Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-05-08
LOSSES BY FIRE.
Tongue POinte Asylum, Near
Montreal, Totally Destroyed.
About One Hundred Lives Be.
lieved to Have Been Lost.

Hundreds of Maniacs at Large in tn,
Surrounding COuntry--Loss About 81,
900, OOO-singer Sewing Machine Fac
tory at Elizabeth, ". j., Totally De
strOyed-LOss Placed at $4,000, 900.
MONTREAL, May s. Details of thu
burning or the Tongue Pointe insane
asylum continue to come in. 1t is now
estimated that over 100 lives were lost.
The surrounding country is in a state oi
uneasiness owing to the hundreds of in.
sane persons who are at large, some Of
whom would not hesitate to commit
almost any crime known. The asylum
contained about 300 inmates, many OF
whom are at large.
The st. Jean De Dieu asylum, com.
monty called Tongue Pointe, was
founded in 1873. The buildings consists
of the main edifice and of four smaller
buildings connected by wings, and had
frontage Of $50 feet. The principal
building was six stories high and other
portions of the building five. The Sis
ters Of Providence spent in founding and
organizing this institution 81, 1872, 900, of
which sum 100000 was spent on build
ingS. The building was insured by the
government for $500, 900 in the Royal In
surance company. This sum had been re-
insured in eighteen local companies in
sums varying from $5, 600 to $22, 900.
The Sisterhood of Providence, who
owned the building, and under whose
management the institution has always
been, is the largest of the many large
Canadian orders, although only estab-
lished fifty years ago. Its founder was
Madame Gamalin, widow of wealthy
Montreal merchant, who endowed the
new sisterhood
With the exception of the med
ical department, consisting of doc
tors the sisters retained complete con-
troll of all departments Of tho asylum,
even the dispensing Of the necessary
medicines being done by trained sisters.
There were 16l trained nurses employed
in the various departments of the institu-
tion.
Uneasiness in the Vicinity.
The vicinity is Mortified by the knowl-
edge that hundreds of these infuriated
creatures are secreting themselves in
outhouses and barns, behind the build
vi tllC llCl VI lllC
sane have been discovered i'll hotels and
lodging houses Every precaution has
been taken to protect them, and search
ing parties have been organized for the
purpose Of rescuing them.
Seven Nuns Cremated.
Until the registers can be examined,
the sick counted and the missing recoy-
cred, which will take two on three days,
no definite information as to the num-
Der who persisted can be given, as the
utmost confusion prevails at present.
The buildings are a total ruin. and the
loss of property will probably reach ST.
100000. 1t is known beyond much
doubt that seven Of the faithful nuns
have persisted in the flames while en-
deavoring to rescue their demented
patients.
How many that have found funeral
pyre in the midst of these ruins remain
unknown at present, and will, perhaps,
for years,
Records Lost.
The records Of the asylum have been
entirely lost. The only definite informa-
ton is that hundreds of unfortunates are
roaming over the desolate grounds. Out
of their darkness there is no cry for light
Hundreds have fallen victims. Many
have met dishonor worse than DEATH
Gray haired danes, middle-aged women
and golden-haired children ran across
the well-kept lawns and fed to the neigh
boring woods.
And Just now occurred one of those
horrible incidents which shall mark this
calamity without parallel in the his
tory of Canadian calamities As these
unfortunate women fled from the all-de-
vOuring fire they We're followed by
brutes in human form, and these old
trees that have for years bordered the
asylum grounds, We're mute witnesses of
the scenes that the pen must fail to de-
scribe. Flying from the pangs of hor-
rible death, they fell victims to a
scarcely less horrible fate, and the roar
ing flames of the destroyed home from
which they fled sang the dirge of their
sad doom.
Described by AN Eyewitness.
New YORK. May S.-The Times dis
patch from Montreal, describing the ter
rible scenes during the burning of the
Tongue Pointe insane asylum, says:
Entering one of the wards, The Times