Evening journal., 1890-05-08
THE ASYLUM HOLOCAUST
The Number of Dead VIII
Never Be Known.
NEARLY $50 SAID TO HAVE DIED.

The Number Of Insane Persons in the
building Was 4so More Than First RE-
ported--The Nuns are Very Retsoent.
Sad Scenes al the Ruins.
MONTREAL, May s.--As the full detailsos
the Tongue Pointe asylum fire become
known the horror is intensified and the
person Is derided who asserts that the num-
ber OF the dead does not exceed sixty. It ia
known by the last report TO the Quebec
government that there We're l,5sO inmates
instead Of 1900. This much is certain, ma
one viii ever know the number Of Victims
From the best information ii seems likely
that there are $50 dead The coroner, with
the Hon. Premier Mercier, Judge Dugas.
Senator Thibadeare and two crown minis
ters, arrived at the scene last evening" and
If enough material can be found an inquest
will be held The aremen have left the
ground and the heat is dying out in the
! ruins.
Weeping Relatives at the Ruins
II IS now known that many Of the wards
were blocked and that in cases where the
iiremen did not break In the doors whole
roomfuls Of persons perished miserably
The sight Of the screaming wretches Tues
day was bad enough. but Wednesday there
was a sadder spectacle In the weeping rala-
| tives seeking In vain for some tiding OF
some member of their family Fire Com.
missioner Perry eharacterizes the buildin4
as death trap and disgrace, and accord
ing to the law of chances the disaster must
have come sooner or later Many OF tns
firemen are suffering from exposure and
ttt4 4
fined in converts, out houses aud in tins
exhibition buildings in the neighborhood-
John O'nourke's Heroism.
After the fire the most dangerous casea
were confined In a space between two hay
mows in barn. and it made one shudder
SO fierce was the expression on the eounten-
anees Of these lunatics Ii was remarkable
TO see the GOODNESS with which the good
sisters soothed the rRving, cheered the de
| pressed and ministered to the wants of the
sick. At the laundry were 100 patients,
mostly quiet persons, whose aid had been
taken advantage Of in putting things in
shape They were in charge of John
O'Rourke, whose heroism saved twelve
lunatics from the flames when all hope had
been abandoned OF being able to save them
O'Rourke, his brother james and William
Higgins climbed the veranda on the out
and passed the twelve women, one by one.
TO his brother, who in turn passed them to
Higgins, and thus they were safely lowered
to the ground.
I One Of the attendants says that seven lay
nuns who did work about the institution
Z perished in the flames
4 Sister Therese, the superioress Of the
j asylum, has expressed the determination
Of at once rebuilding the institution on the
{ most approved scientific plans, both as re-
CARDS treatment Of patients and with a
view to preventing the least possibility of
recurrence Of Tuesdays horror DR..
Duquete stated that he was strongly OPP
posed to placing lunatics under the care Of
sisters, and should ask the government to-
place the durable and violent lunatics i'm
; a small institution where they could have
skillful treatment from class of special
lists.
The harmless insane could, he said, be-
} placed 10 greater advantage under the care
! Of sisters. The loss financially is placed as
high as si5O00O0 with an insurance Of
$3O00OO
Reticence Of the Nuns.
The startling feature of today's report is
s that large number Of men have perished,
all Of whom were thought to have escapeds
$ but il is absolutely impossible to add any
nAihtr W AAN iiot VI Atit ntttis ~ Will Ut
weeks before the nuns will vouchsafe any
e information, aua when they do, it wilk
probably be of the most meager kind.
The Dead and Missing.
The following is the most complete list
obtainable of those who are known to have
e persisted in the flames:
I Archambaut Delphne, patient.
Beaudrey, Victoria, patient. - 4
! Houthiliier. Sister. s. 4
Demsrs, Christine, patient
Gravel Louise, nun.
Gravel, Maria. nun.
c Gilbert, Sister 4...A
Huot, Mrs, patient ,.
4 Kelly Mrs, patient. r-a- fgy u
i Lachance. Camille, patient. sHagH
Lacrox, Augustine patient Il
, Letournay, Miss, patient. rtVR&
Lahaia, Miss patient
MacNiehos. Victoria, nun.
Marchant, Euzebe, patient.
: Malone, Bridget. patient.
E hcGibbon Miss, patient daughter OF Aiexandes
! mcGlbbon, government Inspector OF Indian sup-
plies
Richard. eliza, patient
ST. Louis, Ellie. patient
St. Denis, Marie patient.
Therriauit, Mrs, patient.
Williams, Mrs, patient
? Among the missing are Walter Robinson oe
No. - Cadieux street. two brothers. Gauthier.
rich farmers from Saint Lin; J. B. Parent. OF Sc
! lsdore, and young priest from western Canadas
named Brosseau
II scenes. of Horror, Indeed.
II DR. Douquete, who was almost asphyxi+
I ated in saving the poor people, says he will
never forget the horrible scene presented in
r the female infirm ward Sixty feet from
8 the ground, in a huge furnace Of flames.
\ were helpless human creatures behind iron
r bars screaming in agoIfy for help. In the
rear was fire, fire ON both sides and fire
above, and enveloping all were huge clouds
Of black smoke spread as mortuary pail.
"For the sake of heaven, save us' My
!, God my GodN were the heartrending cries
! which rent the air. One by one the poor
= creatures faded from view and fell into the
. furnace.
Nearly strangled by Maniac.
O. While on this fiat these poor wretches
/, were thus passing to eternity, on the upper
n story young Sister Gravel was lying on her
bed an invalid. Her own sister and Sis
ters Denerise Gilbert and Lumina Bou-
thillier had gone to her rescue and were
Y asphyxiated. They were all four sweet
r little women, who had given up their lives
r to attend 70 the more unfortunate sister.
b An instance is reported Of a violent female
s patient who was thrice rescued from the
K room which che flames had already invad-
e ed The third time she caught the sister
by the throat and nearly strangled her to-
death. The sister had 10 flee for her life
| and Iaaxya rha sx,or,a, IN har fat