Show I SCORES m LJ i B LOSE LUuL IM- IM i 8 LIVES liim IN FOREST FIRES FLAMES RAGE IN RICH LUMBER REGION OF MINNESOTA Three Towns Destroyed While FleeIng Flee Flea FleeIng Ing Settlers Are Caught in Literal Furnace of Fire Thousands Fire Thousands of Settlers Made Homeless Warroad Minn The The The greatest catastrophe catastrophe ca ca- ca- ca that Minnesota has experienced experienced experienced In fifteen years took place Frida Frida Fri Fri- da daj night and Saturday when the whole Minnesota-Manitoba Minnesota boundary country was swept by fire The death list Is a long one and and constantly growing while tho thousands sands are homeless homeless home less and the monetary loss Is heavy The n number of deaths Is estimated I from to almost entirely among settlers around the towns of Beaudette Pitt Roosevelt lt and Grace- Grace ton tall This Illis estimate may may be too small The flames still rage unchecked and scenes of honor horror are reported from every point Crow Crowds s of bodied able-bodied men mostly workmen with no one to care for ran pell-m pell pell-mell pell ll to board the waiting train at Beaudette to the exclusion of women and children ren and refused pos pas to aS assist In saving property An eastbound east freight train went through a burned culvert near Pitt and blocked block block- ed the line The Tho towns of Pitt Spooner Wp W and Beaudette were burned Fr Fray Y night The fire was h heralded by a shower of sparks and burning brands which swept across the Beaudette river and the inhabitants had barely time t to reach the special train that was waiting before both towns were on fire at all places The property loss in Rainy River Beaudette and Spooner alone ng the Rat Portage Lumber company's com corn I. I pany's plant and yard at Rainy River and the yard of the Shevlin Mathieu Lumber company at Spooner will total total total to to- tal about one and a half million dol dol- lars It will wiIl be some time before the loss of life is known even Wagon loads of human bodies are being brought into the railway station at Beaudette It is isI reported that many settlers I crazed with with grief at the loss of families lies and property are roaming the woods and searching parties are looking look look- ing fag for the injured the dead and the demented One family of nine one o of seven and one of five perished on Friday Friday Fri Fri- day night At 8 30 p. p m. m Saturday a tornado o of I fire struck Beaudette and Spooner i and within three minutes after the the first alarm every building was ablaze Within half an hour they were heaps neaps of ashes The people of these two towns had just enough time to ge get out of their homes with what they had on their backs They were loaded loaded load load- ed on a passenger train tram that was standing at the depot and taken to Rainy River Ont Onto It is feared that many settlers in isolated districts were caught in the flames and perished No news can be had of many settlers and it is probable probable probable able that only the charred bodies o of hundreds will be found |