The Dickinson press., 1890-05-10
DEATH IN A NADHOUSE.
AT Tongue Point,
Quebec.
Thirteen Hundred Inmates in
the Institution-Two Hun
dred Missing.
Fifty Patients and Seven Nuns Sup
posed to Have Perished in the
Fire Trap.

TONGUE POINT, Que, May IA long
line of gaunt towers and a mass of blaz-
ing debris, reflected in the wild eyes of
the maniacs, is all that is left of the
Tongue Point lunatic asylum. and the
horrible sights that We're witnessed dur
ing the destruction of the building will
never be forgotten by the spectators,
though to the lunatics it was a time of
sudden glee and in their delight they
sported themselves in the flames and
ton at the ruin that was being wrought.
Not until the walls tumbled over their
heads We're their maniacal screams 81
fenced. There We're incarcerated in the
asylum 300 lunatics; for the place was
more like IL prison than a hospital, and
in the evening not more than LOO had
been accounted for. but many had es-
capped into fields and woods. The num-
Der of dead is now purely Il matter of
conjecture and is not likely to be evcr
ascertained, since no other record is
kept than the asylum books and these
were destroyed by the fire. Taking into
consideration all the evidence from fire.
men, half sam inmates. the sisters in
charge, by-standers and personal obser-
walton, it is a conservative estimate to
say that
One Hundred Victims Me- Death
in the flames, although some assert that
the number is 200. Nosuch calamity has
fallen upon Quebec province in time out
Of mind.
Very few male patients persisted in
the flames. Among the women it was
different. The less hopeless cases
wards, and these persons were
removed without difficulty, but from
the upper wards, where the violent pa
tients were confined. there came the
widest screams as the un%fortunates re-
sisted the efforts of the nuns in making
their escapes. AT the windows the ma
MACS could be seen peering through the
bars, jabbering until they were envel-
openin the flames and compelled to re-
Lease their hold and
Drop Back in the Cauldron.
When the fremen found they We're pow
erless to save the building they turned
their attention to the inmates and burst
in the doors with axes. Chief Bennett
says it was such a sight as no fireman
even before witnessed. In one hall he
entered were twenty-five patients. and
at his approach they huddled and
clasped themselves together like a pack
Of beasts. He seized the nearest. but"
said the chief, Il could no more separate
the crowd than 1 could separate the
parts Of one body" He urged them un
til the fire darted into their garments
and EMBODIED them
In IL Stroud of Flames.
One of the Tertiary nuns, Socur Marie.
had been asleep in the sick infirmatory
Oh the fifth floor, and to her rescue hur-
ried three others. They seized their
companion and bore her i'll Il blanket to
the stair case, but there they We're met
by q sheet of flame and all four persisted.
Their names were: Soeurs Marie, De-
morris. Egilbert and Lumiene. None of
them was over 20 yearso of age. All came
from the parishes below Quebec. The
sisters worked most heroicaliy, implor-
ing and commanding patients. and
despite the Instantaneous circum-
stances succeeded in rescuing a large
number.
Sister Theresa, the superioress, has
been in poor health, and it is feared that
the shock may prove fatal to her.
The management of the pauper insane
has been a long standing shame to the
Province of Quebec. The unfortunates
have been farmed out to nuns at $500 a
head per year, and the aim seems to
have been to keep them as cheaply as
possible, and with the least possible out
lay for buildings Or repairs. While the
most urgent bodily wants of the patients
have been supplied, nc attempt has been
made at systematic medical treatment.
By a curious coincidence the only Prot
estant insane asylum in the province
was inaugurated Tuesday by its new
superintendent. For years the govern
ment has been urged to adopt a modern
lied treatment Of the insane, and last
summer the mother superior was sent
abroad to ascertain if any improvements
could be adopted from similar institu
lions in Europe; but nothing of value
seems to have resulted from the voyage.
The patients who had fled from the
burning building wandered about aim
le,sly clad in scant garments, many of
item veritable Ophelias in their fantas-
tic dress. When released many of them
wept for joy and bounded like deer
across the fields to the woods. Patients
of both sexes escaped, and though a cor.
don Of police was formed not all the pa
tients were included, and horribly sug.
gestive rumors were brought in by PEG.
pie who came through the woods to the
scene of the disaster. A new drehd has
come upon the inhabitants from the
presence of so many lunatics, and they
will count themselves fortunate if they
are not visited by a series of such crimes
as only madmen can devise.
The death roll is now estimated a,
$50 though many more are missing. 1t
is feared that seven Tertiary nuns ar
burned. Three more are missing.
Among the patients who persisted is
Sister La Hale, a nun of the Sacred
Heart convent at Sault Au Recollete
who was under treatment at the Tongue
Pointe institution for some months.
The loss financially is placed as higl
oc Ct S00 0n0