Report of tee Forest Commission. 6 [ 



The Daily Neivs says that the action of Engineer Root and Fireman McGowan 

 in sticking to their engine when death stared them in the face was of the pur- 

 est heroism, and all the English-speaking world will pray that Root may have 

 better fortune than his immortal prototype of the Mississippi boat, Jim Blud- 

 soe. Englishmen, The News says, will probably ask to be allowed to do some- 

 thing in recognition of this astonishing deed. 



The Morning Post says: Americans seem rather stimulated than depressed 

 by these rebuffs. We do not doubt that the towns lying in ashes to-day will be 

 rebuilt and repeopled to-morrow, and the stream of commercial and industrial 

 life flow on unchecked. 



St. Paul, September 3. — It is feared that many well-known residents of St. 

 Paul have perished in the forest fires of Hinckley and the neighborhood. 

 Large numbers of sportsmen have left St Paul within the last 10 days to hunt 

 prairie chicken near Hinckley, Mora, Sandstone and other points, and few of 

 these places have escaped the flames. If these sportsmen were in the forest 

 nothing could save them, unless they were close to some large body of water. 



Sandstone, Minn., September 3. — All that now remains of what was once 

 the prosperous village of Sandstone is a small shack used by the Sandstone 

 Company for an office. Crowded into this building were 200 people, who had 

 lost their homes and everything they possessed except the clothing which they 

 wore. 



Late to-night a family of five dragged their w eary footsteps into this 

 burg almost starved and nearly naked. They lived on a farm west of Mis- 

 sion Creek, and to a potato patch their presence in this land of the living is due. 

 Like the residents of Mission Creek they crawled into the patch, and crouched 

 among the green tops of the plants until the flames had spent their fury. They 

 had companions in that patch, not men nor women, but a herd of affrighted 

 deer. The animals lost their fear of human beings and huddled close to the 

 children. The father crept up to a young buck, stuck a knife into its throat 

 and killed it. TTntil to-day that family lived on venison and baked potatoes. 



Wisconsin. 



(From the Milwaukee Sentinel, July 28, 1894.) 

 Chippewa Falls, Wis., July 27. — A report received here at midnight says 

 there is no hope of saving anything at Phillips . The courthouse and nearly 

 every business house in town have been burned and the people are homeless. 

 The men sent their wives and children to the clearings north of the town, and 

 made a brave struggle against the flames, but it was hopeless, and it is doubt- 

 ful if more than a few houses were saved. 



Phillips, one of the most thriving lumbering cities in northern Wisconsin, 

 267 miles -northwest of this city, on the Wisconsin Central line in Price county, 

 was almost totally destroyed by fire last night and about 3,000 people were 

 made homeless. 



There will probably be a large loss of life due to the fire and explosions of 

 powder and dynamite. The entire town is swept away, and the loss to prop- 

 erty will be many hundreds of thousands of dollars. At 2 o'clock this morn- 



