The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1876-06-22
distressing Casualty-Five Children
Burned to Death. Ts

D About one mile back from Lake St.
Clair, at Stony Point, some fifteen miles
above Windsor, stood rather large farm
house which was the residence of Francis
Mailloux, his wife and seven children, the
Oldest seventeen years of age and the
youngest eight months old. The house
was built Of hewed logs with clapboards
on the outside, and consisted of main
part with two stories and kitchen addi-
ton at the rear end. In the front part of
the lower story was bedroom, in which
Mr.. Mailloux, his wife, the baby and the
oldest child were sleeping. The upper
story contained two large rooms, which
were separated by a small hall and stair
way. In the front room, upstairs, the
remaining five children were sleeping.
Between the stairway and the bedroom &C.
cupled Dy the parents was the dining
room, and the lower landing of the stair
way was between the dining room and the
kitchen.
About nine o'clock Wednesday night
Mr.. Mailloux and his wife were awak ened
by the struggles of the baby, which was
IN the bed with them, and Immediately
they discovered that their room was filled
with smoke: To spring from the bed
with the baby in their arms and to awaken
the oldest child was but the work Of an in.
slant. Then they opened the door into
the dining room, with the intention of
going out at the side-door and also to
awaken the children upstairs. There
they were met by a wall OF fire extending
across the opposite side of the dining
room and driving them back with its
awful heat. Closing the door, MIR. Mail
loux passed through the. bedroom and
parlOr and out at the front door,
followed by his wife with the baby and
eldest child. Taking them to safe dis
lance from the house, Mr. Mailloux turned
to give the alarm to the remainder of
his family, and saw a small, quivering
flame struggling through thereof, which
was completely overshadowed with thick
and dense volumes of smoke. Then it
Was that he saw sight calculated to
| shake the stoutest heart. The chamber
became suddenly lighted, and he could
see that it was filled with smoke. Still
none of the children appeared. He went
to the side door and found the stairway a
mass of fire. He returned to the front
, door and dashed into the room wild with
tear and iOr minute was lost to sight.
When he returned his hands were badly
burned and his hair, whiskers and eye
brows were singed.s He was met by his
wife and together they looked at the
chamber window. There they saw indis.
tinctly through the smoke the forms Of
their children tlantically waving their
hands and feebly struggling to reach the
sash. One by one they disappeared until
only two remained in sight, and just then
Il pane of glass was shattered, the frag-
ments as they flew being followed by a
cloud of smoke, which hid the window
tor several minutes, during which time
Mr.. and Mrs. Mailloux could only watch,
hoping that from the dark canopy above
their children would drop into their out
stretched arms. The minutes seemed
hours; the suspense was awful and only
the rush and roar of the flames washeard
Suddenly, with a sharp and short crash
of glass, the window above their heads,
where but short time before they had
seen their children, sent forth huge, hot
bar OF flame, driving the now thoroughly
distracted parents away from beneath it
and telling with terrible brevity the sad
fate of their little ones. All. that could
be had been done by the parents, and
returning to the two surviving children
they gave themselves over completely
to their grief, where they were found
shortly after by their neighbors. The
nearest neighbor lived half a mile away
and it is probable that no assistance would
have arrived had it not been for Hector
Predhomme, of WINDSOR, who, while rid
ing about mile away, saw the flames
and gave the alarm. Soon there were
fifteen or twenty persons at the scene, and
while some of them attended to the grief
stricken parents the others turned their at
tention to extinguishing the flames. A.
ter an hours hard work the fire was out.
Then began the sad search for the bodies
Last seen near the front window, the
search for the children began at that point,
but they were not there. AT last. in a
corner Of the room, about fifteen feet
away from the window, were found clus-
tered together in a sickening, horrible
heap, the remains of the five unfortunate
ones. They were not distinguishable,
there beng no clothing, nothing but
bones and portions of limbs. The details
are too horrible to relate, but may be real
lied when it is stated that when collected
they were placed in an ordinary flour
barrel and occupied about half the space
therein.
1t is not known how or where the fire
originated, but it is supposed that it be-
gan in the kitchen.
Mr.. MaillOux and his wife are both bad
| ly burned about the face and arms, and
as yet have not been in condition to re-
late their frantic efforts to save the lives
of their children; but that they did strug.
gle hard is plainly shown by the severe
nature of their WOundS-Detrpik h,et