The weekly Elko independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1872-1887, 1885-02-22
A noxRuLx FATE.


A Philadelphia dispatch Of the 18th.
says: Eighteen nrips maHiAes were
burned to deAta in the inslne depart
ment OF Bioet.y a. 5uGss on the
rest aide o S.a sD-nishi. in
. c~onHagrstiou ~al 4eeiei H0thiRg to
make it the nost horrible diszsts. Of the
kind ever known in the history OF the
city. The fire originated in : wing OF
the old building OF the insane depart
ment Of Bloeklsy which fronts toward
the schuyikin river and IS directly Eas;
of the main ba;idipgs Of the aIiEshouse.
There were sixty separate cells for yio-
lieut. patients, twenty on each fiOoF. In
addition 10 this. there vas a large room
on each Of the three floors, on which
cots for twelve men were placed, all Of
which we're Occupied when the TIE broke
out- Attendan; Schroeder says:
As soon Is 1 heard the zlaEE. I ran
to the foo; of the stairway and after a
short attempt to check the fire. at once
set to work TO &c; ont the patients L
frt unlocked the room in which Nadine
and his companions were in They ran
oct at once. / sueceeded in unlocking
ibc doors Of aII the cells on the first
floor: and, although with difficulty, sue
ceeded in getting the inmates out. i
had no time to look after them further
than TO run them into the yaId, for the
flames were getting 50 ferce it was nov
almos; impossible to breathe in The
hereely burning J~uiiding. The sragke
in The upper stories vas so thick that
BREATHING vas impossible. While / YES
getting the meu out below, attendant
Vim. Strain wa doing tie same FOX the
inmates on the second floor. 1 met
Hanna, night watehnan, who was also
helping, and We went up 20 the ;hiri
story. bu; we've driven back b. the
flames. We ran around TO ;he other
stairway. near the Bew buildings on the
west and by that time some Eremen az
rived. AL the inInzts had been gotten
out Of the second story so there remain
ed about tWenty-eight on the third GOOr,
twenty in the cells and eight in the
large common room on the vest end.
The unfortunate occupants o! ;he cells
were being snothered to death by smoke
OF peshaps blistsTed and burned by the
flames. Their cries were heartrenGing.
Some Of theta cursed AMI swOre: others
yelled with pain with such awful cries as
would have appalled, the hardest heart.
The fireman, myself and Ii patient named
Rafferty,, cfawled on our hands and
knees TO such Of the men as We could
reach, and dragged out fourteen; eigh;
of them alive. four suifOcgtci to death,
and two so terribly burned that they died
before we could get them out Of the
building. We could not see any of the
men in the cs,,. o. course, but We
could hear IAe.T J. srT,5.e cries above the
roaring OF the Alsues, a. they came to
realize The terrible fate in store for them. |
While Schroeder was going through this
terrible experience, the flames were ex-
tending to the main building Of the de-
partment. The wing in which the vic
Tins were being burned alive was wrap
ped in flames, which were shooting high
into the air and Illuminating the city for
many squares. At half past eight tbs
alarm had been struck, md ia hall an
hour a general alarm was sounded. 1t
tle time the frsmrB arrived, the fire was
envelopins about uuc-;nird Of the main
building and burning ieTceIy, 4 truck
arrived on the scene soon after the first
alarm, and its ladder was quickly run
up to the third floor 70 the windows of
the cells in which the maniucs were.
With AK and hook the fremen attacked
the iron grating Of the cells, and sue
ceeded in taking out seven men, four Of
them suffOcated to death and three still
alive. The last man rescued was the
notorious Jim" Burke, who has been
in the institution over thirty years. He
was brought from the Eastern penitcu-
tinry, where be was undergoing a life
senteice for murder. He has killed.
since he has been in the insane depart
ment, n cook and two attendants.
At Geo the inmates turned out OF the
various wards were provided for in n Sc
ure part Of the ~almshousc. Many of
them, however, escaped into the city
aud wandered about the street,, where
some were captured by the police and
either returned to the institution or
locked up. The bulk Of them were taken
to the hospital and a large number
placed in the clinical lecture room of
the hospital. The women were slowed
about the hospital and all were finally
cared for. Mine bodies were discovered
and placed in the dead DOM. All of the
inmates OF the insane department were
rescued safely, except those in the third
story OF the wing in which the fire orig
mated.
An account Of the death Of General
Earle, dated at KUrti, says: General
Earle was killed in action on Tuesday.
The fight occurred near the Nile, o few
miles above Dulka Island. Tho Arabs
had forfifnd n pnro aud Ill I,.tI ..-,,