The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1885-02-20
Philadelphia Almshouss Destroyed
by Fire.

n nre DrOke out In tDe insane depart
ment of the county almshouse in West
Philadelphia about nine o'clock, Thurs
day night of last week. The flames
spread rapidly and before the 800 in
mates could be released number of
them were burned to death. The
others were left to roam from the
grounds at will and many of them were
picked up by the police throughout the
city. The fire originated in the wing
of the old building of the insane de-
partment of Blockley which fronts to.
wards the Schuylkill river and directly
east of the main building of the aims
house This wing is l15 feet front
and 60 feet deep, connected on the
south with the main building Of the
old structures of the insane department
which runs south 400 feet smaller
wing TO the one in which the disaster
occurred In this north building where
the fire broke out there were sixty
separate cells for violent patients,
twenty on each floor. In addition to
this there was large room on each of
.he three floors in which cots for twelve
men were placed, and all of which
were occupied when the fire broke out
On the second floor opposite the cen
tral cell of the row of separate cells on
the north side of the corridor which
runs from east to west is dry room
heated by steam. The room, which
was about ten feet square, was di-
rectly alongside the middle stairway
leading to the floors above and below.
Here the flames originated, but from
what cause is not now known. At the
time there were insane patients in each
of the twenty cells on the three floors
ten in the large room on the first
floor and twelve in each of the larger
rooms on the second floor. From all
the conflicting accounts to be obtained
1t appears pretty certain that the first
alarm was given by an insane patient
op the first floor of the main building.
This man, Joseph Nadine, occupied
room which adjoined the stairway and
drying room with about twenty other
quiet patients. When about ter min
utes to eight o'clock he saw smoke is
suing from above the door which open
ed into the wing IN which the cells
were situated, he ran to the big iron
grated door fronting on the main cor
ridor of the building and called out
''ire." This fearful sound reached the
ears of Joseph Shredder, the attendant
of the ground floor, who was in his
room directly opposite the one from
which Nadine had given the alarm.
Mrs. Umpstead who has general charge
at night says that it was about 8 o'clock
when the alarm reached her. She was
in her office about 200 feet from the
dry room and at once hurried to the
scene. She says that an attempt was
made TO put out flames with buckets of
water and at first it was supposed that
the flames were only burning from the
ground floor near the stairway, but in
almost an instant it was found that the
real point from which the danger came
was on the second floor at the top of
and above the dry room. She then
fastened to get all the patients from
the main building extending back from
the east wing.
Attendant Shredder takes up the
thread of the story at this point and
thus relates some of the horrors of the
dreadful night 81 do not know who
sounded the alarm. AS soon as I
heard Nadiue's cry rushed TO the foot
of the stairway and after short at
tempt to check the fire at once set TO
work to get out the patients First l
unlocked the door of the room in which
Nadine and his companions were
They ran out at once. BY this time
the flames were gathering in fury
and the dense volumes of smoke were
ascending into the upper stories. l
succeeded in unlocking the doors of
all the cells on the first floor and al
though with difficulty some cases in
getting all the inmates out. had no
time to look after them further than to
run them out into the yard for the
flames were getting 80 fierce that it
was almost impossible to breathe in
the now fercely burning building. The
smoke in the upper stories was 30 thick
that breathing was impossible.