Report of the Forest Commission. 75 



hours previous to yesterday morning Mr. McMillan never slept, and the brave 

 band of men with him have kept him company in his long vigil. For two 

 weeks the fires have been burning in the vicinity of his mill, but they did not 

 become particularly dangerous until Wednesday morning, when the guards, 

 who like sentries have been watching the fires from the outposts, gave the 

 warning that a mountain of flame, at some places a hundred feet high, when 

 a tall tree had been caught in the fiery furnace and borne on a high wind, was 

 moving like one vast army toward the mills. The long line of curling white 

 smoke which hourly approached nearer and nearer to the mills, told how fast 

 the terrible devastator was approaching. Preparations were made as for a 

 battle, for such indeed it was. 



The Battle with Fire at McMillan. 



A long line of men was stationed in front of the approaching fire. By the 

 side of each man was a huge hogshead, which was kept filled with water, and 

 from which the men, who were armed with pails, poured water on the brush 

 in front of the fire, as fast as the advance guard of the flames crept through 

 the underbrush to the point where the first stand, which was in a long clearing 

 directly in front of the burning woods, had been made by the fire-fighters. 

 Hardly 40 feet apart were the men and the barrels beside them were kept 

 filled with water by a long line of tank wagons. Thus was begun the real 

 battle with the flames. Trees and underbrush were chopped away to prevent 

 their gaining strength, but all in vain. Despite the efforts of the men the 

 flames swept past them, driving them back, inch by inch, until a last stand 

 was made at the tracks of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western railway, 

 which runs for half a mile along the side of the lumber yard. The grade of 

 the roadbed here gave the men a vantage ground by which they won their 

 battle. To the very edge of the tracks the flame ran, and so dense was the 

 smoke from the fires that at times it seemed as if the men must desert the 

 redoubt in which they stood. Time and again an assault would be made by 

 the fire, and the flames would succeed in getting a start in the stumpage on 

 the outside of the yard. Before, however, the fire could spread, it would be 

 stamped out, only to renew the attack with greater severity a moment later. 

 Meantime in the lumber yard a reserve force was not idle. Flying cinders 

 from the furnace across the way every minute found a lodging place in the 

 piles, which, however, had been thoroughly wet down by the hose from the 

 mills. To prevent these cinders from doing any damage was the business of 

 the men in the yards and to their untiring watchfulness is due much credit . 



A Ride Through Fire. 



It was just 12 o'clock Friday when The Sentinel's special correspondent 

 reached McMillan. The fire was then at its height. So heavy was the smoke 

 from the flames that the forms of the men could hardly be discerned as they 

 stood at their posts along the railroad track. At the farthest outpost Mr. 

 McMillan was found, and the reporter accompanied him in a round of the 

 line. 



Hardly 20 rods away was the advance guard of the fire, the smoke from 

 which rolled in one solid cloud with the wind. It was an awe-inspiring sight. 



