Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1890-05-09
ANOTHER FIRE HORROR.
Terrible Fate of One Hundred Luna
ties.
Destruction of a Large Asylum at
Tongue Pointe. Que.
AgOniZin@ Scel-aS Witnessed at Win,
dowS.

LtNNO h. 1 ON NIE. NiuSbSt, May IA
long line of gaunt towers Is all one now
sees of the Tongue Pointe lunatic asylum,
which is situated ten miles from Montreal.
and which, with many lives, was to-day
consumed BY flames The sights wit
messed before this tragic scene are such as
can never be forgotten. Nothing could
exceed the horror attending the terrible
calamity. considering the number of the
victims, the terrible nature of their death
and the manner in which the helpless vie
tins received their fate. What to The
spectators was a scene Of horror WAS to the
lunaticS d moment of supreme delight.
they disported themselves in flames and
waved their blazing limbs in turbulent
satisfaction at the ruins that vas about
them, and not until the walls mmhled over
were their maniacal screams Silenced.
THIRTEEN HUNDRED LUNATTCS.
There were lncarcerated in Tongue
Pointe thirteen hundred lunatics. for that
asylum was prison more than hospital.
and now not more than eleven hundred
are accounted for: but many escaped into
the fields and woods. or are dead and are
ashes amongst ashes.
What the number of dead Is, Is purely
matter of conjecture and can never be
aSCertained, since no other record Is kept
than that in the asylum books. and
they are destroyed. Taking into con-
Sideration the whole of the evidence
from the fireman. half of tine sane
inmates, and the sisters IN charge. it Is
a conservative estimate to say hundred
victims met their death. though some as
Sert the number is double that, and other,
place it below that figure However, the
fact remains that no such calamity has
fallen upon the province of Quebec since
the earliest times Ever since Quebec
WAS province the management Ct these
most helpless of all creatures has been its
shame. They have been farmCd out to
nuns at 500 Il head per year and the sis
terS ann was to keep them as frugdlly As
possible. From the construction OF the
building there is doubt in some minds as
to whether it was intended for an asylum
or a blast furnace; in any case it served
the purpose admirably. 1t vas construct
ed Of brick and was 900 feet long, running
back from the river half the distance
The main building occupied the center
and on each side extended four
wings SIX stories in height. The fire
today was started in the second ward ON
the woman,s side by Il careless patient
and as the ventilation was carried on 10y
the longitudinal shaft connected with the
the towers of flames soon appeared blazing
up through the roof in the center of each
tower. kilograms were sent to Montreal
for aid and an engine and reels started at
once. They might as well have remained
at home, for in five minutes they
EXHAUSTED THE WATER SUPPLY.
The only thing that could save the
building was the st. Lawrence river and
that was hall mile distance. When
the Associated press reporter arrived with
the fremen the dome of one Of the
towers had just fallen and the flames We're
bursting everywhere. As the heat
increased the statues fell from their
inches to the ground. and then the III
habitants prostrated themselves crying
aloud, as the saints had deserted them in
deed. Beds. furniture andutensils of every
description were being showered from the
windows and Il stream of i'll clad men
poured out of the eastern wing. Not
male patient was lost Among the women
it was different. The less hopeless cases
were placed in the lower wards. and they
we're removed without difficulty, but from
the upper wards, where the violent patients
were secured, there came the widest
screams as they resisted the nuns, who
were beseeching them to make their es-
cape At the windows a maniac would be
seen peering throug the bars
GRTNNING AND JABBERING
at the bright flame that went up to the
sky As the heat became more intense
she would grasp the bars and remain there
until the flames .enveloped her. The in
habitants had come from all parts round
about attracted by the blaze and in an
hour the little village was one surgIng
mass of shouting, vOciferating people.
When the tiremen found they were power
less to save the building they turned their
attention TO the inmates and burst in
the door with axes Inside chief BenOlt
says. it was a sight such as no fireman
ever before witnessed In one ward
he entered were twenty-five patients, and
at his approach they huddled together ike
pack of beasts, entwlning their arms into
ONE MASS OF HUMANITY.
He seized the nearest but said the chief,
Il could no more separate the crowd than
| could part with my horse. He tugged
at them until the FIRE darted into their
garments and enfOlded then like a shroud
of fame, and then he escaped with his
life. In another ward three Of the tTemen
We're nearly trapped to death. They enter
ed, and the door. which had a spring lock,
closed behind them. As Is customary,
there was no handle ON the inside. The
door resisted their axes and they rushed to
the windows but were driven back 10y the
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
VOL k in saving nine patients, and every
! fireman made a record Of which he may
feel proud On the first alarm the engi-
neer turned on the hose. but it was use
less as the fire leaped along the ventiating
shaft to the towers and burned in a dozen
places at once. One Of the tertiary nuns,
| Soeur Marie, lay sick in the infrmary on
| the fifth floor. and to her rescue came three
others, Demerise, Gilbert and Luiene.
They seized their companion and bore her
| In a blanket TO the stair case, but they
were met by sheet Of flames and all per
| ished None Of them were over 20 years
of age. The sisters worked with the per
| sistency Of herOines. by turns lmpiOrIng,
| beseeching and commanding the patients,
/ and finally saving very large number, IN
| view Of the inadequate facilities at hand.
| Sister Iherese. the superIoress. Is
BROKEN HEARTED.
and being at present in Ill health her
name may be added TO the already long
| list of victims. Drs. BOurque and Bara-
! let were carried from the building uncon-
/ scious, and whatever must be said Of the
| management as a whole, the individuals
! exercised every power to lessen the calam-
| ity they had neglected to avert.
4 loud explosion was followed by crash
OF beams The interior was giving away.
Wild faces sank from the windows and
sHRIEBs OF THE MAEIACs
| uEere lost IN the general uproar and one by
one the walls topped inward and fierce
/ blaze burst up from the newly added fuel
| and rose to the dark sky and shot Its glare
| over tie st. Lawrence 10 the southern
shore and even tinged the crest Of Mount
i Roval ten miles distant Then ii died
down into blaekness and nothing but a
few broken towers remained, bounding a
! seething mass Of metal and debris, under
/ which are now not the bodies, but the
ashes Of a hundred victims. By this
/ time it was o'clock and growing dark
and very cold.
HEROIC NUNS.
The spring rains had converted the
place into quagmire. and only horsemen
J could get from place TO place. The poor
sisters. most OF them young and delicate
/ stood ankle deep IN the mud securing and
EuperintendIng the removal Of such furnl-