Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 November 1894 — TORNADO OF FLAME. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TORNADO OF FLAME.

WHOLE COUNTIES IN NEBRASKA SWEPT BY FIRE. Homes, Stock and Crops of Ranchmen Ruined—Burning in Many Directions — Homeless Persons Seek Safety Along Water Courses* May Be Many Death*. The prairie fires which have p evailed in Grant. Cherry. Sheridan and Thom is Counties, Nebraska, since Tuesday have assumed vast proportions. They started in Sheridan County and have thus far burned over a section of count: y forty miles in width. The damage to ha. - , ranch property and cattle is enormous, but i.otning like an accurate estimate is yet possible. Many ives a e suf po.-ed to have been lost, and thou and* of tons of hay have b en burned, leaving the cattlemen destitute. Homes and stock were also burned, and She cattle ranges are ruined. Txie list of known vict ms at present is: lioiss . ranchman IA HSR. E L, ranchman. Twoiarmer;. names unknown. Ranchman. »rMul't*n. The two first-namod were attempting to. ; ave their property by back burning, but the high wind drove the flames on them and cut off all oscape before thay were aware of their danger. Lacher lived long enough to tell his story to ranchmen who came to his rescue afierthe flames had pasted, Thouna <is of U itl *f > «.igli. Hundreds of thousands of bead of cattle are grazing in Cherry, Thomas. Grant and the other counties where the fires are raging. The e cattle were sent the e from the southern part of the State, where the drought has been felt :o heavily, to graze for the winter; It is feared a large proportion of these cattle have perished. Several ranch houses are reported to have been destroyed, and there is probability of a large loss of human life.

The fires bsgan : everal days ago and the line of the railroad for tever.il counties is obscured by the dense smoke. Farmers and stock growers from Custer and parts of neighboring counties, where crop failure was complete of bath grain and hay. moved into Cherry, Thomas, Grant and Hooker Counties this fall and took hay lands, m stly on lease. They cut hay enough to carry their sto k* through the part of the winter when it could not range, and moved their cattle and liorses up to Cherry and the ether “sand hiil” counties, where the fires are now raging. Nothing like the present disaster has hapi ened for years. As there are numerous streams in the ah icted section it is presumed many of the ranchmen have succeeded in taking their families to these water courses and thus avoided danger. The flames are not driven high, since the grass is not tall, consequently anyone reactiing a stream can escape death unless overcome by the dense smoke. Thursday night was a direful one in a large portion of the sand hills. Devastating fires swept through the western part of Cherry and Grant Counties all dav, burning on the north side of the Burlington Railroad track to within about four miles of Hyannis. Lashed on by a furious wind, the fires traveled at a pace that carried consternation and destruction. The fire on the railroad was started the fir t of the week by a man and his pipe about ten miles northwest of Alliance. The man was drunk, and in filling and lighting his pipe threw the burning match to the ground, where it ignited the grass. In an instant a fire started, which, fanned by the northwest wind, at once set out on its mission of destruction.

COUNT ITO SPEAKS. An Elaborate Address Before th'i Japanese Diet—Japs Whipped at Yi Chow.

JTO the Prime Minister of Japan, made an elab rate speech in the Hou 3 e of Lords upon the as enabling of the Diet at, Hiroshina. He explained at length the causes of the war between Japan and China. During the course of his speech he read the correspondence which had

passed between the Japanese and Chinese governments before diplomatic negotiations were suspended and war was declared. The speech made a deep impression upon the House. Tne feeling of the Diet appears to be unanimous in favor of the course pursued by the government. The universal expression is that the war must be vigorously pursued until it is brought to a triumphant conclusion. The Diet has manifested the greatest willingness to grant everything asked by the government The two houses passed by a unanimous vote the bills introduced by the government relating to war expenditures, which involved a total sum of 8150,004,000. Advices from Chemulpo, C:rea. state that the pacification of the country is seriously impeded by the Tonghaks, who, although unarmed, are a standing menace to the Japanese interests on account of the spreading of their propaganda of mistrust of the Japanese. The latter are scattering silver about the country with tre ob ect of purchasing the favor of the people, and it is stated that 100,0J0 yen have been distributed about Seoul alone. The Japanese arrangements are very defective, and a number of dead borses and cattle are found along the roads between Seoul and Ping V ang. On the battlefield of Ping Yang are many dead Chinese partially buried, and the stench from their bodies is ter ible. It is now reported that the Chinese infantry cut through the Jap anese at Ping Yang, but it is said that the Chinese cavalry was easily destroyed, as the horses stuck in the mud and their riders were shot before they could extricate themselves. Chinese officials report that a battle occurred near Yi Chow and that the Japanese were repulsed southward, with a loss of 3,000 men on each side.

CUT RATES IN FLOUR. Millers Fall Out and the Retailer Reaps a Profit. Flour has taken the place of sugar as the bone of contention among the wholesale grocers of Chicago and the Northwest. A combine, con isting of the Pills bury-Washburn company, the Washburn-Cros by company, and i\orthwestern Consolidated Milling companv —has gone to pieces. One re ult of the war is that grocers and dealers for several hundred miles around are flocking to Chicago and taking advantage of the free an 1 open market. For some time the three concerns named have had a community of interests. 1 heir plan of business was to send products to local jobbers on consignment, the latter agreeing to abide by and sell at the prices established by the “Big Three.” Their profit came in as a commission of 25 cents a barrel. Competition was keen and prices were frequently shaded when it

was necessary to do so to secure an order. When the knife was put into the sugar price-list the flour schedule began to suffer—sympathetically. Jobbers who found their sales dropping off complained to the “Three” and asked them to enforce the maintenance of rates. The Pillsbury and Northwestern people were perfectly willing to grant the request ani notified jobber* to live up to their agreement. The Washburn-Cro .by representatives took another view oi the m >tter. They said if people to whom they so’d flour wished to sell either at a less or profit it made no dL'ierence to them, and moreo'e. - they would furnish them with all the strek they needed. And so the war is on. with two big concerns pitted against one and the little fellows, who were never in the combine, will als 3 suffer.

BOOTH WILL FIGHT VICE.

Salvation A-mv Founder Come* to America to Comlnct a Viirorous Camnatcn.

ggjpa ggt HE founder and BSj/r Eommander-ln-chief of the Salvation Army, Gen. f/JW William Booth, Is Y'jA now in New York fj City, ani to inquiring newspaper men he oitlined the plans for a campagn which he will wage against | the devil in seventy cities in this

country and Canada, between now and. the middle of next M.trch. So well has the campaign been arranged that the general Knows how ho will spend every min te of his time until he returns to England. Ho will hold in all 5.( meetings. Time has not dealt too unkindly with the General during the eight years ince he was last in the United State*. Though he looks every minute o his sixty-nine years, and his hair and beard are gray, there is still plenty ot fire in his voice and energy in his action when he gets r: used while speaking of his life’s work. General Booth i- now t>9 years old and has been engaged in the Salvation Army movement for 7 years. He was the son of a Methodist preacher and was suc-

cessively a draper s apprentice, itinerant eshorter, gold miner and Salvationist. The idea of the army was suggested to him by a dream. The new national headquarters of the army on Fourteenth street, New York City, the corner-stone of which has recently been laid by the millionaire iron manufacturer, J. M. Cornell, of New York, will be eight stories high, and the material will be Indiana limestone for the two lower stories, and colored brick for the upper portion. The cost of the edifice will be *125,000, while the site is valued at $200,000. Appropriate exercises will be held upon the General’s arrival, to celebrate the progress of the work on the structure, which will be finished by the end of the year. An auditorium, seating 3,000 persons, will furnish a meeting place for army gatherings of importance.

MISS FAIR AND HER FORTUNE. Young California Millionaire Heiress, Rumor Say*. I* Soon to be Married. Miss Virginia Fair, the young California millionaire heiress, who, rumor says, is to be married soon, is a ih-

year-old, unaffected, healthy girl of quiet tastes and mo est demeanor. She posse sees exceptional vivacity, and in appearance is short and plum;', has dak, wavy hair, bright black eyes, a good skin.anianoseof the retrousse pa 11 ern. M 83 Fair is at present enjoying an in.come of $-,500 per

month. Her fortune, which she is not to receive for six \ears, amounts to about $15,000,004. This was left her by her mother, who died two years ago. Miss Fair’s father, ex-Senator James G. Fair, of Nevada, is one of California's multi-millionaires. She will probably inherit a large share of his wealth. Her education was acquired in the Convent of the Sacred Heart in San Francisco. She is a good musician, and speaks I rench and German. She is a devoted Roman Catholic. Sparks from the Wire*. The triennial conclave of the King's Daughters and Sons opened at Montreal. The annual meeting of the Michigan Ea--list convention began at Lansing, Mnh. Fight thousand pe- sons listened to the first joint debate between John M. Thurston and Congressman Bryan at Lincoln, Neb. Gov. McKinley concluded his Ohio tour with addresses at Dayton and Hamilton. He will now visit the chief Southern cities. Officers of tbs St. Lou's Bank Note Company we;e indicted for p inting State warrants in the likeness of United States currency. J. A. Bdttorff was sentenced at Springfield, 111., to one year for embezzling SI,OOO from the Pacific Express Company. Daniel H. Burnham, of Chicago, was re-elected 1 resident of the American institute of Architects at the New Yo. k session. A practical demonstration of the benefit of hypnotism in surgery and dentistry was made before the Minneapolis Cental College. T.-ie Grand Lodge of Knights of Pythias of Illinois denied the Uuth of the charges of disloyalty to the sup eme body male by Past Grand Chancellor Blaokwell. . I Nearly 24,000 Democrats were placed in charge of postoffices during the first year of the present administration, exceeding the record made under President Harrison. Harris Olney and Charles Dalton were found dead in a room at the Mettropolitan Hotel, in Brooklyn. They had retired, leaving tbe gas turned on full head. Olney, who was 28 years of age. and resided in Brooklyn, was at one time a jockey, ard Dalton was connected with race tracks.

MISS VIRCINIA FAIR.