The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-12-11
Fearful Catastrophe.
From the Montreal Herald of Tuesda

TIOiu lue NlOulItdl IItfUm VI uc5uity,
we take the following:
Between nine and ten o'clock on Satur-
day night the reflection of an extensive fire
was seen in the heavens in the direction of
Sault-aux-Recollets, but no news of the
confagratlon reached this city until yester-
day morning, when information was re-
ceived that the hotels of Messrs Lajeunesse
and Crever, at that place, had been burned
to the ground, and that two clergymen
staying at the former were consumed IN
the flames. On receipt of this information
large numbers of our Catholic fellow cti-
zens, eager to learn who the unfortunate
gentlemen were and the sad particulars of
their fate, drove out to the scene of the
confagration, but it appears SO great was
the excitement at the time and 80 general
the confusion that scarcely any particulars
of the sad catastrophe could be learned, and
nothing further than vague description
of the deceased gentlemen.
Late in the afternoon information was
received by the Rev. Father Landrigan
from the cure Sault aux Recollet, convey
ing information that left no doubt that the
unfortunate gentlemen were the Rev.
James Murphy, the talented orator and ed
itor of the True Witness, and the Rev.
Father Lynch, a young clergyman from
Newfoundland, then on visit to this city,
en- route to Hartford, Conn.,, where he was
invited to be present at the conservation of
a new bishop. Both gentlemen, we be-
lieve. while in this city were staying with
the Rev. Father Landrigan, cure of st.
Bridget's church. 1t appears that the de-
ceased clergymen left the city late on Sat-
urday afternoon with hired horse, on a
visit to the cure of st. Therese, intending
to return to-day in time for the Rev.
Father Murphy to deliver his lecture on
"John Philpott Curran" in the Mechanics
hall. Arrived at Sault-aux- Recolets they
| took supper at Lajeunesse' hotel, and or
dered their buggy for eleven o'clock.
Punctually at that hour servant sent up
| to the parlor on the first floor and informed
the gentlemen that the carriage was
waiting. Immediately afterwards a pa
| tent oil gas generating lamp stationed on
the parlor table exploded with loud re-
| port scattering the burning oil over the
room and converting it in an instant into
one sheet of flame. For a moment the
cries of the unfortunate gentlemen were
distinctly audible, then nothing could be
heard but the seething, roaring flames as
they Tapped and spread through the de-
voted building. Mr.. Lajeunesse, with great
presence of mind, hearing the screams of
his mother on the same fiat in the rear of
the house made his way to her and sue
ceeded in lowering her to the ground by
means OF the pillars supporting the balcony.
Madame Champagne, the aged mother of
Madame Laieunesse, had retired to her
room in the upper flat and 1t is said her
son-in-law endeavored TO get to her room,
but was driven back by the fierce heat.
BY this time the building was one sheet
of flame which aided by strong
wind from the south west extended al
most across the road to the hotel of Mr..
Crevier, which in half an hours time
was also reduced to ashes, happily without
any further loss of life. The village fire
engine was in attendance and did good SER
vice; the villagers also did all they posi-
bly, could to prevent the extension of the
fire, and to their exertions, it IS said, may
be attributable the saving of the general
store of Mr.. Chapleau. Yesterday the
charred remains of the three deceased
were discovered. and although it was I'M
possible to identify their remains separate
| ly, the presence of three human livers left
no doubt that three persons had persisted.
An enquiry was opened Yesterday into the
origin of the fire before Mr.. Direnais, j.
p, and the Mayor of the parish, when the
facts above stated were elected. In the
afternoon the remains were removed to the
vault of the church, situated some distance
from the fire, by Mr.. Coroner Jones, to
await the instructions of the friends of the
deceased as to their disposal.
The houses destroyed were spacious
wooden structures, two stories high, with
attics, and are fully insured. The Rev.
Father Murphy was native of Limerick,
Ireland, had been in this country two
years, and was about thirty years of age.
BY this remarkable abilities as an orator,
and his kind and gentlemaply behavior, he
had won the love of the Irish Catholics of
this city and the esteem of every Protestant
he came into contact:with. His companion
in death was about twenty-eight years of
age.
The coroner's jury in the case of Fathers
Murphy and Lynch, rendered verdict OF
accidental death.