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PAGE TWELVE
AWFUL CYCLONE OF RAGING FLAMES
Bush Fires Sweep Out City of Fernie With Population of
5,000, Many Dead and Thousands Homeless.
The terrible destructive forest
fires which .havg swept through the
Crow’s Nest district of the Elk river
valley in British Columbia since last
Saturday, devastating a vast stretch
of territory, destroyed many lives
and millions of dollars worth of
property, wiping out entire towns
and rendering thousands of persons
homeless, are still raging, but now
sweeping wild and sparsely settled
country, and it is believed the worst
is over.
Almost 100 square miles of the
Kootenay valley, one of the most
prosperous and naturally rich in the
whole northwest, is today a black
ened waste, owing to extensive and
uncontrollable bush fires which have
ravaged it for more than a week.
Scores are dead-—the exact number
may never be told; the city of Fer
nie, with a population of 5,000, has
been effaced; several other settle
ments and villages have been dam
aged or destroyed; hundreds of scat
tered human habitations have been
obliterated; coal tipples, coal bunk
ers and expensive bridges have been}
consumed and millions of feet of
valuable timber, some of it standing.‘
more of it in manufactured shape,
have gone up in smoke and flame.
Thousands of people are homeless,
and a financial Iloss estimated atl
nearly $10,000,000, has been in-|
flicted on the region. ]
A Cyclone of Flames.
Two weeks ago bush fires broke
out between Fernie and Michel, but
little attention was paid them until
Saturday, when, fanned by a strong
wind, the flames advanced like a cy
clone toward Fernie, enveloping the
place and speedily reducing it to a
heap of ashes. With such rapidity
did the fire spread that the territied
people had no time to save anything
-—some of them not even their lives
Such was the force of the fiery torna
do that one frame building 70 feet
long was picked up and carried
across several lots. Those who could
fled to the hills, glad to escape from
the hell of flames that was roaring
through the valley and turning day
into night with the dense volumes of
smoke. Of the city of 5,000 souls
only a few buildings of any kind re
main. Within 15 minutes after the
fire broke into Fernie the city was
one mass of flames. Eastward the
flames rolled, the dry and resinous
timber furnishing ready fuel. Be
fore its approach people fled in ter
ror, seeking safety outside the fire
zone. Some waded into the waters
of the Elk river until the fiery visi
tation had fled.
Women and children were loaded
on trains of the Canadian Pacific
railroad and were conveyed to safe
ty. In this way many hundreds
escaped. Members of families were
lost in this dreadful exodus and days
must elapse before the fate of miss
ing ones can be learned.
Harrowing Tales,
Many pathetic stories of flight and
in many instances the death of un
fortunate settlers who were caught
in the swirl of flames as it swept
through the great forests of pine and
fir are coming from the various
points with which communication has
been re-established.
One woman of West Fernie had
just emerged from her home which
was on fire. She dropped dead
through fright. The neighbors has
tily threw a few spadefuls of earth
on her in her garden and then fled
for their lives. In another part of
the city an aged woman, an invalid,
was carried a short distance, but the
heat became so great she begged
her relatives to leave her and save
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themselves. They did so and she was
lbm'ned to crisp.
’ How Towns Suffered.
i Town of Fernie, about 5,000 in
habitants, practically wiped out: loss
| twenty-five lives and $4,000,000 or
{55,000,000 in property; insurance
tabout 5 per cent.
I Town of Hosmer, about 800 inhab
itants, partially burned, with loss of
lone life and $250,000 in property.
’Throe hundred persons homeless.
| Town of Michel, believed not
i seriously burned, but four persons
!I‘el)OX‘th killed and property de
|stro_ved in vicinity estimated at $l,-
{OOO.OOO. Details unobtainable ow
iing to the lack of communication.
i Town of Sparwood, sawmill vil
é]ag(r. two killed and large mills de
|stroyed. Damage estimated at $250,-
!mm. Damage to standing timber
|throughout the burned area esti
'mated at from $1,000,000 to $2,000 -
i(mo.
i Rapid Sweep of Flames.
It has not been determined how
itho fire started, whether through
carelessness or design, but once it
igained headway it swept with almost
‘fincredible speed, at times eating up
‘the timber as if it were dry tinder,
lighting up the whole country .at
night and filling the atmosphere with
a choking smoke that often hid the
sun from view and turned daylight
almost into night.
Fernie, which was thus tragically
Analyzed Testimony and Refuted
What Had Been Brought Out.
OFFERED ARRAY OF WITNESSES
His Statement Put a New Light on
the Convict Investigation. Pro
duced Many Affidavits and Court
Records. Named 2350 Prominent
Citizens and Asked That They Be
Summoned.
Judge J. S. Turner, chairman of
the prison commission, has replied
before the special investigating com
mittee to all the charges brought
against the commission's administra
tion of the state's penal system.
Taking them up one by one he gave
the commission’s view, and offered
the names of reputable witnesses by
whom he said his declarations could
be verified.
Above all he denied that the com
mission had done else than admin
ister the system humanely, fairly
and tor the best interest of the state.
He was frequently caustic about the
way the word of criminals*had seem
ingly been accepted without corrob
oration. o
18 it true,” he asked, ‘‘that a hoy
named Martin was murdered at the
Fulton county road camp, as charged
by an Atlanta newspaper? Is it true
that at many of these road camps
conditions are dirty, unsanitary and
ill-kept, as charged by inspection
committees? Why not summon wit
nesses and find out?”’
Produces \\'itm‘s..ws’ Names. ;
“Charges have been made here by‘
former criminals convicted of vari
ous crimes, and wardens who were
discharged, and by disgruntled lesses. |
I hand you a list of 250 names of
the most reputable citizens in each
community containing a camp. i
would be glad if you would summon
and examine every one of them. I
have no right to dictate to the com
mittee, but I would suggest that
each of these charges be investigated
from reputable sources before judg
ment is passed.
The Cruelty Charges.
He then took wup the charge of
cruelty, beginning with the Joe Fris
by case at the Nickajack camp. He
said this establishment was a “‘wild
' cat one, which for years the commis
'sion had been calling on the legisla
ture to make impossible by appro
priate legislation. It was run under
the supervision of the county author
ities. The warden was not a state
employe. Frisby was whipped by a
man named Crowe, who was indicted
but not convicted.
Frisby worked for wages at the
camp after his term expired, and had
run away to where the damage suit
],lnwym‘ interested in his case could
inot find him. He said the charge
that a Jew had been beaten to death
there had been investigated and no
evidence of him ever having Dbeen
whipped could be found. A party of
Atlanta citizens with a doctor had
examined his body and could find no
evidence of violence.
The Ladell case, he said, was of
similar character.
These ecases happened at camps
which the supreme court has de
clared to be illegal, said the judge,
“‘and which the commission has been
trying to get the legislature to pre
vent.”
He said the first he heard of the
boy being shot at Hurt's wild-cat
camp in Bartow county was from
testimony given at the hearing. He
said John R. Hubbard, a reputable
man who knew the facts and the
name of the guard, was ready to ap
pear before the commission.
He had never before heard of the
Daniel Long case. This, he said,
also occurred at an illegal camp, and
he had been taken and cared for by a
state warden at another establish
ment.
“Neither the prison commission or
wiped out, was in the very center of
a region which geologists have de
clared to be the largest area of coal
depodsits on the American continent,
and though founded only eight years
ago has been going forward with
such strides that it promised to justi
fy within this generation the title
sometimes given it of the Pittshurg
of the north. It was about 120 miles
in a direct line northeast by north
from Spokane, Wash., in the foot
hills of the Rocky mountains, at the
western side of a broad valley, lying
between the main chain and the out
lying peaks of the vast agglomera
tion which includes the Purcell, the
Selkirk and other ranges, and ex
tends all over the southern center of
British Columbia. The nearest town
to Fernie in the United States is
‘Rexford, on the Kootenay river, in
‘Montana, Fernie lying about 35
miles north of the Canadian boun
dary line.
Five miles distant from the town,
which was on the Crow’'s Nest Pass
division of the Canadian Pacific, are
the Fernie coal mines, where 700
coke ovens are constantly in opera
tion. The population increased from
3,500 to 5000 i a vear, and there
was a constant tide of immigration
to Fernie and the coal fields which
surround it.
Aside from its industrial wealth
the region is one of great natural
beauty. The site of Fernie is sur
rounded by the flat topped foothills
in the immediate neighborhood. and
mountain peaks are visible in many
directions. All of these hills and
ridges are densely wooded. The Elk
river, one of the largest of the moun
tain streams of that region, flows
past Fernie and empties into the
Kootenay. Fir, tamarack and cedar
cover the country all about.
'VVVVV\MN\MM' PNANANAAAAAAS
its employes can be held responsible
for these cases,” he said, ‘“‘as they
had practically nothing to do with
the places where they occurred.”
Judge Turner took up other cases:
that of Jim Bankston, who was shot
‘h_\' Warden Tom Linson. He intro
duced the court record showing Tom
f]‘ins()n had been tried and acquitted.
'He exhibited sworn testimony to
prove that Abe Winn had died of
consumption, instead of being beaten
to death, and gave the names of wit
nesses to prove it. In regard to the
negro alleged to have been sweated
to death at Jakin, in r.arly county,
he said he swore out warrants and
had arrested the warden and physi
cian, and they had been cleared. The
cases of cruelty told of by the ex
convicts Cochran and Keith he
offered evidenee to prove that the
statements were false.
Few Specific Cases.
“This inquiry covers a period of
about ten years,” sald the judge.
“In that time there has been fewer
than a dozen specific cases of cruelty
or abuses brought to the attention
of tH committee, although it has
been advertised in all the papers that
such complaints were wanted. We
have handled more than 16,000 con
victs in that time, and it must be
remembered some abuses will occur
in any system.”
He gave the name of merchants
who had: sold food to lessees and
asked that they be summoned and
questioned a§ to quantity and quality
supplied. He also produced the rec
ord of deaths to show that the
health of prisoners had been cared
for in 1907. Out of 2.950 men only
62 died. Deaths had been below
100 for each year of the present
regime and nearly 3,000 men had al
ways been handled.
Explains the Bids,
He explained the telephone call to
W. B. Lowe when he secured 700
convicts.
Judge Turner said Lowe had bid
as agent for 2,200 men, offering $96
each. All his bids were rejected.
Other bids were accepted at $9, but
owing to a decision to not employ
men at turpentining they found that
they had 700 left.t Mr. Lowe Wwas
called over the telephone and told
if he would raise his bid he could
have the men. This was done under
the provision of the law where the
commission has authority to reject
all bids and make outside contracts
if such are found to be for the best
interests of the state,
He declared that Lowe, Joel Hurt
and others had entered into an agree
ment the day before to bear the mar
ket. Hurt would not divide up on
his 700 convicts and a lawsuit de
veloped.
Goes After Joel Hurt.
Chairman Turner paid his compli
ments to Joel Hurt in no uncertain
terms. eH said the charge that the
commission had been used to secure
convicts from Callahan for Hamby
was untrue; that Hurt had been un
friendly with the commission from
the '9B affair, and was constantly
complaining. He read letters show
ing that Hurt had given trouble in
not providing properly for his men,
not keeping his mines in sanitary
condition and because the warden
wouldn’t. work the prisoners hard
enough.
‘“There was a constant fight to
make him obey the rules,” said the
witness.
{ “For ten years this commission
has endeavored to do its duty fairly
and honestly and without fraud or
corruption. Any charge that we
have ever knowingly permitted cruel
ty or winked at malfeasance is ab
solutely false,” said the chairman,
completing his prepared statement.
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[ of 7 N d
THE DAWSCN NEWS.
e
Via the Central of Georgia
Railway.
TO CHATTANOOGA, TENN., and re
turn from all points, account Con
vention of Commercial Secretaries
of the Southern States, August 11-
13, 1908
TO AUGUSTA, GA.. and return from
Savannah, Macon, Dublin and in
termediate points, account Geor=
gia-Carolina Fair, to be held No
vember 2-7, 1908.
TO CORDELE, GA., and return from
Atlanta, *ugusta, Bremen, Cedar
town, Columbus, Griffin, Macon,
Milledgeville, Rome and Thomas
ton, account Georgia State Fire
men's Association, to be held Sep
tember 9-11, 1908.
TO FLOVILLA, GA., and return from
points in Georgia, account Indian
Springs Holiness camp meeting, to
be held August 3-20, 1908.
TO NEW ORLEANS, LA., and re
turn from all points, account An
nual International Missionary Con
ventions of the Churches of Christ
in America, to be held October
9=-15, 1908,
For dates of sale, limits, through
rates, tickets and other information
apply to nearest ticket agent.
J. C. HAILE, Gen. Pass. Agt.
NOTICE.
Do not forget that I am vet here
and can give you better satisfaction
than any other in your town on
female complaints. vome and see
me. MANDY CARTER.
N = ‘' e |
Sheriff’'s Sale.
Georgia. Terrell County: Will be sold at the
court house door in said countv, on the first
Tuesday in September. 1908, within the legal
hours of sale, to the highest bidder for cash, the
following described property towit: All of lots
of land numbers 79 ana 80, contmining each two
hundred and twc and one-half acres: also all of
lots of land numbers 49 and 30 in ssid county
which lie south of Kinchafoonee creel. contain
ing each about 50 acres, more or less, a total of
HOO acres, more or less, and situated in the
Twelfth districtof said county. Said land is sold
by virtue of a purchase money execution in favor
ofy J. R. Mercer against Mrs, J. E. Kennedy,
which issued from the City Court of Daw
son, said county, at the July term therecf, 1908,
for the principal sum of $1.500.00, interest $333.33,
and costs, Defendant in execution having held
said land under bond for title a vroper deed
thareto has been executed and filed, in terms of
the law, prior to levyv: also notice of levy given
defendant as regaired by law, This August 3rd,
1908. M. G. HILL, Sherff.
A : 1
For Leave to Sell.
Georgia, Terrell County. Notice is hereby giy
en that the undersigned has applied to the Opdi
nary of said county for ieave to sell the land be
longing to the estate of P. B. Dozier to pay
debts of and for distribution among the heirs of
said P. B. Dozier, deceased. Said avplication
will be heard at the regular September term. 1908,
of the Court of Ordinary in and for said county
of Terrell. This Aug. 3."1008. G. F. SMITH.
Admr. of P. B. Dozier, decensed,
W‘
5 » ) n,
For Year’s Support.
Georgia, Terrell County, Naney Summerford
having made application for twelve months sup
port for herself out of the estate of John Sum
merford, deceased, and appraisers duly appointed
to set apart the same having filed their return, all
all persons concerned are hereby required to
show cause before the Court of Ordinary of said
county on the first Monday in September, 190§, |
why said application should not be gruuted.‘
This 3rd day of August, 1908,
W. B. CHEATHAM, Ordinary,
B
Lowre aviac
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