200 Dead in Forest Fires 



FRIGHTFUL forest fires in Nipissing and Sudbury 

 Counties, northern Ontario, in the last few days of 

 July, killed over 200 people, destroyed numerous 

 villages and burned timber valued at hundreds of thou- 

 sands of dollars. The fires were finally extinguished by 

 rains. At this writing official reports are not in, but the 

 newspapers tell thrilling stories. 



At Nushka fifty-seven are known to have perished, 

 says one paper. The French Canadian settlers there had 

 been warned of their danger for three days, but had 

 remained and fought the flames until the fires completely 

 surrounded their village of a score or more of houses. 



As the flames reached their homes the frantic residents 

 resorted to any efl:'ort to save their lives. There being no 

 river or lake not screened by the flames, many jumped 

 into a single well and their bodies were found piled up 

 above the normal water line. 



At Cochrane, with a population of 1700 and the largest 

 town destroyed, the residents fought the fires until the 

 settlement was burning, and then most of them found 

 refuge in a small lake, which soon was completely walled 

 by flames. Into this body of water also plunged manv 

 wild animals, driven before the flames, and humans and 

 beasts foimd a common and comparativelv safe refuge, 

 with barely their noses out of the water, while the roaring 

 fires swept on. Eighteen, however, are known to have 

 been killed at Cochrane and thirty-four injured. 



At Matheson the relief expedition found thirtv-four 

 bodies lying side by side on the station platform of the 

 Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railroad. The sta- 

 tion and two dwellings, far apart, are the only buildings 

 remaining in Matheson. 



Ramore, a smaller settlement, was obliterated and what 

 became of its people is not now known. Like the residents 

 of other towns, it is believed they fled through the woods 

 and brush before the flames and probably were overcome 

 and destroyed. Fifteen of Ramore's residents failed to 

 leave in time and their bodies were found in the ruins 

 of their homes. 



At Iroquois Falls the great paper mills, costing 

 $8,000,000, and supplying the Chicago Tribune and other 

 large newspapers with their print paper, were destroyed, 

 with every other building in the place. All that remains 

 are the stone foundations and brick walls of the plant, 

 which was one of the largest in the world. The loss of life 

 there has not been determined, but it is believed the paper 

 company was able to get all of its employees safely away. 

 The mills were owned by what was known as " Chicago 

 Tribune capital." 



Everything at Porcupine Junction was destroyed, 



excepting the railroad station, and it was near there that 



the rescue train ran through flames miles wide. So 



intense was the heat that the window panes in the cars 



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were broken and in several places the rails were warped 

 so that the train had to proceed with great caution. All 

 on board the train suffered intensely. 



The fire was checked at Timmons after a score of 

 houses had been destroyed, but it was said many persons 

 who had fled in advance of the flames had been overtaken 

 and probably burned to death. 



A woman has come out of Kowccash with the story 

 that while she went in search of aid the flames cut off 

 her retreat to her home, which was destroyed, with her 

 husband and their ten children. She said the flames com- 

 pletely encircled Kowccash and Tashota, and that there 

 seemed to be no escape for the many persons trapped there. 



A despatch from Toronto, dated July 3 1 st, says : Premier 

 Hearst announced to-night that scores of small settlements 

 have been obliterated, one large town wiped out and 

 another left mostly in ruins; that only a heavy rainfall 

 saved a great part of the province: that 184 lives are 

 known to have been lost : that hundreds of people are 

 homeless and that the Government has taken extraordi- 

 nary measures to provide for the refugees. 



Reports to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company 

 state that the figure of 184 dead represents the number 

 accounted for up to 9 o'clock this morning. 



Englehart despatches say the figures on hand early in 

 the day indicated that at least 200 persons perished, with 

 numerous outlying districts to be heard from. 



WOMEN'S CLUB RESOLUTIONS 



RESOLUTIONS adopted by the General Federation 

 of the Women's Clubs, and reported to Ameri- 

 c.-\x Forestry by Mrs. Lydia Adams-Williams, 

 State Chairman of Conservation for the District of 

 Columbia, embodied many references to subjects per- 

 taining to forestry. 



Governors were urged to set aside Burroughs' birth- 

 day, April 3rd, as an annual Bird Day ; the American 

 laurel was recommended as our national flower ; a bill for 

 a National Park Service was endorsed ; measures provid- 

 ing that the Lincoln Highway run through Yosemite Park 

 and that post roads be built on public lands open to settle- 

 ment were approved ; coordination of the work of the 

 various departments of the Government and cooperation 

 between state and nation in the conservation and utiliza- 

 tion of the water resources was advocated: the extension 

 of the Weeks Act for the purchase of land in the Southern 

 Appalachians and in New England was urged : extension 

 of time of the shooting season under the Federal Migra- 

 tory Bird Act was opposed : and measures to prevent 

 birds killing themselves by dashing against light-houses 

 and for protection of Federal bird reserves were approved. 



