Iron County register., 1890-05-15
CREMATED LUNATICS.

Ano canadian Holocaust Duplicated In tho
burning of the Chenango County IN. Y.)
Poor-House and the Loss of the Lives
of Number of Idiotic Paupers-The
Origin of the Fire a Mystery, But Spon-
taneoHs Combustion Thought to be Re-
sponsible.
BINGHAMToN, n. Y, May "a spe-
clal from Norwich states that the Che
mango County Poor-house was burned
Wednesday night at eleven o'clock and
that the lives of seven inmates of the
institution were lost. The fire started
in the insane department.
All around were farmhouses, and mes
sengers were sent for help. The luna
tics were released from the different
wards as soon as possible. Altogether
there were about twenty, and it was
feared that if they mingled with the
more tractable patients there would be
general stampede. The majority of
the violent ones, however, made direct
ly for the woods, and for hours after
ward they could be heard screaming
and yelling in the adjacent forest.
Attention was given to the saving of
life, and the nurses and keepers worked
with a will to get the poor wretches out.
In their wild efforts to escape some of
the patients were badly burned. Those
in the poor wards were all saved with
out trouble, as that portion of the
building was furthest removed from the
wing where the fire started.
About two o'clock the building began
to crumble and succumb to the fury of
the fire.
1t was an awful night for the nurses
and attendants They hardly knew
what to do or which way to turn, until
finally some half-dozen farmers offered
their houses and barns as places of
refuge for the imbeciles. The doors of
the two little churches were thrown
wide open. and temporary hospitals ar.
ranged. Some of the patients were SC
badly burned that they fell to the
ground as soon as they reached a place
of safety.
There is still a considerable number
of violent patients in the woods. Most
of those who escaped had been kept in
the closest confinement on account of
the peculiar nature of their maladies,
and it is not at all safe for them to be
at large. The possee of the sheriff is
securing the entire country in search of
the fugitives. Two of the seven who
were captured were found miles away,
and resisted vigorously before they al
lowed themselves to be retakcn.
Later Particulars.
NORWICH, n. Y, May 9.-The num-
ber of lives lost by the asylum fire is
now definitely known to be twelve.
-Four of the male lunatics are still at
large, but will probably be captured be-
fore many hours. The fact now comes
to light that Deborah Dibble, whose
name was at first sent out as one of
the victims of the fire, was burned to
death Wednesday afternoon. Her bed
was set on fire by the pipe which she
was smoking, and she was dead before
the fire was discovered by the asylum
attendants. The fire was eXtinguished
before it had gained much headway.
The remains of the victim were in tho
building when Wednesday nights fire
started. The officers of the asylum
seem to think that the second fire was
caused by spontaneous combustion.
The names of the idiots who perishad
We're:
Sarah Mills.
Sarah Gallagher, Norwich.
Alme Austin, this county.
Sarah Bailey, Columbus.
Laura Gray, Greene.
Adelia Benedict, Oneida.
Lucy Warren, Oneida.
Arvilla Atwood, Norwich.
Deborah Dibble, Bainbridge.
Mary o. Daniels, Preston.
The loss to the county on buildings
and contents will probably reach only
81, 900: covered by insurance.
Keeper E. I. Manwarring was seen
by United Press reporter at an early
hour yesterday. Said he: Il retired at
my usual hour, and must have been in
a sound sleep. when | awoke with
start, and cold sweat stood all ovel
me. | can not say that | heard any
noise. or distinguished any smell of
smoke but an Unborn instinct told ne
that something was wrong.
''Without waiting to dress myself, I
bounded downstairs in my bare feet, and
on entering the paupers' dining room
strong smell of smoke struck my no
trils. | followed the scent which led
me to the idiot department. On open.
ing the door leading from the hall t.
that building | was thunderstruck to
see that the interior was all ablaze. In
fact it was one mass of flame and the
smoke was overpoWering. / attempted
to open the door and rescue the poor in
mates, who were all securely shut in
their cells as usual, but was driven back
by the heat and smoke. | saw the poor
idiots were doomed, and that nothing
could save them. | then ran out and
gave the alarm, went to my room,
pulled on my trousers and then ran
through the corridors and aroused the
paupers, telling them as plainly as |
could, what had happened. In some
instances the poor people were dazed,
and it was necessary to carry them
bodily from the house and turn them
loose in the yard and fields. There
were twelve inmates in the idiot asy-
lum, and they must have been overcome
by the heat before | awakened, for l
heard nothing from them, and they
must have been roasted like pigs in
hot. We have done the best we could
for the poor unfortunates who were res
cued by quartering them in the
churches, hotels and houses in the viii
lage, and the good people are minister
ing to their wants. How the fire orig
mated is a mystery to myself as we'll as
every one else. 1t must have beer =
case of spontaneous combustion
Voted to Exclude the Negro.
CHARLESTON, S. C., May 9.-The do /
cesan convention yesterday adopted an