The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-15
No Further Loss of Life Reported by Relief
 Squads
GREATER NUMBER
 OF FIRES ARE OUT
Government Official of Province Says First Reports Were Exagger- ated, Though Disaster
 Was a Great One

Toronto, July t4.-Although the vari- ous relief expeditions covered the greater vt rtion of the burned Porcupine district today they failed 10 report any further loss of life than was contained in yes terday's dispatches which placed the number of lives at about 100 With the arrival of additional relief workers the burned area is being covered more rap iily.
 Many more of the missing are believed to have fled far into the interior and, although safe. may not be heard from In several weeks. Reports of the latest survivors indicate that the fires started in immense blotches instead of in one place and failed to cover the whole dis tr.ct.
 Frank Cochranc, minister of lands and irlnes, Is convinced from his investiga- ton that the loss of life will not ex ceed 100
 Tho first refugees of the fre-swept dis trict, horror stricken by the disaster be- iieved the flames must have swept very great area, The last of the sur vivors say the devastated area was con fined to Whitney and Tisdale townships. Latest advices received say most of the fires are out Three carloads of provi- sions reached Porcupine today and more are on the way. Shelter tents and mate l als for houses are also being sent. The
 work of rebuilding the mine structures has been begun.
 The largest area burned was, that com prisng the townships of Tisdale and Whitney, where were located the towns of Porcupine South Porcupine and Pcttsville and the largest mines The fire that destroyed Cochrane. 100 miles from Porcupine, 1t is believed now, was Independent of those In the Porcupine. district.
 One dispatch from Golden City says the | greatest loss of life may have occurred, | afier all in the towns and not in the great expanse of bush. Forty bodies. if | is said, have been recovered from the l Forcupine lake.
 | The Porcupine relief committee is send | ing searching parties through the burned area. as so many men are reported miss ing. Telegraph wires from the far north are clogged with matter filed for trans mission which, is expected to throw light on the number of victims A dispatch from Halleyburg says Matheson, a town of 300. is surrounded by fire which may prove disastrous should gale spring up.
 Relief trains with provisions. tents and blankets are being rushed In over the government railway and the food sup ply of Porcupine now is adequate.
 Frank Cochrane, a member of the On tario government whose department of lands and mines, is partly responsible for the settlements of northern Ontario, said today: while we do not wish to minimize the terrible affair, there is every justification for feeling that the newspaper reports up to date have been exaggerated. We are not blaming the newspapers They get the best information they can, but from the investigation made by officials we can say with certainty that people are being alarmed unnecessarily. "Mr Clements chief engineer of the Y S N O. railroad, says that only ? persons have been accounted for as dead We have it directly from the Dome peo- ple themselves that their death list IS only nine. In a number or instances where bodies have been reported as ly- ing on the ground investigation by MT Clements has failed to find anyone who had seen any Wild rumors are caught m and they are spread to an incredible extent The fire area has been unneces- sarily magnified There is no ire at the prisoners camp and this Is only about three miles rom Porcuplne. Michigan Has Rain ,. Alpena Mich. July 14.-Heavy rain that began this afternoon at Au Sable and East Tawas is expected to be gen. eral throughout the forest fire districts of northern Michigan, and do much to- ward extinguishing the fires.
 Detroit, Mich, July A.-Reports tonight from Northern Michigan indicate there is no further danger of damage from the forest fires which have devastated great areas of timber land. destroyed vil- ages and farm property and made home less hundreds of families in the last four days.
 Rains .have fallen near East Tawas, Au Sable and Alpena and lighter showers at points in the fire zone. The wind also has decreased s4
 Boston, July 14.-Rain, and the dying down of the wind, brought relief tonight from the forest fires which have done enormous damage in northern New Eng land.
 In the Moose Head Lake section of Maine the wind subsided at nightfall and the fires which have been burning fiercely in man yplaces appeared to be under con trol. The New Hampshire fires practi- | cally have burned themselves out.