The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1882-11-16
BURNED IN BEDl


Fearful Fire in a Nova scotia Poorhouse-
Thirty Helpless Paupers Perish In the
Flames-Heroic Firemen Hurled from
tlle erumbTing Walls while Men, Women
and Children Shrek for SneeOr.
The Eastern and Provincial Poor Asvlum,
an immense brick structure in the suburbs OF
/ Halifax, n. s., burned on the 7th and more
4 than thirty Of the inmates persisted IN the
1 flames Exactly how the fire originated Is not
very clear. but at midnight volume Of smoke
rolled up from a bake house in the basement
! and spread into the dormitories. causing the
| utmost terror among the four or five hundred
! inmates of the institution. There was no Inn
mediate danger, so the officials OF the asylum
/ did not take steps to remove any of them. An
alarm was sounded, and the stroke of the
bell. had scarce commenced when reels were
run out of the engine houses, as one or two
/ men happened to be about, and the few peO-
pie who had not retired and others who lived
in the neighborhood ran TO thebuilding, They
found smoke Issuing from the windows, but
no flames were seen. In the west wiAg old
women and children were crying to be let
| out and as they began breaking the glass it
was feared they would throw themselYes 20
the ground. sturdy fireman dashed ae
the door leading from this wing into
the yard, and with few vigorous blows OF
his ak knocked IL in. The stairways were
/ crowded, and out came procession of old
and feeble men, women, and nurses bearing
children. All were screaming, and as they
reached the fresh air they calculated their
thanks and then began calling for missing
i friends or relatives, until all was q babel OF
1 confusion. When it became known that those
! in the upper wards of that wing were help
/ less, some of the fremen and wardens, Al
! dermcn, a Clergyman, and others who were
/ among the early arrivals, hastened mp, and
/ willing hands were soon getting the blind,
| halt, and lame down the winding stairs. The
work was necessarily slow, but finally the
wing was emptied. In the meantime the
/ flames in the basement, which the supcrin-
tendent, engineer, and officials were trying 20
\ keep under, spread 10 the base Of the eleva-
/ tor reaching to the top of the main building.
/ The draft swept the flames upward with tre-
/ mendous force, and in a few seconds the roof
was a mass of flames. The story just under
| the caves was used as a hospital, and in 1t
were about seventy patients, most of
them perfectly helpless The heat
was intense; lead poured down in
! streams of brilliant fire, and slates
/ AeW everywhere in deadly showers, render
/ ing any near approach to the building almost
certain Death Notwithstanding This there
were hundreds standing outside who would
willingly have entered II they could have
found their way through the place. Indeed,
! several firemen did go I'm, but without guild
ance they could do nothing, and they had
to retrace their steps to the yard. An
| attempt was made TO reach the windows. but
| the ladders were too short and the men were
knocked down by falling brick. The fire
burst through thereof, and the scene was one
/ never TO be forgotten. Far above the roar OF
the flames and the crack Of the bursting states
1 were heard the cries fthe wretched patients,
| who were roasting to DEATH Most of them,
as before stated, were helpless and could not
/ leave their BEDS and perhaps were stihed by
the smoke before the flames reached them.
/ But others were seen to dash themselves
/ against the windows and cling TO the sashes,
/ till their strength was exhausted or their
/ hands burned off. One woman dragged
/ herself to the corner window, and fore
1 ing her body half out till she could breathe
the cool air, remained in that position till her
head burned off. OF the seventy patients i'm
i the hospital, as far as could be ascertained,
4 only half a dozen were carried out before the
flames cut off all further approach TO the
| place. medical man, who is in position to
| know, estimates the total loss of life at not
less than fifty, all patients in the hospital The
/ old people and little children rescued from
! the other parts of the building were huddied
/ together in barn some little distance away,
| and we're there packed around with straw
i and blankets to keep than comfortable till
! morning. As day dawned tile fire had
exhausted itself, and nothing but
/ the bare walls and tall turrets re
i manned standing. The Board of Public
| Charities met on the grounds and made hasty
| arrangements to dispose of the paupers.
i meal CT bread and hot tea was served ont and
! then the workshop, a comfortable building
near by, was filled with BEDS and the old
women and children and sick were moved
into it. Later in the day the old Peniten-
4 tiary was secured and filed with
stores bedding, etc, to accommodate az
many as possible. The old skating rink in the
/ public gardens was also fitted up to receive
/ them. Gen. Sir Patrick MacDougail gener-
| ously offered to place 500 blankets at the dis
| posal of the Government il required. In the
! City Prison the news caused the widest ex-
| element. Many of the convicts impiOred the
| Governor 60 release them long enough TO
/ learn the fate of friends and Felativts IN the
! asylum. Commissioners have gone carefully
| over the books and find that thirty-one Of
/ those in the hospital perished. The building
was constructed in 1868. IL owned
/ by the province and city. 1t was
taken possession of and the paupers
| transferred from the old Poor House, on the
| Spring Garden road. to the new premises,
| about the 1st of November, 1870. The removal
| Of the old people on that occasion resulted
shortly afterward in the death Of many. The
building cost So, 100. and was insured for S50,-
| 600. Some fragments of charred bodies were
recovered, but no extensive search has been
or can with safety be made among the ruins
in their present dangerous condition.