New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-02-21
DETAILS OF THE OCCURRENCE.

DETAILS OF THE OCCURRENCE.
CHILDREN PACKED TOGETHER IN A cRAMPED STAIR
WAY WITH WEAK RAILING.
| When the fire broke ont there were about 700
children in the building, of whom about 200 were
Doys from five to twelve years of age. The struc-
ture is of brick, five stories high, and connected
by narrow passage with tie Church Of the Most
Holy Redeemer, which faces TnIrd-st Tho
| school Is in charge of the Convent of Notre Dame
which lies just east of II, while still east Of the
vent is the boys school proper. There nine class
ooms In the building, two on each floor, except on
the irst-seven of them for girls aud two for boys
and the building shallow. being not more than
| thirty feet Deep they all lcok out in Fourth-st.
There are narrow halls the east and west sides OF
| the building, running behind the recitation rooms,
aud the stalrways hardly admit of the passage of
| two persons abreast. On the third floor there IS
general landing and from this the stairs continue
down ON each side Of the structure The first floor
is few feet above the eveI of the street and IS
reached from the front by stairs rising at right
angles to the building There entrances on
each side ny descending steps into the basement,
where broad halls lead tothe rear. aud from there
| narrow stairs lead up to the first floor. From the
landing of the stairs leading from the second to the
first floor two narrow halls lead 10 the font OF the
building, communicating with steps All the stair
ways are dark that one needs to feel his way IN
passing through many of them The doors coDmu-
nicaung with them are still narrower; one OF them
on the second floor leading to the room where 100
small boys were accustomed to recite, is two ana
a-haf feet wide aud on being opened, as 1t swings
inward leaves only about foot of space for pas
sage between 1t and the seats.
The 700 children were engaged in recitng their
q Thaup in eharOa
OF nine Sisters of the Convent OF Notre Dame and OF
Father Hesperlen, the principal The nine were
Sister Superior Augusta and Sisters Apronls Pros
| pera Angela, Phppa, Ventura Bonaventurs,
Matrona and Flavia. Father Ilesperlein was on
the third floor in charge of one class and another
OH the same aoOr was being conducted by sister
Flsvia. Sister Apronia was instructlng class OF
about 100 boys the east side OF tue second loor.
On the west side was class of girls. Between tho
two rooms is large closet, with two doors opening
from It, one into each hail.
few minutes after o'clock Sister Apronla was
summoned to the door to see a woman who had
called with her son. and while talking with the
visitor she smelled smoke On looking to the left
along the narrow hall, she saw smoke issuing from
\ small closet under tse stairs leading from tho
third floor to the second floor on which she stood.
She ran and opened the closet door. Flames burst
| from ths closet and the Sister driven back.
| She at once to ber room, marshalled her
| scholars and as she said last night marched them
out and through the narrow hall past the ire and
| s,felv Jown to the street About the same time
Theodore Edeman. a carpenter who was at WORK N
the basement rushed up stairs and attempted TO put
ont the fire. The alarm meanwhile was sent
throughout the building and the girls anu boys De-
| gan running down stairs from the hVe hoorA
Many children rushed TO the front windows raised
fra - oSSin
them. and at once as the neighbOrhood is thckly
inundated and the homes of most OF tie children
were near by the or atest confusion arose III tho
streets g. H. Lambert, of the Society for the Pre-
| vention of Cruelty to Animals who was riding by
on an Avenue \ horse car. heard the cries jumped
from the car and sent out hre alarm from 'io ooA
| at Avenue A and Third-st.
| Inside the building the children had fallen lntoa
state of terror and their cries were distinctly heard
outsiae The fire cut them OF from the east sde
halls below the third floor. and so the whole stream
of bows and girls was directed to the narrow dimiy-
| ignted halls and staIrways In the west slde' AS
they reached the first hJor 'hey were Obliged 10
make a right anged turn to the right, to enter ths
hall which led to the front. 1t was at this pons
that the terrible catastrophe happened As the
ch,lJren were rushing down the stars between ths
socond ana first floors some of the lite ones fell
and the re,t came crowdDg upon them. The stairway
was thronged and the wooden railing suddenly
gnve way Instantly the screaming, struggling
frightened children were prec'pltated III mass
over the side Of the stairway into the hal oe'o"'
Others from above fell upon them. Sister fhlppa'
who had taken her position there, struggled nero
icay to save them but she was buried IN the pie Oh
little ones some of whom were III lew minutes
sufocated, Others killed by shock ana still Others
injured severely .
The tiremen meanwhile had arrived. and they pus
out the fire within a few minutes. Then they
trr,sd tbeir attention to the children. Captain
NcCullauh. of the Fifth Street Police. arrived
vithi, n snort time and with his men did all
nossible to exuicate and care for tue children.
Tbev found the girls and boys packed together III
nile over fl ye feet high those or top were litte' IL
a1y injured. but AS the rescucrs rcmo'eu 'ne"'
they came to sights which appalled, them. one W
o. tbs little ones were taken out sud carried, some
10 neighborng drug and other stoIes o'n0is " '"'
homes by their friends and relatives.
Tho scene outside had become Que ot excitemenI
The street from Avenue A TO Avenue and far west
- svenu, A was thronged with horror-stricken
people The chdrens parents all lI7ed in tho
nsighborhood and they can rushing from all cirec-
ons "A soon as they had heard the news OF the dis
,ster Mothers were nearly frantic. They wTung
their hands aud called on the police aud the nremen
at one moment TO save their children, and the next
thev would make desperate efforts to enter tho
building. The lifeeSs bodies OF sixteen cn''dren
were taken ont, and many more children "no "e,'
apparently dead. Many Of those from wnoll ''1
had NOT departed were taken TO Inc 'o"'e"' u"
Notre Dame some to Henry SEMINARS "i"E s'o.. ~
- and rbird-st, aud Others to the shoe
store adjoining, of Francis Hubel' As the
oror,on o, were raising ladder 10
rnmove some children from the high steps
leading Leading to the first floor three women who mad
Oh,Idren in the school rushed up the ladder before
them IN a desperate endeavor to rescue their on
spring. .. H.. c.
At the convent the scene was heartrendlng some
-. 80 onht children wore there. All the physlclans