| COUNTY REPORTER
Lorain County, Ohio
August 29, 1896
IN ASHES.
Town of Ontonagon, Mich., Destroyed by Forest Fires
Fifteen Hundred Residents Homeless--Loss Will Reach $1,500,000, of Which
Two-Thirds Falls Upon the Diamond Match Company.
Green Bay, Wis., Aug 26.--The little town of Ontonagon, Mich., has been
practically swept from the face of the earth by forest fires. At dusk
Tuesday night the whole business portion of the city was in ashes and the larger
portion of the population homeless. Late in the afternoon a telegram was
received by Superintendent Minturn of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway,
asking that a train be sent there immediately to take the people away, as the
entire city was ablaze and there would be no place of safety for them in a short
time. The regular train north, which lease Perl, 26 miles south of
Ontonagon, was instructed to run ahead of time and to bring those fleeing from
the place to Rockland, a small town 11 miles south of Ontonagon. At that
time the city was entirely enveloped in flames, which were being fanned into
irresistible fierceness by a heavy south wind. The depot of the St. Paul
road was then on fire, and the operator who sent the message stated that it was
necessary for him to leave his office and with the other fleeing residents seek
a place of shelter.
The Diamond Match company conducted the chief industry of the place and its
loss is a very heavy one. Its extensive plant was the most modern and
costly. It included two sawmills, with a capacity each of 175,000 feet a
day and worth at least $600,000 each. A pinning mill with six machines, a
large machine shop, box factory, two shingle mills with a capacity of 60,000 a
day each, dry kilns and an electric plant which had just been put in, in
connection with the new electric light plant of the city. The company had
besides a large amount of lumber and stock, some 65,000,000 feet of logs on
hand, and everything was destroyed. The Match company's total loss may
reach $1,000,000.
A message received from Rockland at midnight says the entire city of
Ontonagon is in ashes, and an appeal is made for help and for tents for 1,500
people. Many of the homeless ones are housed at Rockland for the night.
A population estimate of the loss is $1,500,000. No lives were lost at
last reports.
Ontonagon is 347 miles from Milwaukee. It is a delightful and popular
summer resort. It has Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist and Presbyterian
churches, a graded public school, a handsome courthouse, a new opera house with
a seating capacity of 500, a bank and two weekly newspapers, the Ontonagon
Miner and the Ontonagon Herald. There are two large sawmills
employing about 800 men, a box factory employing over 100 men, planing mills,
etc. The census of 1890 gave Ontonagon a population of 1,250.
Ontonagon county has a population of 3,706. It is only a few years since
Ontonagon got a railroad. It is now the terminus of a 75-mile branch which
leaves the main line of the St. Paul road (Milwaukee & Northern division) at
Channing, about 20 miles this side of Champion.
The property loss in Ontonagon itself, independent of the destruction of the
Diamond Match company plant, is $500,000. Among the heavy losers are:
Sargent Gennings & Gilkey, of Oconto, lumber loss, $100,000.
Louis Reidlenger, of Marquette lumber on dock, $25,000.
James Norton, of Ewing lumber on dock, $10,000.
D.L. Norton, of Ewing lumber on dock, $10,000.
William McFarlan, of Bruce's Crossing, lumber on dock, $10,000.
Lowwe house, four-story hotel, $10,000.
Paul house, $5,000.
John Hawley's big store, total loss, $20,000.
Bank of Ontonagon, $5,000.
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul depot...
Post office, courthouse, jail and schoolhouse, $50,000.
James Mercier's large warehouse, dock and coal sheds, $50,000.
Ontonagon Miner newspaper, $2,500.
Ontonagon Herald, newspaper, $2,500.
Waterworks plant and government breakwaters seriously damaged.
Number of residences reported destroyed, 500.
Ironwood, Mich., Aug. 26.--Ironwood is completely surrounded by forest fires.
Many houses on the outskirts of the city have already been damaged, and the
fires are gaining ground rapidly. A high wind is blowing and the whole
city is enveloped in dense smoke. The fire department and every available
man are fighting the flames, but with poor success. No rain has fallen
here for six weeks and everything is as dry as tinder and falls an easy prey to
flames.
Hurley, Wis., Aug. 26. --Forest fires are burning on all sides of this town,
also at Gile, three miles west of here. A heavy gale is blowing and it
carries sparks long distances, and it is hard to tell what the consequences will
be. The town is well supplied with fire apparatus and citizens are out in
force and business is suspended for fire fighting. The fire is now within
the town limits and has burned a few small buildings. At this time (one
a.m.) it looks as if the firemen can control it enough to make the town safe. |
