West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1890-05-15
CRAZY WOMEN PERISH.
The Chcuango Co. On. Y.) Poor.
house Destroyed by Fire.
A Number of Inmates Burned to
Death in Their Cells.

Tho larger portion OF tho Chondngo County
N. W buildings whictt for fifty ycars past
havo been located at Preston. about six
miles from Norwich, N. ", were dcStroyedby
fire at about midnight, andton of the iumates.i
possibly mort, were burned. Tho buildings
destroyed were the asylum, in which
there wcro about eighty Inmates md the
paupcr house and idiot ward, In which there
were about forty inmates. Thoy were three.
story wooden buildings in good repair, having
wings of two-story In hoight. They stood side
by side, driveway separating them. Thoy
were valued nt t35 900 and insured Tor $40, 900,
and arc a total loss. The horrible partof the
disaster was tho burning of ten Idiots, who
were pduncd I'm their cells and were roasted
alive. The lrc started i'm this portion OF the
main building, and ~ tho inmates were ASLEEP
and no sounds were heard, 10 itisprobable that
the smoke AID gases smothcrcd them before
they felt the pain % the fire
Tho origin of the FIRE wns probably tho
muOuldering sparks of "A slight hso which oc-
cured on the afternoon before. Deborah
Dibblc, fceblo.ninded old woman, was
smoking pipe, aud eot her clothing aud
bedding ON Dire aud was burned fatally be-
fore the flames could bc cxtlngushed. Her
corpse wds burned I'm the second flro. lt IL
supposed that tito fire started from some
sn,oulderng sparks from this ovout.
Tho Keeper was awakened 10y n paupor,
aud attempted to release the idiots, but was
driven back 10y the flrc. He then ran through
the other buildings i'm his night clothes, rous-
ing tho inmates aud turning them out OF
doors. The insane patients had, some OF
thcni, 60 be forced out, and fought against
release, but all were saved. Most or them
were taken under guard 10 the Motho,ust
and Univcrsalist churches until other quar<
ters are provided, aud such n gibbcring, mot
ley congregation was never seen IN churches
before Some escaped and took TO tho
woods, whero tho Sheriff and n large number
of deputies found them next day.
The names OF the nine idiots who wcro
burned are; Sarah Mills, OF Alton: Sarah
Gallagher aud Arvilla Atwood, OF Norwich;
Sarah Bailey, OF Columbus; Laura Gray, OF
Greene; Deborah Dibblc, OF Bainbrdgo;
Mary q. Daniels OF Prestoni Ahneda Austin,
Adeia Bencdict and Lucy Warron, of War
rem County. Keeper Manworing rescued
several at The peril OF his lie.
The sceno at the burning was indescribn-
ble, and tho horrors OF the recent fro at
Tongue Pointc, Canada, we re-enactcd on
smaller scale. Dcmented and terror-strick-
| en- inmates wandered around tho burning
piles In n hopeless manncr. The great wood
on buildings lit mp tho Hills for miles around.
| a bucket brigade was formed OF tho citilcns
| of Preston and about n hundred laboroj 10
save the smaller buildings iIi the rear. with
| success Tho stables and farm buildings
were saved. Tho large milk house was
| burned.
Edward Francis, pauper. tells this story ;
MY lVDln was ll iht TtiT Oh Int D1uIDtF hb-
partment, Just across tho alley from this
| idiots, and immediately ON hearing tho cries
/ arose and called Kcoper Mainwaring, who
camo down stairs from hts room In hurry.
| BY that time the building was doomed,
and the folks inside were screaming
aud calling for help. but 10 Que could
| 1.-Two "a minute In there, 80 we went for tho
others aud got them out safo and sound.
You know that Mrs. Dibblo was sfnok-
| ing "A pine In there in the afternoon and set
haraatf On fra aud iltIfsnp1 an lpnlIV fhnf
| she diod about o'clock I'm the night. Her
| bed was all on fire, too, but we threw water
on 10 and put IL out, afterward washing the
| floor, aud thought at tho time that every-
! thing WAS all right, but some sparks must
| have been left 70 smolder, and they finally
| broke into blaze Everybody who could
possibly loo saved was taken out and none
| persisted who could bo awakened"
r.. n. Mninwaring, the keeper, said: ~ re-
| tired At my usual hour and must liayo been
in n sound sleep when ] awokc with start,
aud "a cold sweat stood out all over mo- i
| cannot say that | heard any noise or distin-
| guisbcd nny smell of smoke, but an Unborn
instinct told me that something was wrong.
Without waiting 30 drcss myself j bounded
| down stairs ia my bare feet, and on
| entering the paupers dining-rOpm strong
smell Of smoke struck my nostrils.
| followed the scent, which lei me 90 tho IDIOT
| department ON opening the door lead-
| ing from tho hall 10 that building j was
| thunderstrnck w see TINT tho interior was
| oil ablazei in fact IL was one mass OF flame,
! and the smoke was oyerpowering. nt-
| tempted 90 open the door and rescue the poor
| inmates, who were all securely shut In their
cells "a usual, but was driven back by tho
| heat and smoke j saw that tho idiots were
doomed and that nothing could save them.
/ then ran ont and gave the alarm, went ~
| my room aud pulled on my trousers
/ aud then ran through the corridors and
| aroused the pnupsrE, telling them ms plainly
| AL oould what mad happened. In aomo in
stances tiis poor people were dazed, and IL
was necessary ~ carry them bodily from tho
| house and turn them loose in the yard and
! the fields There were twelve inmates In tho
| idiot asylum, and they must haye been over
cOms by the heat before / awakened them,
| for heard nothing from them, and they
roasted like pigs in q hole.'
| The remains ~ ten or more human beings
wers blazing in the ruins OF tho idiot de
| partment when Coroner Fernald arrived.
| He ordered their removal. and many willing
hands wers soon engaged in bringing buck
cts OF water AMI quenching Che flames
| sufficiently 10 remove the charred trunks.
Il IN many instances the remains were re-
/ moved with shOvels nothing being recog-
| nizable save pieces Of skull and bones. "A
| sickeniug Od0r psrmeated the atmosphere.