The Monmouth inquirer., 1890-05-08
MANIACS AFLAME.
Frightful Scenes at Lunatic
Asylum Fire.
OVER ONE HUNDRED DEAD.
The Demented Creatures Gibbered
While Flames Devoured Them.

Details of a Horrible Holocaust at Tongue
Poante, Quebec, by which One Hundred
and Possibly More Insane Persons We're
Burned to Death-Some of the Maniacs
Grinned and Gibbered at Windows I'm
til They Fell Back Into the Flames
other Chung Together Like Frightened
Wild Beasts and Refused to Be Rescued.
Heroic Efforts of the Nuns to Save Their
Demented Charges-Four Sisters Per
ished in the Burning Building.
TONGUE PoINTE, Que, May IA long
line of garnt towers and mass OF blazing
debris reflected in the eyes of the maniacs,
ls all that is left of the Tongue Pointe
Lunatic asylum, and the terrible sights
That were witnessed during the destruction
Of the building will never be forgotten by
spectators, though to the luna tics 1t was a
time of supreme glee, and in their delight
they disported themselves amid flames and
waved their arms in turbulent satisfaction
at the ruin that was being wrought. Not
until the walls tumbled over their heads
were their manaical screams silenced.
There were incarcerated in the asylum ], 300
lunatics, for the place was more like
prison than hospital, and not more than
f,1O0 have been accounted for, but many
escaped into fields and woods.
One Hundred or More Perished.
The number of dead is now purelya mat
ter of conjecture and is not likely to ever
be ascertained, since no other record is
kept than the asylum books, and these
were destroyed in the fire. Taking into
consideration all the evidence from fire
men, half sane inmates, the sisters in
charge, bystanders and personal observa-
lion, it is a conservative estimate to say
that 100 victims met their death in the
flames, although some assert that the num-
Der is 200 No such calamity has fallen
upon Quebec province in time out OF mind.
Montreal Department Summoned.
At five minutes before noon telegram
was received in Montreal imploring assist
ance. This could not be given without
consulting Mayor Grenier, who was found
at the Banque du Peuple. The mayor at
once ordered engines to be dispatched.
One engine and two reels were soon started,
and they were quickly on the spot. But
thev might as well have remained at home,
for in five minutes they had exhausted the
water supply The fire started in the sec
ond ward on the women's side in the upper
story, and its spread was FASTENED by longl-
tudinal ventilation shafts connected with
the towers The flames soon appeared
blazing up through the roof in the center
of each tower When the firemen arrived
the dome of ono tower had just fallen and
the flames were bursting out everywhere.
The Scenes of Horror Commenced.
Streams were laid on and while they
lasted some good was done, but that was
for very brief space, and then the horror
Of the situation was revealed. Meantime
beds furniture and utensils were being
thrown from windows and streams OF i'll
clad men poured out of the eastern wing,
not one male patient being lost. Among
the women it was different The less hope
less cases were treated in the lower wards
and these persons were removed without
difficulty, but from the upper wards, where
The violent patients were confined, there
came the widest screams, as the unfortu-
mates resisted efforts of the nuns to aid
them in making their escape.
Maniac Faces at the Windows.
At the windows the maniacs could be
seen peering through the bars, grinning
and gibbering, until they were enveloped
in the flames and compelled to release their
hold and drop back into the cauldron.
When the f1remen found they were power
less to prevent the spread OF the flames they
burned 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
IL -4ua m at
approach they huddled themselves together
like a pack Of beasts. He seized the nearest.
"But," said the chief, II could no more
separate the crowd than could separate
the parts of ones body"
Four Nuns Burned to Death.
He tugged at them until the fire darted
into their garments and embodied them In
a shroud of flame One of the Tertiary
nuns had been asleep in the sick intirmary
ON the fifth floor and to her rescue hurried
three others. They seized their companion
and bore her in blanket to the staircase,
bat there they were met by sheet of fame
and all persisted. Their names were Sisters
Marie Demoris, Egilbert and Lumiene
None of them was over twenty years of
age. All came from parishes below Quebec
Heroic Work of the Nuns.
Inc sisters WUTktu luOSu uCioicdiiJ, IN
ploring, beseeching and commanding the
patients, and despite the disadvantageous
circumstances succeeded in rescuing a large
number. Sister Therese, the superioress,
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
A Curious Coincidence.
BY curious coincidence the only Prot
estant insane asylum in the province was
inaugurated the day of the fire by its new
superintendent Hitherto patients OF all
denominations were treated together, but
the Protestants, by persisted solicitations,
raised enough money to found an institu-
tion in which their own patients might be
cared for. For years the government has
been urged to adopt modernized treat
ment of the insane, and last summer the
mother superior was sent abroad to ascer-
tain if any improvements could be adopted
from similar institutions in Europe, but,
nothing of value seems to have resulted
from the voyage