Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-01-09
III ASYLUM R

Estin More Believed to he There.
New YoRK, Dee. e8.-.It has been asce1-
tanned that a tssslle loss of life attended
the burning Of t3se oyphan asylum Thursday
night. The slstese in change of the asylum
were, of the enikion at first that all the chill
tlrcn had been saved. Persons who had
witnessed tire Are from the streets declared
that a number Of lives had been lost, and
the workmsn ensseed in excavating .!the
ruins of the larHdy had been at work but
a short time Yesterday morning when they
found the remains Of nine boys and two
women. Wko the latter were is not known,
but as Thursday was visitors day it is
thought they May be two strangers. Alta
later hour two more bodies were found, and
shortly after still another two. ltdsimpes-
sible to identify:any of the bodies, as they
are all so eharred and blackened as 10 be
utterly ~mrecoEnkaA. All day the work
men toiled among the debris until eight
o'clock last Right, when the intense cold
prevented further operation.
II is now certain that other victims are in
the ruins. Just heN many lives were lost
will probably never he known. There are
missing abeut i2o of the 500 children in the
building at tic fine OF the fire, Mld the po-
Nee have the greatest difficulty in tracing
flem because a number of the Boys are i'll
terested in keeping out Of sight so as to avoid
further confinement. Many Of the chill
,,iren We're Totally bcreft of relatives
friends, and no one appears to
take proper Interest i'll looking them up.
The sisters of the institution seem confused
- to }1n p,,-, l,ur o,,j No, 4, OF thn rljJ rp)
IN their charge, and give the police little
help in the search. Net a few of the chill
eiyen arc supposed to have Wandered away
10 the outskirts ct the city and parishe1 in
The bitter cold THAT came SO suddenly Tues
d;ay.niglft. a large number OF men will be
employed in the ruins to-day, searching for
Che orphan dead.
At the tisnc ti1e fire began the larger boys
iii the instil rttion We're playing in tic court
Sard, maNing slcis and snowballS. 1t was
yisiting-dav. and ws,ny parents of the chill
etlrcn had come, TO see them. About thirty
live children were IN tie iniirmary, Oh the
second floor, under the care Of Sister An
tlony. On,the floor above We're twenty
tive more children suffering from sore eyes,
3lhdcr the charge Of Sister Mary Josephine,
@ho was similarly afflicted. lnthe laundry
,7ere DIS. Fcener. the laundress. assistant
~Raundress and Sister Clement. They noticed
a smell OF banning rags in the drying
toom. and On oIening its doors a cloud Of
.nN1oke ponfed ont. INle cry of '1ire!!' was
raised. The boys in the yard took it UP,
and Sister Anthony, in charge of the sick
s,neS in the infirmary, heard an alarming
sell, and soon saw a black cloud of smoke
welling from the windows beneath. in the
1oom of which she had charge of seven
helpless little ckipples were in bed. These
She caused the strongest of the boys to take
III their arms, and, having made her charges
form in line, she marched them safely out
1T the burning building.
fsh the tioor 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 ensred.
Ihe fear-stficKen children ran about the
Hoom calling for help. Some rushed down
stairs in the binding smoke, others in their
drtntic fear huddicd in corners from which
they Were rescued, ard others fled to the
rts,i. The unfortunate Sister Josephine,
having lost all control OF the children under
her care. ant her semi-blindness intensified
~ the clouds of smoke that filled the stair
'Ns.ls and rooms, rushed for safety to the
ROOF, Where she appeared in the
midst oil flame and smoke calling loldlyon
the spectators for help. A fireman lying
on Tie ROOF Of the main building attempted
to swing lis Overroat TO the imperiled sister.
Il!e first and second attempts were unsuc-
@ess1ul: the end OF the coat fell short. He
swung the coat a third time, and its edge
just touched the roof of the building. The
sister sprang and graspcd it. For a mo-
rie1lt it seemed as il her life was saved, and
The crowd cleered Justify. She swung an
Instant III the air between the two build
mrs tieE.s her rf-. Sn la1n yn1 and cJ,n fo11 ",
lie ground. dying soon atterward.
~ boy and a woman We're 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
ofssthe 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
aler to keep her courage up. She
looked into the burning building, as
# Fascinated by. the fire, and commenced
Gdglng away from the ladder. Suddenly the
.slMes shot up beneath her feet, and, with a
cry Of agony, she fell backward into the
blazing mass. With a crash the roof fell
afterward, and soon tile entire building was
a mass of flames.
Mrs. Feeney, the laundress, was found in
fhe farmhouse Of the asylum at the east
end Of the grounds and about five hundred
feet distant. Here. she passed the night
with sixty-iive of the smallest children. |
HNhO ranged from two years to eight. Sew
erai Ut the sisters were also present. From
Mrs. Feeney's statement there seems no
doubt that the fire originated in the engine
room. Which was in the basement of the
annex. On the first floor was the
aaundry, Of the next the drying-room,
and on the third the infir1nary.
II was in the laundry" said Mrs. Feeney,
land wa making some remark to Sister
Glen e TINA about the boys in the yard.
Suddenly I saw flames in the drying-prcss. !
\ 1A!tned and saw the towels were on fire. |
Before we could hardly move tho place was
~ a blaze. There must have been at least
tl.lrty-iiye boys in the inf1mary, upstairs,
under care of Sister Mary Anthony. ] can
hat, imagine how many got out" Mrs.
5ftaeley was prevented from making any
further statement by a sister who drew her
aside and warned her not to talk.
Children We're received at the home on
various conditions. Most of them we're Or
0lans and some were half orphans. In adj
ftIJlon to these a few had been committed by
police magistrates when their parents were
either unable or unwilling to properly care
ior them. The boys forming the last
framed class were in greater part unwilling
shTHates, and these, it is believed. compose
..%t ,,1 L., l,