Norwich bulletin., 1922-10-06

Quebec, Oct 5-A death toll or mole than 30 persons is certain. 1t is report ed tonight, in the brush and forest nres which are raging over two wiaely ~ep arated areas in the provinces of Ontario l and Quebec.
 Although the fires whica r2ze1 SIX mining towns in the Haileybury district | in Northeastern Ontario are reported checked, timber land in she St. Maurlce Valley, in Quebec, is ablaze tonight fires spreading south and southeast to- ward this city and Tthe villages lying north of Montreal in what is described 1 as Canada's worst conhagratlon.
 Peat bogs are ablaze in the Quebec marshes and Gustave c. Piche. chief for ester of the province, who is directing 1 the government fire fighters, said tonight that even in the event of heavy rain 1t would take days to completely extlnguish the outbreaks.
 The vagaries of wind and rain have | alternately added to the misery and les sened the dangers of thousands in the
 Haileybury district.
 Hundreds of persons, it was learned here tonight, who fled from Haileybury and the neighboringr five towns which
 were razed in this district were caught
 between the fires and the margin. ef Temagami lake last night The wind shifted, acting as natural back fire,
 only when the narrowest strip along the lake shore was left unburned, ana many were overcome by smoke. Tonight it is raining. Soft rains which I began to fall during the morning, have
 increased to steady downpour, which has
 checked temporarily the fires about Hai- leybury The rain adds to the misery of , the thousands of homeless and greatly |. impedes all rescue work
 Fifteen bodies have been recovered n
 Haileybury reports from Cobalt state.
 Other reports state that seventeen bodies : have been recovered from the r1ins aoi d Heaslip and Charlton two others of the : Haileybury district towns which have
 been razed.
 l. district extends from Cobalt one of thu l. largest towns in Northeastern Ontario # which was only saved by change ir e the winds direction last night, to Enyle'
 hart to the north. a distance of tniru miles.
 r. The extent of the area abiaze in St $ Maurice valley has not been estimaied # the fires burning far to the north. II d regions sparseiy populated The entir,
 burning areas spreads over tee :w'
 provinces of Quebec and Ontario fan ], shaped with the three cities of Ottawa '- Quebec and Montreal to -he south. l. Of tkese three, Montreal is probaol, | the nearest to the larger fires, snok Y pail having darkened that city late to
 day
 r. Port Neuf to the north of Montreal i y, threatened by the St. Maurice river fires e. Reports reaching here state that A iarg
 fire is burning between Riyie-re-a-Pel
 and Rosseau's Mills, and threatens t s sweep through the forest areas of Notr "a Danes Des Anges.
 lo In Haileybury the property less Is es a- timated at S4,000,0o The number Q
 homeless is said to be at least 5000.
 With reports of heavy forest fires | a- Michigan, to the east of Quebec and owe " the border in Maine, farmers working a- a potato field on the outskirts of HaiIey bury late Tuesday afternoon started es rubbish fire to burn dried potato topi
 Tonight as a result, but twenty home
 stand in the picturesque lake-town ( at Haileybury.
 oy From the potato patch the fire sprea e9 to bushes and then to neighboring wood io which were dry as finder. Soon the fir was beyond human control, and was ne s- checked until five of the mining settle ments which dot the area were destroy U. ed
 ls From Haileybury the people rushed 1 en the lake shore, when the fire closed in 0 ~, So the town. Mrs T. A. Cobbold. wife | -'o the county clerk, was one of the first
 lose her life. With her husban1 zt
 attempted a rescue of an aged uncle, ee cripple Mr. Cobbold was successful -a getting the aged man from the house, bt ''.c his wife who attempted to leave by = rear stairs, was overcome by smoke an -9 burned to death.
 Not all of the fifteen bodies, found :. the ruins of Haileybury, have bee ,r. identified, according to reports from c ,d bait. One of the victims is H. Elthe, .ca former president of the Porcupine Min IL ing company.
 In the farms in the outlying dissrict
 near Heaslip, when the fires swei ns across the land many farmers hu-ris si- with their families to barns tool shet -ol and such structures usually standing ar bare spaces, less likely to be caugl ,ad then were their homes Robert Bol
 his wife and their eight children al
 a hired man, John Marshall were four IT sufficated in the outhouse of a far i've near Charlton. Amos Teasdale, his wi of and their two sons, suffered simil; fer fate in tool shed on an adjoining farm
 A farmers helper, known only
 Fleming, sought refuge in a dry prigati' rt- ditch and was overtaken by the flames ,rk Foresters, long familiar win the di m trict, said here tonight that the fate lso these persons might easily have be- ,n- repeated in sparsely populated farmii ow sections, which have been burned ove
 but from which no reports as yet ha
 been received.
 re- Escape was made difficult as the fl IlP' which destroyed the mining settlenen ,cy crossed the spur of the T. N. and re- railroad which skirts the lake burnil lge ties and warping the rails.
 of All roads leading from the district ] or to Cobalt was damned with trucks. ca
 carriages and carts filled with refuge
 The rain has made the roads almost il sa- passable in some spots, and many of | in refugees who were fortunate to have vas capped from the fire last night. tonight fi be- themselves marooned on roads i1 hea 'y's rain.
 I'd" Reports state that there are more tn
 10000 refugees in Cobalt Nearly 1.500 j
 lfugees more are at New. Liskea tist Churches, homes and halls were crowd in- with the homeless. Mayor Taylor P cid, has taken charge of the relief work tue Among the many who have reacf ted Cobalt as refugees from the burned al ing lof Ontario are leading miners and tf, hat to-do merchants.
 Sure we'll rebuild" said one of