Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1911-07-22
HOPES DE WITH FIRE
PICTURESQUE CAREER OF TWIN
MICHIGAN VILLAGES COMES
TO SAD END.
o0cooA AND Az SABLE
DullT ON SAND FOUNDATION
street Covering Of Sawdust Responsible
For Destruction Of Towns-ones
Thriving Cities, With Population Of
1o,o0o-centers Of Lumber Industry,
Now Desoiats,


Detroit, Mioh., July 22.-When fire
wiped out the twin villages Of Oscoda
and Au Sable, Mich, it ended tho pic
turesque career Of what the natives
once proudly called Little Chicago"
and Young New York" The two
towns stood on opposite banks of the
Au Sable river.
Altho at the time Of their destruc-
ton the two places had a total popula-
ton Of only about 1000 persons, it Is
only few years since they boosted
10000 residents. That was in the hey
dey Of the numbering operations In the
lower peninsula Of Michigan.
The population was made up largely
OF men employed in the sawrnills or In
the timber woods a few miles inland.
Half Of them worked by day and half
by night, and the little streets were
black with the rollicking and riotous
lumberjacks. The Au Sable river ira
versed dense pine forests for about
200 miles Of its length, and its banks
were dotted with lumber camps. The
great bulk Of the timber produced In
these camps was floated down the
river to the twin villages, where It was
manufactured into lumber.
The towns boosted fifteen sawmills
twenty years ago. Some OF these were
among the largest in the world, and
one-the famous Potts Lumber Com
pany lnill-was the largest ever erect
ed. Its capacity in twenty-four hours
was more than 100000 feet Of manu-
featured lumber, or twenty times that
OF the ordinary sawmill.
Cities Built on Sand.
The founders of the towns. however,
had failed to observe the biblical in
junction, and had builded their cities
upon the sand. The site Of the vii
lagos was once the bottom of Lake
Huron, and the soil was light sand
that drifted like fine snow and into
which ones feet would sink. To over
come this Inconvenience. the surface Of
the soil, streets and all, was buried
under thick layer Of sawdust. This
precaution made the towns more COM
Portable for man and beast. but 1t was
that that finally caused their destruc-
ton.
1t was In this heavy layer of saw
dust, dried by the sun and winds Of
quarter OF a century, that subterra-
neous tongues OF flames sped from one
house to another, until pract ically ev-
cry habitation in what was the me-
tropolis of 1osco- county had disap.
peared from the face Of the earth
Had the formation OF the soil been OF
clay or the original sand, such a cataas- J
trophe would have been impossible. as
the buildings stood far apart, but as
the flames ate their way thru the dry
sawdust under the surface the spread
Of the fire baffled the fire fighters. The
Inhabitants could not fight q fire they
could not see and whose presence be-
meath their very feet was not even
dreamed of.
1t was only when a hidden canal Of
fame, which lad travelled rapidly ba-
meath ire surface. suddenly popped GU:
under a house and set it on fire that
tho mystery was explained. Men poured
water on roofs, SO that the flying
sparks would not ignite tho dry shin
giles. only to find the foundations in
flames before they could scramble to
the ground
with the villages set upon such all
infammable foundation they were
doomed when the fire began to reach
out in every direction and spread like
the tentacles OF a fiery dev1lf1sh IN
The mysterious depth of the sawdust
Popularity Of Towns Dwindies.
AS the timber began to disappear
from that part Of Michigan the twin
towns began to disappear also. First
che sawmill having run out OF timber
to manufacture. was dicmantled and
moved farther into the pine country.
The employees followed the mill. Then
another found itself in like predica-
ment and it, too. was carried aboard
a ship and taken to another part Of
the state, with forty or fifty families
trailing along in it's wake. This process
continued until only one large sawmill
remained. That was owned by H. NJ.
Loud & Sons. and it continued in oper-
alton until the flames Of last week
ended its activity.
When the exodus from Oscoda and
Au Sable ended it left. instead Of a
population Of 10000 prosperous and
happy persons. a bare 1000, no longer
prosperous and happy, but detected and
poverty stricken. Where once activity
reigned the place was a deserted viii
lage. Persons moving away found no
market for their homes and simply
abandoned them. At any time COM
Portable eight-room cottage and garden
could be purchased for $50, but there
were no buyers. Only one house out Of
five was occupied and the same per-
centage held true Of the business build
1ngs.
within the last few years the Detroit
& Machinac railway has been estab-
fishing summer resorts along the shore
Of Lake Huron and Saginaw bay, and
they found use for the abandoned
homes Of Oscoda and Au Sable. They
would load the little houses or iat cars
and cart them away to the resort
beaches. A few repairs and a coat Of
paint transformed the deserted houses
into desirable beach cottages that
brought good prices. Along the line Of
the railroad It was not unusual to see
a long train Of fiat cars, with each
car containing house. which the Or
isinal owner had been compelled to
desert and from which the railway
was netting big returns.
JOHNSON STILL MISSING.
Omaha Travelling Man Not Accounted