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Show 1: Iff In lUff id 'r 5 1 Michigan Forest Fires j Are Sweeping Away ly Lives and Property ji Bay City, July 11. The twin towns Scof Oscoda and Au Sable, opposite Sjleach otber, at the mouth of the Au LURSable river, and having a combined , Hftpopulation of 1,800 people, are in ash- .rapes, while such of Its inhabitants as wiave no eScaPed on hoard the steam- IK' er Kongo or the Detroit & Mackinac K.railroad trains are shelterless in the Ipfiswauips and fields about the still K burning towns. Iri At midnight last night a carload of H food hastily collected here by Mayor w 'Woodruff and a volunteer committee s a -waB d'8PatCQed to e two cities, as I if about 1,200 people remain around the "ash heaps that were once their homes, S having had nothing to eat since yes-wt yes-wt terday noon. No loss of life has been T reported, although the fire, underHhe If influence of a fifty mile wind, spread ff with such rapidity that men and worn- en dashed from their houses, drop-W drop-W ping such bundles of valuables and jf clothing as they had started to pack. Many people living on the shore side I of the town started for safety along J7 the beach, but within ten minutes the ' heat was so intense that they were driven into the water and continued their way wading along the shore, Ttfk The heaviest loser is H. M. Loud i &. Sons company, of which Congress- man George A. Loud of the Tenth - Michigan district Is the head The ; K company's loss is nearly three-quar-J ters of a million dollars. The prop- ' erty consisted of two sawmills, plan- . ing mill, shingle mill, bolt mill, lum-. lum-. ! her yard, cedar yard, pump houses, ( stores and residences. The total loss- i es are probably in excess of one and f a half million dollars, j ' The fire originated in a slab yard I in Oscoda and in half an hour the entire town was afire. The fire quickly jumped the Au Sable river and soon Au Sable also was in the grip of a blaze that leached the town limits on every side. A passenger train on the Detroit & Mackinac railway got around the town by running on an old lumber spur and arrived here at midnight. Flames were then running a hundred feet in the air, declared tSe passengers, and the Intense heat scorched the sides of the train and cracked the windows A special train carrying fire apparatus appa-ratus from Bay City to Alpena, in response re-sponse to a call for help from that city, jumped the track in passing around the two towns and was held until nearly midnight before the track was repaired It then proceeded, proceed-ed, as the fire at Alpena was said to be still dangerous. The high wind was general throughout through-out northern Michigan last night and from all over the district came reports re-ports of heavy fires fanned to huge ( proportions by the breeze, which is (reported at from forty to sixty miles at various points. The town of Lewiston has fire on its borders, and the entire population popula-tion is out fighting it. Alger, on the Michigan Central, and Turner, on the Detroit &. Mackinac, are also in danger. Reports were received at Alpena that Bolton and Metz, which were ', wiped out a few years ago. are again threatened, as Is also Millensburg. ft a town of about 1,800. Not a tele- w graph, telephone or railroad wire is H working north of Oscoda on the De- Ir Jtrolt & Mackinac, while Cheboygan is Wf Also cut off from communication. B, At Cheboygan a mound of sawdust, R' the accumulation of thirty years' saw- wK ing, has been burning for a week and Ijfc. Monday the rising vind fanned it In- ?j to a stiff blaze. j Yesterday, at Cheboygan, a circus was forced to stop its performance t owing to smoke that covers the city f an steamers could not make their - way to the docks. It was reported fif by railroad officials that there is dan-ift dan-ift gor In Cheboygan from the burning W sawdust carried through the air by 9$ the high wind. In the district around 4$ 'ho mound residents have been forced ' to leave their home3 because of the (smoke. At Richmond, forty Michigan Central Cen-tral cars and a bridge were destroyed destroy-ed and at Haakwood an overhead bridge was burned. In Beaver Township, Crawford county, several farm houses and the town hall have been burned. The Bone City Lumber company's camp No. 6, near Boyne City, is reported "K, surrounded. Iln Montmorency county extensive forest fires are damaging standing timber and several camps are reported report-ed in extreme danger owing to the r high wind. f(Jt There is much anxiety in Bay City p. , regarding the fire conditions north g of here. Last reports from Grayling, w West Branch, Roscommon, Wolverine y and Gaylord by telephone are to the I effect that forest fires are burning in every direction, but that none of these towns was In Imminent danger. Last night the wire went out north of Standish, so that now there is no wire communication with all northern Michigan north of Standish, Arenac county, and East Tawas. FIRE IN PORCUPINE DISTRICT Toronto, Ont July 12. A stretch of 500 miles of woodland in northern Ontario has thus far been swept by the forest fires raging above North Bay Many deaths are reported and the property loss will be enormous. Three towns were Wiped out and scores of mining camps destroyed Thousands of mining prospectors 'deserted the camps in the Porcupine division and fled "before the flames-which flames-which fanned by a strong wind, licked lick-ed up their shacks and ,ate rapidly in- 9 1 to the heavily timbered country to the north. The destruction of Cochrane, a town ol 2,500 inhabitants, at the junction junc-tion of the T. N. O. railway and tho Grand Trunk transcontinental, was very near complete. The people have but eight small buildings as shelter shel-ter All of the camps from Dome to "Whitney townships were licked up by the flames, forcing hundreds to the lakes and rivers. 'Detroit, July 12. Early reports today to-day from the fire swept district of northern Michigan say that several settler families and "lumber camp crews near "Wolverine and several families near Gaylord are missing. Of the towns of Oscoda and Au Sable Sa-ble only. a school and two dwellings In the south end of Sable are left standing. Reports continue to be received re-ceived of possible loss of life at Oscoda Os-coda and Au Sable. (Continued on Page Eight.) oo TWIN TOWNS DESTROYED (Continued frcm Page One,) TOWNS ARE BURNING. Chicago, July 12. Tho Edward Hinos Lumber company today received receiv-ed the following telegram from Captain Cap-tain Myers of the steamer ISlko, who brought the forest fire refugees to Port Huron. 'Arrived here (Port Hurop) 3 a. m. with about 300 people. Au Sable has been destroyed, I remained, Bavlng all possible until driven away by flames Tawos and Alpena are burning. burn-ing. Attempted to muke Harbor Beaqh, huu big north sea. drove me here." The HInes company has los(. heavily heav-ily in the devastated districts: Towns Completely Destroyed. Bay City, Mich., July 12. The only ne's from the" flrc-swept district, available this morning was from East Tawaa Osoda and Au Sable are said to be. completely destroyed and East Tawas was taking care of mny refugees A. P. Jacobs, a Chi-cago Chi-cago traveling man, who arrived today, to-day, said there were reports, of a number of bodies, burned nnd blackened black-ened beyond recognition, found on the streets of Oscoda and Au Sable today. Four Are Dead. Detroit. July 12. The burned bodies of three men and a woman are said in unconfirmed report to the Detroit De-troit News, to have been found today, to-day, at Au Sable. They had apparently apparent-ly been heading for the open Holds when they were overcome. ", Port Huron. Mich., July f Two hundred and eighty fire victlmB from Oscoda, principally women and chll-dr.en. chll-dr.en. arrived in Port Huron todav on the steam bafgeNi, Captain Ralph x D: Myers-of uawluida, N. r. They left Oscoda ast nlghCjronw Jlfst man-aging man-aging o get on boanTthc yessel -when onCUf rl00 Vth an ster tosE? on.fre. .Many slopt n the docks People of Port Huron, are caring 7or the refugees, asfew have money. Alpena, Mich., Julv 12.-VThe .'. of Tower and Onawav 7ve rm to be partly destroyed "byrertTr mm iUm ,; mt a .. ill I i1 i WUB'iiiii in ill , S, i I with heavy losses also at Millersburg, fimi Metz-Posen and Laroque, French t i& towns. A thickly settled portion of (; SO Onaway is said to havo been wiped . i?i out. iS -OO ; fe |