The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1922-10-06
BELIEVED SIXTY
HAVE PER|SHED
IN FOREST FIRES
Rain Has Checked Flames in
Vicinity of Cobalt, Ont.
BODIES OF SO RECOVERED
All Taken from Ruins of Once
Prosperous Mining Village
of Haileybury

C0Da [, MIMI, Oct. t,-The heavy
rain today has practically quenched
the forest fires which have been lick
ing up the wooded area about the city
taking a toll OF possibly sixty lives
and wiping out the town Of Haley
bury and several small settlements
The finding OF 80 bodies in a fire
SCARED wreckage that week ago
was Haleybury has been announced
Duluth, Mimi, Oct 6.--The decided
feeling of optimism prevailed through
out most sections OF northern Mime
sofa fire zone today. The first fight
ing crews were able to make congid
cradle progress yesterday and last
night aided by low wind velocity and
foggy weather
Quebec, Oct. GA death toll ol
more than 80 persons Is certain In
the brush and forest fires which are
raging over two widely-separated
areas In the provinces OF Ontario and
Quebec. Although the fires which
razed six mining towns sin the HALEY
bury district in northeastern Ontario
are reported checked, timber land in
the St Maurice valley. In Queoec, Ia
ab'aze, fires spreading south and
southeast toward this city and the
villages lying north OF Montreal in
what is described as Canada's worst
confagration.
Peat bogs are ablaze In the Quebec
marshes. and Gustave G. Piche. chief
forester of the province, who is d.
recting the government fire fighters,
said last night that even In the event
of heavy rain, II would take days to
completely extlngui2h the outbreaks
Hundreds of persons, who fed from
Halleybury and the neighboring five
towns which were razed In this dis
tr.ct, were caught between the fires
and margn OF Temagami lake We'd
nesday night. The wind shifted, act
ing as natural back fire, only when
the narrowest strip along the lake
shore was left unburned. and many
were overcome by smoke.
Soft rains which began to fall yes
terday morning increased to a steady
downpour, which has checked temper
arily the fires about Haileybury. The
rain adds to the misery of the thous
ands OF home ess and greatly imped
ed all rescue work.
Fifteen bodies have been recovered
In Haileybury, reports from Cobalt
state. These dispatches are meager
but. ii is believed that several were
the victims of panic which broke
out on the Haileybury docks in the
rush TO board rescue boats.
lOther reports from cobalt state
that II bodies have been recovered
from the ruins OF Heaslip and Charl
ton, two other OF the Haileybury dis
trict towns which have been razed.
The extent OF the area ablaze In st
Maurice valley has not been estimat
ed, the fires burning far to the north
in regions sparsely populated. The
entire burning area spreads over the
two provinces of Quebec and Ontario
fanshaped with the three cities of OF
tawa, Quebec and Montreal to the
south.
or these three, Montreal Is prob
ably the nearest to the larger fires
a smoke pail having blackened tina,
city late yesterday.
Port Neuf to the north OF Mont
real is threatened by the St Maurice
river fires Reports reaching here
state that large fire is burning be
tween Rivierre- Peu and Rosseau's
Mills, and threatens to sweep through
the forest areas of Notre Dame des
AngeS.
In Haileybury the property loss
is estimated at s4,00O.000. The mum
Der of homeless Is said to be at leas,