THE AIR ON FIRE.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 203, 21 December 1871, Page 6

THE AIR ON FIRE.

The Detroit •* Post," in speaking of the recent fires in Michigan, draws the following vivid picture :

Those who were exposed to the terrible tornado during which Chicago, Peshtigo, Manisee, White Rock, and other cities on Lakes Michigan and Huron, were jburned testify nearly unanimously that " tue air seemed to be on fire." Theße words are almost invariably used in describing the phenomena. The fire did not spread gradually from tree to tree and house to house, but a great sheet of flame overcoming them like the clouds, and moving with the rapidity of a hurricane, rushed upon them without warning. It surrounded them. The atmosphere seemed filled with fire. Many people who inhaled the hot air fell dead. Coi'pses were found without a trace of fire npon them. There were frequently no marks of fire among the adjacent trees or fences.

Many were killed in compact masses as if by a blast of death. They were found huddled together, away from trees and buildings. Fish were killed in the streams by the intense heat. Many of these people believed that the last day had come, as well they might. The roaring of the whirlwind which preceded the blaze sounded enough like the last trump to suggest a prelude to the final catastrophe. The black midnight sky suddenly burst into flame. Tbe flying brands might easily be mistaken for falling stars, and the vision of the apocalypse be reproduced before their terror-stricken eyes. " The moon became as blood. And the stars of heaven fell into the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the Heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together." The imaginations of those horrified people could without difficulty see prophecy fulfilled in the terrors which compassed them.