The Portland daily press., 1883-02-21
A FATAL CRUSH.
Appalling Disaster in a Catholic
School.
FIRE CAUSES A PANIC AND A RUSH
TO THE sTAIRwAYs.
The Railing Breaks and Fourteen Chill
dren are Killed.

uA6u aIo AllktNs
New York, Feb. 20.-An outbreak of fire
| under the stairs on the second floor of the
| schooi house attached to the Roman Catholic
church of the Most Holy Redeemer, at 315
| O'Clock this afternoon, was the cause Of an an
! palllng accident, no less than IA children los
ing their lives. Over 700 scholars, mostly
children OF the poorer class residing in that
neigh borhood, ranging from to II years of
| age, attended the school and were in their
school-room when the alarm of fire was raised.
! winch resulted in fearful panic. The re-
movai OF the children on the fourth floor COM
menred quietly enough and was progressing
rapidly when one of the sisters of charity in
charge of the class of girls tainted from excite
ment. Immediately the class was thrown into
CONFUSION and rush made for the hallway On
| the stairs which were already crowded, panic
ensued and mad rush took place. While the
children was piling one on another the railing
| OF the stairs broke and the mass of struggling
children was precipated to the floor below.
| There the police and firemen with some pass
| ing citizens rushed in and found them packed
| four and five deep. Six were taken cut dead
| from the bottom, eight more died immediately
after, making total of IA. A large number Of
others who were carried to the surrounding
tenements of the densely populated neigh bor-
| hood were reported dying
| The excitement when the news of the terri
| bic catastrophe spread was fearful, and great
throngs of excited people blocked the streets
| surrounding the school. Many children lost in
| the excitement are reported missing. The fol-
lowing is list of the dead as far as the police
| returns now show:
Minnie Usler, years; Mary Habernecht, Z
years; Mary Ann Happ, 8 years: Minnie Truhe,
10 years; Josephine Mari, years; Mary
Brecht, 8 years; Lena Becker 8 years; Lizzie
Skapetzki, years; Theresa Katzner, II years:
Barbara Bregenzer years; Louisa Florea, 8
years. She was taken out alive, and died in
the St Francis Hospital. A girl apparently
years old, and another about years were both
unidentified. The injured are: Rudolph Man
del, years, taken out unconscious aud re-
moved to the convent OF Notre Dame,
adjoining the school, and supposed to Bbe
dying. He had been trampled under foot by
the rushing crowd. A boy name and age un-
known, was taken into an adjoining store.
The school building is five stories, very
shallow, and fronts on 4th street. Its rear
wall stands against the German Catholic
church of the Most Holy Redeemer in Sd
street, of which it is an adjunct On the east
side is the convent of the Sisters of Notre
Dame, who haYe charge of the school. Father
Hespelien is school director. Five hundred
girls, under 12, and 200 boys attend the school
and they were all in classes when the panic
occurred. The building, by reason of its shall
loWness, is peculiar and survey of it shows
every precaution for safety in a building bad
been dlsregarded. On four floors there are
nine class rooms opening into two Railways,
with stairs running east aud west reaching
either end of the building. Through the class
rooms access can be had to either stairway, but
the halls and stairs that separate class rooms
are closely packed with benches and
seats. In nearly every room the doors open
inward and there is only one door in a room to
afford egreSs for from 80 to so children, mostly
young girls, and the doors are only
two aud a half feet wide. The starways are
likewise narrow and at the top of the highest
light there is stout wooden gate not easily
moved. Actual measurement showed that
the inward opening door came within II inches
OF the end of the nearest benches, hardly af-
fording room to squeeze through. The backs
of the benches were within a inches of the
wall and the stove blocked all egress at the
Junction OF the passage way and centre aisle
between the row of benches.
The fire started in a closet under the stairs
on the second floor. It amounted to nothing,
but when first seen filled the hall and stairs
with smoke. Sister Apromia who was about
to send child home opened the door of ber
class room and was met by gust of smoke
through which the flames could be seen.
Hastily shutting the door she ran for pail of
water, sternly commanding the pupils to re-
main quiet She was too late with the water
and hurridly marshaling her scholars marched
them in safety out. The alarm by this time
had spread through the school and similar
precautions had been taken in each class. The
boys in some classes became unruly, but were
kept in hand by great effort. Exit being
impossible by the east stairs which were filled
with ire and smoke the march was taken
through the class rooms on each floor to the
west side iE comparative order. Half
a minute after the alarm had
been given half of the children were
in the street. Just at this time the sister in
charge of the girls class on the second floor
tainted. This was the one mishap swanted to
precipitate panic, and with wild cry of fear
the 20 or 50 young girls thus left without a
leader, rushed through the door into the
already crowded hallway, throwing the throng
there into confusion. Shrieking children
crowded and rolled and fell down the stairs to-
gether, the foremost and weakest falling or
being pushed down and trampled upon. Others
struggling over them found an impossible bar
rier on the stairs from the street. Policeman
Henry Schweak, who was on the duty at the
school, but had gone into the church, rushed
in With citizens and firemen, hearing the
struggling mass on the stairs, receiving fresh
additions from ABOVE and swelling in their
sight. Suddenly hand-rail and board part-
tion guarding the stairs on the exposed side
crashed in, and mass of dead and dying chill
dren fell to the narrow hall below, filling it
four and five deep.
A score of hands were quickly at work pull
ling the children out and as many more by
main force kept back the crowd still coming
from above. The slight fire on the other side
had been promply extinguisheds and many
OF those still on the upper floors were helped
out that way by firemen. From the heap of
children in the west hall six dead girls from
seven to ten years of age were taken out and
carried into the church where they were laid
in front of the chancel and Intellectual at
tempts to resuscilate them. Mothers forced
their way despite the large force of police end
filed the sacied building with pitful cries
One recognizing her child fell upon it with
| agonizing shrieks. Policemen and grave
monks who looked on turned away in dazed
manner to hide their tears. Conveyances
| arriving the bodies were gathered up
| by the officers in their arms and car
| ried out and taken to the 9TH street po-
lice station. clamoriug, shrieking, moaning
throng of women, with upl!fted hands and
| streaming eyes, surrounded it, searching for
| children. Some found those whom they
sought and fell upon their knees in the snow
! and mud with Thanksgiving. Those who could
not find their little ones followed the wagons
carrying the Dead wailing throng, a terrible
| funeral cortege. In the rear room of the sta
tion 13 little bodies were laid in row num-
bered as they were laid with paper tickets
| pinned on their clothes. The mothers search
| ing for their little ones were admitted one by
| one. A shrek and heartrending moan pre-
| claimed recognition Of the bodies one after
! another, and the spectators turned away
heartsick. AS the name and age of each child
was taken the friends were allowed to carry
| the body out through the crowds Coroners
| Levy aud Merkle and Commissioner of Chari-
ties Brennan assisted Capt. Mccullough in his
work. George III. LAMBERT, an officer of the
| society for prevention of cruelty to children,
was the first to give the alarm. While riding
| on passing horse car he saw the smoke and
heard the cry of fire. He then assisted the po-
| lice and tremen in getting the bodies A num-
horo ipIu rod nc To1J H.