Arizona republican., 1918-10-14
HUNDREDSD|E AND MILLIONS
 ARE LOST IN
 FOREST FIRES
Minnesota Scene of Terrific
 COnflagration That Wipes Out Cities and Towns. Ref ugees Flee By Thousands
Republican A. p. Leased wire1

Republican A. p. Leased Wirel
 DULUTH. Minn., oct. 1S.-With probably five hundred persons dead, thousands homeless and without cloth ing. and with property damage mount ing far into millions of dollars, whole sections of northern Wisconsin and Minnesota tlmberland tonight are smouldering. fire-stricken areas, with only the charrcd ruins of abandoned. dopopulated. towns to accentuate the general desolation.
 The bodies of 75 victims lie in Duluth morgues. Hundreds more along the roads leading 10 Duluth and Superior. lay where they fell when overtaken by the fire.
 12,o00 People Homeless.
 Twelve thousand homeless and penni- less refugees, all in need, more or less, Of medical attention are quartered in hospitals. churches. schools private homes and in the armory here while doctors and nurses sent from surround ing communities attended them, and nearly every able-bodied man in the city has been conscripted to fight the flames which now are reported to be dying away.
 Reports that the holocaust resulted from the work of enemy agents were circulated here tonight. Definite con- firmation was not obtainable, but it was learned that incendiaries were driven away from local shipyard when the fires in Duluth and Superior were burning at their height
 Duluth and Superior are in no further danger. Virginia is safe and Brainerd was untouched. However, peat bog fires now are said to menace the latter city. Bemidji reported only small loss.
 Many Towns Wiped Out.
 Great loss of life and property dam age is believed to have occurred in the Cloquet region, where number of small towns have been destroyed and all semi-rural settlements virtually wiped out
 Until a careful census of the burned area is taken. no accurate estimates can be made either of the loss of life or extent of property damage. The fires in Duluth and Superior, it was said, destroyed property valued at more than a million dollars.
 Physicians feared an increase in the Influenza epidemic among the refugees as the result of exposure and priva- ton.
 Cloquet Brookston, Brevator, Corona, Adolph. Thompson, Arnold, Moose Lake and Wright have been wiped out, according to refugees. Scores of ham, lets and hundreds of settlers homes have been destroyed. The property ard timber loss will total many millions of dollars.
 Special Trains Carry Refugees
 A special train of 20 coaches brought 1.500 refugees from Cloquet and Carle- ton, Minn. They confirmed reports that many persons had lost their lives in those towns.
 Albert Michaud, a special policeman told a tragic story of the burning of Cloquet and of the mad rush of it's residents to escape.
 At o'clock last night, a forest ranger gave warning that unless the wind died down the townspeople would have to flee" said Michaud. "A thick pail of smoke hung over the town an6 at z o'clock the special trains were called.
 The scene at the station was indes- crihable. There came a rush of wind and the entire town was in flames Tho trains pulled out with the fire: blazing closely behind them. Womer wept and clung to their children, while others cried frantically for their miss. Ing ones. The flames Hckeu at tnt cars. Windows in the coaches were broken by the heat. The engineer: and firemen alternately stoked to giv, the boilers all the steam they coulC stand
 Other trains were. hurriedly mad, up out of flat cars. box cars, anything that would roll. But even then, all dit not get away. There are many dead il CloQuct.
 Cloquet is Devastated
 Cioquet was a town of about 7,50' people. More than 4,700 were brough to Duluth and Superior from thcr' alone.
 Information brought in by rescu, parties tonight indicated that nearl.
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