The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-06-12 00:00:00

A TERRIBLE FATALITY.

Details of the Holyoke catastrophe appear in the
New York journals, just received. The Times says
"Yesterday was the feast of Corpus Christi, and the
inhabitants of South. Holyoke, principally French
Catholic, were celebrating it devoutly in the little
!wooden church by special vesper services in the even-
ing, which were attended by between seven hundred
and eight hundred persons, chiefly women and children.
The services were nearly over, and Father Dufresne,
the celebrant, had turned towards themain altar, when
the lamp burning before the altar of the Virgin, believed
now to have contained common kerosene, or petroleum,
was seen to blaze by Miss Lena, Blair, who, it
is stated, started from her pew, and with her fan
attempted to blow out the flame. Her efforts were
attended by dire results; the whole of the oil ignited,
and the lamp exploded. Some people say immediately
the drapery around the statue caught fire and the
flames leaped upwards along the gauze trimmings and
reached the light pine ceiling, which was as dry as
tinder, and burned quickly. Before the congregation
were aware of their peril, the roof and dome of the
church were wrapped in flames, which, twining down
the pillars, caught the galleries and enveloped the
upper part of the structure in fire. Then, as on all
such occasions, they desire of self-preservation aroused
the multitude to savage activity, and, regardless of
their neighbours, and forgetful of the holy feelings
which had brought them together, men and women
sprang to their feet and rushed to the doors and
windows. The strongest, of course, overleaped the
weaker ones, and got out of the building by doors and
windows. This did not occur, however, until the
people were actually panic-stricken. Prior to that,
those on the main floor had begun to move leisurely
enough towards the vestibule, but here they were met
by those from the galleries, pouring down the narrow
stairway, hard pressed by the persons behind, who be-
gan to feel the heat of the approaching flames, which,
it is said by the survivors, had in less than two
minutes begun to burn those of the congregation com-
pelled to stand still in the gallery passage-ways.
Then it was that the fatal rank began, and
the poor creatures being roasted above leaped down on
those below them, causing an inextricable confusion.
The people were wedged into the narrow stairway and
vestibule so thickly that the street-door was blocked up
completely, and all egress in that direction barred.
Wedged tight, and immovable, in tiers one above the
other, higher than the upper sill, were scores of persons
shouting to the spectators without for the love of
Heaven to save them. At this point all knowledge of
what occurred within is for ever shutoff, because those
who escaped were already out of the building, while
those within it were burned up."

The following account also of the disaster is from
the Tribune :—" The congregation numbered about
600 persons, the body of the building being well filled,
and the galleries crowded. The statue of the Virgin
on the right of the altar was decorated with flowers
and drapery. At 7.45 p.m. the hangings were set
on fire by the flaring of a candle, caused by a draught
from an open window. An attempt to extinguish
the flames was made by a young girl, but her
shawl became ignited, and the fire spread to the
walls and ceiling, which were lined with tarred
paper, and soon the entire building was wrapped in
flames. The persons in the galleries met the crowd
from the body of the building, at the foot of the
staircase, and the passage became cloggedin the general
effort to obtain egress. The firemen were promptly
in attendance. The doorways then were jammed
with human beings, who were trampled down by the
pressure from behind, mid the flames were shooting
out overhead. The firemen immediately begun play-
ing upon the flames. In a short time the fire was
extinguished, and the walls were pulled down in order
that the search for the dead might be prosecuted.
More than 2,000 people had gathered outside of the
fence which surrounded the school-house anxiously
waiting for an opportunity to search among the dead
bodies for their missing friends. The scenes in the
basement where the bodies were placed Were sorrow-
ful in the extreme. The bodies were so disfigured
and blackened by smoke that they were not easily
recognisable, and the search among them was carried
on amid the cries and groans and shrieks of those
who had lost friends and relatives. Some of the
charred remains could not be identified. One of
the most pathetic, incidento cf the day occurred when
an officer removed the Oheet from the face or a yoting
girl. As he did so he said, 'That was the prettiest
girl in the city,' but his remarks were interrupted by
a shriek, for the girl's mother was just behind, and had
recognised the face as that of her daughter. The hero
of the disaster was John Lynch, a firemen, who was
the first to respond to the call. He describes the scene
when he reached the burning church as appalling.
Wedged tight and immovable in the doorway was a
dense mass, from six to eight feet in height, of people,
none of them able to stand upright from the horrible
pressure of the crowd behind, while upon and over
them a sheet of fire rolled like a wave streaming far
out into the open air. Without a moment's pause
to consider the danger, Lynch and Chief ±:ngi•
near Mullins rushed into the flames, spurred
on by the piteous cries of 'For God's sake, come
and help us,' and began pulling out the bodies. A
moment latex) aril a well-ditected laydrEleit strain
struck the brave rescuers, and undoubtedly saved them
from being burned alive. The first persons drawn out
were burning, but they pas,.ed directly through the
, stream of water, and the flames whicliWere decrtiring
them were extinguished. Sofia of the poor creatures
fell fainting on the long flight of wooden steps leading
into the street, and a few were able to walk, though
not without considerable effort. By this time the
entire fire department had arrived, and worked with
such energy and will, that when the fire was ex-
tinguished only the charred wooden walls of the
structure were standing. They were then pulled
down in order that a search for the bodies might be
made. Only a few mometts elapsed after the water
struck the building before the fire was out, but the de-
struction of life during that brief period and time was
terrible. Some sprang from the gallery, and were
seriously injured. One person appeared at a window
completely wrapped in flames, and after tottering there
an instant fell to the ground dead and unrecognisable.
The work of extricating the bodies was sad indeed.
The greater number of them were found in the fatal
doorway, some of them burned to a cinder. The body
of one woman was found in the seat she had occupied,
her clothing entirely burned off her body. A stout
woman was dragged screaming from the mass, She
was carried a short distance from the church and placed
on the grass, while the flesh actually peeled off her,
and in a moment she fell over dead. In some instances
the features were distorted, as though extreme agony
had been suffered before death ensued, but many looked
calm. All were blackened with smoke; some were
burned beyond the possibility of identification, nothing
remaining but the trunk.