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Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== The Lewiston Morning Tribune, Lewiston, Idaho Monday, October 19, 1908 MORE VICTIMS OF BUSH FIRE -------------- SIX IN ONE FAMILY LOST, SEVEN MORE PROBABLY SUC- CUMB ----------------------------- HER BODY IN HANDKERCHIEF ---------------------- Boy Brings His Little Sister That Way - Stories of Great Desolation -------------- Millersburg, Mich., Oct. 18 - The charred remains of Mrs. Sherman Erke, her three children and two hired men, John Samp and Leo Busch, were brought to Rogers City today from Prentice Landing, about 12 miles east along the lake shore from Rogers City. Herman Erke, husband of the dead woman, and the two men were employed in lumbering operations for E. M. Lewis of this place and lived in an isolated spot several miles from their nearest neighbors. The six victims were sur- rounded and burned to death by for- est fires. Herman Erke and his eld- est daughter were saved by being ab- sent from the camp at the time of the fire. John Grosinsky, another employee at the Erke camp, said that when the flames broke upon them, the older people caught up the children and ran for Lake Huron, about a mile away. Grosinsky said he did not know which child he carried but that he saw his companions drop when a veritable puff of fire blew down upon them and that somewhere in his flight he drop- ped the child he was carrying. He finally fell exhausted in a cleared field. The dead children ranged in age from two to twelve years. The six victims were buried this afternoon. Matthew Donakoski, a 16 year old boy who came to town today from Posen, said that he believed his sis- ter, Mrs. Estella Wojtassock, and her seven children were cremated in their home. Neither he nor his people could get to the farmhouse in which the family was living. Neighbors of the Wojtassock family who succeeded in making their escape say that the mother and her little ones must have perished. ------------------ His Sister In Handkerchief Alpena, Mich., Oct. 18. - Out of the burned districts are now coming some of the stories of suffering and dangers endured by those who survived the flames. Miss Cassie Howland had 26 little children in her school near Millersburg Friday afternoon. At the afternoon recess the air was smoky. Half an hour later the woods about the little school house were blazing fiercely. The children started for their homes, but were compelled to go to a neighboring house for shelter. Miss Howland says she could hardly face the wind during the walk of a quarter of a mile to her own home. After she reached it the heat grew so intense that the women were compel- led to seek shelter in the cellar while the men fought to save the house. "Then," said Miss Howland, "refu- gees who had escaped with their lives by lying in the plowed field with their faces buried in the sand, began to ar- rive. They kept coming all through the night all more or less burned in their flight through the woods. A boy named Dust, one of the family of children which on Saturday was re- ported burned, brought in the charred remains of his little sister in his pock- et handerchief. His father and mother had already arrived at our house. Then another of their children arrived carrying a baby. The child's dress was completely burned off and her little body was a mass of blisters." But one fresh report of loss of life came into Alpena today. Henry Hines, his wife and two children are be- lieved to have been cremated on their farm near Cathro. Between Metz and Rogers City sev- eral bodies have been found, making a total of 26 lives that are known to have been lost in Presque Isle and Alpena counties since Thursday night. Rogers City has been saved. South Rogers is also safe. The village of Posen has been in grave danger but its chances of escape from destruction are tonight thought to be better. Al- pena is still surrounded by fires, but is in no danger unless the wind shifts to the north. Between 500 and 1,000 men are constantly on the fire line working to protect the city. Up to noon today 44 dwelling houses and sixty barns have been reported de- stroyed in Alpena county alone. Ad- ded to this is the loss in this county of several thousand head of livestock, sheds, implements, boats and thous- ands of acres of hardwood timber. The smoke here today was so thick that it was impossible to see across the street. At a public meeting today a gen- eral committee of 25 members was formed to take charge of relief meas- ures. The Detroit & Mackinac railroad has practically turned over its system to the relief of the fire sufferers. In addition to the carrying free of all supplies, all carpenters in the em- ploy of the road have been rushed to the burned district to help build tem- porary shacks for the homeless people. ===========================================================================