Year: 1877

|
OF this story; good man and great
actor who loves to tell his friends about
the vicissitudes and troubles he went
through the early part of his profession,
al career.


Michigan Forests on Fire.


Cincinnati Enquirer.


Thank God!"


So exclaimed hundred thousand
Michiganders the other day when the
clouds poured down torrents of rain hour
after enough to drown out even a
forest fire.


Your correspondent was in Osceola
county when the fires first began. In
the midst of wilderness Of pine and
thicket, miles away from village or ham
let, was pioneers cabin The clearing
around it comprised about ten acres.
Some of the ground was ready for corn,
and some of it had been sowed and
planted, while the forest around was so
green that one would have smiled at the
idea Of great sheets of fame climbing
those tall trees and waving fifty feet
above them. One night some hunters
built a grand fire against heap Of dry
logs. The next day they were miles
away, and the fire had begun to creep.
Little tongues of fame reached out af-
ter dry sticks and limbs, larger tongues
followed them, and before night the fire
had control of an acre of forest. That
was start enough. At midnight the
wind came up fresh, and the heat of the
fire drove through the forest, scOrching
and baking trail for the red flames.


I'm afraid there is fire in the woods
to the west of us" said the pioneer
one morning as we stood in his cabin
door.


We could scent the odor of burning
trees and leaves, and there was smoky
look to the forest. At noon the odor
was stronger, the smoke denser, and the
live stock around the clearing began to
exhibit signs of alarm. When the oxen
were unyoked to be fed, they turned
their heads to the west, scented the air
for moment, and then charged across
the clearing to the east at full speed,
being out Of sight in two minutes.


That means danger" said the pion-
eer in low voice, and he turned pale.
He believed the fire to be in a large
swamp ten miles away, but hardly
thought it possible for the green forest
to ignite We sat down to dinner,
meaning to hunt for the oxen after
ward; but before the meal was over
there was fresh cause for alarm A
buck and two does dashed into the
clearing, closely followed by fox, a
score Of rabbits, and dozen coons and
woodchucks. The deer ran to the far
edge Of the clearing as we went out, but
the other animals scarcely noticed us.


You go forward as far as you can,
and see what the danger is, and wife
and | will get ready for rum" said the
pioneer, as the smoke grew thicker.


At that moment fresh alarm and a
new warning reached us There came "A
roar such as the sea gives out when
rushing in upon broken beach We
had not heard it before. 1t was steady,
terrible roar, rising above all other
sounds A coming whirlwind might
have created the same sound. The rush
of vast herd of buffaloes might have
created such roar 1t was awful The
ground trembled, the smoke became
blacker, and the heat was like the rush
of air from hot oven


1t isn't mile away-we must run
for our livesv shouted the settler.


He had three children. picked upa
boy of seven. The pioneer seized his
little girl, two years younger, and the
wife took the sleeping babe from the
cradle. There wasn't time to take down
spare garment from the wall-to pick
up cherished gift or treasured relic.


This way-hurry!" | heard the pio-
neer call; and gasping for breath and
blinded by the smoke, l rushed on after
him.


The roar was louder and grander and
more terrible Falling upon us and
around us were little brands of fire, and
to the west, half mile away, was wall
of fire hundred feet high-a wall that
was coming down upon the clearing at
the rate of six miles an hour The wall
of fire was twelve miles long, and the
waters Of Lake Erie would scarcely have
drenched it out


A deer ran against me as | staggered
after the pioneer. More than once |
stumbled against the small wild animals
rushing here and there through the
clearing. My hair and whiskers were
scorching, and my clothing was on fire
in dozen places when we reached the
outdoor cellar, a place dug into the hill
side about 400 feet from the house. 1t
was part cave, part structure, but well
well covered with earth, and almost free
from smoke. The two children had
passed through all right, but the babe
was so nearly suffocated that we had
hard work to save it's life.


Just before the flames reached the
clearing the ground trembled as it did
around Gettysburg when five hundred
pieces Of artillery thundered away for
hours. The smoke drove ahead, leaving
me pretty fair view of cabin and clear
ing for five or six minutes. Birds drop
ped down and died. The deer rushed
around in circles, sometimes running
full against stumps. The smaller ami
mails roared and barked and fought each
other, and several rabbits found our re-
treat and rushed in amongst us.


When the flames reached the edge of
the clearing, five hundred feet from our
cave, the ground fairly baked The
wild animals fell down and died, steam
rose from the green stumps in clouds
for moment, and then fire broke out
We wondered whether the flames would
leap the clearing, but that question was
speedily decided. The wall of fire roar
ed and quivered, rose and fell, and next
moment was driving ahead on the other
side. The flames seemed to have reach
ed right over the ten acres and grasped
the forest beyond


Our cave was like an oven. The
earth on the roof was soon baked as dry
as powder. The green logs began to
stew and burn, and in ten minutes we
were almost as wet as if we had fallen
into the river, and were hard pressed for
breath Buried in the side of that hill
we were in the center of an ocean OF
flame, of acres of the hottest kind of
fire. For miles to the west the fire was
eating away at trees and logs, and into
the very ground. The wall of fire which
had reached it's red arms over the clear
ing was now miles to the east. North
six miles; south six miles; and the pio
neer and his wife knelt beside the gasp.
ing choking babe, and wept and prayed
That was an awful night. The heat did
not abate till after midnight, and almost
every minute we could hear the dull
| thud of tho mighty trees nc thew Weld