Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1875-06-04

THE DISASTER,
&C., &C., &c.
a fearful calamity took place at Holy
oke, Mass, Thursday night The French
Catholic Church-built wholly of pine
took fire, resulting in the death OF seventy
persons, OF whom fifty were women and
young girls. We copy the following par
ticulars of the calamity:
The audience, which numbered about
800, had assembled in honor Of The Feast
of Corpus Christi. The body Of the house
was we'll filled, and the galleries were
crowded The statue of the virgin, Oh the
right of the altar, was decorated with flow
ers and drapery. At 7:45 p. m. the hang
ings were set on fire by the tlaring OF Il
candle, caused by a draft from an open
window An attempt to extinguish the
flames was made by Lena Blair, an en-
ploye in the Merrick Thread Mill. but her
shawl became ignited, and the fir spread
to the walls and ceiling, which were lined
with tarred paper, and soon the entire
building Was wrapped in flames. The per
sons in the galleries met the crowd from
the auditorium at the foot of the stair
way, and the passage became clogged i'll
the general effort to obtain egreSs.
"A CCEN Il OE 1OhhOhs
Wedged tight and immovable in the
doorways was II dense mass of humanity
from six to eight feet in height, none of
them able to stai upright from the terri
BILE pressure of the crowd behind, while
upon and over them sheet of fire rolled
like d Wave, streaming far out into the
open air. Without a moments pause @
consider their danger, Lynch and Chiel
Engineer Mnllin rush. d into the flames.
spurred Oh by the piteOus cries OF Fol
Gcd's sake, come and help us, (" and began
pulling out tie bodies. A moment later
and we'll directed hydrant stream from
the Mount Holyoke hose struck the brave
rescuerS, and undoubtedly saved them
from being burned alive. The first per-
sons drawn out were burning, but they
passed directly through the stream OF wa
ter, and the flames which were devouring
them were eXtinguiSled. Some OF the
poor creatures fell fainting on the long
flight of wooden steps leading down TO the
street, and few were able, to walk, though
not without considerable effort. BY this
time the entire fire department had az
rived, and worked with such enel gy and
will that when the fire was extinguished
the charred wooden walls of the structure
were standing. They were then pulled
down by the hook and ladder men, in or
der that a search for the bodies might be
made.
STRUGGLES FOR LIFE.
Only very few moments elapsed after
the water struck the building before the
fire was out, but the destruction to life
during that brief period of Lime was ter
rible Some sprang from the gallery Will
dows and were seriously injured, and one
person appeared at window completely
wrapped in flames, and after tottering
there an instant, fell to the ground dead
and unacceptable. Hundreds of men
went to work as soon as the opportunity
offered to search for tine bodes and po-
large crowd which had gathered. The
work of extricaJing the bodies was sad in
deed; the greater number OF them were
found in the fatal entry way, some OF them
burned to crisp. Tile body of one woman
was found i'll the seat she had occupied,
her clothing entirely burned off. feshy
woman, weighing SOME $50 pounds, was
dragged screaming from the mass. She
was carried short distance from the
church and placed Oh the grass, while the
flesh actually peeled off her back. In a
moment she fell over dead.
THE DEAD.
The scenes last night and to-day in the
schOol-hOuse basement, where the bodies
of the dead were carried, were heartrend-
ing in the extreme. Stumps OF limbs
burned to a crisp protruded from the sheets
and as the face-cloth was lifted from the
heads the Scared and black remains were
disclosed. In some instances the features
were distorted, us though extreme agony
lad been suffered before death enSued;
bnt many looked calm, as though slnotl-
cred, yet they were all blackened With
smoke. Some We're burned beyond the
possibility of Identification, nothing re-
naming but the trunk OF the body.
INCIDENTS OF THE DISASTER.
Some of the victims were burned to crisp
cinders down to the very bones about their
faces, and then IL RUG, a shawl, OF some
article of apparel or the peculiar fOrma-
tion Of a finger even, would recall o
them living and seeking friends
An old man OF perhaps sixty-tlve years
Of age, one of the first admitted to
the basement of the school house, after Il
bodies for his daughter, went home, and
soon returned with his feeble old wife
whose anguish as she eagerly lifted the
clothes from each charred, revolving body
in search OF some clue to the missing loYeu
one, was pitiful i'll the extreme. She WAS
about to abandon the search when She
esried garter which she knew to belong
to her daughter, and by this slight clue the
body was identified.
Another equally singular case was the
Identification of Il little daughter Oh Joseph
Briggs of Cabot street, by he. younger sis
ter, who instantly recognized her by the
shoes she had on. The heal of the ppcr
unfortunate child WAS charred beyond all
recognition, and the grief OF the Surviving
sister was one of the most pltlful features
of the morning Indeed she could only
give vent to her terrible anguish Dy low, pl- /
teous means. The bony hand Ut one woman
was recognized by IL ring which was taken
from her hand, upon which the fingers
were lear burned off, While her head and
upper portions OF her body were burned |
to the bone. The body of a man Whose
head was nearly buried off WAS chiefly |
identified by Il charred postal card i'll his
pocket.
One of the most protracted cases OF Suf- |
fering was that Of Mary Desjardin, who, |
burned to crisp and blind past all recog- |
milton, somehow found her way 10 the hin |
north of the church and wandered around |
there about twenty minutes before she was |
found and taken to her home on the North |
Flat, where she died about II O'Clock this |
morning, having fingered fifteen hours in !
terrible agony. Her sister Lillian also died |
this forenoon at the House OF Providence, |
whittier she was taken Thursday midnight. |
Mrs. Desjardin. the mother, who WAS
burned in the church, had taken all the
money Of the family with her, ald-of course
it was entirely lost.
The Piedmont Virginian, apologlzing
for publishing but half u sheet, this week,
says Owing to the meanness of our pat
rops in not paying US money enough to
buy paper, we are compelled to issue a half
sheet this week. We regret this on ac
count OF our prompt paying friends. AS
to our deli. quents. they can go to the -
as far us we care
Hon. A. r. Boteler was one of the pail
Nal e l.. |