Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1910-10-13
RUIN AND
DESOLATION

came tearing on at the rate Of from
ten to twelve miles an hour and bore
down on the village with unexpected
suddenness.
The fire seemed to leap as an ocean
Of flames from the tree tops upon the
| buildings of the village and almost in
a twinkling both Spconer and Beau
! dette found themselves a mass OF
flames, and twas the height of folly
to attempt to fight the flames. The
! wind blew like a cyclone.
| The fire struck Baudette and Spoon
er at about o'clock on Friday even
ing and in less than an hour both
ftowns were wiped out.
Described by Another Eye Witness.
"The fire got into town about 1880
in the evening. The mayor had made
arrangements for the train, which was
in readiness to be backed to the sta
ton when the whistle blew The first
thing we knew the flames were leap
ing high from buildings and from
trees. I saw pieces of wood that it
seemed to me were four feet long
, blown into the air and carried long
! distances. The air was full of live
embers and pieces of flaming bark.
''Then it was simply a race for life
to get to the train. Men cut the
| traces and left their wagons in the
middle of the street. Nobody stopped
for any property. know men who
left money in their cash registers and
homes, and we left the light burning
in our house. .,1s -a..>.
I'VE ran over to Rainy River and
then the crew backed the train down
and connected with a string of boxcars
and went back for the rest. There
were three trains in all carrying pee
pie, from Beaudette, Spooner.s and
Rainy River, and I guess there must
have been 5000 people packed in the
cars, women and children sitting on
! the floor as thick as they could be
packed in.
! 'sThere. we stayed under conditions
that can only be imagined, expecting
that Rainy River would go, and the
only thing that saved us was when
the wind changed from the west to
the northwest the next morning."
Not a house is left in either Spoon
er or Baudette, except the Canadian
Northern depot and a few houses in
the old town of Baudette and the
Shevlin-Mathieu Lumber company
big mill, which was equipped with al
excellent system of fire protection.
i Loss of Life.
Strange as it may seem, it is believ
ed now that only one or two persons
were burned to death in the two vii
lagos. But it is in the country tribu
tary that the loss of human life was
great. The isolated settlers living or
their small cabins in the deep fores
Or surrounded by small clearings, ha5
little chance to escape the rush Of fire
, that advanced at the rate Of an ex
press train. Many miraculous escapes
as well as tragic deaths are reported
/ Sixteen Sheltered in Well.
, Matt Hendrickson came in from hi
claim three. and half miles south
west of Beaudette today and told G
: thirty persons who were housed il
his shack without food.
He says that when the fire strucl
his place sixteen of them got into
) dry we'll eight feet deep and RENAME,
there, nearly suffocating from tn
) heat and smoke until the fire hat
; Ipassed. While the tornado of fir
S passed over the we'll it veered to th
| southeast Of his house, which was no
!, burned.
e Every other infammable object 81
!. the place was licked up by the flames
Seven Bodies in Clearing
Many settlers got into the Rapi
= Il1H6Ia t1lO 0dpOu ny WdUlll
5 in the water, although even then thei
faces were blistered by heat Sieve
i bodies, which are probably those 9
l the Roulin family, were found in
: clearing in the woods where the
! sought safety. sss.
: Crowd Into svedIund's Cellar.
< Five miles southwest of Beaudett
John Strand, settler with. q wife an
e e'eight children, succeeded in craWlin
] half mile to the adjoining clair
ii Of ePter SYedlund, who has
E small cellar When the Strand famil
rIreached the Svedlund home he foun
nIthe cellar door blocked and the celia
jammed to the point Of suffocatio
with other settlers who had rushe
8 there as the last hope. Strand bes
9 down the door and the smoke from ii
&. forest which filed the place suffoca