FOREST FIRES IN AMERICA.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2740, 3 January 1882, Page 3

FOREST FIRES IN AMERICA.

An American paper gives the following account of the recent forest fires in Michigan f The forest fires in Michigan have assumed portentous proportions. , The entire peninsula between Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay has been burnt over, embracing a surface of 50 square miles. In Huron, Sanalac, Lapeer, and Tuacola, counties and the adjacent territory dead bodies are being discovered in all directions. It is estimated that 500 persons have perished, and that 5000 are home less. The destruction of property is immense. This section of the country was recently covered by forests. The population, about 50,000, had made partial clearings, being mostly new settlers in moderate circumstances. Little rain had fallen for two months, leaving everything parched and dry, when last Monday a hurricane swept over the district, carrying with it a sheet of flame that scarcely anything could withstand. The population fled for safety, seeking refuge anywhere, and corpses are now being found by the roadside, in fields, in wells, and in the ruins of houses. In twenty townships scarcely one building or any supplies remain. According to another account, the fire broke out on Monday, accompanied by a hurricane. This swept on the sheet of flame, which spared nothing/ More than 200 persons are known to have been consumed, many of them by the roadside, or in the fields'while trving to escape.- Twenty or , more tfhvnships are nearly totally destroyed.; Scarcely a house, barn, or . supplies of, any kind are left. The people are utterly destitute. Supplies of food an J! clothing are being forwarded rapidly, and the whole country is asked to contribute. On Thursday the weather was cooler, and there was considerable rain, which checked the fire somewhat.

A correspondent telegraphs from New York :—Some of the peculiarities accompanying this almost unexampled heat were very singular. At Saratoga the needle of the compass remained in any position in which a bystander might place it, without reverting to the north. In Massachusetts one day darkness set in at noon, although there were no clouds. One could not see to read, and the schools, shops, and factories were ; closed. The “ Providence Journal ” describes the grass as assuming a bluish hue, while in Bostop the “Journal” says the grass was like verdigris,; and the people’s complexion 're sembled saffron. In some places the. gas burned blue; in others the flame was whjto. The sun .in the cloudless sky cast no shadow, and might have been mistaken for the moon _as it appears when it is above the horizon in the forenoon. In> Rhode .Island at mid-day birds went to roost,' and the chirping insects which begin their hum at night were heard in the fields. At Toronto the appearance of the heavens was compared to a great orange colored dome. The Millerites (a sect whose principal tenet is that the second coming of Christ is shortly to be expected) put on their ascension robes, which have been prepared for some years, in readiness for the last day ; and many other cases are related of the effects of the terror upon superstitious natures. The “Times” Philadelphia correspondent telegraphed on Saturday : Later reports of the Michigan forest fires state that a copious rainfall has nearly extinguished them. Examinations show that a surface of 1000 square miles has been burnt over. Ten thousand people are homeless, and the heartrending details of the suffering horrify the public. Relief meetings are general, and aid will be forwarded soon. Many persons are still missing in the burnt district; their fate is unknown.