Page One.
city, feeding on the material afforded
! by a tract of land south of the city
that is heavily wooded
I Fire Warden c. A. shannon, assisted
! by the Bemidji fire department and a
large number Of citizens, exerted every
effort to halt the on rush of the flames
and the battle was a desperate one so
| long as it lasted.
The coming of the rain saved'the city
! is the opinion of the fire fighters. Gen.
| c.. c. Andrews, state forestry commits
sioner, was notified of the danger of
the city and he in turn notified Gov
ernor Eberhart, who wired Col Fred
erick E. Resche of Duuth:
Communicate at once with General
Andrews and prepare to send relief
! without delay"
| News that rain had fallen at Bemid-
| il stopped preparations to go to the
relief of the threatened town.
/ Duluthians yesterday saw a red sun.
| The smoke from the northern fire zone
covered the sky with a film that threw
shadow over the city.
Reports from Bemidji are to the eff
dense cloud of smoke that made the
day dark as twilight
Observer Richardson of the local
weather bureau says that the skies
promise more moisture. There is likely
to be heavy rainfall within the next
twelve hours, and it will be general
throughout the fire zone.
Rain Is Precious.
Every hour of rain is worth thou
sands of dollars.
! Northern lnnesota needs the rain
more than / needs anything else just
now, and the weather man says it will
be forthcoming.
The showers that have fallen have
done much good. The fires in the for
ests have been stayed and the situa-
ton now is much more encouraging
than 1t has been for several days past
| Walker, Mimi, May 17.-Rain late
last evening saved from further de-
struction by forest fires of country
surrounding Walker.
| A special from Cass Lake, says for
est fires there have been completely
smothered by the rains.
At Crookston, a general rain fell
Sunday afternoon and showers con-
tinued this morning. Crops were not
suffering, but the rain will be very
beneficial in hurrying termination of
later sown grain. The fall was not
heavy enough to stop the balance of
the grain seeding and corn planting
more than a couple Of days. Pastures
will be preatly benefited. The crop
outlook could not be better.
A special from Houghton says: Cap
tains of steamers coming into Portage
lake report that Lake Superior is COW
cred with smoke and that navigation
Is attended with great danger Only
a heavy shower can prevent the total
destruction of millions of dollars
worth of timber. railroad and other
property in that vicinity.
c. H. Carhart, sheriff of Cook
county, in a communication to The
Herald, says that the stories that have
been printed seem to have been ex-
aggerated. Extracts from his letter
follow:
This village has been in no danger
from the fires this spring the property
that has been burned has been in close
proximity to cutover lands while we
are surrounded by growth OF young
poplar and birch which will not burn
at this time of year and the soil is
moist so that there have been no
ground fires at all now, which makes
the conditions very different from those
which prevailed in the fall of 1908
Instead of the village being filed
with scorched refugees, there has not
been single person come in on ac-
count of the fire. The fire has not been
within one and a half miles of us at
any time, and the sensational reports
which both the Duluth papers have
published have caused great deal OF
unnecessary worry and expense, and
are greatly deplored by the people here
We do not underestimate the great
damage which the fire has caused. nor
the danger there is from such condi-
tons as now exist, but we wish that
won would be careful to publish only
truthful accounts and not allow the ar
) tlcles TO be written by some reporter
: with vivid imagination, who bases his
stories on the reports furnished by in.
experienced youn men from here who
ike to send in sensational stuff"
In northern Michigan the outlook is
not satisfactory, according to a dis
patch from Calumet. The weather bu-
reau officials at that place can see nc
promise of rain and unless there Is
some rainfall the firts are certain Il
sweep over an extensive territory thai
has not to this time been included ir
the ire zone. Backfires are being built
in most of the fire districts.
Duluthians who have been maintain.
ing t1shing camps in the country ad.
Jacent to the ranges have lost consid.
cradle property. The fires have sweep
n over that country and taken every.
{ thing. Aside from the comparativel,
q small losses involved in the destruction
I OF camps, the. greatest loss is entailet
D by the destruction of cedar, spruce ant
pulpWood. Of which large quantitie
4 have been lost.