St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1910-08-27
Some Towns Deserted by
Helpless Inhabitants.
Two Hundred Paid Fire
Fighters Doing Battle.
Many Lives Lost i'm Strug-
gle Against Flames.

| 1iooouieb, WouI., aug. Il.-MerC1
lessly and relentlessly the forest fire
in western Montana and Idaho ar,
sweeping over vast area, drivins
hundreds of fugitives before them
destroying many settlements anc
| wiping out millions of dollars worth
| of property.
The sitution tonight is more seri
GUS than 1t was in the early morning
except as to Wallace, Idaho, where
1t Is believed that nearly half of the
city will be saved. Communication
with Wallace to the west has been
possible at intervals today, but il
is entirely cut off to the eastward
1t is known that the entire east half
OF the town above Seventh street has
been burned.
West of that hard fight is being
made, and with an improvement in
the water supply there is more
chance that the flames may be driven
back. For few minutes this after
noon the Daily Missoulans repre-
sentative at Wallace had a wire. He
summarized the situation as follows:
Thirteen lives lost, property loss
$1,O00,O00, fire still threatening.
Elsewhere in the fire zone the sit
uation has gone from bad to worse
today. The most serious incident is
reported late this afternoon from the
st. Coe country, where 180 men en-
gagged in the Forest Service are miss
ing and it is feared that they have
been burned to death.
When the fire approached the
camp where there were 200 men, two
of the fighters took a horse and, rid
ing the animal to death, rode from
the camp and ordered a rescure party
which penetrated the fire at Bird
Creek
Eighteen of the men were found
in the water, where they had gone
for safety, and they were unharmed.
From the remaining 1S0 no word
has been received. A relief train,
we'll equipped with pack animals, has
been ordered, carrying provisions
and hospital supplies, and will en-
deayor to get through the fire.
About thousand refugees have
been brought into Missoula to-day
There is much distress among them,
but the wants are being supplied by
Missoula people, and they have been
given temporary homes. The first
of the trains came in over the
Northern Pacifics Coeur d'Alene
branch and brought the patients who
had been in the Sisters Hospital at
Wallace and as many refugees as
could find place ON the small train.
There were ESQ on this train and
a second train at noon brought as
m
the small towns along thee line be-
tween here and Wallace. Many of
them had been reused from their
sleep by the people on the train,
whose summons had been the first
intimation they had that fire
was near, as there had been no sign
of it when they went to bed Satur-
day night. In most instances these
people escaped scantily clad.
A woman who had fed from her
home at midnight gave birth to
child in a box car just before the
arrival of the first train at Missoula.
Hospitals are caring for the sick.
Missoula homes have been opened
freely and the homeless are comfort
able for the present.
Another train with 500 people on
board is expected over the Chicago,
Milwaukee and Puget Sound Rail-
way.
A dense pail of smoke hangs all
over eastern Montana. In Missoula
it was as dark as midnight at
O'Clock, the dense smoke being
given lurid hue, which had all the
sem mblance CT the glow of fire, which
was probably due to the sun.
The town of Taft, near the Idaho
line, was entirely destroyed by fire
before daylight this morning.
Saltese, just below Taft, has been
abandoned by its inhabitants and is
known to be surrounded by fire. Ee-
borgia is seriously threatened and
one man is missing. At st. Regis
the fire has crossed the river and
threatens outlying buildings, though
no fears are entertained for the
town.
Haughon is reported to be desert
ed. The last word from there is that
the fire is dangerously near and the
telephone operator was preparing to
fee. The area covered is estimated
at 100 miles square, most of it be-
ing in the mountains and sparsely
settled
1t is difficult to obtain information
from any of the points, and it is i'm
possible to reach some of the isolated
places at all.
There is probability that there
has been serious loss of life as there
are camping parties and lumbermen
all through the mountains and it is
feared the fire may have cone upon