The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-05-05

gay by a Stall-hOlder; when, of a sud- den, the shout of fire was raised. We tried to keep cool, but the rush from behind forced us forward and we were separated. Then tried to work my way back; but I was knocked off my feet and carried backwards and for wards in the swaying crowd. I lost my hat; then my coat was torn off and then my waistcoat. And all this hap pened in few seconds.
 Immediately the full extent of the calamity dawned upon us all. The through the whole building, which rumbled like living furnace; but the uproar of the conflagration could not drown the groans and cries of the agon- ized crowd. Gradually I found myself pushed back against the wall of the building and finally succeeded in scrambling through an opening made by some of those near me. Ten sec onds later I struggled through the hole and then I heard a dreadful crash as the roof fell in. I cannot describe the struggle for life which followed. It seems as I look back upon it like hideous nightmare. The whole thing was over in twelve minutes; and noth- ing remained but the charred and blackened ruins"
 The dead were piled in heaps, espe- cially near the exit, where the charred remains were five feet deep, arms, legs and skulls mingled in inextrcable con- fusion. In some cases only the trunks remaining, with no vestigeof clothing on any of the bodies
 The firemen arrived at and a com pany of infantry followed to clear the ruins and search for corpses. The news spread like wildfre. All the cab- inet ministers now in Paris went into session. There were many heartrend- ing scenes of grief and despair. One lady rushed about frantically calling her daughter by name. Some one told her the girl was safe, whereupon she jumped, danced, screamed and then rushed to the coachman, telling him to drive home and fell into a dead swoon. Another lady went insane. Another imagined that she recognized her daughters dress and hysterically call ed upon her husband to tell the police to prevent the child from going to the bazar. Cabinet ministers, ambassa- dors, noblemen and members of the historical and financial circles were side by side with the lowliest and the poor est anxiously inquiring for their miss ing relatives. About thirty were saved by Pere Ambroise and Fere Bailly,who helped them over the wall with a lad led to the printing room of the newspa- per La Croix.
 Policemen, their hands covered with gloves, have been deputed by the pre- feet of police to pick out the portions of remains and to wrap them in pieces of cloth, to be transferred in ambulances to the palais d'L' Industries. The re- mains present a horrible spectacle of limbs burned and twisted. On all sides can be seen stretchers piled with mutil- ated corpses.
 The building was constructed about six months ago. At the time it was re- marked that it would burn like match wood. The interior was divided into shops, constructed of prettily painted canvas.
 The correspondent of the Associated Press has had an interview with Miss Bushback of Philadelphia who, with the Misses Hawthorn and Dreher, was one of the few who escaped, although not unscathed Miss Bushback said: q was a salesWoman at booth No. 15, close to the place where the fire orig- mated. I arrived at ten minutes past 4 with my friends. We left our wraps and hats in the cloak room and went to 11- ! In the booth were three blind girls working, one reading the blind alpha bet, the other writing and the third making brushes. The lady presiding over the section of the bazaar told me l need not hurry, but that 1t would be all right if I came a little later. started to look around the bazaar Just then happening to turn around, 1 saw and called my friends attention to a flicker in the corner of the wall about fifteen yards away. Hardly had l done so when a gentleman behind me cried: Ecu, Mesdames; sortez!" (Fire, la dies; hasten out), and pushed me to- ward the door rather, but fortunately for me, roughly.
 "As this was my second experience under such circumstances advised my two friends to raise their skirts in the front so that they would not stumble over them. We were then just step ping on the first of three steps leading out of the building. Turning my head to look back. 1 saw the whole place in flames. At my left I caught a glimpse of an old lady emerging from an adja- cent door, and saw her stumble on her skirts. The next instant twenty per sons piled on top of her. I turned around to face the fire, but already the flames were so intense that they scorch ed and I was obliged to raise my hands to protect my face. When the roof fell in with terrific crash certainly not more than five minutes had elapsed from the first alarm. Such was the in- tensity of the heat that I saw a fire mans clothes ignited and several horses badly singed. Of the nuns at my booth two were saved and one blind girl. The burned visitors were for the most part ladies most gorgeously dressed"
 The Duchess d'Alencon, sister of the Austrian empress, is among the injur- ed, the list of whom includes the Duch- ess d'Uzes, the Comtesse Savignv and Mile. DeLaboulaye. In the streets ad- jacent to the bazar were long lines of sumptuous equipages. The most of them returned empty. their oys,parS