The Hustler of Rome. (Rome, Ga.) 1891-1898, September 03, 1894, Image 1

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All The News. THIRD YEAR ■ ■ ■HEADQUARTERS FOR h Goods. Hals. Shoes and Notions. C ; ,P„ Wood &Co’s, Best goods! Lowest prices! THE HUSTLER OF ROME. FIRE SWEPT. Fully 400 Lives Lost in the Great Forest Fires, A MICHIGAN HOLOCAUST Proves the Horror of the Year. Entire Towns Swept Away Leaving HundredsJDead wand Thousands Homeless. Pine City, Mtnn., September 2—Three towns, Hinckley, Mission Creek and Pokame, lie in ashes to night and more than 200 corpses lie in the region in the neighborhood of Hinckley. The vast valley between the Ketle river and Cross Lake is laid waste, including several villi.ges and settlements. Besides the towns that were reduc ed to ashes, farmes were swept clean by the flames. The forest are still burning fiercely and rain is required to drown the fires that are sweeping over that vast region. Whole families have keen cremat ed. In some instances only one or two men escaped from a neighbor hood, to tell of the destruction. They saved their lives by running to small lakes or hiding in potato fields, and reached Pine City more dead than alive, St. Paul, Sept 2.—The town of Hinckley, seventy five miles south of St. Paul, on the St. Paul and Du luth road, with a population of from 1,000 to 1.200. was wiped out of existence last night by forest fires. The smalier town of Mission Creek,five miles from Hinckley, was also wiped out. The loss of life is variously estimated at from 100 to 400, and it is almost certain the loss will be 200 at least. It will be several days before the full extent of the disaster is JUST RECEIVED * ■ '' ' One of the most com plete assortments of TO.'LET SOAPS AND TOILET ARTISLES Ever brought to the city. See our line of fine IMPORTED TOOTH BRUSHES They have no superior on this or any other market SOLE AGENT FOR CANDIES J. T. GROUCH & GO Medical Building. ROME GEORGIA. MONDAY EVENING SEPTEMBER. 3 1894. is kuown. All is confusion among dm survivors, who are searching fortheir children and children searching for their parents The de«lh list mcrea-es hourly. rhewallso f the railroad round house and a school house are the only parts <?f bui'dingsin H nckley which remain, One of the mosl thrilling events waa the experience of the train whtch left Duluth at 2 p. in. Sat urday for St. Paul. It was the lim ited pas*e ger, the best train on the road and was crowded with passengers, The smoking forest fires were so dense that lamps were lighted m the cars. When the train came wiihin about r mile of Hinckley the engineer found he could pro ceed no further, as the people were already fleeing for their lives from the town. Dr. H. W. Grary of this city who was on board, tells of the backward run of the train for seven miles until a small lake was reach ,ed. His story as given to a Moru- I ng Call reporter is as follows. The woods on either side were lashed by a fierce wind blowing at the rate of eighty miles an hour. On through this weird scene the limited sped, the situation growing more alarming at every mile. As the train neared Hinckley it was discovered that the fire had reached the railroad, but on it sjed, the engineer hoping to pass Hinckley in time to escape the danger. It was not until the train had come within a mile of Hinckley that the engineer discoverd that the train was burning, and that, it would be impossible to pass. The bridge had already been consumed together with the mills and homes of Hinckley. here the train wa* met bv a hun dred or more fugitives from town Mothers carried in their arms email children, others c iaging to their mother’s skirts. Some carried a few household goods ar d others were cry mg and moaning on account of loss©'* already sustained. Mauv were so nearly (xi.austed that they could scarcely climb on the train. “Nearer and nearer the the flames were approaching, and final! y|the en gineer was compelled to reverse nis lever and run back, leaving behind scores of unfortunate ones who had not beefi able to reach the train, their on'y available means of escape. Those on board could see many of them sink to the ground, ex hausted and overcome by the ter rible heat, never again to rise. Many came running across the fields from small settlements, hoping to escape on the train, but only disappointment and death awaited them. On rushed the train’througn the fiery hot breath of the pursuing flames,-for a stop would have been fatal to all on board. As the weary passengers retraced their steps Sunday morning, some afoot and others on handcars, they font d along the side of the track and in fields the charred remains of those poor unfofrtunaie wretches. In four miles thirty-four bodies were found, some burned beyond recognition and others uncharred, having died from suffocation. It was a four or five-mile run back to Skunk lake, which is little more than a mud hole, the mud and wa ter covering not more than an acre. The train had gone but a short distance before it was surrounded by the devouring flames. Hot blasts of flames struck the coaches, setting fire to them in places and breaking the windows on both sides. The baggage car was soon a mass of flames, which streamed back over the tender and engine, setting fire to the engin eer’s clothes and scorching his face and hands. STOOD TO HIS POST “Ou either side of the engine there was a stream of flame, but never for an instant did Engineer Root fl nch. To remain was appar ently certain death to him, but could he hold out for four miles the passengers might -possibly es cape. To have deserted his post would have been death to all on board. Back o' him stood his trusty fire man who occasioniy poured water on him When the heat became unendurable for the fireman be took a dip in the water tank, from which he drew the supply for the engineer’s shower hath, At Skunk lake the engineer had scarcely strength to shut off the steam. As he pulled the lever he sank to the floor exhausted, burned and bleeding, the broken glass in the cab having cut him in a number of places. Quickly two men rushed to the cab and bore the form of the brave engineer to the water below the embankment. Here he lay all night, covered with mud and dirty water, and dying, as most of the passengers believed “A mile or two from the lake the coaches were burning above and underneath. On board the passengers became panic stricken, and it was only by force that many of the weaker ones were prevented from springing through the brok en windows or rushing out the doors. To prevent this men guarded the doors. Scarcely a soul on board had any hope of escaping, not knowing at what moment the burning train would jump from its track of fire into a bed of hot coals. “At Skunk lake sixty more men, women and children found refuge in the shallow water and dirty mud, the women walking out in the water until it reached their waists, and with their hands they bathed their burning faces in mud and water. Many of them were seriously burned on the train. Many lay in th® mud, covering themselves with it, and, as this became baked, a fresh coat had to be added. Many on leaving the train rushed off towards a marsh and others ran further along the track. It is thought that many of those are lost. Some few died of suffocation within a few rods of the pond* Many women had their clothes partially burned and torn from their bodies. One mother was found nursing her suckling chi Id to prevent it being suffocated.” At Hinckley the bodies are be ing piled in the graveyard and will be buried as soon as possible. Every effort is made to identify the dead bodies. There are six hundred less peo ple in Pine City. Reliable infor mation received by the relief com mittee show’s about 250 dead at Hinckley and 500 to 550 homeless survovors, most of them are at Pine City with nothing to eat or wear. Sandstone has 50 dead and 225 nomeless in the very worst pos sible condition and needing immedi ate aid. ESTIMATED LOSS OF LIFE. St. Paul, Minn., September 2 A special to the Pioneer-Press from Pine City, gives the following es timate of the dead : Hinckley, 200; Sandstone, 46;Sandstone Junction, 25; Skunk Lake, 20:miscellaneous, 30—total, 335. CARBOLIC ACID. Today about noon the litle neice of Mr. John Tew in East Rome, ac cidently overturned a bottle of Car bolic Acid on hei(face and body. The screams of the little one at tracted the attention of the family, and Dr. McCall was called in at once and administeied to the sufferer, fortunately the child did not swal low any of the deadly poison, but she is severely burned. A PARLOR RIFLE In the hands of an Irrepressible “Small Boy.” MAY CAUSE THE DEATH Os Mrs. Franks, his Aged Grandmother. The Shoot ing was Acciden tal. Residents ofKingston. Kingston, Ga.. Sept. 3. —A very unfortuntb, but accidental shooting < ccurr<*d here Saturday afternoon. The smnll grandson of Mrs. Franks, a lady near fifty years of age, was plajing with a parlor rifle. It was accidentally discharged, and the bullet stru k Mrs Franks in the left aide 4 ust above the stomach. The physicians probed for the ball, but were not successful in find ing it. The lady ia critically wounded and it is not expected that she will live. The grief of the young boy who did the shooting is inconsolable. KILLED HIS WIFE. And Then Shot Himself Through the Head. Vernon, Tex., September 3. — Yesterday a passer-by found the little son of O G. Klcck, a farmer, living twelve miles north of here, crying on a doorstep. The little boy informed the stranger that his father had shot his mother and then himself. Up on entering the house tne stranger found Mrs Klock dead, with a bullet through her heart, and Klock dj ing with a bullet through bis head Aid waa summoned, but Klock died without saying a word. He war a prosperous f inner until re cently, and it is supposed financial troubles caused him to commit the double tragedy S. M. STARK. I desire to call the attention of my patrons and the public general ly to the fact ’hat ON bEP’T 10th. My large and well assorted new stock of FALL AND WINTER WOOLENS Will arrive, and further that I am now prepaired and will turn out FIRST CLASS WORK AMI FIRST CLASS GOODS, Cheaper than ever before. Paste this in YOUR HAT and remember your own interests S. I ML MERCHANT TAW 16 ARMSTRONG HOTEL. Eight Pages. IO CENTS A WEEK • , •-• . : huainmso no N oT ka.il visit ip • r *!th id I Do You Need Datpeis! V,?,.;" '" :B VisitFahvs This Week.