Litchfield enquirer., 1851-12-04
The Accident in New York.
SoRROWFUL DETAILS.

The Tribune adds some further partl-
culars: ...:, ,,d elf
..er;Hce ON the part Of the children are
,oId One poor girl who was on the
staircase after the balustrade had gone,
feeling herself iercely pressed towards
ne edge of the fearful grlf, threw her
arms around a younger girl, next 70 her.
who, having more support, stood in no
Immediate danger. The little one feel
inc The grasp of her friend, said Same,
III 60 please, or you will drag me down
witS YOU" And Anne did let go. A
few instances she kept her footing then
Ireeled and fell upon the mass Of suffer
ers below. where she suffered speedy
death.
An instance Of fraternal devotion is
Ao!d Of one Alfred Gage, who, after
reaching the ground floor in safety, saw
ills brother on the fatal staircase. vainly
seeking to retain his footing. Alfred at
tempted to stem the living tide, and to
make his way through it to assist his
brother, but his efforts were fruitless, and
placing himself below the little fellow, he
told him to spring down, height Of 90
feet. Thus called upon, the boy made
the frightful leap into the arms Of his
brother, and both fell among the dying
and wounded, without being The least ip.
jured.
At the time Of the alarm, Miss Nj ~ f,
Higgins, one Of the teachers Of class K,
lad so children from Z TO 10 years Of
age, in class room l6 feet square. The
panic seized them, and she could no. re-
strain them. They escaped from the
room and three were killed some Of them
Jumped out Of window. The little ones
were completely beside themselves, and
quite . number began to take off then
clothes and shoes. This was singular
move, but being commenced BY some OF
The scholars, the rest followed their ex-
ample, not knowing what they did.
There are many instances Of painful
mental suffering connected with this AZ
fair, but they are of nature that forbids
public delinealion. We hear of two OF
thee instances whore the beroaved pa
rents have manifested unmistakeable signs
OF insanity. Such a dreadful misfortune,
occurring Mt q moment and in place
where the most perfect security was the
Iaiural and reasonable anticipation, was
quite sufficient to upset the .irmest men
al faculties.
Among the singular escapes sw1nr1
have come to our knowledge, we mention
the following: s
=" A girl Of about 0 years Of age jump
ID from one Of the windows of the
Female Department, and was partially
eanyht by man who saw the act The
girl escaped with only q sprained ANGLE,
while the man was quite seriously brais-
ed BY the conclusion.
We have seen young lad, who insists
that we sl,all not mention his name. who
almost fought at the door Of one Of The
GLASS rooms in the Female Department to
prevent the scholars from rushing into
the hall. He made the most manful
struggles, but was finally forced along
Ghe current. and came very near getting
down the dreadful precipice at the front
stairway.
One girl, about nine years old. came
within hairs breadth Of destruction. =
She had been forced over the precipice
my the crowd. but it ctanced that her
dress caught upon projecting fragment
of the ,baluster and held her for at least
q minute over the yawning gulf. she
was finally rescued by some boys. who
took her down into the hall Of the Prima-
rypepal'men''
The jury now being fully constituted.
Justice Bleakley proposed 70 them the
,propriety Of filing up certificates Of bu>
iial, setting forth the cause Of death By
iniur;as and sufocati6n at the school
! house, and these certificates 70 be given
10 'iiis parents Of the deceased on the ju-
~ viewing the bodies--thus to enable
tho parents to bury the bodies, as the in
vestigat:on might possibly consume sew
eral days. The proposition was put 70
Ahs jury and a read y concurrence was
manifested BY all Drs. F,anklin and
Lidell were the examining phJsI:ians.
ffvyo stages and carriages were then pros
cured. and. the jury. headed By Alder.
man Ball and Justice Bleakley, proceed
cd 70 fulfil the duty assigned them. o.
conapanied BY several reporters Of the
public press. The task was ane Of the
most heart-rending character-- visiting
the houses of the dead and Witnessing
Abe afflicted and heart, broken parents la-
,menting over their sudden bereavement
Of their children. g
The unfortunate victims. with but one
nr tYo exceptions, looked beautiful in
deathTsorre even bore smile on their
conntsnsncss, and appeared 10 be only
asleep, or l,steping 70 an angels whisper.
This mild expression is attributed 10
The fact Of suffocation. The second house
visited was No. 80 Greenwich avenue,
occudied BY Mr.. Woolley. Here was 4
picture, indeed. enough 70 soften the
ieart Of marble statue. In the rarlo,
faw s;de hv aide with bOnuuet on eacl