Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1871-04-19
Burning Of a Young Ladies', Seminary.

bufNAn5 u AOuuE LhuleS seminary =
At about o'clock Tuesday morning
last, q young lady inmate of the large
/ female college &C Oxford, Ohio, was
awakened by a strong odor Of smoke.
She Immediately jumped out Of bed,
and went through the building rails
ing the alarm Of fire. When she re-
! turned to her room, she found it i'm
possible TO enter on account Of the
smoke, and she escaped from the
burning building in her night clothes,
without saving any of her wardrobe.
There were about one hundred and
seYenty-five young lady bOarders in
the seminary at the outbreak Of the
| fire, and the CONSERVATION created
among them by the dread calamity in
the middle Of the night is not easily
] Imagined. and can not be described
| Several Of the occupants Of the north
wing, the most distant from the point
at which the fire originated, succeed
ed in saving some Of their clothing,
and several articles Of furniture on
the first floor were also recovered, but
the occupants Of the south wing, in
which the fire started, barely had
time to get out Of the building before
it was all in flames, so rapidly did the
fire rush from room to room.
Inasmuch rs several Of the misses
thus startled from peaceful sleep to
face the danger Of death Uy fire and
smoke, had to escape by the windows,
some from the third floor even, it Is
remarkable indeed that no lives were
lost and even no dangerous injuries
sustained
Miss Lucy Wetmore, Of Canfield,
Ohio, in getting out Of a third story
window to escape by q rope, fell to
the ground. She was badly bruised,
and somewhat injured internally, but
she suffered no broken bones, and is
not regarded as in a bad condition.
Miss Jessie Brooks, Of Chicago, had
an arm sprained in jumping from a
second story window; Miss Nora
GOOdfellOw, Of Hamilton, Miss Ellie
Ballard and Miss Mary Wilson were
also slightly injured.
One Of the female teachers escaped
by sliding down the lightning-rod.
The fire is supposed to have been
caused by the accidental ignition Of a
lot of kindling wood in the bakery,
located in the south wing. There
was no water at hand Immediately
available to extinguish the IRE. The
seminary was in possession Of force
pump, but lacked the force Of men to
work il. The building was situated
some distance from OxfOrd-prObsbly
three-Quarters Of q mile-and before
assistance could be obtained from that
point the seminary was wrapped in
flames. Even had there been a fire
department promptly at hand, it is
extremely doubtful whether the
structure could have been saved The
fire lasted only three hours after
breaking out.
The loss is a total one, upon which
there are several policies Of Insurance
In various companies, not sufficient.
however, to cover the loss. The walls
are left standing as the mere shell OF
a once beautiful institution Of learn
ing, which was considered second to
none other in the West. This is the
second calamity by fire that has over
taken this locality. The building
which formerly occupied the spot,
known IS the First Western Female
Seminary, was completely destroyed
by fire eleven years ago last January.
Both these Institutions were built un-
der the supervision and through the
efforts Of the Rev. Daniel Tenney,
Presbyterian minister Of Oxford, but
more recently located in Lawrence,
Massachusetts,.