Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1884-12-25

Only Half OF the Terrible story Told In
the First Report - Thirteen Chnrreo
Corpses Found Among the Ruins ana
EstIn More Believed to BE There
NEW York, Dec. 2O-.-It has been ascor-
tanned that terrible loss Of life attended
the burning of the orphan asylum thursday
night The sisters in charge Of the asylum
were of the opinion at first that ali be chill
dren had been saved. Persons who had
witnessed the fire from the streets declaree
that number of lives had been lost, and
the worlkmen engaged in excayatng the
ruins of the laundry had been at work but
short time yesterday morning when they
found the remains of nine boys and two
women. Who the latter were is not known.
but as Thursday was visitors day 1t Is
thought they may be two strangers. AT %
later hour two more bodies were found, and
shortly after still another two. 1t Is impos-'
sible TO identify any of the bodies, as they
are all so charred and blackened as to be
utterly unrecognized. All day the work.
men toiled among the debris until eight
o'clock last night, when the intense cold
prevented further operation.
1t is now certain that other victims are In
the ruins. Just how many lives were lost
will probably never be known. There are
missing about 100 of the 800 children in the
building at the time of the fire, and the POI
lice have the greatest difficulty in tracing
them because number of the boys are in
terested in keeping out of sight so as to avoid
further confinement. Many of the chill
dren were totally bereft of relatives
or friends, and no one appears to
take proper interest In looking them up.
The sisters of the institution seem confused
as to the number and names of the children
in their charge, and give the police little
help in the search. Not a few of the chill
dren are supposed to have Wandered away
to the outskirts of the city and persisted in
the bitter cold that came so suddenly Tues
daylight. A large number of men will be
employed in the ruins to-day, searching for
the orphan dead.
AZ the time the fire began the larger boys
in the institution were playing in the court
yard, making sleds and snowballs. 1t was
visiting-day. and many parents of the chill
dren had come to see them. About thirty
five children were in the infirmary, on the
second floor, under the care of Sister An
thony. On the floor above were twenty
five more children suffering from sore eyes,
under the charge of Sister Mary Josephine,
who was similarly afflicted. In the laundry
were Mrs. Feener, the laundress, assistant
laundress and Sister Clement. They noticed
a smell of burning rags in the drying
room, and on opening its doors a cloud OF
~-..si-s I,s..-s-i s..a al.- 80 saassi,
raised The boys in the yard took it up,
and Sister Anthony, in charge of the sicl6
ones in the infirmary, heard an alarming
yell, and soon saw black cloud of smoke
yelling from the windows beneath. In the
room of which she had charge of seven
helpless little cripples were in bed. These
she caused the strongest of the boys to take
in their arms, and, having made her charges
form in line, she marched them safely out
of the burning building.
On the floor above, where half the blind
children, to the number of twenty-five, were
under the charge of Sister Josephine, a
scene of the most terrible panic ensued.
The feaT>stricken children ran about the
room calling for help. Some rushed down
stairs in the binding smoke, others in their
frantic fear huddled in corners from which
they were rescued, and others fled to the
roof. The unfortunate Sister Josephine,
having lost all control of the children under
her care, and her semi-blindness intensified
by the clouds of smoke that filled the stair
ways and rooms, rushed for safety to tho
roof, where she appeared in the
e fsp9 s For aa 6ep fpeman fya
on the roof of the main building attempted
to swing his Oyercoat to the imperiled sister,
The first and second attempts were unsuc-
cessful; the end of the coat fell short. He
swung the coat third time, and its edge
just touched the roof of the building The
sister sprang and grasped 1t. For mo-
ment it seemed as if her life was saved, and
the crowd cheered Justify. She swung an
instant in the air between the two build
ings then her grasp relaxed, and she fell to
Me ground, dying soon afterward.
A boy and a woman were now seen ON
the roof OF the building. Three men placed
a ladder against The wall, but it did not
reach within five feet of the room. One
of..the men mounted the ladder and the little
fellow leaped into his arms and was saved.
The woman looked to the ladder and
then to the flames gradually ap-
preaching. The bystanders yelled to
her to keep her courage up. She
looked into the burning building, as
If fascinated by the fire, and commenced
flames shot up beneath her feet and, with q
cry of agony. she fell backward into the
afterward, and soon the entire building was
O mass of flames.
Mrs. Feeney, the laundress was found In
the farmhouse of the asylum at the east
end of the grounds and about five hundred
feet distant Here she passed the night
with sixty-ive of the smallest children,
who ranged from two years to eight. Sew
eral of the sisters were also present From
Mrs. Feeney's statement there seems no
doubt that the fire originated i'm the engine
room, which was In the basement of the
annex. On the first floor was the
laundry, on the next the drying-room,
and on the third the infirmary.
II was in the laundry" said Mrs. Feeney,
"and was making some remark to Sister
Glen Q TINA about the boys in the yard.
Suddenly l saw flames in the drying-prcss..
i turned and saw the towels were on fire.
Before we could hardly move the place was
in blaze. There must have been at least
thirty-fve boys in the infirmary, upstairs,
under care Of Sister Mary Anthony. can
not imagine how many got out" Mrs
Feeney was prevented from making any
further statement by sister who drew her
aside and warned her not to talk.
Children were received at the home on
various conditions. Most of them were or
phans and some were half orphans. In adj
dition to these few had been committed by
police magistrates when their parents were
either unable or unwilling TO properly care
for them. The boys forming the last
named class were in greater part unwilling
inmates, and these, 1t Is believed, compose
mainly the missing ones, who, having been
set free by the fire, prefer to remain at
large.
Daring Attempt at Robbery.
Nw.wuv nn