The Iola register., 1885-02-20
!. ANOTHER ASYLUM HORROR.
Basning of the West Philadelphia Insane
Asylum-Eighteen Lives Lost.

f .
Burning of the West Philadelphia Insane
Asylum-Eighteen Lives Lost.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa, February ia
fire broke out in the insane department of
the county aims house of West Phiiadel-
phia last night. The flames spread rapidly
and before the three hundred inmates could
/ be released nineteen of them were burned
to death. The others were LETT to roam
about the grounds at will and many of them
" picked up by the police throughout
the city. Later-Eighteen raying maniacs
were burned to death in the insane depart
ment of Blackley Aims House, on the west
. side of the Schuylkill River, last night in
confagation which needed nothing TO make
it the most horrible disaster of the Kind
ever known in the history of the city. The
fire originated in the wing of the old build
ing OF the insane department of Blackley.
which fronts towards the Schuylkill River
and directly east of the main building aims
house. This wing is AS feet front by sixty
deep, connected on the south with the main
building of the old structures
INSANE DEPARTMENT..
which runs 400 feet to similar 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
the three floors, i'm which cots for twelve
! men were placed, all of which were cccu-
pied when the fire broke out. On the sec
Ond floor, opposite the central cell of the
row, are separate cells. On the north side
of the corridor, which runs from east to
west, was a dry room heated by steam.
This room, which was about ten feet square,
was directly alongside the middle stair
way leading to the floors above and below.
Here the flames originated but from what
ause is not now known. At the time
there were insane patients in each of the
twenty cells on these three floors, ten in
the large room on the first floor and twelve
in each of the large rooms on the second
and third floors. From all accounts to be
obtained, it appears pretty certain that the
first alarm was given by an insane patient
on the first floor of the main building.
This man, Joseph Nadine, occupied 4 room
adjoining the stairway and drying room with
about twenty other quiet patients. About
$40 he saw smoke issuing from above the
door which opened 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 cried out "FireF
This fearful sound reached the ears of
Joseph Schroeder, attendant of the ground
floor, who was in his room directly opposite
the one from which Nadine
HAD GIVEN TIE ALARM
Mrs. Umpstead, who has general charge
at night, and it was about eight o'clock when
the alarm reached her. She was in her
office about two hundred feet from the dry
room and at once hurried to the scene. She
says an attempt was made to put out the
flames with buckets of water, and at first it
was supposed the flames were only burning
from the ground tlOor near the stairway,
but in almost an instant it was found the
real point from which the danger came IVES
the second floor, at the top and above the
dry room. She then FASTENED to get the
parties out from the main building extend
ing back from the east wing. Attendant
Schroeder takes up the thread of the story
t this point and thus relates some Of
he horrors of the dreadful night. II do not
know who sounded the alarm. As soon
as | heard Nadine cry | rushed to the foot
of the stairway, and after short attempt
TO check the fire, at once set to work to get
out tie patients. First unlocked the door
of the room in which Nadine and his COM
panions were. They ran out at once. By
this time the flames were gathering in fury,
and dense volumes of smoke were ascend
ing into the upper stories. | succeeded in
unlocking the doors of all the cells on the
first floor, and although with difficulty i'm
some cases, succeeded in getting the inmates
out. had no time 10 look after them fur
ther than to run them to the yard, for the
flames were getting so fierce it was almost
impossible in the now fiercely burning
building. The smoke in the upper stories
was so thick breathing was almost impos-
sible. While | was getting the men out
below Attendant William Strain was doing
the same thing for the inmates on the
second floor. l met Hanna, the night |
watchman, who was also helping and we
went up to the third story.
BUT WE'RE DRIVEN BACK
by the flames which had forced their way
through the stairway and were creeping |
along to the cells of the doomed inmates, |
and we ran around to the other stairway !
near the new building on the west and by |
that time some tiremen arrived. All the |
inmates had been gotten out of the second |
story, SO there remained about twenty |
on the third floor, twenty in the cells and |
eight in the large common room in the |
west end.