FIRE FREAKS IN WOODLAND

Unaccountable Escapes of Property Are Numerous and Remarkable.

Flames Seemed to Pick Favorites and Avoid Neighboring Buildings.

Some most peculiar freaks of the fire were noticeable at Woodland, where the greatest property loss was suffered in the city.

All the houses along Austin street west of Woodland avenue were completely demolished, with all their contents. At three points along Austin street between Woodland and Elysian avenues the plank sidewalk lost single sections, but elsewhere along the street, where the flames swept everything clear on both sides of the walk, the planks remained untouched and show not even a sign of scorching.

At the residence of E. H. Caulkins, the house and contents were totally destroyed, and late yesterday afternoon the coal bin was a roaring fire-pit. But some forty feet back of where the house had been stood a light frame chickenhouse, and the biddies and cockerals were strutting about the chicken yard, unharmed and eyeing curiously, the many sightseers who passed by.

To the southwest of the Caulkin's residence two small bungalows escaped absolutely unharmed.

Freaks of Fire.

Out of a row of three bungalows on Owatonna street the middle one was taken, and the two on either side escaped unharmed. Across the street from these is another row of six bungalows, and of these only one - and that on the farthest end of the row - was burned. The asbestos shingles on two of the others curled half way over in the heat, but the buildings were saved.

On Mankato street the small house of J. A. Scott escaped entirely, though at times it seemed impossible that it could come through safely. On Wabasha street all the houses on the north side and east of Ewing avenue escaped, but on the other side of the street, and on the corner of Ewing avenue, the large house of W. F. Fitzgerald was completely wiped out - the first in that section to go.

Further out on Wabasha street, the home of H. C. Yager was destroyed but a pigsty in the back yard was entirely passed over by the flames. At the residence of D. M. White, on the lot next to that occupied by the Yager residence, the pigsty in the back yard was burned but the house escaped unharmed.

On Faribault street the residence of E. T. Hughes was neatly and cleanly picked out from between two other homes that were not touched.

Saturday afternoon saw nearly all the residents of Woodland at work in their gardens, and one after another tells of having just finished getting the winter's vegetables under cover within an hour or two before the coming of the fire. Several had just got in the winter's supply of coal within the last few days.

At the residence of Everett Robinson on Anoka street, the coal had been delivered on Friday - just one week earlier than it had been promised. Yesterday the house was gone and the coal pile a smouldering heap. And on the adjoining lot still stands a tarpaper covered building that would seem to have been certain prey to even the suggestion of a fire.

Peculiarities of Blaze.

At the Lyon residence in the same block the home was destroyed, but a cloth tent that had been pitched within fifteen feet of the house still stands, and the only sign of fire it bears is the smoky tinge of the canvas.

Some desperate and daring work on the part of residents saved a number of residences in Woodland. R. A. McDonald of Faribault street succeeded in saving his home, though his large chicken house was burned, and fire wiped out the W. E. Cowden residence across the street, passing directly over the McDonald place to reach that of Mr. Cowden.

On Winona street, the most organized resistance to the fire was made, and the work done there undoubtedly helped to check the flames in the path they were then following. E. E. Fuller was the first of the Winona street residents to get back from taking his family to safety, and he got the garden hose to playing on his residence, keeping it thoroughly wet down. A few minutes later B. W. Forbes and Frank Summers joined in the fighting and had hose streams going on their respective homes. W. B. Wilson also joined the fire-fighting row, and A. E. McMillan finished the representation in that block by getting a long hose and locating on the roof of his residence, whence he directed the stream on every part of the roof and on such brands as fell in the immediate vicinity of the house. Later he took the hose down into the woods in the rear of the place and soaked that part down thoroughly, and put out several fires that were starting there.

Wins Hard Fight.

Mr. Forbes had undoubtedly the hardest fight of any of these men, for the big McKay residence (formerly the Lum residence) and the C. G. Jones home, just up the hill, both were completely wiped out, exposing the Forbes bungalow to a terrific heat. With the help of the other men he won the fight. They kept it up until after 4 o'clock Sunday morning.

The Schmittdiehl and Sherman homes were among the first to go, being near the woods on the outer edge of the addition through which the fire approached the city.

The Trianette dairy barn burned to the ground, but a small house some twenty feet away, and in the direct path of the flames, escaped unscathed.

Residents who watched the fires while they waited for rescue cars say that the flames seemed at times to roll themselves up into huge balls, leap into the air and fall on hitherto untouched buildings, which would immediately burst into flames.

By 8 o'clock Saturday night there was not a woman or child left in any of the Woodland homes. They were all downtown, and the men, as many as could get back to their homes, were fighting the fire, but there were many sections that could not be reached.