People's Pilot, Volume 2, Number 53, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 June 1893 — MANY TOWNS WIPED OUT. [ARTICLE]

MANY TOWNS WIPED OUT.

The Forest Fires Are Still Raging in the Northern Pineries. ASHLAND, Wis., June 21.—Forest fires are still raging and the air would be suffocating but for the cool breezes off the lake Another fatality is reported in Sanborn. The line of fire in Minnesota extends 50 miles and includes eight new mining towns, four of which are totally destroyed. The fire in Wisconsin scattered in patches from Michigan to Minnesota, a distance of 96 miles, over nearly 8,000 sguare miles of territory. Sanburn is totally and Iron River partially destroyed, many small villages entirely wiped out and Ashland and other large cities are threatened. The situation is worse than it has been at any time since the forest fires of 1873, which destroyed Peshtigo and other towns in the upper peninsula. The fires in the Michigan peninsula are not so bad yet, but are increasing. Clouds of smoke cover Ashland and ashes fall day and night. All the dozen sawmills on the bay have gangs of men throwing water on the lumber. The body of an unknown man, with papers on him indicating he was from Fargo, N. D., was found Tuesday morning in the river at Brule. The clothes and body were badly burned. The indications are that he was trying to escape from the flames and jumped into the stream. The river is very rapid there and he had loaded his pocket with stones to prevent being carried by the current into an avenue of flames reaching across the river below. The water is not deep, but very swift. His face was burned beyond recognition. He was evidently about 52 years old, with smooth face and of stout build. He was a stranger and was seen fishing on Sunday and was probably a tourist taking a vacation, as he was well dressed. Another bridge on the Omaha was reported burned Tuesday morning. A homesteader named Duncan, near Nimekagon, reports two sons missing, who were out hunting for stock and were caught by the fire.