The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1890-05-15
ANOTHER ASYLUM HORROR.

Fire DESTROYS the Chenauso County tN.
IL Poor-H ,usr. and ne lie piess In.
mates o the Idiot Department Are
I;nrned to Death In \ heIs 6esis.
UricA. n. Y, May 9.-The larger pors
tion OF tho Chcnango County buildings.
which for fifty years past have been lo-
Gated at Preston, about six miles from
Norwich. were destroyed by fire .Wedncs-
day night about midnight and nine OF the
inmates, possibly more, were burned.
The buildings destroyed were the
asylum, in which there were about
eighty inmates. and the pauper house
and idiot ward, in which there were
about forty inmates.
The horrible part Of the disaster was
the burning of nine idiots. who were
penned in their cells and were roasted
alive. The fro started In this portion
Of the main building. The keeper was
awakened by pauper. and tried to re-
lease the idiots. but was driven back by
the fire. lie then ran through the other
building in his night clothes, rou,ing
the inmates and turning them out
of doors. Some OF them escaped and
took 10 the woods, where the sheriff and
q large number or deputies are hunting
for them. The names Of the nine idiots
who were burned are:
Sarah Mills, Sarah Gallagher. Arvilla At
WOOL Sarah Bal e., Laura Gray, Deborah Dib-
BIZ, Mary O. Daniels, Almeda Austin and
Ade 10 Benedict.
All who had friends among the un-
fortunates have eagerly sought infor-
nation of their fate. Preston is six
m.les from any railroad. and process
sion of all sorts Of vehicles has been
going there all day.
The idiots were locked in and roasted
like beasts. Their unearthly screams
first aroused a pauper named Edward
Francis, who slept near them. Francis
says that he aroused Keeper Maenwar-
ing. and by that time the building was
doomed. The inmates were screaming
for help, but no one could enter the
place, and they were forced to abandon
the unfortunates to their fate and pro.
ceeded to rescue those in other parts Of
the building. None perished whom it
was possible to save. f. +. Maenwar-
Ing, the keeper, said:
ION opening the door leading from the hall
to the idiot d epartmcnt saw that the interior
was ablaze, in fact, il was one mass OF fame.
and the smoke was overpowe ing. attempted
to open I'll, door and rescue the poor mates,
who were all secur .ly shut in their cells as
usu. |, but was driven back BY the hcat and
smoke.
Il saw that the idiots were doomed and that
nothin, could save them. I then n. cut and
gave tie alarm. ran h-ough the corridors
and aroused the paupers. telling them what had
happened. In some Instances the poor people
were dazed. and it was necessary to carry them
bodily from the no and turn them loose in
the yard and the fie ds.
There we're eive inmates In the idiot
asylum and they must have been overcome by
Che heat be ore awakened them. for | heard
nothing from them, md they roasted like pigs
In hoe. We have done the best we could for
the unfortana eS who were rsscusd by quar-
teri, item la the churches, hotels and houses
in tie village. and the people are ministering
to their wants. How the fire Origina cd is .
mystery. When took POSSESSION as keeper OF
tie house l threw cut all the old s:oyepipe and
replaced ii with new. besides putting heavy
sheet iron screens around every stove, and. be-
sides this, it has been my hobby to do every
thing 10 prevent = confiayration. II must have
been . case Of spontant Gus combustion"
The Chcnango County poor-house
was situated On the county farm on tho
east side Of the road leading from Pres
ton to Oxford. 1t WAS six miles west
Of Norwich. six miles north Of Oxford
and abont one mile from Preston Cor
ners. The building devoted to pau
pers was built Of wood, three
stories high above the base
ment The main building or CEN
trail part was forty by eighty feet. At
tached to this were two two-story wings
extending east each thirty by forty
feet. In tho rear of these at . distance
of twenty-six feet was the milk-house.
The builling was erected In 1867
and afforded originally accommodation
for la5 inmates. The insane asylum
was situated north Of the poor-house
building and separated from it by a
driveway twenty-five feet wide. This
building was two stories high and
eighty-iiye feet long. The insane will
be removed to Utica asylum.