Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1890-05-15
In A FIERY FURNACE.
FEARFUL TRAGEDY ENACTED Ar
LUNGUE POINTE, QUEBEC.

FEARFUL TRAGEDY ENACTED Al
/ LONQUE POINTE, QUEBEC.
An Insane Asylum Containing over t3Ot
Patients Burned to the Ground Over 1Ot
People Believed to Have Been Consumed
| Particulars of the Sad AFFAIR.
The insane asylum at Tongue Point
nine miles from Montreal, caught fire and
| soon it was mass of flames with no hope
OF saving the building from utter destruc-
tion. As near as can be calculated at this
hour there are from 100 to l50 insane in.
mates in the burning building with no
chance of their escapet The fire
apparatus in the asylum is utteraly inade-
quate to control the flames and several
steamers have been sent from Montreal on
special train. The sights ia the grounds
surrounding the institution are horrible
beyond description. Hundreds oflunatics,
male and female, are grouped together,
gibbering and in frenzied condition. The
nuns are making every effort to control
them and allay their fears, and as rapidly
as possible the poor creatures are being re-
moved to places OF shelter In the neighbor-
hood.
The excitement among the lunatics on
the grounds became SO great that a detach-
sent of the Montreal police force was hur-
fasd out to assist the guards. There were
1.-TWO persons in the asylum when the fire
broke out.
Particulars i'm Detail.
long line of gaunt towers is 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 suci, as can never
be forgotten. Nothing could exceed the
horror attending the terrible calamity,
considering the number Hof victims, the
terrible nature Of their death and the man
ner in which the helpless victims re-
ceived their fate. WhA to spectators
was scene of horror was 10 the lunatics q
moment of supreme glee. ind 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 the walls
tumbled over their heads we're their mania
cal screams silenced.
There were incarcerated in Tongue
Pointe 300 lunatics, for that asylum was
prison more than hospital, and now not
more than 1,100 are accounted for, but
many escaped into the fields and woods,
and the dead are among the ashes. What
toe number of dead is is purely matter of
conjecture and can never be ascertained,
since there was no other fecord 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 is a conservative estimate to
say that 100 victims met their death,
though some assert the number is double
that and others place it below this figure.
However, the fact remains that no such
calamity has fallen upon the province of
Quebec since the earliest times. Ever
since Quebec was a province its manage
ment of these most helpless of creatures
has been its shame. They have been
farmed out to nuns at 500 head year
and the sisters aim in Q way to keep them
as frugally 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
furnace-in any case it served the latter
purpose admirably. II was constructed of
brick and was 600 feet long, running back
from the river half the distance. The
main building occupied the center and on
each side extended four wings, six stories
in height.
The Fire Started in Cupboard
in the second ward on the woman's side in
the upper story by careless patient, and
as ventilation was carried on by a 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-
gine and reels started at once. They
might as we'll have remained at home, for
In five minutes they exhausted the water
supply. The only thing that could save
the building was the st. Lawrence river,
and it was half mile distant. When the
Associated Press reporter arrived with the
fremep, the dome of one tower had just
fallen and the flames were bursting out
everywhere.
AS the heat increased the statues fell
from their inches to the ground and then
the habitants prostrated themselves, crying
aloud that the saints had deserted them, in
decd. Beds, furniture and utensils of
every description were being showered from
the windows, and stream of ILL clad men
poured out of the eastern wing. Not q
male patient was lost. Among the women
it was different. The dess hopeless cases
were placed in the lower wards, and they
were removed without difficulty, but from
the upper wards, where the violent patients
were secured, there came the widest
screams as they resisted the nuns who were
beseeching them to make their escape.
At one window a maniac could be seen
peering through the bars, grinning and
jabbering at the bright fame that went up
to the sky. AS the heat became more in
tense she would grasp the bars and remain
there until the flames enveloped her.
The inhabitants had come from all parts
roundabout, attracted by the blaze, and an
hour later the little village was one surging
mass of shouting, vociferating people.
When the fremen found they were
powerless to save the building they turned
their attention to the inmates and burst in
the doors with axes. Inside Chief Benoit
says it was such q sight as no fireman ever
before witnessed. In one ward he entered