Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1913-07-16
CALIFORNIA FIRES RAGING.
Thousands Fighting to T;eck Flames.
Three Villages Threatened.

San Francisco, July 9.-Forest
fires are blazing fiercely tonight on
| three sides of the Mount Tamalpias,
a landmark OF California and play
ground and park Of all the cities clus-
tered about San Francisco Bay.
I Three villages are threatened. The
mountain was cloaked to-day by a
mantle of white smoke, which
streamed across the bay like a wind
blown scarf, but as darkness fell the
mountain blaZed above the bay and
ocean like an enormous beacon, il
Illuminating the sky for miles.
Each morning since the blaze
started IL has seemed that danger
was passed, but each afternoon the
trade wind, clustering in from the
Pacific, has whipped the flames into
life and driven them across canyons
and trenches laboriously cut through
the underbrush, and into fresh tim
Der on the far side Of areas burned
bare by back fires.
The fires are believed to have re-
suited from carelessness of campers.
Three thousand soldiers, sailors, ma
val apprentices, forest rangers, mill
| tiamen and volunteers are fighting
the flames and the women in the
threatened territory are working as
hard as the men.
Shops are closed and business is
at standstill throughout the threat
ened section.
Fire Eats Way to Sea.
To-day the fire ate it's way to the
sea on the west and into the red
woods at the head of two canyons on
the east and north, leading to the
towns of Mill Valley, Corte MADEIRA,
and Lake Spur. Fire at the edge of
Muir Woods temporarily was under
control.
Blythedale Canyon, leading to
Mill Valley, is lined with country
places. The most exposed of these
is the beautiful estate known as "The
Garden of Allah" owned by Falston
Lovett White, and valued at $1,000
600. Tonight there was hope of
saving it, but it still is in danger.
Reliance on saving Mill Valley and
! the other towns lies precariously to-
night on trench varying IN width
from Go to 1876 feet, which, it is
hoped, will stem the fire from FUR
ther progress down Baltimore and
Blythedale canyons. Once the can
yons are fairly ablaze, it would take
superhuman work TO save the habi-
tations at their mouths.
Later Report Says Lives Lost.
San Francisco, July 10.-Five SOL
Giers are reported burned to death
and half dozen hamlets and towns
at the foot of Mount Tamalpias await
their salvation or destruction to-day,
while the fire which has swept the
mountain for three days is reaching
toward the plains and vineyards to
the north, and the Muir Woods Ma
tional Park, on the south.
Every available soldier from the
oeih iohSloSo anu rolI
Winfield Scott on this side of the
bay, and Forts Baker and Barry,
across the Golden Gate, is fighting
the fire, side by side with civilians
and sailors from the United States
war vessels. Capt. Charles P. Lun-
kett, commanding the cruiser South
Dakota, marched 600 of his men
from the Mill Valley station up the
border of the fire in Cascade canyon
early to-day, took a look. at the fire
and marched them back again. Capt.
Plunkett said: "It would take all the
people in California to put out that
fire. Let 1t burn out. / have expert
gun-pointers among my men, worth
S25,00 apiece to the government.
am not going to risk their lives"
Communication with Muir Woods,
a grove Of giant sequoias, was still
broken this morning. One newspa-
per man who made the trip on foot
brou ght back word that although six
teen cottages on the edge of the for
est had been destroyed, the big trees
wero untouched.
, AVIATOR FALLS, RIGHTS PLANE.