Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 September 1894 — HOW HINCKLEY FELL. [ARTICLE]

HOW HINCKLEY FELL.

A Graphic Description of the Minnesota Fire Horror, Hinckley Special to Inter-Ocean, Sept. 3. Not an hour passes but some new horror is added to those already chronicled. It is now certain that over 400 people have perished, and the greatest anxiety is felt here for 100 missing lumbermen, not a word from whom has been heard since Saturday morning. They have not one chance in a thousand for escape. The number of Minnesota towns to go down before the cyclone of flame now reaches eight, Cromwell, Partridge, Curtis and Cushing having been added to the list. The loss to property will not fall far short of $4,000,000 in the counties of Pine, Aitkin, Miller, Lacs and Kanabec. The first good description of the great fire that swept away this thriving village was secured on the arrival of the special train today. It seems that forest and peat fires had been raging within a short distance for some .weeks, apprehension had been felt by the inhabitants and no preparations made for emergencies. Saturday afternoon the fire approached, fanned by a strong wind. The' smoke grew dense as the day advanced, and it soon became dark as night. About 4 o’clock the wind changed and the residents of the doomed town saw the flames bearing down upon them. As the alarm rang: through the streets the people rushed from their houses, and when they caught sight of the red, onrushing sea of fire they became panic stricken. Then followed scenes that! wer e enough to appall the stoutest heart. The fire shot across the town and the people fled inall directions. They ran wherever they thought they could find refuge. A large number ran into a pond, some three or four acres in exten t and three or four feet deep. Men, women and children ran side by side cattle into the pond and crouched close to the water, for the smoke hung low and flames were dangerously close. The largest crowd of people rushed to Grindstone rive r, a small, shallow stream, which it was thought would afford jprotection from ;the flames, but the water was too low, and all the miserable beings perished. There the relief parties found the bodies lying in the water and' rudely trampled by the flying stock. Just as the flames were fiercest a train arrived over the* Eastern Minnesota, and 500 people; clambered aboard. It was a great: Godsend to the people, who offered; up prayers of thankfulness as the; engineer pulled the throttle wide open and sent the train at rapid speed away from the burning town and back to safety in Superior. Another party had rushed for the. Limited on the St. Paul and Duluth,:' but as the fire cut off their way in that direction they ran to a shallow; pohd near by. There, like nits in a; trap, they perished, one and all.’ One hundred and five bodies were removed from the miserable pond byl the relief committee 1 , where they had been literally roasted to death.' There was absolutely no escape. East of the village was a stagnant* pool of rain water. The pit is wide! and deep, and those who trusted, themselves ter its friendly depths* fared better than those who at-; tempted to get away. There were* over one hundred who sought refuge here, and of these only one man is ; known to have died. The immense plant of the Brennan: Lumber Company, with its sawmill,; planing mills, stables, etc., and 28,-i 000,000 feet of pine lumber was* wiped out in less time than it takes* to write it. With the stable were consumed ninety valuable horses. The financial loss to the company alone will reach $500,000, on which there is an insurance of about one- ( half its value. Those who remained in Hinckley will never forget the terrors of that awful night. As the flames subsided; and the shadows of night closed down over the ill-fated town the people left their places of refuge and* made their way over the smoldering, embers through the streets of the village. The fire had spent its force but the ruins still glowed through, the dense cloud of smoke, marking' the spot where a few hours ago were the homes of a prosperous and a happy people. Guided by the weird light, men moved about as if dazed, locating the spots where their homes had stood. The air was filled with; the moaning of the wounded, for whom no assistance could be had,; and with the sobbings of those who lost friends or possessions, or both. When the terrible night was ended and the light of another day dawned* upon the scene of desolation, a few: energetic spirits recovered from the; blow and began to organize for the work of recovering the bodies. Rain set in shortly after noon, which rendered it possible for relief parties to venture into the woods in search of more bodies. It is useless to give the names of the dead and missing. Of the 223 buried here only a small number havq been identified. India has 27,000,000 acres in rice, 18,000,000 in wheat, 75,000,000 in other food grains, 1,000,000 in sugar cane. 251,000 in tea, 10,000,000 in cotton, 1,000,000 in indigo, 300,000 in tobacco. The largest walnut tree ever seen ip this country was found in Leavenworth county, Kan., and taken to the World’s Fair. It was seventyfive feet high, and two car loads of lumber were taken from its limbs alone.