People's Pilot, Volume 4, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 August 1894 — TOWNS IN RUINS. [ARTICLE]

TOWNS IN RUINS.

Resistless Sweep of Forest Fires in Northern Wisconsin. •. 4-tfe and Property Go Down Before the Flame* —Some of the Heavy Losses— The Terrible Disaster at Phillips —Other Forest Fires. BTOBT OF THE DISASTER. Ashland, IV is., July 30.—Loss of property approximating §3,000,000 and heavy loss of life, the extent not yet known, though at least fifteen persons met death at Phillips Friday, is the record of the forest fires which have swept northern Wisconsin. It is almost a certainty that some of the lone homesteaders scattered throughout the fuming timber have perished in the flames unless they have in some marvelous way escaped the suffocating flames and smoke. Estimate of Property Lone*. The losses now seem to be: ft The city of Phillips entirely wiped out The city of Mason practically destroyed, with White Biver Lumber company and 30,000,000 feet of lumber. Headquarters of the Ashland Lumber company near Shores Crossing entirely wiped out Special train of the Chicago, St Paul. Minneapolis & Omaha, consisting of sixteen cars and locomotive, all burned; broke through burning bridge near Ashland Junction. Camps of Thompson Lumber company burned at White River. Two bridges on Wisconsin Central railroad, one near Chelsea, another near Phillips, both on main line south of Ashland. These are the estimated losses, specifically, so far as known: Lumber plantsJl.ooo.ooo Phillips residents. 1,250,000 Reason 700.000 Thompson Lumber company,of Wushburne 2.000 Ashland Lumber company 6,000 Shores Crossing residents 4.000 Two bridges C., St. P., M. <k O. rall1 road 10.000 Two bridges Wisconsin Central 10,000 Homesteaders 250.000 The Disaster at Phillips. Phillips, Wis., July 31. —Out of a town of 700 buildings but twenty-seven are left standing. Driven by the increasing wind the fire swept the southwest limits of the city Friday afternoon. Across the miles of swamp where the water was from 6 to 12 inches deep it could be heard roaring for an hour. The firemen were forced to use dynamite. This stopped the progress of the fire, after the north end of the city had been destroyed, including the box factory of the John R. Davis Lumber company and the schoolhouse. z Perished in the Lake. Driven frantic by the rushing gale of flames, the familiesiof James Locke, Frank Cliss and Dave Bryden gathered hurriedly in their arms all their possessions that they could and made for a floating boathouse that was tied to the town bridge near the box factory. The ropes were cut and the occupants thought the gale would drive them across the lake where the flames would not reach them, but the raft was a rickety affair and overloaded, and, most terrible of all, the fire seemed to create a current of air that pulled them directly towards a great pile of burning lumber on the lake shore. The raft began to sink, and, with death by fire facing them on one side and drowning on the other, the boats were resorted to, but in the gale they capsized almost instantly, and all perished with the exception Df Mrs. Cliss, who was found floating Saturday morning on the opposite side of t the lake, clinging with desperation to a boat.

Another cyclone of fire struck the western side, sweeping through the main business and residence portion of the city, destroying the rest of the Davis company’s plant. The path of the fire took in the city hall, courthouse, county jail and the Wisconsin Central depot and swept everything to the lake. Gov. Peck and his staff arrived from Madison Sunday morning A dozen cars of provisions have arrived from various cities, and the organization for relief has been completed. Gov. Peck met with the committee at the town hall and offered many suggestions.

Other Fires. The forest fires were still raging to the north and west of here Monday morning, and several small stations between here and Ashland were reported to have been wiped out. Fires of greater or less extent raging between Channing and Prai, Mich., on the Lake Superior division. Lumber camps on the Gibson and Toleen spurs of the road. 4 miles west of Channing reported destroyed and fires running rapidly through the woods in that part of the country. All trains on the Wisconsin Central road in the section of the country where the fire is raging held at various points or picking their way through the burned-over sections slowly and with frequent stops. Girdled by Fire. Phillips, Wis., July 31. —For miles around here the forest fires continue to burn. Early Monday morning a fire to the northeast swept in on the back tack and threatened to destroy the poor farm, the fair grounds and all or the timber along the east shore of the lake. An alarm was sent in from the farm and 150 men from Phillips with buckets, shovels and axes were sent to fight the fire. They reached the scene none too soon. The fire was coming over the hills with a roar, and in a short time with the freshening wind blowing from the east would have swept through the poor farm and burned the sick and crippled men who are inmates of the place. A fire brigade arrived also from Prentice. It stretched over a territory a quarter of a mile wide, and fought fire by cutting the brush around the farm and backfiring it. After several hours’ work the danger passed. Nothing Left to Bara. Phillips is now the safest place in this section for the simple reason that there is nothing to burn except the earthand a few straggling trees on the outskirts of the town. The people of Phillips scattered to all points In the surrounding country and are coming back slowly. It will be impossible to say how many have been lost until all still alive return and the

noses are counted. Some of the eye witnesses of the fire say numbers of people who sought safety on the logs in the lake just off the shore must have been overcome by the heat and drowned. Kindness of Neighboring Town*. The people of Prentice have been extremely generous. Every house in the town has been open to the people of Phillips who wish to avail themselves of this shelter. They are all crowded, as the Wisconsin Central has carried the fire sufferers free from here to Prentice and return. The Central has also carried free the families of all sufferers who wished to leave Phillips for any point on the line. The relief continues to pour in here from all points of the state. Eighteen full carloads have been received thus far. The donations of provisions and clothing which have been received have come from: Weyauwega, Unity. Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Portage. Stevens Point, Montello, Colona. Loyal, Marshfield, Colby, Milladore, Au- i burndale. Prentice, Rib Lake, Merrill, Rhine- I lander. Hewitt, Spencer, Oshkosh. Milwaukee, I Dale, Amherst Junction, Sheridan, Stockton, > Neenah, Waupaca, Wausau, Watertown, Ashland. Washburn and Flfield, all In Wisconsin; Chicago, 111., and Bessemer, Mich. Arising from the AshesThe work of rebuilding Phillips has begun. The Shaw Tannery company has ordered in the lumber to rebuild its plant and it will begin to arrive today. Twenty shanties to shelter the unfortunate people were run up Monday, and the work of cleaning away the debris of the fire has commenced in all sections of the city. Many of the people are undecided whether they should remain at Phillips or go elsewhere to seek their fortunes. If the Davis Lumber company would not rebuild its plant the town would be deserted. Mr. Davis in an address to the people Monday announced the company will rebuild.