St. Landry democrat., 1883-03-03
CRUSHED TO DEATH.

and Sixteen of Them are Killed and Sew
eral Others Seriously Injured-Pitiab1et
Scenes. efa.gs'E ~
NEW YORK, February 20.
An outbreak of fire under the stairs on the
second floor of the school-house attached to-
the German man Catholic Church of the
Most Holy Redeemer, on Fourth street, be-
tween Avenue A and First avenue, at 3:15
o'clock this afternoon, caused panic which
resulted in the death of fifteen little girls and
the manning of many Others Over seven
hundred scholars, mostly children of the poor
er classes, ranging from six to eleven years
in age. attended the school and were i'm
their class-rooms when an alarm Of fire
was given. The sisters quickly marsha1ed
the children, aud before half min
ute HAD elapsed half of them had reached
the street by one stairway. the other
being useless by reason of the fire and smoke.
The other half would have quickly marched
out unframed, but that the sister in charge OF
No. S class, overcome by the peril of her
charges, swooned away. This class immedi-
ately became panjc-stricken, broke away from
all restraint, threw the other apidly-marchlng
classes into confusion, and all rushed for the
hallway. On the stairs, already crowded,
deadly crush took place. The railing OF the
stairs broke, and a mass of struggling children
ones fell in Il packed mass, one upon another,
from four to five deep The police and fire.
men, who had already been summoned, ar
rived; but their work of rescue was much
hampered by the frightened children, who
continued to fall or leap from the stairway,
those in front being crowded over the broken
balustrade by those behind, still struggling to
re CHI the exit. - l;3tf 5t5f-s=-7 q Z
The fire from which the smoke spread
through the building, bringing such terrible
results to the innocent pupils, was of a most
trivial character. 1t started among mass of
sweepings in the closet beneath the stairs
leading from the second to the third floor, ON
the east side of the building. 1t had been
smoldering for some time, and had eaten its
way through to the center of the partition
wall dividing the hall from the classroom in
front, and had crept up toward the third floor
ere it was discovered. At this mo-
ment visitor called at the school to
see one of the pupils in the fifth
class, which is on the second floor, the
door of which opens almost opposite
to and within five feet of the closet in which
the sweepings were burning. The visitor
knocked at the door, which was opened by one
| of the sisters of Notre Dame, by whom the.
kschool is conducted. Scarcely had the door
SeSwung back on its hinges when the flames
| burst out from under the stairway. The sister
i
children in her care had caught sight OF the
| fire. All efforts to quiet them We're in vain,
| and they lushed madly from the classroom.
| Smoke now rolled out of the closet in great vol
umes, and in few seconds spread to all parts
| Of the building, and scene OF the widest con-
/ fus on ensued.
/ The school building is five stories high and
| has nine class rooms, seven for girls and two
| for boys. The rear of the school abuts at the
/ rear of the Church of the Holy Redeemer,
| which fronts on Third street. There are two
l oil ono in hfs
1 west end of the building. These stairWays were
| about three and a half feet wide, and opened
almost Mt the doors OF the class-rooms Ere m
the play-room, III the center of the building,
| this was approached by q narrow, dark
| passage way. When the girls in the second
foor OF the seho s nusnea IRON M ine ad
| of the stairs when the boys and girls from the
1 upper floor were upon them. All franticalIy
/ fought to get down the narrow stairway. and
| the first were thrown headlong to the bottom.
| Then. as the crush came from the hundreds OF
children trying to get down from the upper
floors on the east side OF the building the pal
| and fully fifty children were thrown to the
/ floor beneath. On these others fell until they
were piled five feet high on top of each other.
officer Lambert, of the Society for the Pre-
1 yention of Cruelty to Children, happened to be
on East 4th street, nearly OPP posite the school.
when the alarm was given. He says: !
rushed into the build ng, and terrible sight
| met my eyes. Packed into q narrow hallway
on the first floor were from fifty to seventy
i've little girls The poor things 1 were scream n
this time other police andciIizens had arrived.
and we began pulling the poor children out OF
the hallway. The cries Of some of the children
fainter, and then ceased altogether
Detective Robinson said :: = The fire broke
out und r the staircase on the second floor and
was easily extinguished. examined the
place, and it seems tome some matches mus
have been swept with the papers under the
stairwav,. and been ignited by the friction with
Policeman Reid said: s. On the floor behind
the staircase Law mass OF struggling, scream
ing children. They were piled on top OF eacf
other. As quickly as poss pie we pulled then e,
Il out, and pass ad them one by one through the
window Those ON top were still alive. When
we reached the lotion we came upon ter
! dead 1t was an awful sight to see them lying
there with their blanched faces. mouth ane
eyes wide open, and their dresses, all in dlsor
der. One little girl, Minnie Truke, was still
9 alive. She died, however on the way to the
!. station-honse. 1t was the most awful scene i
ever passed through The dead were removed
: to the police station on Fifth street and FRS
avenue, where they were laid in a row on the
floor in back room. They were all aueal
, identified by sorrow-stricken mothers and lttl.
brothers and sisters; and the removal of eacl
9the afflicted home of the family was prompt
" permitted by the authorities
ii From the heap Of children in the west hal
six dead girls, from seven to len years of age
were taken and carried into the church, wher
! they were laid infront Of tie sanctuary, ant
, attempts were made to resiiscitate them
Mothers forcing the way in, spite the larg
force of police, filed the sacred building witt
: ptiful cries. One recognized her dead chill
! and fell upon it with agonizing shrieks. TIL
!, policemen and monks turned away dazed a
the spectacle. Conveyanees arriving, tn
7 bodies were taken up inthe arms of the officer
and carried out A clamofing shriekfng
moaning throng of women, with uplffte
hands and streaming eyes followed. Mothers
: | finding their missing children still living. fel
: upon their knees in the mud and snow, giFin
thanks. In the station house the franti
/ | shrieks proclaimed the Identification of eac
: little dead one The ages of the children VIII
are dead and injured range between seven an
Twelve years. ~
, The scene in the classroom 2rl in the hall
after the panic was almost fndestribahle
: Torn books and broken school apparatus, an
, fragments of torn clothes were scattered upo
{ the floors. terrible evidence OF the Vii
1 q y,