Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1890-05-15

but were driven ba@k by tbs flames. The
chief, suspecting their peril, sent aid to the
other side and the men were carried down
ON ladders.
The engineer Of the building did good
work, saving nine patients, and every fire.
man made record of which he may fee
proud. On the frat alarm the. engineer
turned on the hose, but il was utterly use-
less, as the FIRE leaped along the ventilat
ing shaft to the towers and burned in q
dozen places at once.
One of the tertiary nuns, Soeurmarie,
lay sick in the iDirmary on the fifth floor,
and TO her rescue came three others.
They seized their companion and bore her
In q blanket to the staircase, but they were
met BY sheet OF flame and all perished.
None OF them were over 20 years Of age.
The sisters worked with the persistence
OF heroines, by turns imploring, bsseechina
and commanding the patients, and finally
saving very large number, in view of the
inadequate facilities at hand. Sister
There's, the superioress, ls broken hearted
and, being at present in ill.health, her
name may be added to the t,lready long
list OF victims. Drs. Bourqus and Baralet
We're carried from the buildlng uncon- :
scious, and whatever must be raid OF the
management as o whole, th individuals
exercised every power to less ~ the calam-
ity they had neglected to ave !.
Loud ExplosiGg
was followed by crash Of beams. The
interior was giving way. The wild faces
shrank from the windows and the shr1eks
OF the maniacs were lost in the general up
roar. One by one the walls toppled in
ward, and the fierce blaze burst up from
the newly added fuel, rose to the dark sks
and shot its glare over the st. Lawrence aD
the southern shore and even tinged s&o
crest of MT. Royal, ten miles distaRss
Then it died down into blackness, and
nothing but few broken towers remained
bounding the seething mass of metal and
debris under which are now not the bodies,
but the ashes, Of 100 victims.
BY this time it was o'clock and was
growing dark and very cold. The spring
rains had converted the place into quag-
mire, and only horsemen could get from
place to place. The poor sisters, most of
them young and delicate, stood ankle deep
in the mud securing and experimenting
the removal of such furniture as had been
saved. The patients wandered about
aimlessly, clad in scant garments.
When released many of them leaped
for joy and bounded like deer
across the fields to the woods. Patients of
both sexes escaped, and though Gordon
OF police was thrown around, not all were
included, and horribly suggestive tale
was borne in by habitant who was COM
ing through the woods to the scene of the
disaster. A new decade had come upon
the inhabitants from the presence of so
many escaped lunatics, and they will
count themselves fortunate if they are not
visited by series OF such crimes as only
madmen can devise.
All the time the fire was burning every
high house top m Montreal had it's curious
sight-seers. The long road was thronged
with carriages. The transport service Of
Montreal was pressed into service, and
every available cab, omnibus and hack went
out filled with people.
Premier Mercier has placed the Montreal
exhibition buildings at the disposal Of the
nuns, and to- morrow the buildings will be
stocked with provisions.
The Strangest Wonder
to the fremen is that such an absence of
fire fighting facilities could exist. Although
the appliances were there they were utterly
useless. The institution had excellent en-
gines, ten good pumps and new b2iler.
but no connection existed between the
pumps and the boilers.
The Sisters of Providence spend in
founding and organizing this institution
81 ,132, ,232, of which 800, 900 was spent on
the buildings. The building was insured
by the government for 100000. With
the exception of the medical department,
of the doctors, the sisters re-
tanned complete control of all the depart
ments of the asylum.
At latest reports the death roll is esti-
mated at fifty, although many more are
missing, but are expected to turn up. 1t
is feared that seven tertiary nuns we're
burned, as three more are missing besides
those named above. They we're not, how
ever, seen i'll the flames, and the sisters
prefer not to give out the names at pres.
ant