THE AMERICAN FOREST FIRES.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1091, 26 January 1872, Page 2

THE AMERICAN FOREST FIRES.

Destruction of Manistee. In addition to the fires we have already described, we give the following 1 reliable accounts of the recent terrible conflagration in the ; prairies. Despatches from Detroit, dated October 12, state that the largest portion of the city of Manistee, Michigan, has been destroyed' by fire. Manistee is on the east coast of Lake Michigan, a pjace. of ,4000 inhabitants; and one of the greatest lumber-producing towns in the State. The' 'news f^on£Sk Cjlair 'and Huron counties to Ojctobj^ 'it is of fhe mosj' digtressmg gharacterj afl. that portion of the State east of Sagina% Bay and north of a point-forty mile's above Huron has been completely swept j>y hre. A number of person^ perished, ans it is feared we have not heard the wprst. The flourishing . village?! of ]jtoestville! White .Ricfr, ilni Greek/, S^ndbeseh, aii4 •Huron City are entirely destroyed j nothing has yet been heard. from Port Austin or Port Crescent/but it ' is hardly possible that they escaped. .At all these towns there were large stores, many of which wete filled with winter stocks, extensive saw-mills, shingle*mills, and docks covered with lumber, all of which have been swept away. It is said there is but one dock left on the shore about Forestville. A steamer which left Port Huron fos the relief of the sufferers returned this evening with about forty men, women, and children, five of whom are severely burnt.. The revenue cutter Feasenden, which started for Port Austria, picked up a sailing boat on the lake containing Isaac Greene, principal owner of .Forestville, together with his family and eighteen : or twenty others' *wlio had escaped the fires at Forestville. The telegraph operator at Forestville escaped through the fire back into the country. All the. telegraph ; offices along the shore have been destroyed, but communication will be restored as jioon as the damage done to the lines can" be, repaired. JTiye children are known to have perished near Rock Falls. " R. B. If übbard, PaiTUnM City, shot all hfe fine h&rses and cattle J! fo prevent their perishing 1 by fire. He loses very heavily, having had a store, mills, docks, &c. The extensive property of Stafford and Hay ward, at Port Hope, is about the only one which escaped. Five thousand dollars were subscribed for the relief of the sufferers of this State.- The. light rain of yesterday. : .s§ema to have greatly abated the fjres tßro^gho^f the State, and it is believed .the. worst is -past. There is scarcely a county in the Stale but has Buffered more ; or. less fromfire, and the loss will amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Tie damage to the pine land is incalculable. . Saginaw City escaped destruction thrbugh tho determined efforts of her citizens, who fought the fire back* . , ■,■-.-.-;•;•. ■••■ At Holland, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, the flames made , a clean sweep, scarcely a building being lefti The suffering people were promptly cared for

by the Mayor and citizens of Grand Haven. Professor Charles Scott, of Hdpe College, perished, also a minister, whose name was not ascertained. Later accounts from Manistee state that half the town is burnt. The loss is estimated at ],300,000d01. 160 men were burned to death in a large barn in which they had taken refuge. Hundreds of people were driven by the names into the river, where most of them perished. Despatch from Green Bay says that a fire broke out in the Belgian settlement of Brussels, in Door County, Wisconsin, destroying 170 houses. ' All the place contained, excepting 59 persons, are missing. It is supposed they perished in the names. The inhabitants lost everything : active measures for their relief are being taken Duluth and other places, but before assistance can reach them they must suffer soverely.