The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1851-11-29
DREADFUL ACCIDENT AND Loss
or LIPE. ..
kEW YOHH. Nov

ing fiightinl losa VI lie, which H. has ever
been our duty 10 rcpord,tOOk place Yesterday
afternoon A. the North Warl School House.
~ Greenwich avenue, when over forty lttla
children, boys and girls, we're without a mo-
menta warning hurried into eternity.
Before ,oomueneing our relation Of this
lamenlAhle OCCURRENCE, II may be- well 10 de-
scribe the construction Of the building IN
which the catastrophe took place. The
School building Is large 6ve-story new
stone edlhee' built, hs was supposed, IN the
most thoTough-gOing manner. TIE stairway
IL Of that description known among builders
~ weli-stAireAse, Jagged with stone on the
ground floor, In the rear Of the building
there 10 another stairwayl bot the principal
mode Of acces, 70 The School roonis 10. by the
wcll-stnirrnarl
ON The fret side landing "a locnted the Pr-
mary Department; on the second, the Girls
Department. on the third, The Boys Depart
iuent, and 10 on; and, daily, some eighteen
hundred children Of both sexes attended tho
SckOOl, -------t------
Shortly Aller iHo O'clock an Ikar-alay, al
the pupils being IN the building the principal
Of the female department, Miss Harrison, was
suddenly seized with Gt Of Paralysis, and
fell taintug from her chair. The pupils be-
came alarmed, aud two or three ran out 10
procure assistance for her. Seeing tho chill
dNh running, some ibconsdcrate persons in
the street raised the rry OF FIRE the bell ON
Jefferson market stniiun, which 10 within
block, was quickly struck and in moment
a crowd gathered around the school house.
The alarm of fire having communicated TO
the pupils, rendered them almost frantic with
excitement, and they all rushed out in body
from the four floors, crowding down 10 She
street by means ofthe wcll-siaircmc In the
excitement oC the moment, the children were
some OF them forced over the bannistcrs, 9TH
err leapcd down, and were instantly killed
by falling upon the pavement at tho bottom
of the we'll, and finally the rush bocame so
great that the bannistcra gave way, and the
children Wtfc prccpitated down, more Than
ffly steps, and piled one on the other At the
bottom OF the we'll. The confusion can b.
better imagined that described. The poor,
I unthinking infants, all screaming with fright
or with pain, followed 80 swiftly one on the
other that many who were not injured in the
fall were smothcrcl by those whs fell on them;
and, worse than air the street doors opening
inwards, were closed by the mass of clildreR
against thcm,s 50 that il was impossible 20 open
them from the outside, and there being no
means df egrcss for thosc who arrived with
out Injury at the bottom, they were crushed
aud smothcrod by those WHO fvll upon them.
As soon az the nature of the excitement
was known them, the trarhrrs displayed
the most trustworthy presence of miur.- AiiEs
Louisa MrFhrlanc, one OF the assistants in
the primary department placed herself in
the doorway, aud did all in her power to
prevent the nhtighted children from rushing
out, and the other teachers did Is Much 9th
Frwise thE destruction Of Iiie must have been
much greater. SO impctuous was the rush,
however, that five Of the teachers, two. Miss
Marsarctta l.. Smith Miss CorneliA l.. Barnes
from the. female department. and thrrr. Miss
Ellen ID. Traphagcn, Miss Louisa McEarlane
aud Miss Julia Blake, from the primary de-
pertinent, were forced over the bannisters and
fell with the children into the well. They
were, however, happily not seriously Injured
The time IN which all this took place. was
much less than that We have occupied in de-
scribing' it. Meanwhile the excitement in
the street was intense. The alarm ofsiru had
collecied dense crowd, and though the -ta.
lice were carly ON the spot, in strong mum
beers, they had great difficulty in Obtaining n
passage through tho excited ass6mblage.-
Finding all their efforts at,forcing the front
doors useless, tho police entered the building
Ivy tho hackwAy ,&broke open door leading 20
the well, from the basement. The children
were then taken out, alive and dead, and
conveyed 20 the Station house near by, -fol-
lowed by large humber af mothers and sis
tiers, each one anxious to ascertain IL their
own little relatives wore uninjured In tho
station house. the wounled were placed in
cots, and efficient medical aid immediately
summoned. The dead were laid out TO DO
recognized by theih friends. We are incom-
peteut TO describe the heart rcnding grief OF
the scarchors,w while looking among the multi
ated bodies for their little ones. Accustom-
cd rs we are 10 frightiul casualties in this city,
we have never seen an occasion that called so
loudly for the sympathies of the heholder,-
Many mothers wore there, who but few
minutes before had equipped their only chil-
dren for school, and row were suddenly cali
cd from home, to look among the fcatfully
mutiated bodies of all thatTemained of their
offspring. Others there were, who after
searching in vain for their lost ones again and
again turning over the CHASTITY remains. were
almost Frustrated with Joy at discovering their
children alive and we'll. We leave mothers
and fathers to imagine the scene as they only
can; describe il, we cannot
The majority of the injured are likely TO
recover; but very few limbs were brokon,
and many of those dead we're Su1ocated, and
not killed in the fall
II would not become us until this catastro-
pho has been fully investigated by the coro-
ncr's jury, to animadvcrt upon the causes Of
so fearful loss of life. The bannisters Of
the stairway were of heavy mahogany, and
were fastened in the usual manner, two rails
combining each clamp on the end of the step
The height from the floor Of the well 10 who're
the bannisters FIRST gave way, is about twenty
five feet, and the children's bodies were piled
up ten feet, at least.
When the dead and wounded had all been
recognized, they were taken home by their
friends; but as the news OF the occurrence
'pread, an excited crowd surrounded the
school-house and station-house, eagerly watch
ing for every new item Of information which
might throw light Upon the casualty.
OF course no blame can be attached to the
teachers. But the responsibility must lie
somewhere--where, the investigation will
probably reveal. Miss Harrison, we are bAI'-
Ply TO eOrn,had, last evening somewhat rCcev-
cred from her paralytic fit, = -.--....... ..-..
l. a. TIE r.,
Ia -..-.,. NEw YORK. Nov. 81. u