Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-02-21
A FEARFUL PANIC

from the fourth floor began quietly enough,
and was progressing rapidly when the Sister
of Charity in charge OF a clsss OF girls
tainted. Immediately the alarmed class be-
came panic-strickeu, and a rush was made
for the hallway. On the stairs, already crowd
ed, deadly crush took place. The railing
broke, and mass of struggling children
were precipitated to the floor below,
FALLING IN A PACKED MASS
one over another, from four 10 i've deep.
The police and fireman, already summoned,
arrived, but their work of rescue was much
hampered by the frightened children con-
tinuing to fall or leap from the stairway,
those IN front being crowded over the broken
balustrade by the children behind sill
struggling to reach the exit. Six children
were taken out dead from the bottom and
eight more died Immediately after their res
cue, making a total of fourteen. A large num-
Der OF others, who were carried TO the neigh
boring tenements, were reported dying.
The excitement when the news of the catas-
trephe spread was fearful, and great throngs
of people blocked the streets surrounding
the school. Many children lost in the ex-
element are reported missing. The follow
ing is a list of the dead as far as the police
returns now show:
THE DEAD.
n MINNIE ERsTER, nine wears
NARY HABERNCHET, nine years
MARY ANN HAPP. eight years.
MINNIE TkUEHE. ten years.
JoSEPHENE MARR, seven years.
MARY BRECHT, eight wears
INA BECKER nine wears
THERESA MATzNER, eleven years
2 BARBARA HEIGkNGER, nine years.
LOUISA FLORENGEs nine years: She was
GIRL apparently about nine years, unidenli
A GIRL about nine years, unidentified.
SISTER APRoMIA,
who had charge of the fifth class OF girls.
said: 81 was IN charge of my class when
he fire first broke out in the hallway a6 join
ing my room. heard commotion outside
and great confusion and hubbub of voices.
turned toward the room door, and then for
the first time discovered the smoke coming
in through the wainscoatiug. | Immediately
went 10 the door, and as l opened it to learn
the cause of all the excitement, the flames
rushed at me. l at once closed the door, aud
was about 10 warn the children to keep calm L.
when some men came bursting into the room.
In moment the children ran out at the
bidding of the men, and followed, seeing
all we're escaping. Many of them, however,
went 10 the stairs at the west side of the
the stairs, where the boys had broken down
100 girls in my class"
ANOTHER STATEMENT.
The Sister in charge of the fret division
OF the girls depc rtment, on the fourth floor,
said: 81 was not aware of what was going
on until looked out end saw the boys ON
| my floor running over to the west side stairs
| and going wildly down. / heard the balus-
| tiers give way, and then was about to look 10
| my charges, when they all arose, and, as if
seized with one fright, dashed past me and
recklessly ran down the stairs and Railways.
saw nGue OF my girls injured, and they
| disappeared 30 quickly from my sight that 1
hoped they had all scaped in safety." The
| Sister appesred calm and composed, and
seemed to have retained her self-possession
during the trying moments of her narrowing
| experience.
ANOTHER ACCOUNT
says the FIRE, from which The smoke poured
through the building, bringing such terrible
results TO the innocent pupils, was of the
most trivial character. 1t started among a
mass of sweepings in the closet beneath
| The stairs leading from the second 10 the
third floor on the east eide of the build.
ing. 1t had been smoldering for some
time, and had eaten-its way through 10
the center of the partition wall dividing
| the hall from the Classroom in front
and crept up toward the third floor ere
| it was discovered. At this moment a
visitor called at the school TO see one of the
pupils in the fifth class, which is on the sec-
ond floor, and the door of which opened al.
! most opposite and within five feet OF the
closet in which the sweepipgs were burning
| The visitor knocked at The door, which wal
opened by one of the Sisters of Notre Dame
by whom the school is conducted. Scarcely
had the door swung back on its hinges wher
THE FLAMES BURST OUT
from under the stairway. The Sister hastily
shut the door, but not until some of the
children in her class caught sight Of the fire
All efforts to quiet them were in vain, and
they rushed madly from the classroom
The smoke now rolled out of the closet il
great volumes, and in a few seconds spread
TO all parts OF the building, and a scene O
the widest confusion ensued. The schoo
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 stair,
ways, one on the east and the other on tn,
west end of the building. These stairway
were about three and half feet wide and
OPENED ALMOST AT THE DOORS
of the class-rooms, but from the play-roon
in the center of the building were ap.
prosched by a narrow, dark pasaageway.
When the girls of the second floor of the
school rushed from their class. rooms, they
had hardly reached the head of the stairs
when the boys and girl from the upper floor
were upon them. All frantically fought tC
get down the narrow stairway, and the fra
were thrown headlong to the bottom. Then
as the crush came from hundreds of childrer
trying 10 get down from the upper floors OF
the east side of the building, the balus,radS
| gave way, the balusters going with ii, anC
fully fifty children were thrown TO the foo
beneath. On these others fell until they
were piled five feet high on Top Of each other
OFFICER LAMBERT,
of the Society for the Prevention OF Cruelty
TO Children, happened to be in East Fourth
street, nearly opposite the school, when tbs
alarm was given. He says: II rushed int
the building, and terrible sight met ny
eyes. Packed into the narrow hallway OF
the fret Fl or were from forty to seventy .fvt
little girls. The poor little things wer
screaming and struggling with all thei
might. By this time other police and citi
gems had arrived, and we began pulling In
poor children OUT of the hallway. The erie
Of some children at the bottom of the pill
grew fainter and fainter, and then cease'
altogether"
DETECTIVE ROBINSON
said: "The fire broke out under the stair
case on the second floor, and was easily e1
tinguished. / examined the place, and
seems to me some matches must have bee
swept with papers under the stairway an
been ignited by friction with the floor"
SOLOMON REID
said: "On the floor behind the staircase la
a mas of struggling, screaming childreu
they were piled on top of each other. A
quick as possible we pulled them out an
passed them, one by one, through the wiz
dow. Those on top were still alive. Whe
, we reached the bottom we came upon te
, dead. 1t was an awful sight to see theI
: lying there with their blAnched faces, mout
, and eyes wide open, and their dresses in diI
order. One little girl, Minnie Truehe, Wa
still alive; she died, however, on the way I
/, the stationhouse. 1t was the most awfT
scene ever passed through"
TIE DEAD WERE REMOVED
to the police station on Fifth street and Fir
avenue, where they were laid in a row o
the floor in q back room. They were a