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Show By heroism of Women Who Guard Homes at Risk of Lives Spokane. Wash , Aug. 23. That Elk City Is still on the map and out of the reach of forest fires ravaging the surrounding sur-rounding country, which is ablaze for miles, is due solely to the heroism of the women of the town who. while the malo population was fighting the I advance of the conflagration, guarded their homes and the business houses, extinguishing a number of incipient blazes" started by the brauds carried from tho burning forests Many of them stayed on the roofs of the buildings build-ings all Saturday night, and but for I their vigilance and bravery' the town would before this have been a mass of smojlderlng embers, for a fire once under headway would have swept the entire village, as the high wind prevailing pre-vailing would have rendered futile all efforts to subdue it The town in out of danger, bul the conditions in tbe .surrounding region I are growing worse. The wind has again arisen to a gale and the adjacent adja-cent mountains are a seething mass of flame. The entire Iron mountain district la ablaze, and the fire on Squaw cree,k is burning with renewed fury. The American river district is a 'gigantic 'gi-gantic furnace for miles A number of outlying settlements, from which the inhabitants have fleed, are, certain cer-tain of destruction, and U Is reported that the plant of the American Eagle mine, one of the largest lu the district, dis-trict, is burning. Scores of square miles of territory are Involved, and hundreds cjf men are wanted to assist in getting the con llagrallon under contiol. Conditions are epitomized In a brief message which came yesterday from- Forest Ranger Purdy yesterday1 to Chief Ranger Brown at Grangevllle. It nays: j "Situation desperate. Whole country coun-try ablaze. Must Lave help to save property." ( Now that Elk City Is saved, the Inhabitants In-habitants are turning their attention to keeping the stage road open and a call was sent last tfight for horses on which to patrol the! line, and twenty-five twenty-five men were sent, out this morning. A pack train and four four-horse wagons, wag-ons, with 25 men, lft last night loaded load-ed with K.jpplles, and another train Jefl this morning '' The fire in the f'learwntc r reserve, according t advW-s received late last night by Major Feiin. is absolutely beyond be-yond control, and jail hopes of subduing subdu-ing the bl?ze nnt.b It rain3 have been abandoned. The pack train reported surrounded Sunday Dlght rejchlcd a place of safety safe-ty on Reeky Ridge) yesterday, but are unable to reach th4 rangers' camp for which they were hfaded. The fire' on Old -Van creek and the one on Sol way, near Camp C'J. have united, and no furtljer efforts will be made to control the n. Antone. In Asotin county, Washington, Washing-ton, is endangered by a roret Urn which broke out Sunday, has been s.ived and the fires ion Craig mountain moun-tain arc partially ui.Wr control, but the situation there isstlll critical. . |