The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-02-26
PRICE TWO CENTS
PART OF AN ASYLUM BURNED
REsCUE or INMATES AND EMPIoTERs
IN IHE BITTER COLD.

The Engineer and Iii- wife Los. Their
Ltves-severni Women nnd Girls Cnr-s.d
Down = short Ladder that We. Eke1
Out bI B.inr SET o. Shears Shoulders.
vrNELlND. n. j.. Feb 23-Two employees OF
the New Jersey Home for Feeble Minded Chill
dren lost their lives early this morning In Q
IRE that totally destroyed the handsome cot
taee Just erected as an addition to the homo
by Mrs Jane & Robinson OF Massachusetts, In
memory OF her husband. They were Freder-
lex X Sage and his wife OF l. 1874 Durior street
Philadelphia Fourteen other persons whe
were sleeping In the structure either escaped
or were rescued in their night clothes
The night was bitter cold and several OF the
persons taken from the blazing building were
badly frozen. Mr.. Sage and his wife. during
the progress OF the FIRE. appeared at one Of the
upstairs windows and could have been saved.
but for some reason they turned back and
were not seen aReln- They may have at
tempted to escape BY the stairway and been
cut of by the flames
Their bodies were found at the foot OF the
stairs this afternoon. sage was employed -
an engineer and HE wife was the lsundress
Superintendent s. o. Garrison thinks Mrs.
Sage persisted because she returned TO her
room to procure her yaluables. It IL thought
By many. however. that the pair lost their lives
trying to rescue each other. This 10 ex planned
by theory that In the confusion they got
| separated. Many saw both husband and wife
at different windows. but after help was finally
procured they were not seen again.
There were i've persons besides the Ssges
who occupied the top fioor-thres boys and
Mr.. and Mrs Flynn. two employees. These
| scantily clad. managed to reach tbs roof
where they suffered terribly from the piercing
winds. They were finally rescued By three
| inmates. who conveyed them on their backs
| down ladders from the roof to the ground.
Gus Shear. q teamster EN- ployed at the instb
| tuition. was the hero OF the FIRE. At first No
| ladder long enough could be found to reaeA
| the second story windows. but BY placing
ladder on HE strong shoulders the rsms,
and six women and girls came down that Was
owing to the extreme cold the ordeal was
when the Last woman reached the ground over
the unsteady support
reach the roof Of the building when the Ave
superintendent Garrison also figured con
| spicuously in the work OF rescue, and he 10
When s was Mr.
| the employees who was taken from the roof OF
The origin OF the fire is unk nown. but is sup
posed to have started from the steam heating
ton Of oiled rags which painters had been US
! Ing during the past week IN finishing the
building. The 6re started shortly before
| o'clock.
| The Institution has /, 500 feet OF hose. and
five minutes before the Fire Department. ar
rived the. employees and inmates had a big
When the firemen reached the scene the build
| ing was doomed, and they devoted their ener-
| giles to saving life. The burned structure was
OF brick. and one OF the handsomest buildings
| under the control Of the institution
| II was connected by corridors with the main
| building and hkd wide and easy stairwaTs and
several m cans Of eRress The building was
finished In hard pine and several painters had
| been working for the past month to get it
! ready for a large number OF inmates A week
from now thirty children and their attendants
| would have been sleeping in the cottage.
The Boa I'd OF Directors have been consursd
! to-day because there were no fire escapes on
| the building. although the structure was not
| entirely completed. The Board OF Directors
| at their meetlnR last Thursday considered the
| question OF FIRE escapes. and the Executive
| Com mittse was about to be called together to
study some form of escape that might be
! practicable for tho inmates. the ordinary IRE
! ESCAPES. intended for the use Of bright minds
or even for the insane. being OF very little
use for feeble minded children. The cottage,
with its furniture and fixtures. was valued at
| $4,000. on which there was an insurance OF
| SSUOl