The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1875-06-04
4 Terrible Calamity.
ByJRNING OF FRENCH CATHOLIC CHURCH
SEVENTY LIVES LOST AND
| LARGE NUNBEK INJURED.

BURNING OF FRENCH CATHOLIC Cao heh
SEVENTY LIVES LOST AND
LARGE NUMBER INJURED.
,errible disaster occurred last Thursday
night in the burning of the french Satho-
lie church at South Holyoke, Mass, during
the evening services, lnVolVlnS Tue iosS oi
sixty-six men, women and children. Inc
exercises had nearly closed, ana hynh
was being sung, when the draperies on the
,ltar canoht fire from a candle, and the
wall being low and the flames streaming
M. the building was set on fire. Inc au-
dieucc numbered about 700, and the people
III the body of the church escaped, OUT Oh
the stairway leading from the gallery, Eu-
man beings we've packed i'll dense mass,
struggling to escape. AS the flames fusneo
towards them many leaped to the iioor 0e-
meath and were trampled to DEAN. ne
gallery skirted both sides OF the building,
with oniy one entrance from the 'front.'.
The ~cane wa fearful in ihc eXtTclne our
inc the little while it lasted. BcsideS the
Sixty-six dead, there are enough 10 carry
the total loss of life up to sel enty-five.
/ The priests house which joins the chui ch
: in the rear was also burned. 1he podles
were taken to Peter Monetts store and
the Park street school house for temporary
deposit The church and pastors house
were totally destroyed. The priest eXer-
tiOns to keep order were frultcsS. ne
screams of the living and the moans OF the
diving made deafening tumult above the
orders of the pastor, who worked most
heroically and was personally instrumental
in saving many lives. One family OF Tour
were in the church and all were killed.
MANY were pulled out by the arms and
feet so badly burned that they lived but
few hours. The flesh peeled OFT on being
touched. Some were taken out with scarce
ly any flesh remaining on their bones. The
Sisters of Mercy from the convent We're
soon on hand, caring FOR the wounded,
with the priests holding services over the
dying The mother of Father Dufrisne
was among those terribly burned. The
large wooden tenement block of James
Prev near the burned church, was thrown
open for the reception of the dead and
wounded, aud several deaths occurred i'll
this building during the night. Several
were also taken to the New York mills
boarding house.
Peter Monett, to whose store the dead
bodies were after wards taken, was in the
body of the church will, three children
when the fire caught. He Immediately
ran toward the flames and attempted to
put them out with several pals of water
taken from the priest's residence, adjoining
the church. Finding it useless he then
tried to save some of the furniture, but
was quickly driven away. He and lis
Cnlluien were dll SdNtu Wiz Slil tSCdI'tt
from the gallery by jumping on the back of
a man, who carried her out.
LATER PARTICULARS.
SPRINGFIELD, May 2S.-The bodies of
fifty persons burned to death at flolyoke,
last night, have been identified, in addition
10 those of fifteen or twenty who were at
once removed TO their homes by their
friends. Nearly seventy have died, and
some forty more are more or less burned,
OF otherwise injured.
The hero of the disaster was John Lynch,
a brave fireman, who was first to respond
to the alarm. He describes the scene
when he reached the burning church as APP
palImg. People we've wedged tight and al
most immovable in the doorways, making
dense mass of humanity from six to eight
feet in height, none of them being able to
stand upright from the terrible pressure of
the crowd behind. Without moments
pause to consider their danger, Lynch and
Chief Engineer Mullin rushed into the
flames, spurred on 10y piteous cries of ''For
Gods sake come aud help us - and began
pulling ont bodies. \ moment later and
well directed hydrant stream from Mt.
Holyoke hose struck the brave rescuerS and
undoubtedly saved their lives, while upon
aud over them a sheet of fire rolled like
wave, streaming far out into the open air.
Hundreds of men went to the wreck as
/ soon as opportunity offered to search for
| the bodies, and police force was organized
| to keep back the large crowd which had
/ gathered The greater number of bodies
/ were found in the fatal entryway, burned,
some of them, to a crisp. The body Of one
woman was found i'll the seat she had oc-
cupied Her clothing was entirely burned
off. n woman, weighing $50 pounds, was
dragged screaming from the mass SlIN
/ was carried a short distance from
church and placed on the grass, while
flesh actually peeled off her back, and
moment she fell over dead.
The scenes last night and to-day IL
! school house basement where the
were carried, were heartl ending in 4
treme. In some instances the
were distorted as though extrema
had been suffered before oeath. IA
looked calm as though smothered ar WeTe
! blackened with smoke and some were
burned beyond possibility of Identification.
nothing remaining but the trunks
The church society was established about
seven years ago, and Father Dufresne had
been the only pastor. The parish included
all the Fruch Catholics of the CITY. whose
number is estimated at from 9, 900 to .. 500
| persons. The church was erected in 1870
entirely of pine, and was abont one hundred
( feot oy sixty, two storles with galleries on
the sides and north end, about twenty five
feet wide. There were two doors in tbe
north end, and u vestibuic, from which two
doors opened into the body Of the church.
The galleries opened into the vestibnle
At the rear end was another door, by which
few persons escaped death upon the
| breaking out of the flames.
Louis Dcsialdin, fifty four years old.
whose wife and daughter were both burned
to death, became insane to day from grief.
and cried continually, go, my Julie nv
! Julie - Some were taken out alive who
were under others who were dead, and
owed to this fact their own salvation.
One Of the most protracted cases ofsuffer-
ing was that of Mary Desjlrd who.
burned past all recognition and blind some
how found her way to hill north of the
church ana wandered around there about
twenty minutes before She WAS fonnd aud