The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1864-02-04
=. WHOLE NO. 3O2.
AFTER THE FIRE.

AT midnight the flames, spent for
want of material To feed upon, and by
morning had entirely ceased. The
spectacle, by the glarlng light Of d,y
WAS indtscril'ably horrible. Ttco.
thousand corpses, in every stage ofcar.
'"'nIza'l"n ir.'m blackened cn,ler to
he slightest scorch, la, in heaps aroun
Ihe several txi, doors, the last struggle
painful, visabIe IN the eager position,
nutsiretched hand, the staring ey ye-balls.
The upper portions Of the bodies, were,
srh few exceptions, dis6gured beyond
recognition-the lower extremities
we're scarcely touched by the flames.
ID" YOU require statistics? Let me
give y"u I'u, a single one il will suf-
ice. One handreddndt ~ curtloads IF
unrecoymised corpses ,oere on tie eth
and 10th, carried to the cemetery. 'afi'
The following gives an idea OF the
class Of pens that pe,ished 10y the
dtll"raLie accident: "Although many
heroic men performed prodigies of dar.
ing aud strength in tearing some from
the death grasp Of the phalanx of
bodies that chokei the door, In some
cases literally tearing off their arms
,cithout being able to ertricate them,
the number of saved by this means
Tails short of fifty. More than foe
hundred persons Of our highest society
haze persisted, the greater part youug
girls of fifteen to t,oe,ty years Of age.
One mother has perished with .fvs
daughters. Two thirds of the victims
were servants, and there are many
houses in sohich not one has escaped
Several houses have been noted by tho
police as empty because all their inhad-
itants huve persisted"
| The victims are all to be placed in
an immense tomb, and marble monu-
incnt is 10 be erected over them. 'H'
| CONDUCT OF THE PRIESTS.
| The. officiating priests. although as
heavily inenmbered as the women with
Pcl"tI,ing, succeeded in escaping scith-
out a single exception, and the same
paper which published list of over
1900 uictins, whose names are kno,cn,
gives also list of church ornaments
/ and plate rescued, valued at thousands
"t dollars! From the vestry door
npened into the church, whence the
priests ercaped-and one OF The morn
ing papers states, upon the authority of
persons on the spot, that the door scas
then closed, Iesy the fire should l,ene-
trale the vestry and destroy the church
Hmoperty therein! Certain it is that
three rooms ina. neighburing palatial
mansion are filled with furniture, car.
pets, curtains and pictures saved from
the vrstry, while a few PAGES beyond
were perishing, IN frish.fuIi torture,
hundreds of fail and helpless human
beings, many OF whom could have
found safely through that door.
The excitement against the priests
in Chilli, aud especially in Santiago, is
said 10y persons Who have come to
= Panama to bc intense, and may yet
break pui in violence, a. their heart less
acts come more clearly to the light. 1t
is said without dispute that The priests
who occupied the church affairs, pushed
bac the women, who were crowding
To the doors, in Oi der that they might
have better chance of saving their
old mampara-, gilt images, holy robes,
sacred chairs, and other dirty traps.
During the fire the priest lluberdault
pressed up TO the door of the church
aud gave absolution To the desperate
people inside, who were resting in the
flames, ,-.G ag - ....., .l,,l....., ..s.--..7
After the calamity public opinion
demanded at once the conversion Of
the church site into public square.
This has, been aud is violently opposed
by the clergy aud their formidable
party. The fanaiicism of these aud
it's manifold abuses, among which is
considered foremost the late disaster,
is the subject of conversation III every
circle. The papers are full of the bit.
lteresi invectives on both sides of this
: question. Thousands of dollars are
offered to rebuild the temple, and force
is threatened if il be attempted. Ac-
cusations Of the viIest condpct are
Brought sgainst the clergy. a.
INCIDENTS.
Heroic acts of sublime daring have
not been wanting. Enduring graft
tutie has been ercited in euery Christian,
heort By the gallant Efforts of Mr..