Connecticut western news., 1890-05-14
ANOTHER ASYLUM FIRE.
Ten Idiotic Womsp Roasted in
 Their cells.
NO ESCAPE FROM THE FLAMES.

NO ESCAPE FROM THE FLAMES. N. Y., Destroyed-The Scenes of Horror in Quebec Repeated - Blackened and
 Unrecognizable Bodies in the Ruins. NORWICH, N. Y., May 9-Another asylum horror similar to tle holocaust at Longue Pointe, Quebec, and entailing the loss of ten or more lives, occurred yesterday at Preston, Chenango county. The county poorhouse at that place was fired by spark from the pipe of old Deborah Dibble an idiotic woman-and the scenes of horror at the Quebec fire were in measure duplicated. About midnight screams of mortal agony issuing from the idiot ward quickly brought the terrified keepers to the scene. They found old Deborah Dibble lying on the bare floor, with the hungry flames feeding on her clothing and wrap ping themselves around her like winding sheet of fire, while other poor idiots ran to and fro trying to escape the flames, which were licking the bed clothing and curling about the few bits of furniture in the apartment. Rapid Spread of the Flames.
 So fierce was the heat, and so rapidly had the fire, which was started by the embers of old Deborah Dibble's pipe, spread that the keepers were compelled to retreat to save themselves. A few of the idiots, babbling and jabbering, ran with the keepers, who cried the alarm as they went. prooonk1N xuhon oil in tho aroused, the whole idiot ward was in flames. The Lunatics Run for the Woods. The lunatics were released from the diff ferent wards as soon as possible In the violent ward the crazy inmates acted as if they would tear each other to pieces in l their efforts to escape. They shrieked, cursed and prayed. As soon as the doors | were opened they scampered out of the building. Some were laughing as only | maniacs can, and all attempts to restrain them were in vain. Altogether there were about twenty, and it was feared that if l they mingled with the more tractable pa tiepts there would be a general stampede The majority of the violent ones, however, made direcmy for the woods, and for hours afterward they could be heard screaming and yelling in the adjacent forests.
 Bucket Brigade Formed.
 The bell on the building used to alarm the neighboring villages when an inmate escaped was rung, and the people who heard it responded quickly until bucket brigade one hundred strong wa formed, but the fire was under such headway that nothing | could be done except to save the outhouses 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 l were badly burned. Those in the poor wards were all saved without trouble.
 | It Was an Awful Night.
 l It 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 of the good hearted farmers of | fered their houses and barns as places of refuge for the imbeciles.
 The doors of the two little churches were thrown wide open and temporary hospital quarters arranged. The keeper of the soli- food and shelter for those who were still unprovided for.
 l The Keepers Story.
 Keeper E. F. Mainwarring repudiates the pipe story as the origin of the fife, and said "I awoke with start about mid | night, trembling and covered with perspira- l tion. An inborn instinct told me that some thing was wrong. Without waiting to dress myself, I bounded down stairs and on opening the door of the idiot depart ment was thunderstruck to see that the interior was all ablaze; in fact, it was one l mass of flame and the smoke was over towering. attempted to open the door and rescue the poor inmates who were all securely shut in their cells as usual, but was driven back by the heat and smoke. | S~,
 q saw that the poor idiots were doomed and that nothing could save them. then l aroused the paupers, telling them, as plainly as could what had happened. In some instances the poor people were dazed l and 1t was necessary to carry them bodily from the house and turn them loose in the yard and fields. There were twelve in- mates in the idiot asylum and they must have been overcome by the heat before awakened, for Iheard nothing from them, and they must have roasted like pigs in a hole. How the fire originated is mystery to myself as well as every one else It must have been case of spontaneous combus- tion." .--.. ..-...
 Eight B1ackened Bodies Visible.
 During the day thousands visited the scene and gazed curiously into the ruins, where eight bodies could be counted, dis. | show that they were the bones of human beings. It was utterly impossible to iden. tify any of them. -a. l. The Names of the Dead. Y
 The names of the idiots who perished were: '-;
 Atwood, Arvilla, Norwich 70
 Austin, Almeda, county. .sc2s =. .t
 Bailey. Sarah, Columbus. .5 d,
 Benedict Adelia county. k.s
 Dibble, Deborah, Bainbrid0A a. z, se.
 Gallagher. Sarah, Norwich. -%. -I-.s;.
 Gray, Laura, Greene.
 Mills, Sarah. Alton. F. ODaniels, Preston. .-.
 Warren, Lucy, county. .'.... -4
 The loss to the county on buildings and contents will probably reach $27, 900; insur ance, $19,OOO.
 The Male Inmates Escaped.
 The male inmates all escaped. There were about eighty inmates in the paupe1 and idiot department, which were in tn. main building The buildings occupied by the pauper and insane inmates were botl
 completely destroyed, only the foundation
 walls remaining. Three chimneys stand
 as monuments in the midst of the scene.
 The insane department was in separat.
 building to the south of the poorhouse ani
 divided by driveway. There were forty
 three inmates, and as soon as the keeper
 William Hall, was acquainted with thei1
 peril he opened the doors of their cells, al
 lowing the inmates to leave their cells ant
 enter the halls and thence make their es
 cape to the open air. Four or five of then took advantage of their liberty and evadinl } the vigilance of the watchers could not b'
 found when wanted. The posse of tn
 sheriff is securing the entire county fl search of the fugitives Two, who wer