Year: 1871

The Grim Old Veteran who 'fStayed Il
See 1t Ont"


From the Detroit Free Press.l


Perhaps one of the closest and mos


curious escapes from being roasted


alive in the north woods which will
be recorded, is that of man named


Allison Weaver, who arrived herr


from Port Huron yesterday, be
ing on his way to his brothers, whC


lives in the township Of Somerset


jackson county. Weaver is single


man, about fifty years old, and served


all through the war in an Ohio regi.


ment of infantry. Up to two weeks


ago, he was at work for a man named


Bright, ten mites from Forrestville, as


fireman OF shingle-mill. Two OF


three days before the approach of the
! flames which eventually destroyed


that section, Bright and his family


left ForrestVille, and the next day all


the men employed about the place


either followed his example or made
| haste to reach their homes. On leav-


ing, Bright informed his men that
the fire would sweep that way, and


warned them to lose no time in ma
king their escape. Having no prop
erty 10 lose or family to care for, Wea-


yer determined, as he says, ''tO stay
and see the circus out, )" meaning that
he intended saving the mill if posi-


BILE. He has a stubborn sort of spirit,
and the fact that everybody else went
induced him to stay.


As soon as the men left he set to
work and buried all the provisions
left in the house, and during the day
also buried the knives, belts, and 9TH
er light machinery of the mill, as well
as a stove and quantity of erockery-
ware. There was plenty Of water in
the vicinity of the mill, and he filed
several barrels full, besides wetting
down the house, mill, stock, and
everything which would burn, scat
tering several hundred pailfuls of wat
er on theground around the buildings.
When night came and the fire had
not appeared, he began to jeer his
absent comrades for their haste. But
his conceit soon left him. About ten
o'clock, the heavens were so light
that he could see the smallest objects
around him, there was roaring in
the forests which sounded like waves
beating against rocks on the shore
He began to suspect that he would
soon receive the visit predicted, and
accordingly made preparations for it.
In leveling the ground around the
shingle mill, earth had been obtained
here and there, and Weaver went to
work and dug one of these pits deep
enough for him TO stand up in. He
then filed it nearly full of water, and
took care to saturate the ground
around it for distance Of several rods.
Going to the mill he dragged out a
four inch plank, sawed it in two, and
saw that the parts tightly covered the
mouth of the little well. ST ealkela-
ted it would be tech and go, said he,
"but it was the best I could do" At
midnight, he had everything arrang-
ed, and the roaring then was awful to
hear. The clearing was ten or twelve
acres in extent, and Weaver says that
for two hours before the fire reached
him, there was aconstant flight across
this ground of small animals. As he
rested a moment from giving the
house another wetting down, horse
dashed into the opening at full speed
and made for the house, when he
stopped and turned toward the fire.
Weaver could see him tremble and
shake in his excitement and terror,
and felt pity for him. After a mo-
ment, the animal gave utterance to
snort of dismay, ran two or three
times around the house, and then
shot off into the woods like rocket.


Not long after this the fire came
Weaver stcod by his well, ready for
the emergency, yet curious to see the
breaking in Of the flames. The roar
ing increase in volume, the air be-
came oppressive, a cloud Of dHst and
cinders came showering down, and
then he could see the billow of fame
through the trees. It did not run
along upon the ground, nor leap from
tree to tree, but it came on like tor
nado, a sheet of fame reaching from
the earth to the tops of the trees. AS
it struck the clearing, he jumped into
bis well and closed over the planks.-
He could no longer see but he could
hear. He say that the flames made no
halt whatever, nor ceased their roar
ing for an instant, but he had hard
ly got the opening closed before
the house and mill were burning like
tinder, and both were down in five
minutes.


The smoke came down to him pow
erfully, and his den was so hot that he
could hardly breathe. He knew that
the drv planks above him were on
fire, but remembering their thickness
he waited till the roaringo of the flames
had died away, and then, with his
head and hands, turned them o2er and
putting out the fire by dashing uD
water with his hands. Although it
was a cold night, and the water had
at first chilled him, the heat gradually
warmed it up until he says that he
felt very comfortable. He remain
ed in this den until daylight, frequent
ly turning over the planks and putting
out the fire, and then the worst had
passed. The earth around was on fire
in spots, house and mill were gone,
leaves, brush and logs were swept as
clean away as if shaved off aud swept
with a broom, and nothing but SCOT
and ashes were to be seen.


After the fire had somewhat cooled
off, Weaver made an investigation of
his caches and found that considera-
bic of the property buried had been
saved, although he lost all his pro-
visions except piece of dried beef,
which the fire had cooked as in an
oven without spelling 1t. He had no
other resource than to remain around
the place that day, during the night
and the greater part of the next day,
when the ground had cooled enough |
so that he could pick his way to the
site of the burned village. he was
nearly twelve hours going the twelve
miles, as trees were falling, logs were
burning, and the fallen timber had in
some places heaped up a breastwork
over which no one could climb


A religious journal gives the follow