The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1885-02-14
LURID AND SEETHING.
DEATH REAPS HIS HARVEST WITH A
FLAMING SICKLE.
An Insane Asylum Again the Scene Of
a Fiery Tragedy.
Madmen Penned in Huge Crematory
and Incinerated-A Scene of Horror
to Make the Blood Run Gold
Incidents of the
Disaster.

PHILADELPHIA, teb. lt-An awful liSag-
ter took place Thursday night at the
county aims house. on the west side of tha
Schuylkill river, in this city, hy which a
number of the inmates lost their lives.
Many were lot loose to wander tile streets in
the bitter cold, and proporty--ths insane de-
partment Of the almshouse--to the value of
$50 600 was destroyed By fire The poor
house property covers large tract of land,
and has for years been in such a condition
as to threaten at any time the disaster
which befell it tonight
At S:l5 O'clock the first alarm was given
from the insane department On the male
side there were ninety -one men and a large
number OF women when the flames were dis
covered The iremen responded promptly
to the call, but the fire spread so rapidly it
was immediately apparent that there must
bo many casualties. In the ward where the
fire originated there were twenty cells, all
containing either violent or harmless ma
macs. There wore no fire-escapes, and even
if srere had been the result could
not altogether have been avoided,
as the cells were locked for the night.
While the flames sped from one joist to an
other an effort to burst open the cell doors
was made without avail amid the yells OF
the tsrrorstrickea and helpless idiots. The
attempt to rescue them from the inside was
abandoned, and the gallant firemen of "a
truck and ladder company mounted the
wallis on the outside The heat was intenss,
the flames in some instances belching through
the grated windows, but the rescuers did
not fnItsc Manf,,n,, tba,~ ,,orl,aI ,,,,+iI
tbo, hod g,,rc,d o., ar,t,o,,o, i,,+, tha '.,r
I'll, scepn that met thrir r-az. was tar-
r,fl. ota =, aipi,t nr tha littIa oro,t,,a,,ts
+l,a ;,,,,,.te ,,,,.s a,+lo,. I,,.,,,l ~ l,,tL -,
sufYorat,d IN .i, ,+b,,.s th,.,,oti,,,+, ,,,o,,,
f,upl oIr,ost Gr.,a.. Tba inin,sl ,,aro
,,,,i,.,,,, ,,,,,.,,d ,l,,,,.,, tho I,,,r iI,I ana
tba hnjic. If the dead wara sn1, ra,ooya1
yvliI. tho ,,.,,,- Wa, il, ,..,,r, ..,l ,,I,,l
ste,i,, -tra,r,s of ,yato, yy.,re haip,, ,,,,ra3
u,on the burniar huiIdino 81 diIicrnh saorob
WINS sr,inc, made for til, remgini1g five
known +. h. III IN. lacked cells The9a arr
sill u,is,juo ana are probablv lost One oI
tha first +, .,,t. fin, hprninr huilIi,or ,yo, a
fireman living IN the Close vicinity He de.
scr;hal the soana 90 orraIIi,c- hfor a,1
,yo,,ep j., tba ,y,r.ts ,Ii,i,,r,o tho m fo+,I
one and yvh, war. mot cn,fna5 in locl,,3
cells were running nadlv ,b1,t anoa,Iinr
to be s.ved
Iv sorne instances thev rould not be in.
duced 10 flee In the only safa means of
aorass the dnors ond ba5 ~ hn ,,,,sbo5 g,,,.
yyart nv main force Tho woman hs saw
ware thu easiest IN rponera while tbe man
we're in = preat majority of casas disnosaI
to resist. 1t was II O'Clock before aIl the in
mates, save the five missing, were accounted
for, The rescuad huddled in the cslrt-yord
and watched tha nropress of the flames
some with q kind of demoniacal interest an !
others with awe.
Meanwhile in other departments Of ths
institution every effort had been made to
prevent less of life. All the other buildipc.