DIE IN FIRE FROM WHICH THEY FLED.

TRAIN LOAD OF REFUGEES FROM BURNING VILLAGE IN MICHIGAN WRECKED BY BURNED OUT CULVERT.

SCORE OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN PERISH.

Alpena, Mich., Oct. 16. -- With fairly accurate reports available this afternoon on last night's wreck horror on the Detroit and Mackinac railroad when a relief train carrying fire refugees from Metz was wrecked and burned, the death list of persons on the train stands at fourteen with two more people burned to death in their home beside the track at the point where the wreck occurred.
The Dead:
Fireman ARTHUR LEE, Alpena.
Brakeman WILLIAM BARRETT, Alpena.
MRS. GEORGE CICERO, of Metz, and three children.
MRS. JOHN KONIECZNY, of Metz, and three children.
MRS. EDWARD HARDIES, of Metz, and three children.
JOHN NOWICKI, JR., and MRS. JOHN NOWICKI, JR.
The NOWICKIS' lived beside the railroad track at the siding where the wreck occurred and were burned to death in their homes.
Many of the passengers on the train were badly bruised, cut and burned. They are straggling into the village of Posen between here and the scene of the wreck.

Meager Details Of Horror.
Alpena, Mich., Oct. 16. -- Nearly a score of refugees from the fire swept village of Metz, twenty five miles north of this city, on the Detroit and Mackinac railway, are known to have been burned to death between Metz and the village of Posen last night, when their relief train was wrecked by a burned out culvert. Details are still lacking and reports are coming in very slowly as a result of the destruction of wires and poles by the fierce forest fires, but it is known from Millersburg that fifteen burned skulls have been found in the ruins of the relief train and that the fireman was burned to death in the water tank of his locomotive, where he had taken refuge.

Number Of Refugees Unknown.
It is not yet definitely known how many persons were aboard the relief train when it pulled out of Metz last night, nor whether any of the refugees except the two Irishmen, who have arrived at Posen, escaped with their lives. The information received from Millersburg told only that the skulls had been found in the wreck and that Conductor KINVILLE and Engineer FOSTER escaped from the burning train by crawling along the tracks on their hands and knees with the forests on either side roaring furnaces.
Conductor KINVILLE is reported to be blind from his burns, but FOSTER is reported to be not seriously injured. There are rumors, vague and unsatisfactory, that others escaped with the two trainmen, but up to noon they can neither be confirmed or denied.

Fires Burst Out Afresh.
The forest fires above Alpena, in Presque Isle county, suddenly became threatening yesterday, after it was thought that the heavy rains early in the month had extinguished them. They spread rapidly and were soon menacing a number of towns along the line of the Detroit and Mackinac railroad.
The little village of Metz, with about 100 inihabitants, was one of them. Its situation became acutely dangerous last night.
The Detroit and Mackinaw railroad sent in a relief train of box cars. Household goods and store stocks were loaded on some of the cars and people filled the others. How many were taken aboard is not known nor is it known whether any of the farmers from outlying points had come into Metz seeking refuge from the flames. If this is the case there may have been more people on the wrecked relief train than the inhabitants of the little village could have furnished.

Train Wrecked While Backing Up.
With its load of frightened men, women and children the train pulled out of Metz about midnight, it is understood, and started for the north. There were flames along the tracks on both sides and the roar of the burning woods rose above the sound of the engine. The train proceeded toward the north as far as Hawks Station, about half way between Metz and Millersburg.
There the flames were sweeping across the track so fiercely as to make further progress in that direction impossible. The train was headed back toward the south and Alpena. The necessity for returning again into the flame ridden section from which they had been fleeing increased the terror of the passengers aboard the ill-fated, extemporized relief train. As they were rushing through the fire and smoke, the train struck a culvert which had been burned through. It left the rails and piled into the ditch, according to the meagre reports received through the two trainmen who had escaped.

Scenes Of Horror.
What scenes of horror must have followed when the terror stricken refugees found themselves helpless amid the fire from which they had been fleeing are not yet known from the lips of any survivor. Conductor KINVILLE and Engineer FOSTER managed to crawl into Posen early this morning on their hands and knees, both being badly burned. KINVILLE is said to have been blinded by his burns. No story has been obtained from them yet, owing to lack of wires. Only the bare reports that they are alive and in the village, has come out.
From Millersburg about noon came the first positive confirmation of the fate of at least part of the train's passengers.
It was but a brief statement. It said that fifteen burned skulls had been found in the ruins of a gondola car which formed part of the train and that the body of Fireman ARTHUR LEE had been found in the water tank of the engine where he had sought refuge and had perished.
The report also said that MRS. CICERO, of Metz, and three of her children were among the dead. That is all that the anxious newspaper men and railroad officials here were able to get over the wire from the village of Millersburg up to noon today. Wires are down in many places through the country.

Fate of Village Unknown.
Nothing definite has yet come from the north as to the fate of the village of Metz. It is thought to be more than possible that there was loss of life there, if the flames have completed the work of destruction which had begun when the last report was received. It is thought possible that there may have only been women and and children and helpless persons placed aboard the relief train which met such a horrible fate and that some at least of the strong men of the hamlet may have stayed behind to fight for their homes.
Millersburg added to its statement that the fifteen skulls had been found, that most of them were thought to be those of women and children.
The operating department of the Detroit and Mackinac railroad at East Tawas, has been unable thus far to secure any information except the tidings from Millersburg. The road has not yet received any statement from either the conductor or engineer, who are at Posen. Neither have they been able to learn the fate of any of the little villages north of Milersburg, on the line of the road.

The Fort Wayne Sentinel Indiana 1908-10-16

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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!