The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-05-07
Burning Of The Insane Asylum at
Tongue Pointe, Quebec.
Probably One Hundred Lost Their
Lives in the Flames.
Quebee's Shame : A Prison Rather
Than a Hospital

Lunatic Asylum burned today and probably
one hundred lives were lost. The sight wit
messed during the fire can never be forgotten.
What to the spectators was scene of horror.
was to the lunatics moment of supreme
glee. In their delight they disported them
selves in the flames and waved their blazing
imos In turbulent satisfaction at the ruin
about them. There were incarcerated in
Tongue Pointe 1900 lunatics. The asylum
was prison more than a hospital Not
| more than ITO are accounted for, but many
escaped into the fields and woods. The
number OF dead can never be ascertained.
No other record was kept than the asylum
| books and they were destroyed. No such
calamity has fallen upon the Province of
quebec since the earliest times.
Quebec's Shame.
Ever since Quebec was province, its
management of these most helpless creatures
has been its shame. They are farmed out
10 the nuns at 500 head per year. The
sisters aim TO keep them as frugaly as
possible with the least possible outlay for
permanent works or repairs. While their
most urgent bodily wants are supplied no
attempt is made at systematic medical
treatment. The only Protestant insane
asylum in the province was inaugurated to-
day. Hitherto the patients of all denomin-
ations have been crowded together. The
Protestants, by persistent personal solIcita-
tions, have raised enough money to found an
Institution of their own. For years the
government has been urged to redeem its
treatment of the insane. Last summer, the
mother superior. with a body guard, was
sent abroad with due solemnity to ascertain
if anything could be learned from similar
institutions in Europe. Up to this morniug
she had evidently discovered nothing that
would be Of value to her.
Started by a Patient.
Tongue Point is ten miles below Montreal.
The lunatic asylum was of brick, 600 feet
long, running back from the river. On each
side of the main building were four wings,
six stories in height. To the east were the
making GO in an & In te tie sSt TsaF waTe shs the snsin
tisGee as 31 end store rooms, all of which
the woman's side in the upper story. and as
ventilation was secured by a longitudinal
shaft connected with the tower, the flames
soon appeared blazing up through the roof
In the centre of each tower. At IL 55, a tele-
6Aonu 90 AOCCltCu III mOutItdl
assistance. One engine and two reels were
quickly on the spot and In five minutes had
exhausted the water supply. The only thing
that could save the building was the st. Law
renee river, half mile distant
When the Associated Press reporter ar
rived with the firemen, the dome of one tower
had fallen and the flames were bursting out
everywhere. As the heat increased, the
statues fell from the inches to the ground.
The inhabitants prostrated themselves, cry
ing aloud that the saints had deserted them.
In the meantime, beds, furniture and utensils |
OF every description were showered from the |
windows and a stream Of ill-clad men
poured out of the eastern wing. Not male |
patient was lost.
Seen Through the Bars.
With the women it was different. The
less helpless were placed in the lower wards
where they were removed without difficulty.
From the upper wards. were the violent pa
tients were secured. came the widest
screams They resisted the nuns, beseech-
ing them to make their escape At a window
a maniac would be seen peering through the
bars, grinning and jabbering at the. bright
fame. AS the heat became more intense,
she would grasp the bars and remain there
until the flames enveloped her. Fire Chief
Benait says that in one ward he entered
were 25 patients. At his approach they hud
died together like pack of beasts, entwin-
the nearest but could not separate the crowd.
He tugged at them until the fire darted into
their garments and EMBODIED them. Then he
escaped. In another ward, three firemen
spring lock and closed behind them. There
was no handle on the inside. The door re-
sisted their axes. They rushed to the win
dows, but were driven back by the flames.
The chief. suspecting their peril, sent aid
to the other side. The men were carried
down on ladder. The engineer of the
building did good work in saving nine pa
tients. Every fireman made a record of
which he may feel proud.
Brave Sisters Lost.
One of the nuns. Sister Marie, lay sick in
the infrmary on the fifth floor To her res
cue came three others. They seized their
companion and bore her in blanket to the
staircase, but were met by sheet of flame.
All perished. None of them were over 20
wears old, and all came from parishes below
Quebec. The Sisters worked like heroines,
saving a very large number of patients.
sister Therese, the superl,o[ress, Is DrORen, oxen
may be added to the already long list OF vic
Tins. Doctors BouTque and Baralet were
carried from the building unconscious.
Whatever can be said of the management as
a whole, as individuals they exercised
every power to lessen the ca
lamity which they neglected to avert.
Down to their Death.
A loud explosion, followed by crash of
beams, gave warning that the interior was
giving way. The wild faces sank from the
windows; the shrieks of the maniacs were
lost in the general uproar; the walls toppled
inward the fierce blaze burst up from the
newly added fuel and then died down into
blackness Nothing but few broken tow
arc ramainad Nv this time it was 6 O'Clock
and growing dark and cold. The spring
rains had converted the place into quag-
mire and only hOrsemen could get from place
to place. The poor sisters, most OF them
young and delicate, stood ankle deep In mud,
experimenting the removal OF the furniture
saved. Patients wandered about aimleSsly,
clad in scant garments. When released many
bounded like deer across the fields to the
woods. Patients of both sexes escaped. Inc
Montreal exhibition buildings we're placed
at the disposal of the nuns.
ST. Jean de Dieu Asylum, the burned IN
stituton, was built in 1S74-5 The Sisters Oh
Providence spent in founding and Organizing
the institution S1,132 232 1t was insured
by the government for S3OO,OOO. win tne
exception of the medical department, tne
sisters retained complete control OF all the
departments of the asylum The stan was
composed of " sisters. 92 lay sisters, Pnysls,
clans, chaplains, keepers, ana men enlPioyed
on the farm and made total OF AZ employed
about the establishment. Inc ihsIituti1n
was fitted up with pumps and hose, but the
pumps were not connected with the engines.
Death Roll Diminished.
Tater-The death-roll is now estimated at
10 although many more are missing. 1t Is
feared seven tertiary nuns were burned to
death. -
The Next Census.
fnr