The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1892-01-23
MOST APPALLING FIRE.
The National Surgical Institute Burned
to the Ground.

lie NaIlOnal SuTSlCdI lnStItute DuIhtN
to the Ground.
INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 22.-One of the
most appalling fires in the history of In
dianapolis occurred last night. The Ma
tional Surgical Institute was burned to
the ground. The fire started at midnight
in the office. In the building above the
offices were wards for babies and mothers,
known as A. j. G. departments. The
smoke was discovered before midnight
issuing from the advertising room of the
building, which Immediately adjoins the
operating room back of the office. The
origin is claimed to have been from spOn-
taneOus combustion. The chemicals,
which had been placed in the room, and
circulars and papers about the room O o
were ablaze, and in fifteen minutes the
whole lower floor was enveloped. The
attendants quickly awakened all the pa
tients and pandemonium reigned. Shrieks
for help went up as the inmates realized
the terrible situation and the %stOutest
hearts were appalled,. Police and firemen
all worked diligently and in perfect &C.
cord and many patients were taken from
the upper floor by means Of ladders and
carried to places of safety by them. No
attempt was made to save anything but
life. The patients, both male and female,
themselves under ordinary circumstances
unable to barely get about, assisted nobly
in the work Of rescue. Views in the halls
and on the stairways, before the fire had
communicated to the main building furn-
ished weird sights. Inmates wrapped in
bed clothes Crawled and helped them
selves along from one floor and landing
to another. Many touching scenes oc-
Cured, such as friends stopping to assist
others more unfortunate. The citizens
turned in to help in the work to rescue.
Cots were rudely constructed from ma
terial and strong armed police picked up
the unfortunate ones and carried them
across the street to the new Annex build
ing recently purchased by the Doctors
Allen and Wilson. An immense crowd
gathered about and great anxiety was
felt for it seemed improbable that every
one could have gotten out of the burning
mass alive and their fears were just. Two
women jumped from the windows, one
OF these was badly injured, but another
who was caught by the men below es-
capped serious injury. The others threw
out babies, which were caught by the fire.
men; one or two men jumped from the
roof and were badly hurt. Many rescued
people were taken to the nearest shelter,
and two large restaurants soon had five
or six hundred inmates among whom the
scenes were terrible. The majority of
patients in the hospital were children
under treatment for deformities, which
rendered them helpless. Very large mum
bers had been more or less burned in ad-
ditiOn TO their former misfortunes and
had become separated from mothers or
nurses. Among these occurred most pitt
full and touching scenes. Grifith's res
taurant held the greatest number of suf-
ferers. 1t is hardly possible to tell how
many were in the place. 1t was totally
~unadapted to the use to which it was put
in emergency, but for three or four hun
dred. Seventy or eighty more found
shelter in the Waddell House restaurant.
Nineteen bodies so far have been taken
from the ruins.