Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1884-12-25
BURNED ORPHANS.
Fearful Loss Of Life by The Burning oil
the Brooklyn Orphan Asylum.
1913 Little Ones Missing

An exciting scene was witnessed In Brook
Ign on the 18th inst. The Catholic male or
phan asylum was discovered TO he on fire,
and when II Is stated that nearly 500 children
were In the building the scene can better be
imagined than described. Owing TO the prompt
effUrts OF the firtmen ana the sisters In charge
all Of the children, 1t is believed, were saved.
Many narrow escapes are reported, and one OF
the sisters was seriously injured In her efforts
to save the little cues entrusted to her care,
and It is thought she cannot live. The build
ing destroyed was valued at 100000
On the night OF the fire It las supposed that
all Of the inmates OF the burned asylum had
been saved, but In the confusion and excite
ment this information proved unreliable. In
the morning the awful fact was disclosed, as
soon as the ruins could be examined, that
many lives had been lost.
The first remains were discovered about s
O'Clock the next morning after the fire while
the men were digging into the ruins. These
consisted Of a lot of charred bones and two
headless trunks. These were piled into a
blanket and taken into the store room OF the
unburned part OF the building where they
were sorted and found to represent the bodies
OF eight children and one adult. A few hours
later several other bodies were discovered, but
so burned as 10 be beyond recognition.
Late on the afternoon of the 10Th the list Of
children was made upand 1913 we're unaccount-
ed for, While it may turn out that not one Of
these Is among the ruins, the fact remains
that tons OF burnt timber, warped iron and
fallen brick not yet removed, may entomb
many more corpses than have been recovered.
In the room Of the saved portions of the
asylum proper are he bodies Of those who
have been found. They are tied up in sheets.
Any attempt TO Identify them would be per-
fectly useless. In that room is the only story
OF loss OF life so FAR as known.
The work OF clearing away the debris and
hunting for bodies was stopped at clock
on the evening of the l9.h because of the in
| tense cold. AT that hour the bodies OF eleven
children and two women have been found,
| aud 1t is now certain that others are In the
ruins. Just how many lives were lost will
| probably lever be known. There are mis- sing
about 1913 OF the 500 children In the building
| at the time of the fire and the police have the
! greatest difficulty In tracing them, because a
nvmber OF tho boys are interested In keeping
| out OF sight, so as to avoid further contine-
ment. Many OF the children were totally
bereft Of relatives or friends and no one ap-
pears to take proper interest In looking them
| up.
The Sisters of the institution seem dazed and
| unable to give the number and names Of the
children In their charge, and give the police
| little nelp in the search. Not few OF the
| children are supposed to have wandered away
| bitter cold that came SO suddenly last night
A large force of men will be lemployed on the
ruins searching for the orphan dead.
INCREASING HORRORS.
The awful magnitude OF the Brooklyn Or
| phan asylum horror becomes apparent as the
| debris is removed and the chaIred remains OF
| the little ones are brought to light. The re
mains OF the unfortunate little walls are un
earthtd in startling numbers, and az noon or
| the Goth twenty corpses had been recovered.
| The sights disclosed by the shovels of the
workmen are appalling beyond description.