Evening journal., 1890-05-07
MANIACS AFLANE.
Frightful Scenes at a Lunatic
Asylum Fire.
OVER ONE HUNDRED DEAD.
The Demented Creatures Gibbered
While Flames DeYOured Them.

and Possibly More Insane Persons Were
Burned 20 Death--some Of the nTaniacs
Grinned and Gibbered at windows I'm
I'll They Fell Back into the Flames.
Other Chung Together Like Frightened
Wild Beasts and Refused to BE Rescued.
Heroic Efforts OF the Nuns 70 save Their
Demented Charges--Four sisters Per
ished In the Burning Building.
Tongue PoNTE, Que, May "A long
line of gaunt towers and a mass Of blazing
debris reflected in the eyes Of the maniacs,
is all that is left Of the Tongue pointe
Lunatic asylum, and the terrible sights
that were witnessed during the destruction
of the building will never be forgotten by
spectators, though TO the luna ties il was a
time Of supreme glee, and in their delight
they disported themselves amid flames and
waved their arms in turbulent satisfaction
at the ruin that was being wrought. Not
until the walls tumbled over their heads
were their manaical screams silenced
There were incarcerated in the asylum /. 800
lunatics, for the place was more like a
prison than a hospital, and not more than
1,iOo have been accounted for but many
escaped into fields and woods.
One Hundred or More Perished.
The number of dead is now purely mat
ter Of conjecture and is not likely to ever
be ascertained, since no other record Is
kept than the asylum books, and these
were destroyed in the fire. Taking into
consideration all the evidence from fire
men, half sane inmates, the sisters In
charge, bystanders and personal obserya-
tion, it is a conservative estimate 10 say
that 100 victims met their death in the
flames, although some assert that the mum
Der is 200. No such calamity has fallen
upon Quebec province in time out Of mind.
Montreal Department Summoned.
At five minutes before noon a telegram
was received in Montreal imploring assist
ance This could not be given without
consulting Mayor GrenieI, who was found
at the Banque du Peuple The mayor al
once ordered engines to be dispatched
One engine and two reels were soon started
and they were quickly on the spot But
they might as well have remained at home
for in five minutes they had exhausted the
water supply. The fire started in the sec
ond ward on the wOmen's side in the upper
story, and its spread was hastened by longi.
\ tudinal ventilation shafts connected with
| the towers. The flames soon appeared
blazing up through the roof in the center
Of each tower When the firemen arrived
the dome Of one tower had just fallen and
the flames were bursting out everywhere
The Scenes of Horror Commenced.
Streams were laid on and while they
| lasted some good was done, but that was
/ for very brief space, and then the horror
/ Of the situation was revealed. Meantime
beds, furniture and utensils were being
thrown from windows and streams of III
clad men poured out of the eastern wing
not one male patient being lost Among
the women it was different. The less hope
less cases were treated in the lower wards
and these persons were removed without
difficulty, but from the upper wards, where
/ the violent patients were confined, there
came the widest screams, as the unfortu
mates resisted efforts of the nuns to aid
them in making their escape.
Maniac Faces at the Windows.
At the windows the maniacs could bs
seen peering through the bars, griQning
and gibbering, until they were envelopef
/ IN the flames and compelled TO release theil
| hold and drop back into the cauldron
When the tremen found they were power
less to prevent the spread Of Che flames they
turned their attention to the inmates and
burst in the doors with axes. Chief Bennett
says it was such q sight as no fireman evel
before witnessed. In one hall he entered
there were twenty-five patients, and at his
approach they huddled themselves together
| like pack of beasts He seized the nearest
But" said the chief, II could no more
separate the crowd than / could separata
the parts Of ones body"
Four Nuns burned TO Death.
He tugged at them until the fire darted
i into their garments and EMBODIED them IN
q shroud Of flame. One Of the Tertiary
nuns had been asleep in the sick inflrmarl
on the fifth floor and TO her rescue hurried
three others. They seized their companion
/ and bore her in blanket to the staircase
but there they were met by a sheet of fam
/ and all perished. Their names were Sister
| Marie, Demoris, Egilbert and Lumiene
None Of them was over twenty years o
age. All came from parishes below Quebec
Heroic Work OF the Nuns.
The sisters worked most heroically, i'm
| ploring, beseeching and commanding thu
patients and despite the disadvantageoui
circumstances succeeded in rescuing a largl
number. Sister Therese, the superioress
has been in poor health, and it is feared
that the shock may prove fatal to hel
Drs Bourque and Baralet remained at thl
work of rescue until exhausted and wer,
carried out unconscious.
The management of the pauper insan,
has been long standing cause Of shame tC
the province of Quebec. The unfortunate.
have been farmed out TO nuns at a 500 1
head per year, and the aim seems to have
been TO keep them as cheaply as possibl,
and with the least possible outlay for build
ings or repairs While the most urgent
bodily wants of the patients have been sup
piled no attempt has been made at system
attic medical treatment.
A Curious Coincidence.
BY curious coincidence the only Prot
estant insane asylum in the province was
inaugurated the day OF the fire by its new
superintendent Hitherto patients of al
| denominations were treated together, but
/ the Protestants, by persisted solicitations
raised enough money to found an institu
| tion in which their own patients might bl
cared for. For years the government hal
been urged TO adopt a modernizec treat
ment Of the insane, and last summer thu
/ mother superior was sent abroad to ascer
/ tain II any improvements could be adoptes
1 from similar institutions IN Europe, bu