Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1876-03-15
Tie Terrible Fire Calamity in Brook.
Ign, \. Y.
Nyw YoRK March z.

NEW YORK, March z.
| The House for Aged People, conducted by
the Catholic community known a. The
Little Sisters of the Poor" and located in
the Eastern District Of Brooklyn, was
| burned this morning The house comprised
| four-story balding, with two wing, and
| contained 1S5 inmates.
The fire was discovered In the south wing
| by a person on the street, who gave the
| alarm by ringing the bell of the Institution,
| awakening the Sisters and the aged inmates.
| When the tirenen arrived the ilames were
| sweeping through the south wing in every
| direction, and it was not until about nine
| o'clock, and the fire had been reduced to
| smoldering embers in the basement, that
| the iremen were enabled by ladders to eX-
| 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
| IL. There, stretched upon their pallets, the
mattresses, quilts, and ever pillows Of which
had been suged by fire, being partially
covered with the water that subdued the
| flames around them, were the corpses of nine
| unfortunate creatures, some OF whom were
| paralytic, and all of whom were unable
to leave their beds. A few Of them
were burned. and the hair upon their
| heads singed, but all doubtless died
from suffocation 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 iniirm that he was unable to leave
| his seat. After the liremen saw the flames
were subdued, trying duty awaited them
| In the ruins it was certain were the bodies Of
| many who had perished 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-
dences Of neghbors or were wandering
/ about in half-crazed and in some instances
| half-clad, condition. The tiremen, however,
| continued the work OF pouring water on the
enbers, and when these cooled they began
| the search for those who were burned. Their
| lators brought from beneath the debris
| the eharred and mangled bodies Of eight
men, whose remains fell with the floors on
which they persisted This made in all eight
cen victims OF the holocaust, including
those who died from sutfocation. Those
burned were, Of course, unacceptable,
and their blackened remains presented a
| sickening sight, as the tiremen 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
! pect within the building AZ seen from the
outside, was tragic in the extreme. "Save
| mep "Save mel" 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 current Of air to pass in
| and fan the flames. Their screams were
dreadful.
! one poor old man, as the flames rushed
! toward hun, where he stood in a third story
| window got upon the wooden window sill i,
| and jumped, or rather threw himself down
| upon the ground He was killed instantly;
| and his example came neav having a 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 the
| womans department, after the panic had in
| some degree subsidized, many of the females
| sank intoinertia, and after the police dragged
| them away FROM their cots on which they had
| lain down, they returned to the room and in
| sisted on going to bed again. 1t was 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 10 the supreme necessity that i'm
| PEELED the officers to get them out as quickly
| as possible.