Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-05-15
A CANADIAN HORROR.
Burning Of the Insane Asylum at
Tongue Pointe, Que.
Large Number of the Patients Burned
to Death, Together with Some OF
the Nuns in Charge of
the Institution.

te1G out Inc ruins Oh Jle walls. 4Hc
fire commenced a 1:3O p. M, originating,
it is said, in a cupboard in the middle
wing of the structure. At present, as
near as can be calculated, there are
from 100 to $50 insane inmates in the
flames who will be burned to death.
The fire apparatus is inadequate to con-
troll the flames.
The sight in the grounds surrounding
the institution beggars description.
Hundreds of lunatics are grouped there,
gibbering, and in frenzied condition.
The nuns are going among them trying
to allay their cries, and they are being
removed TO places of shelter. The Mon
treal brigade has arrived and is at
work.
$50 D. m.-The firemen are still
working heroically under the direction
of Chief Benoit, and they have sue
ceeded in rescuing several persons, in
many instances at the risk of their own
lives Thousands of persons are flock
ing to the scene from this city and the
surrounding country. The nuns, doc
tors and other attendants are besieged
with anxious inquiries after friends or
relatives.
One of the doctors connected with the
institution was seen this afternoon, and
he said that there was very little COM
motion among the inmates when the
alarm was given, and that for the most
part all walked out quietly; some, how
ever refused to leave their cells and
had to be taken out by force. Those who
persisted were in the wards on the top
RI hni
have so far proved futile as those res
cued are so scattered that no roll can
be called. All the books and records
were saved.
Two firemen from Montreal named
Dolan and Lambert had narrow escapes
from death. They were high up on the
topmost rounds of a ladder when it fell
to the ground. They were removed to a
hotel and it is thought that both will
recover.
Tongue POINTE, Que, May IA
long line of gaunt towers and mass of
blazing debris reflected in the wild eyes
of the maniacs is all that is left of the
Tongue Pointe LUnatic Asy lum. and
the horrible sights that were witnessed
during the destruction OF the building
will never be forgotten by the specta-
tors, though TO the lunatics it was
time of supreme giee; and in their de-
light they disported themselves amid
the 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 maniacal screams silenced.
There were incarcerated in the asylum
1.300 lunaticS; for the place was more
like prison than a hospital, and last
evening not more than 1,10O had been
accounted for, but many had escaped
into fields and woods. The number of
dead is now purely a matter of con-
lecture, and is not likely to ever be
ascertained, since no other record is
kept except the asylum books, and
these were destroyed by the fire. TAX
ing into consideration all the evidence
from firemen, half-sane inmates the
sisters in charge, by-standers, and per-
sonal observation, 1t is conservative
estimate to say that one hundred vic
Tins met their death in the flames,
although some assert that the number
is 200
No such calamity has fallen on Quebec
province in time out of mind.
At five minutes before noon a tele-
gram was received in Montreal implor-
ing assistance. This could not be given
without consulting Mayor Greniere,
who was found at the Banque du Peuple.
The mayor at once ordered engines to
be dispatched. One engine and two
reels were soon started and they were
quickly on the spot, but might as we'll
have remained at home, for in five min
utes they had exhausted the water sup
ply.
The fire started in the second ward
on the women's side in the upper story,
and its spread was FASTENED by longi-
tudinal ventilation shafts connected
with the towers. The flames soon APP
peared blazing up through the roof in
the center of eacn tower. When the
firemen arrived the dome of one tower
had Just fallen and the flames were
bursting out everywhere. Streams
were laid on, and while they lasted
some good was done, but that was for a
very brief space, and then the horror of
the situation was revealed. Meantime
beds, furniture and utensils were being
thrown from the windows, and streams
of ill-clad men poured out of the east
ern wing. not one male patient being
left. Among the women it was differ
ent. The less hopeless cases were
treated in the lower wards, and these
persons were removed without diff
Guilty, but from the upper wards, where
the violent patients were confined,
there came the widest screams as the
unfortunates resisted the efforts of the
nuns in making their escape. At the
windows the maniaCS could be seen
peering through the bars, jabbering I'M
til they were enveloped in the flames
and compelled to release their hold and
drop back into the oauldron.
When the firemen found they were
powerless to save the building, they
turned their attention to the inmates
and burst in the doors with axes. Chief
Bennetts says it was such sight no
fireman ever before witnessed. In one
hall he entered there were twenty-five
patients, and at his approach they hud-
died and clasped themselves together
like a pack of beasts. He seized the near
est But" said the chief Il could no
more separate the crowd than | could
separate the part of one body" He
tugred at them until the fire darted into
their garments and embodied them in a
shroud of flames.
One of the Tertiary nuns, Socuro
Marie. had been asleep in the sick in
Urinary on the fifth door, and to her res
cue hurried three others. They seized
their companion and bore her in a
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