The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1890-05-10
TERRIBLE HOLOCAUST.

TONGUE PoINTE, QUEBEC, May Ga
long line of gaunt towers is all one see
of Tongue Poirte lunatic asylum, located
ten miles from Montreal, and which will
many lives was to-day consumed by til,
flames. The sights witnessed at thi.
tragic scene are such as can never be for
gotten. Nothing could exceed the hor-
rors attending the terrible calamity, con.
sldering the number of victims, the terri.
BILE nature OF their death and the manner
IN which the helpless victims received
their fate. What to the spectators was a
scene of horrors was to the Iunatics one
of the most supreme glee. and in their
delight they deported themselves In the
flames and waived their blazing limbs in
turbulent satisfaction ut the ruin that was
about them, ana not until the walls tum-
died over their heads were manlacal
screams silenced.
There were incarceated in Longe
Pointe 1900 lunatics, for that asylum was
a PRISON more than at hospital, and now
not more than HOO are accounted tor, but
many escaped into the fields and woods,
and the dead are ashes am ,rgst asLes
what is the III Der of dead is purely
matter of conjecture, and can never be
sscertained since no other record is kept
than that in the asylum books and they
are destroyed. Taking into consideration
the whole of the evidence from t,remen,
half-s safe inmates and sisters In charge, it
is conservative es;i innate 10 say that 100
inmates met their death, though some say
the number is double that, and others
place 1t below tais figure. However, the
fact remains, No such calamity has fallen
on the province of Quebec since the earl
lest times.
From the construction of the building
there is doubt in some minds as to
whether it was intended for an asvIum or
blast furnace. In any case it served the
latter purpose admirably. 1t was con-
structed of brick and was 600 feet long,
running back from the river halt the dis
tance. The main building occupied the
renter, and on each side extended four
wings six stories in height. The tlre to
day started in cupboard in the second
ward, on the women's side, in the upper
story, by careless patient, and as ven
tilation was carried to it by longitudinal
shaft connected with the towers. the
flames soon appeared blazing up through
the roof in the center Of each :ower, A
telegram was sent to Montreal for aid,
and one engine and reels started at once.
They might as we'll have renamed at
home, for in five minutes they had ex-
hausted the water supply. Not a male
patient was lost. Among the women it
was different. The less helpless cases
were placed in the lower wards and they
were removed without difficulty, but
from the upper wards where the violen.
Latients were secured there came the
widest screams as they resisted the nuns
who were beseeching them to make their
escape.
At windows a maniac could be seen
peerlng through TIE bars. grinning and
abberIng at the bright flame that went
up to the sky, and as the heat became
more intense she would grasp the bars |
and remain there until the flames envel- |
oped her. The inhabitants bad come |
from all parts around about, attracted by |
he blaze, and in an hour the little village
vas surging mass of shouting, vocifer-
,iing people. When the firemen found |
hey were poweiIess to save the build.
Dg, they turned their attention to the in
mates, and burst in the door with axes.
inside, Chief Bevolt says, was such a
light as no fireman ever before wit
,essed. In one ward be entered there
we're twenty-five patients, and at his al.
orsach they buddled together like pack
,f beasts. entn ining their arms into one
mass of humanity. He seized the near
st. But" said The chief, II could no
more separate the crowd than I could
he parts of your horse." He tugged at
hem until tue fire carted into their gar
nenis and enfolded them like a shroud
# flame, and then he escaped with his
ife.
In another ward three fremen were
leariy trapped to death. They entered,
nd the door, which had a spring lock,
lOsed behind them, rs is CUSTOMARY.
There was no handle on the inside; the
|oor resisted their axes, and they rushed
o the windows. but were driven back by
he flames. The chief, suspec,ing their
'eril, sent aid to the other side, and the
nen were carried down on ladders.
The engineer of the building did good
york, saving nine patients, and every
reman made a record of which be can
eel proud. On the first alarm the engi-
eer turned on the hose, but it was ut
erly useless, as the FIRE leaped along the
shaft to the towers and burned
] dozen places at once.
One of the tertiary nuns, sister Marie,
y sick in the lnfrmary on the fifth
oor, and to her rescue came three others.
'emorese, Gilbert and Lumiene. They
,ized their companion and bore her in
lanket to the staircase, but they were
let by sheet of flame and all perished.
'one of them were over 20 years of age. :.
The sisters worked with the persistence
heroines, by turns imploring. beseech.
g and commanding the patients, hav-
z very large number In view, and but
adequate facilities at hand.
The Sisters of Providence spent in a