The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-01-13

er's Jury concluded the inquest over the
bodies OF the victims OF the Convent fire
this morning, and returned the following
verdict:
'BELLEviLLE, ILL.,, Jan. IL, 1884.
"We, the jury impsneled to hold the in
quest on the bodies Of the victims Of the
hre at the institution OF the Immaculate
Conception, in BellevilIe. u.s., on ths
night Of January 8. 1884, have endeavored
TO perform the sad duty imposed upon W
to the best OF our ability. We have cx-
smined many witnesses aud made delgenr
inquiry into all the facts and surroundings
which might have been the immediate
cause OF the catastrophe. From the evil
dence we find that the interior Of the build
halls and stsirways; the main
starways leading from the second story
to the first, and two stairwsys leading from
the third to the second story, but no means
whatever seem TO have been provided for
escape from the building other than those
stairwsys. The barrels, buckets and hose
In the Railways, II any, amounted TO viz
tually nothing In case OF fire. The Sisters
dormitorles we're In the second story, and
the majority Of the boarders and pupils
were Ia dormitories 10 the third story &C.
companied by few Sisters. The evidence
seems to locate the origin OF the fire In the
basement from one Of the three lair
furnaces used In heating the building, and
the custom was to Oil them with fuel late at
night and to let them run without addition
al fuel until morning. No Waterman was
employed on the premises, and OF the hour
OF retiring all went to bed, and not soul
was on watch throughout the halls and cor.
riders during the night. When the alarm
was given on the night Of the fre, we have
abundant evidence to show that the halls
were full OF smoke and intensely heated In
portions Of the second aud third stories, 80
that the inmates Of the dormitories were
entirely precluded from escape through the
halls, and were compelled 10 find means OF
egress through the windows on ladders, or
by jumping to the ground.
sour opinion from the evidence Is that
the Fire Department Of Beleville did oil
that could be done under the cir.
cumstances With the appliances which
they had at hand, and while we
think that a well.organizsd hook and lad.
der company might possibly have saved
some OF those that persisted, OF this fact
we are not assn red when we consider the
loss Of lie at the Southern Hotel fire 10 st.
Louis aud the frightul holocaust at
the Newhal House in Milwaukee, in
both OF which cities the fire depart.
ments are excellent, but we're wholly in.
sufficient TO prevent great loss Of life where
persons we're crowded In the upper ct oriss
beyond the reach OF ordinary means that
might be at hand and In the absence OF
life.ssving attachments to the outside ofthe
building.
"The using OF dormitories above the sec.
ond story OF buildings In all institutions Of
learning, we most heartily condemn, and
We are OF the opinion there should be some
Legislative enactment on this subject. We
hope our Governor, in his next message to
the Legislature, will call attention to this
matter In such y manner Is he may deem
| wise.
AFTER carefully weighing the evidence
we are Of the opinion the blame must rest
upon the management Of the institution for
not taking the precautions which the size
| and character OF the building and the
number Of inmstes domiciisd therein re.
| quired. While we place this censure on
those 10 charge Of the institution we do not
believe the neglect was wilfu or Intentional,
| but to the contrary, the evidence shows
| that many precautions were taken, proving
to our minds it was not from desire to
economize or from want Of regard for the
| srfety Of the inmates which caused them TO
neglect the provisions Of safety, but from q
| feeling OF security engendered by many
years Of immunity from serious accident.
ave think q night Waterman on the
| premises, to walk the halls and take charge
| of the furnaces st night, might have pre-.
| vented, at least, the appalling loss Of life
aud greatly promoted the safety Of the 10.
mates.
when we consider the twenty six
| precious lives that were lost, we must say
| the avenues Of escape were too few and the
| proper pI ecautiOns were wanting in and
| around the buildings and on the premises
| TO save life In case OF fire. or this fact the
| silent graves In the churchyard and the be.
| reaved and sorrowing households only toe
| strongly testify.
During the inquest forty-three eye
| witnesses 10 the fire were examined.
JOHN BADER,
Coroner.
| CYRUS THOMPSON.
Foreman.
JACOB BOLIVIAN,
FRED W. BEsHoRE,
| FRANK KRIETNER. SR.
| HENRY THEBUs,
PETER SANDER
| Msyor Weber and a committee Of the
Council visited st. Louis yesterday and
purchased the equipment necessary for 8
pompier corps and hook and ladder com
pany. Mr.. Christ Hoelle will visit Belle
VILE, Monday, to give the volunteers theil
first lesson In the use Of the apparatus, ant
when they have developed into expert fire
fighters, q public exhibition will be given
Sister Eleutherra has been appointed
Mother Superior Of the Order in Belleville
to All the vacancy occasioned by the deatf
Of Mother Mary jerome.
The Sisters have not yet decided whether
or not the Convent at Belleville will be re
built, Sister Caroline, Mother Superior o