Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-05-16

| hut were driven back by the flames. Thu
chief, suspecting their peril, sent aid to the
other side and the men were carried down
on ladders.
The engineer of the building did good
work, saving nine patients, and every fire.
man made a record of which he may feel
proud. On the first alarm the engineer
turned on the hose, but it was utterly use
less, as the fire leaped along the ventilas-
ing shaft to the overs and burned in q
dozen places at once.
One of the tertiary nuns, Soeurmarie,
lay sick in the infrmary on the fifth floor,
and to her rescue came three others.
They seized her companion and bore her
in a blanket to the staircase, but they were
met by a sheet of flame and all persisted.
None of them were over 20 years of age.
The sisters worked with the persistence
of heroines, by turns imploring. beseechinq
and commanding the patients, and finally
saving a very large number, in view of the
inadequate facilities at hand. Sister
There's, the superioress, ls broken-hearted
and, being at present in iN-health, her
name may be added to the tlready long
list of victims. Drs. Bourqus and Baralet
were carried from the building uncon-
%scious, and whatever must be aaid Of the
management as a whole, tn individuals
exercised every power to less NJ the calam.
ity they had neglected to ave N
A Loud Explosic1
was followed by a crash of beams. The
interior was giving way. The wild faces
sh1ank from the windows and the shrleks
of the manlacs we're lost in the general up
roar. One by one the walls toppled in
ward, and the fierce blaze burst up from
the ne Wy added fuel, rose to the dark sky
and shot its glare over the st. Lawrence q
the southern shore and even tinged To
crest Of Mt. Royal, ten miles Distant
Then it died down into blackness, and
nothing but a few broken towers remained
bounding the seething mass Of metal and
debris under which are now not the bodies,
but the ashes, of 100 victims.
By this time it was 6 o'clock and was
growing dark and very cold. The spring
rains had converted the place into a ouag-
mire, and only horsemen could get from
place to place. The poor sisters, most of
them young and delicate, stood ankle deep
in the mud securing and experimenting
the remova! of such furniture as had been
saved. The patients wandered about
aimlesslY, clad in scant garments.
When released many of them leaped
for JOY and bounded like deer
across the fields to the woods. Patients of
both sexes escaped, and though a Gordon
OF police was thrown around, not all were
included. and a horribly suggestive tale
was borne in by a habitant who was COM
ing through the woods to the scene of the
disaster. A new decade had come upon
the Inhabitants from the presence of SO
many escaped lunatics, and they will
count themselves fortunate ii they are not
visited by a series OF such crimes as only
madmen can devise.
All the time the fire was burning every
high house top n Montreal had Its curious
sight-seers. The long road was throneed
with carriages. The transport service of
Montreal was pressed into service, and
every available cab, omnibus and hack went
out filled with people.
Premier MERCER has placed the Montreal
exhibition buildings at the disposal Of the
nuns, and tomorrow the buildings will be
stocked with provisions.
The Strangest Wonder
to the fremen is that such an absence Of
fire fighting facilities could exist. Although
the appliances were there they were utterly
useless. The institution had excellent en-
gines, ten good pumps and new boiler
but no connection existed between the
pumps and the boilers.
The Sisters of Providence spend in
founding and organizing this institution
81, 1872, 1872, of which $500, 900 was spent on
the buildings. The building was insured
by the government for $500, 600. With
the exception of the medical department,
consisting of the doctors, the sisters re-
tanned complete control of all the depart
ments Of the asylum.
At latest reports the death roll is esti-
mated at fifty, although many more are
missing, but are expected to turn up. 1t
is feared that seven tertiary nuns were
burned, as three more are missing besides
those named above. They were not, how
ever, seen in the flames, and the sisters
prefer not to give out the names at pres.
emit.