St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-03-15
LUNATICs CONSUMED.
Six Asylum Patients Burned to
Death

Death.
NASHVILLE, Tenn, March 14.-ThiS
morning the beautiful Central insane
asylum. situated seven miles from this
city, is almost mass of ruins. Beneath
it are the charred bodies of half dozen
of the unfortunate inmates; in the out
houses near by are huddled the poor
demented creatures who found an asy-
lum in the grand old structure now LAID
in ashes: and on the lawn the long,
parched trees. denuded of branch and
foliage, stand the spectral trunks with
gaunt Outstretched arms marking
the spot where stool the
massive building alive with the
human beings, the observed of all who
passed that way. and one of the most
beautiful and attractive spots in the
lovely middle Tennessee. At 1915 last
night Waterman Fitzhugh discovered
an ugly tongue of flame breaking
through the roof of the western main
wing of the building. How it caught
none could divine. but it reached from
the ground through the second and third
stories, and cut off the few rooms that
were behind it. In moment the alarm
was given, and the 400 inmates of the
institution were thrown into wild COM
motion. CONSERVATION was depicted on
each face as the gravity of the situation
burst upon them. There were twenty
eight men in the wing when the fire
caught, and twenty-five of them were
quickly removed to the main hall, the
other six being left to their fateS behind
their impossible wall of flames.
The city was telephOned to for aid,
but Chief Carrell. of the fire depart
hn
! Ordinates refused to move without Or
ders. Finally. after two hours delay.
the chief was found, and he, with two
engines, left for the scene of the disas-
ter. Previously the inmates of the
asylum, the servants and the guards
had rendered fire service with buckets
and succeeded in holding the fire in
check to some extent. Had it not been
for their valiant service the entire
structure would have been in flames
before the arrival of the fire depart
ment. The. unfortunate inmates were
in the west wing. They were all males,
and white. Their names were: J. s.
Johns, of Rutherford county; j. Burt
Dexter, of Wilson; Blue Preston, Of
Cannon: John Kelly. of Wayne; w. II.
Beastry. of Hickman; r. f. Hollowell,
of Davidson.
At 3:15 the inmates, who had been
huddled for several hours in tie yard in
front of the main building, were re-
turned to the east wing. About twenty
five had escaped, the majority of whom
were harmless. At this moment the
west wing had become entirely dem0l
ished and about one-half of the main
| building. The dangerous lunatlcS were
| kept locked up all the time in the east
wing and none Of them were subjected
to exposure or danger during the pro-
greSS of the flames. 1t was reported at
| 80 this morning that one Of the women,
! an inmate OF the asylum, had been
| drowned in the lake on the lawn, but
| her name could not be learned.
Following is a corrected list of the
| dead: DIR. Frank Iiollowell, of David
son county: John POindeXter, of Will
son county; \. k. Coodlett, of David
son county; John S. johnson, of Ruth
| erfOrd county: w. j. Settles. of Wilson
county; w. II. Beasley, of Hickman
| county: j. Brooks, of Davidson county:
| John Kelly. of Wayne county; John
! Nance, of Smith county.
The ESCAPED numbered between thirty
! and forty, many of whom have been
captured, some of them many miles
| from the scene of the fire. Loss to the
building is estimated at about $4,000,
| fully covered by insurance. The fire is
| supposed to have been caused by Lee
| Afford. an inmate, who i'll some mysteri-
! Gus manner escaped. 1t is reported that
he was recaptured to-day near Lavergne.
| About 125 of the inmates will be trans
| ferred to the West Tennessee asylum at
| Bolivar until the asVlum here is rebuilt.