The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1892-01-30

oiOuo NlCWCu tuc DldChcnSu TcUidlUt. ~ |
tlanner d B~uchanan's morgue was a man
supposed to have been an attendant. He |
was burned about the face. He was |
about 25 years old. light hair and nous
tache, and blue eyes. Three of the bod |
les were found at the northeast corner OF |
the rear building on the third floor. They |
had huddled about the windows and
we're trying to escape when the flames
caught them.
Many heroic rescucs were effected 10y
the tiremcn, several of whom were badl,
injured. AS soon as the Railways had
been sufficiently cleared Of smoke #
permit Of an investigation some of the
most horrible scenes were developed. In
one room on the third floor four victims
were found dead kneeling in an attitude
OF prayer. The windows in the room
were up but the occupants had appar
emily made no effort to escape nor appeal
for rescue. Although the occupants
were nearly all more or less %seriousl.
crippled, many of them became SO fran,
tic they lost all self control and almost
invited death by their action. A lady
from Harrisburg, Pa, was stopping at
the surgical institute with her child. who
was a patient there. She asserts that
some time before the alarm was sent il
she smelled slmokc and told Ben" the
porter, that there was fire somewhere.
He declared that il was nothing but a
bit of burning paper somewhere in the
hallway. So she returned to
bed to be awaked Il few
minutes after by a sitting
smoke and flames. She gave the alarm
to those in the rooms adjoining anu then
rushed from the building, being the first
to escape. She left valuable diamonds
and other jewelry i'll the room and took
but a scant amount of clothing and her
child. She is now stopping with friends
ON North Mississippi street and declares
emphatically the fire originated in the
advertising room. This morning No. As
truck, No. Is hose wagon and apparatus
from headquarters were still at the
scene Of the fire and tiremen were rum
maging in the ruins searching for bodies.
In the office to the right of the main en-
trance on Georgia street the register OF
those under treatment in the institute
was kept and this was destroyed with
the rest. This fact made it difficult to
ascertain just what the loss of life was.
About two months ago. said Fire
Chief Webster, "Dr. Allen requested me
to go through the institute with him and
examine it thoroughly. | found the
building was well supplied with fire pro-
lection such as rope, escapes. chemicals
etc. Although the structure was some-
what of a trap will say there were signs
of every p%recautiOn against fire and the
building was well provided with hand
chemicals. | cannot imagine how a fire
could have gained such Roadway before
the alarm was sent in. When | looked
down the alley in the rear of the insti.
tute on the way to the fire it looked as
though the whole square was burning
and the flames were even then coming
through the roof. 1t must have been
fully half an hour after the fire began
before the box vas pulled IL
The Weddpli house. at the southeast
corner of Illinois and Georgia streets
was made the hospital for the injured
and also for those who escaped from the
disaster. DR.. Allen and DR.. Earb were
in charge.
The ladies of one Of the benevolent in
situations of the city rendered their aio
as nurses, among them being Mrs. Law
renee. Mrs. Hall, and Mrs. Ryan. Al
; the nurses were supplied with LITTLE
badges, so that they might be easily dis
tinguishcd.
In Room 10 lay the daughter of Mrs
Dazarus Of Chicago. who had grabbed
| her child during the fire and leaped from
; a window or the third floor. The moth
| er's skull was crushed, but the child was
: still living at Z o'clock this evening. Tn,
! little girls legs are both broken. She il
r internally injured, and received sever,
t burns about the head. DR.. Earb said i
was hardly possible the little one coule
survive. Miss Dcttie Southweith ant
Mrs. Noals, the two women who jumped
a from the windows. will recover witt
. careful attention. Early this morning
, ghouls began their work among thu
ruins and no small amount of jewelr,
was pilfered by them. Detectives ar
: rested "a man who gave his name as Rus
S sell Troy. They found him rummagins
among the debris and in his pockets
were money and other articles which, /
:, is thought, he had stolen from the atfe,t
< of patients. Early in the morning Capt
!, Quigley found "a large roll Of bills in TIN
room IN which four dead bodies wer'
found. The money was returned to 1t
rightfui owner. \ watch belonging to
! little eight year-old son of Harry W
Olmstead, who was u patient, was als'
I stolen by somebody. The little boy es
4 caped safely. There was Il total insul
anre Of s55.5OO. while the loss aggregate
$4,000.
Democratic can.