The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-03-16
Che Brooklyn Fire---SeYcral People
Burned TO Death.

The House for Aged People, conducted by
the Catholic community known as the
Little Sisters of the Puur,n and located III
the Eastern District of Brooklyn, was
burned this morning. The house comprised
a four-story building, with two wings, and
contained 1S5 inmates.
The fire was discovered in the south wing
bv person on the street, who gave the
alarm by ringing tie bell of the institution,
awakening the Sisters and the aged inmates.
When the tiremcn arrived the flames wcrc
sweeping through the south wing in every
direction, and it was not until about nine
o'clock, and the fire had been reduced to
smoldcring cmbcrs in the basement, that
| the tircmen were enabled by ladders to CX-
! anime the upper stories Of the burned wing.
In one of the rooms in the third story,
second tier, horrible sight presented itself
to the fireman who first was able to make
his way through the smoke and flames into
it, There, stretched upon their pallets, the
mattresses, quilts, and evenPillows of which
had been singcd by fire, being partially
covered with the water that subducd the
flames around them, were the corpscs of nine
unfortunate creatures, some of whom were
| paralytic, and all of whom were unable
! to leave their beds. few OF them
| were burned, and the hair upon their
| heads singcd, but all doubtless died
| from sutfocation caused by smoke.
| On the second floor, likewise, one
old man was found dead seated in a
| chair He also died of asphyxia, and had
| been so infrm that he was unable to leave
| his seat. After the ffremen saw the flames
were subdued, a trying duty awaited them.
| In the ruins it was certain were the bodies of
| MANY who had perishcd in the most terrible
| manner, but what number it was impossible
to determine, for the men, as fast as they
| could escape, were either housed in the resi-
| dcnccS of ncighbOrs or were wandering
| about in a half-crazed, and in some instances
half-clad, condition. The frcmen, however,
continued the work Of pouring water on the
| embers and when these cooled they began
| the search for those who were burned Their
labors brought from beneath the debris
the charred and mangled bodies of eight
| men, whose remains fell with the floors on
which they pcrishcd. This made in all eight
! cen victims of the holocaust, including
those who died from suffocatiOn. Those
burned were, Of course, unrccoguizable,
| and their blackencd remains presented
| sickening sight, as the firemen dragged them
! out and gave them in charge of the Sisters,
the clergy, and brethren from st. Johns
| College. These in turn conveyed the remains
to the basement Of the institution, and there
wrapped them up in sheets and blankets to
await the arrival Of the Coroner.
During the progress Of the fire the as
pcct within the building, as seen from the
outside was tragic in the extreme. "SaHe
mew "Save mem rose with piercing en-
phasis from the cracked and feeble voices OF
old men who were bed ridden, re-echoed by
women who were crippled. With the energy
of despair, and in the wild effort to avert
death, the mere thought of which makes the
heart stand mOmentarily still, the aged
creatures besieged the windows, and, open
ing them, allowed a current of air to pass IN
and fan the flames. Their screams were
dreadful.
One poor old man, as the flames rushed
toward him, where he stood in thlrd-story
window, got upon the wooden window Sill,
and jumped, or rather threw himself down
upon the ground. He was killed Instantly;
and his example came near having fatal
, effect upon another of his companions, who
initiated it, and was carried from the spot
with his bones broken and his joints dislo-
Gated, suffering terrible agony. In tho
woman's department, after the panic had in
some degree subsidized many of the females
sank into inertia, and, after the police dragged
!, them away from their cots on which they had
lain down, they returned to the room andln-
. sisted on going to bed again. TWAS with the
! greatest difficulty that they could be induced
to leave, and when they were led outside
, they wandered about aimlessly until many
of them were picked up by charitable per-
sons in the vicinity, and provided with
shelter Others of them insisted on saving
the beds on which they had slept; Others be-
| walled the sad condition of the Sisters, and
all of them gave way to idiosyncrasy wholly
foreign to the supreme necessity that i'm
PEELED the officers to get them out as quickly
as possible.