Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-05-07
MANAGES ROASTED.
Awful Work of Pitiless Fire
Near Montreal.
NrrY LUNATIos oREMATED ALIVE.

XIX LUNAl1OO OhhMh II D ALL u.
A Crowded Asylum Af1ame and Some of
Its Inmates Refuse To Be Saved-Dread-
full Sights at the Windows of the Build
ing-The Doomed People Jabber at the
Horror-Stricken Onlookers Through the
Bars and Then Are Swallowed Up by
the Settling Flames-A Fire Chiefs Ter
rible Experience.
TONGUE PoINTE, Que, May "A long
line of gaunt towers and a mass of blazing
debris is all that is left of the Tongue
Pointe lunatic asylum, and the horrible
sights that were witnessed during the de-
struction of the building yesterday will
never be forgotten by the spectators,
though to the lunatics it was time of SUI
preme glee, and in their delight they dis
ported themselves amid flames and waved
ruin that was being wrought. Not until
the walls tumbled over their heads were
their maniacal screams silenced. There
were incarcerated in the asylum 1900 luna
tics; for the place was more like prison
than hospital
Two Hundred Maniacs Missing.
Last evening not more than LOO had
been accounted for, but many had escaped
into fields and woods. The number of
dead is now purely matter of conjecture,
and is not likely to ever be ascertained,
since no other record is kept than the asy-
lum books, and these were destroyed in
the fire Taking into consideration all
the evidence from firemen, haif-sane in
mates, the Sisters, by-standers, and per-
sonal observation it is a conservative esti-
mate toaeg that,s1O vie1ams met their
death in the flames, although some assert
that the number is 200.
Fire Engines of Little Use.
AT five minutes before 10 telegram was
received in Montreal imploring assistance
This could not be given without consult
ing Mayor Grenier, who was found at the
Banque du Peuple. The mayor at once
ordered engines to be dispatched. One en-
CINE and two reels were soon started and
they were quickly on the spot but might
as well have remained at home, for in five
minutes they had exhausted the water
supply. The fire started in the second
ward on the women's side in the upper
story, and its spread was fastened by Ion
gitudinal ventilation shafts connected
with the towers. The flames soon ap
peared blazing through the roof in the
center Of each tower. When the firemen
arrived the dome of one tower had Just
fallen ard the flames were bursting out
everywhere. Streams were laid on and
while they lasted some good was done. but
that was for a very brief space, and then
the horror of the situation was revealed
Dreadful Sights Mt the Windows.
Meantime beds, furniture and utensils
were being thrown from windows, and
streams of ill-clad men poured out of the
eastern wing, not one male patient being
LETT. Among the women it was different.
The less hopeless cases were treated IN the
lower wards, and these persons were re-
moved without difficulty; but from the
upper wards where the violent patients
were confined, there came the widest
screams, as the unfortunates resisted the
efforts of the nuns in making their escape
AT the windows the maniacs could be seen
peering through the bars, jabbering until
they were envelOped in the flames and
compelled 10 release their hold and drop
back into the cauldron.
Twenty-Five Victims In One Group,
When the tiremen found they were 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 sight as no fireman ever
before witnessed. In one hall he entered
there were twenty-five patients, and at his
approach they huddled and clasped them
selves together like pack of beasts He
seized the nearest. But" said the chief.
Il could no more separate the crowd than
/ could separate the parts of ones BODY
He tugged at them until the fired darted
into their garments and embodied them in
a shroud of flames.
Four Nuns Lose Their lives
One of the tertiary nuns, Soeur Marie.
had been asleep in the sick infir1nary on
the fifth floor, and to her rescue hurried
three Others. They seized their ompanion.
and bore her in a blanket TO the staircase.
but there they were met by a sheet of
flame, and all four persisted Their names
were SOeurs Marie, Demoris, EgiIbert and
Lumiene. None of them was over 10 years
OF age. All came from parishes below
Quebec The sisters worked most hero
tients, and in spite of the Instantaneous
circumstances succeeded in rescuinC a |
large number. Sister Therese, the SUPERB |
Dress, has been in poor health, and it is |
feared that the shock may prove fatal to |
her. Drs. Bourque and Baralet remained |
at the work of rescue until exhausted and |
were carried out unconscious
In Dread of the Escaped Lunatics
The uHtianrS vrhO had na6 from tho b,,r,,
ing building wandered about aimlessly. |
clad in scant garments, many of them YER |
liable Ophelias in their fantastic dress,
When released many of them wept for joy |
and bounded like deer across fields to the |
woods. Patients of both sexes escaped
and though Gordon of police was formed
not all the patients were included, and
horribly suggestive rumors were brought
in by the people who came through the
woods to the scene of the diaster A new
dread has come upon the inhabitants from
the presence of so many escaped lunatics,
and they will count themselves fortunate
If they are not visited by series of such
crime as only madmen can devise
Latest Estimate OF the Dead.
LATER.-The death-roll is now estimated
at fifty, though many more are missing. 1t
is feared that seven tertiary nuns are
burned. Three more are missing
Was to Have Been Expected.
The management Of the pauper insane |
has been long-standing cause of shame |
to the province Of Quebec. The unfor- |
tunates have been farned out to nuns at |
500 head per year, and the aim seems to |
have been to keep them as cheaply as pos
sible and with the least possible outlay |
for buildings or repairs. While the most |
urgent bodily wants of the patients have |
been supplied, no attempt has been made |
at systematic medical treatment. For |
years the government has been urged to |