A Canadian Village Swept by a Bush Fire. NEW York, September 8.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1296, 19 October 1880, Page 2

A Canadian Village Swept by a Bush Fire. NEW York, September 8.

A dispatch from Saint Ephrem iV Upton, Province ot Quebec, says : One of the mo&t terrible occurrences in the history of this section was the fire which swept thiougb a portion of this village on Monday, carrying ruin and death in its track both to man and beast. The high wind on Monday fanned the flames until the inhabitants, about 0 o'clock, s?w with dismay a wall of flames come toward them with a steady sweep, as fast as a mancould run, and swallowing up everythingin its con rse. By 4 o'clock, the first farmhouse had been reached, and the fire raw along the rail fences, burning grain, "and the wind sent the sparks in all directions. So quickly was one farmhouse and another enveloped that men, women, ami children had barely time to escape out of its line. As night drew on, the flames increased in volume, while the wind rose* and for a space of about twelve miles im length, and in width from three to four miles, the eye rested upon nothing but roaring flames. Families came flying into the village proper, shivering m scanty dre.ss ; children shrieked in their terror ; cattle ran helter-skelter, and many were burned to death. Forest after forest was swept away, and the smoke and flames, were in one compact volume, some six or more mile 3 long, and measured as far as i the eye could see as to width. From St. Helens, St Germain, St. Guillaum and other roadscamefugitives,insomeinstances compelled to abandon vehicles and take to the horses' backs. Men were obliged to> throw away their coats in order to save their lives. House aftei house, and barns, fillled with the best crops known for years, were licked up, and when the fugitives were all counted it was foundthat there were 11 persons missing, not one of whom, it was thought, would escape, but towards morning moat of them turned up, several badly 'irarned. Several persons were burned to death.

The ship Jestonia left Liverpool lately with 150 farmers for Texas. William J. Taylor and Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne, insurance brokers, have failed for 260,000 dollars. On the 4th September the steamer City of Vera Cruz foundered on the voyage between London and Florida, and 57 livea were lost. A parcel containing 27 dynamite cartridges, connected with a rubber tab© filled with percussion caps and gunpowder, was found under the rails on the London and North-western Railroad line, sixteen miles from Euston, the London terminus, on September 13*