Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1890-05-14
IN A FIERY FURNACE.


The Insane asylum q Tongue Point,
nine miles from Montreal, caught Ars and
soon Il Was . mass Of flames with no hopS
Of saving the building from utter destruo-
tion. Az near - can bs calculated Il this
hour there ass from 100 to l50 insane in
mates In the burning building With no
chance Of their escape. The Ars
apparatus in the asylum ID uttsrsly made.
quate to oontrol the flames aAd several
steamers have bssn sent from Montreal on
. special train. The sights II the grounds
surrounding the institution ars horrible
beyond description. Hundrsds oflunatics,
mals and fsmals. ~ grouped together.
gaha1EaHf II la q - n
NuAv ~ making every eaost 70 control
them and allay their fears, and ~ rapidly
y possible the poor creatures are being re-
moved to places OF shelter in the nsighbor.
hood.
The excitement among the lunatics on
the grounds became 90 great that dstach-
ment Of the Montreal police force was hur.
RED out to assist the guards. There we're
l,3O0 persons in tho asylum whom the ire
broke out.
Particulars In Detail.
A long line OF eauns towers 10 all one
now sees OF the Tongue Pointe lunatic
asylum, located ten miles from Montreal,
and which, with many lives, was consumed
By the flames. The sights witnessed be-
fore this tragic scene are SUCH as can never
be forgotten. Nothing could exceed the
horror attending the terrible calamity,
considering the number Of victims, the
terrible nature OF their death and the man.
ner In which the helpless victims re-.
ceived their fate. What to spectators
was scene OF horror was to the lunatics q
moment of supreme glee, and in their de-
light they disported themselves in the
flames and waved their blazing limbs in
turbulent satisfaction at the ruin that was
about them, and not until tho wallis
tumbled over their heads were their mania
cal screams silenced.
There were incarceratsd In Tongue
Points 1900 lunatics, for that asylum was
prison moro than hospital, and now not
more than l.100 are accounted for, but
many escaped into the fields and woods,
aud the dead are among the ashes. What
the number Of dead is 10 purely matter Of
conjecture and can never be ascertained,
since there was NO other record kept than
that in the asylum books, and they are de-
stroyed. Taking into consideration the
whole Of the evidence from fremen, half
insane inmates and the sisters In charge,
it IL . conservative estimate to
say that 100 victims met their death,
though some assert the number 10 double
that and others place It below this figure.
However, tho fact remains that NO such
calamity has fallen upon the province Of
Quebec since tho earliest times. Ever
since Quebec was . province its manage
ment Of those most helpless Of creatures
has been its shame. They have been
farmed out to nuns at 500 head year
and the sisters aim in way 10 keep them
40 frugaliy as possible.
From the construction Of the building
there is doubt in some minds as to whether
it was intended for an asylum or blast
furnnce-in any case it served the latter
~
brick and was 600 feet lung, ruu.lng back
from the river halt the distance. The
main building occupied the center and on
each side extended four wings, six stories
in height.
Tho Fire started i'm Cupboard
III the second ward on tie woman's side in
the upper story by careless patient, and
- ventilation was carried on by longi-
tudinal shaft connected with the towers,
the flames soon appearing through the roor
in the center Of each tower. A telegram
was sent to Montreal for aid, and an en-
Rine and reels started at once. They
might % we'll have remained at home, for
in Ave minutes they exhausted the water
supply. The only thing that could save
tho building vas the st. Lawrence river,
and il was half mile distant. When the
Associated Press reporter arrived with the
dremen, The dome Of one tower had Just
fallen and the flames were bursting out
everywhere.
Az the heat Increased the statues fell
from their inches TO the ground and then
the hsbitants prostrated themselves, crying
aloud that the saints had deserted them, in.
dscd. Beds, furniture aud utensils OF
every description we're being showersd from
the windows, and stream Of ill-clad mon
poured out Of the eastern wing. Not .
male patient was lost. Among the women
it WAS different. Tho less hopeless cases
we're placed in ths lower wards, and they
were removed without dii,culty, but from
the unner .ards. vhers the yiol.nt p.4ient.
vere secured. there came tia vildesa
..r.e,n. =. &hAv ,.si.taIa tha nrr. vho ve,a
beseechins them 20 make their escepe.
IL one window ( maniac could b seen
peerine through The bars. trimming and
iabbsrius at TIE bright hams thse vent up
TO the sky. AZ the heat became more In.
tense shs would grasp the bars and rsmain
there until The flames envelopsd hsr.
The inhabitsnts had come from sll parts