The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1883-02-28

children at the bottom of the pile grew
Ct ther."
detective Robinson sa d: Fire broke
out uoder the stair case on the second floor
and sss easily exIingBisl ed. / examined
the piNfe, and it seems TO NE some
matches'flust have been swept with some
papers uoA'er the stairway and been ignited
by frictioIy With the floor"
Solomon Reid said: ''On ne floor bshind
the stair c2Se ky mass Of struggling.
roaming children. They were piled on
TIM OF each other. As quickly as possible
we pulled them out snd passed 5hem one by
one through the window. Those on the tsp
were still alive. When we reacted the bof-
tom we came upon ten dead. It was an
a~Lul sight to see 'hem lying there wita
He Wide 0tanSned onsn S Isce' .,a2 mouth sna eyes
Ia disorder. One little girl, Minnis Truke,
was stlll alive. She died, however, on the
way to the Station HoEee 1t is tie most
awful scene ever passed through. The
dead were remoysdto the Police Stas.on at
F1ssh street and First aysnne whers they
weJe laid in a row On the floor in the back
rooEa- They were all quickly identified by
lsorr9w-serlcken mothers, and little brothers
and sisters The -emoval OF each 10 the
Sfflleted homes of tie family was prom7siy
perTNrsed by the authoritie2 The scensls
s.the class room and tie halls after the panic
was Slnost indescriSabfe. Dons of boo,xs
kand oFezen school az paratus and fragmeES
pot torn clothing we e scattered upon the
floor, vElsich showed rsterrible evidence oa
the wits struggle of tie chilGren 10 escape
rom the building"
The school building p five s4criss high
shallow IN depth ancs frontings on Fourth
street srd embracing SeTeTai I1mfsrs. Ii
Is adlacen5 TO the ChurclIof the-Akbst Holy
cd n 81
OF tiie Sisters of Notre Ds 1ze, whS bavs gen
srat charge OF the school. Father HeEelein
Is school Director. Five hundred girls
pnCer twelve years of age and 2a,o bcsFs a.
tend SchoO5, and theg we're all in sheir
classesswhea the panic oc1orred.. AasTrvey
shows every Y1le and procession forI saasety
IN the school had been Sisregsrded. On
four I5Ors there are me class, rUsns
opening into s~o Railways, with stairs 7rTn-
nlng sast and west, reached IN eth s=eusb OF
the building Through cl1ss rooms aOress
can be hsd TO either stairway. But ths,halls
ana stairs are separated. N nearly every
room doors open inward, AMI there ~, only
one'doorfin'th the room for the egress of from
thirty % 1ftf children, mostly young.9trss,
and the doors are only two and one-halS
feet wldeS The stairways a-s. likewise mar.
row, and at the top of the highest Sight
there IS q stout wooden g3ts' not easily
moved. Actual meaSureme &c, showed the
inward -oneDiDg door came withing eleven
Inches o@'the end of the nearest benches,
hardly room to squeeze through The bscks
! OF the benches were withi3s twenty four
| inches of'ths rear wall, and tho stove block
| AIDED all progress at the iunctien.of thaSpss-
sagewey and the cente. aisle between the
| ToT0of benches. Promptly upon the sSasm
Offire being given the Sisters aarshalleA the
children, and before half . minute had
elapsed half Of them were on TIE street~'5ye
one stairwey, the other being useless by.
reason OF fire and smoke. The other Salf
would have quickly marched out uu-
harmed, but chat the Sister iD charge OF 30.
| class, overcome by the peril of her charge,
sv0Oped away. This class immediately be-
came panic stricken, brol g away from
all restraint and threw the oshez
rapidly marching classes into confusion,
and all rushed for the stairway With
| the sad results already told. Prom the heap
of children in the west hal5six dead f-itls,
t-om. seven to ten years of age, were tax en
ont and eaEri ed into the Chu.ch, where hey
we're laid in front of the sanctuary and at
tenpts to resCscitate were raade. Moekers
forcing their way in, despite the large 0Tcs-
OF police, flled the sacred building With
pitiful cries.
| One recognizing her child dead fell lpon
it With agonizing shrieks. Policemen and
monks turned away dszed ii the spectacle
fConveyancas arriving, the bodies were taken
tup by.t otkcers in their azaAs and carried
tout The olamoring, shr ekiDg. molaing
throng o.; women, with up,ifted andc=and
streaming s5es, followed Mothers ind
ing missing childIoa living fell
upon. their knees in mud and anow,
| giving thanks. In ths Station house
3 frantic shrek proclaimed ideHtif ation
OF each,little dead one The ages OF sthe
children, dead and INFUSED, range besween
seven and twelve years. The following is a
correct statement:
Dead-Mtnnie lister, Mary Happoaecht,
Mary Ann Happ, MINI q. TFupe, joss phine
| Moo7e. Graeie GaetZner Lena Becker, Lizzie
/ SkapetZki, Teresa RatzneT< Barbara B-engen-
ger; Franoss Wittenmash, Eliza R,anden-
burg. Lena Brindnsge-. Bar 5ara BescA0l and
Alphonss Fischer
Injured,-Louisa Fl ozen,, 3 years, is be-
lieved to be dying ac she - suffer- -, from
sufocatioE and internal injuries; sohn En-
gle, IL years, leg bro sen; gredericEl Gintle
man, 9 years, crushed and internal injuries,
Rudolph Mundall, years, will die from in
| serhal i1lnries; Sister Phaiippina = slightly
injured.
Father Hespelir says he wac teaching
with Sister Phillip Ba when he SOW. smoke
IcomisS uFtairs. I1lm saiately there we7s
cries as 'Ffrei" md a 1ush and ahuffiingsi
feet. More smok ., followed, and sixty-two
girls. in the class besan to shI Is uneasisy
! The noise increa nd, and several d the ga-1s
ran to the door. He ssd the Siaser got in
fre2s ed the now thoroughly; frightened
giIls- and shoated: Order but tAsy
might as we'll have tried to STOP
a EhiTlwind. The. g,sls broke past and ran
o1tscEeamrng and crying, carrying botA the
Sister and binlSelf with than, BE ther
bea0d a crasha and saw children h0aped
upon the floor below and others still CSowd
ing on. The.dead children Rere all 1T the
bottom OF the heap. The school was. built
IN 1S48- Two years ago frenen inspected
, issohOol, nut made no recon-
, lmsnd at ions. AL the Sisters HefuseC
ito narle the Sister in class No 5, whG
fainted aadwas, according to the Sister So
, perior, tbs innocent cause Of the calamity
, Sister Apronia fatty denies she was the one
Great praise is given Sistsr Philippe, WHIT
. strug lied to the last TO stop the rush, anC
, wis finally, with the children, thrown dowI
stair s. One more little victim Was added Il
the list tonight, Mary Brecht making
total of sixteeA deaths.
? LAID AT REST.
r Funeral da the victins of tbs New Yori