Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1882-11-18
TIE HALIFAX HORROR.
AWFUL SCENES At THE BURNING OF
THE POOR A~N LIN
T'l,irtv-onc Lives Lost Piercing Cries al
Hospital Patients While nOn>t-
INK TO Death.

InZ To BGlth.
The origin Of the fire which broke ont
! n the bmkJhouae ii the basement 81 the
/ Poor A., Inn at Halilax \. s.. Tuesday
lieht. is not known. Smoke from smoul-
art.iil4 wood spread throughout the build
/ mo. c.illsitg tn utmost terror among the
I l.ur az ino huut,l,d occupants Of the
darniiurics End other portions Of the in
I Stituti0n As there Wa, no immediate
/ danger the official Of the asylum were IN
uo haste 10 remove the inmates. An
alarm was quickly sounded, and without
! delay the r,>Is were run out OF the engine
houses One or two iiromn vito nap
l,aAvd 10 he in tn ;iciuitv and a few poo
! l,le WHO ICED in tho ncishhorhood rushed
10 a. building. They found smoke
: l~suiug from FL the windows, but no
tul4a were to DC seen. La thu west wing
old women aud children were seen at thu
windows crying 10 be Let ont, and as they
hogan 10 break the glass it WIS feared
! they would throw Themselves ont. \
sturdy aXman dashed at the door leading
/ from this wing Is the ward, and with Il
! " vigoIou, blows Of his aX knocked it
! in The stlirway5 were crowded, and out
! came procession OF women with children
ia arms. aged, gray haired DANES and
feeble old men, VINO upon reaching the
open air wildly CALCULATED their thanks.
Then it became known that those III
the upper wards If tlat wing were almost
/ helpiss The iir' mon aud others who
were among the carly arrivals hastened
mp stairs, and willing hauds were soon
I getting the blind. the halt and the lame
down the long, winding stairs. The work
Was necessarily Il show one, hut finally
that wing was cmpticd. In the mean
time the flames il The basement, which
I the superintendent, the engineer and
Other officials w,ry irving to keep under.
spread to the base "a tn long ali shaft or
elevator reaching 10 the top OF The main
building. I'll. dransht here swvp! the
! flames upward With tremendous force.
and III few seconds the heaviest part Of
the coullagration was in The top of the
main building.
The story just under tho caves in this
building WAS Us 4 as hospital, and in
it were about seventy patients, most Of
them perfectly l. lrl.,s. The ill., was
now burning iierc \ ii The hospital, and
above il the heat cracked the roof till the
! Lead poured down iii streams of brilliant
lire and the states flew in every direction
| ia deadly showers, rendering any near
| approach to the building almost certain
| death. Notwithstanding this there were
| hundreds of persons outside who would
| willingly have entered the building if
they could have found their way through
| tn place. Indeed, several did 60 in, but
| without guidance could do nothing IN
| that immense building, and had to return
to the yards An attempt to raisa lad
/ doris to the windows was made, but the
| ladders We're too short. and after a fire
man had been knocked down by falling
bricks and it WAS seen that the ladders
even would be swept away in n few min
utcs, these attempts were stopped
The fire burst through the roof. and
| the scene was one never TO he forgotten.
Far above the roar Of the flames and the
cracking OF the bursting Stat, were heard
The cries OF the wrvtchcd patients in the
hospital, who were roasting to death
Most OF thm, as before stated were
holpl IS and could rot leave their b, ds,
and were, perhaps stiii,d by the smoke
h,tora the cruel flames reached th,m,
Int others were seen TO dash themselves
| AGAINST the windows and cling 10 the
!
| or their hands we've burned OH and thev
| fell back into the secthiA@ oalir0n of
flames. \ woman Was seen to drag her
If 10 a corner window and force her
body half ont till she could breathe the
cool air outside. She remained in that
! position till HI head was burned off
It's known that there were about seven
t. patients il the hospital. and so far rs
could he asceTtainld only half a dozen
" T. carried ont before the fam 5 cut oil
all further approach to the place. 4
medical man, VINO IS in a position 10
snow. estimates The loss OF life TO b. not
! IS han fifty, and these were all patients
in the hospital The poor old people ami
little children got out of the OH L parts
OF tn building, and wcrv huddlcd toy tn I
III the barn some little distance away.
and were there packed around with straw
and blankets TO keep them comfortable
till morning. All efforts TO save the
| building from total 4 struction wsr fruit
i $. rs it WAS nit riv beyond tn power
Of the irvmen. with tn meaere supply
OF water ut til il command, TO cxtiucuish
the lire.
Is day dawned the fire had exhausted
itsell, and nothing but the bare walls
and turrets, standing in relief against the
81 i'll gray sky, remained to show where
th1 iiIe had been . few hours before.
Ia the City Prison tn news was heard
BY The inmates and created the wild st
excitement. Is many, especially OF the
! Young women prisoners. had mothers
who were ending tlyir days III the poor
houae. Jh,N inplortd the governor and
! tn matrou to ri asc them long enough
! to am the fate If thcir parents. Per-
! laps for tllc first time III their hardened
lives they telt the full sense OF thor cap
tiviiy.
The Commissioners have gone care
fully over th9 books and find that thirty
ono Of those in the hospital pyrishcd-
eight men and twuEtv-thrce women.
! The building Vas erected III 1868. 1t
was owned by the Province and city iii
/ the proportion Of two-thirls and one
/ thjrl rsp. ctly, y. 1t was taken posses
/ SON Of aud The plup rs were transferred
4 llaIu the odd Toorhousc on Spring G;r-
/ den road to the uew premises about
/ November !, 1870 The removal Of old
people OH that occasion resulted in the
! death Of many Of them shortly agtorward.
! Ihe hili!ug cost IS .000, and was in
-urcd for ste, 900 in each OF the follow
rig oiiice.: Halifax. Phoenix, Acadia.
/ Lancashire and Queens. making total
nl so UOl. There vi, -, 900 insurance
| IL HALIFAX on the outbuildinps, which
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