The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-06


tocracy and many of the celebrities of Par
is" Mrs. Porges was the only American
victim She was a Miss Weisweiller. Her
daughter accompanied her to the bazaar,
and escaped uninjured. The Porges family
reside in Vienna
The scenes at the ruins of the bazaar
structure all last night and to-day were
hearuending. Search for the remains of
victims was kept up without intermission.
Every now and then hearse would be
called from the line of vehicles stationed
In proximity to the scene of the fire.
black mass of what was but so recently
joyous humanity would be tenderly lifted
into it, and another unfortunate victim
would be taken to one of the temporary
morgues, in the Palais de PIndustrle or at
the neighboring hospital Beaujon. Ere
quently as many as a dozen hearses were
gathered together in the courtyard of the
Palais de lIndustrie and opposite the en-
trance of that building hundreds of collins
were ranged, ready to receive the bodies
of those who had pershed in the terrible
stampede and which had subsequently, in
most cases, been charred beyond recogni-
tion.
The scenes witnessed among those who
remained about the fatal spot throughout
y,
Indifferent to the entreates of their friends
or relatives baffled description. Upon sew
eral occasions a distracted father or
mother, half mad with grief, would en-
deavor to force a way through the line
of soldiers or the inner line of police,
drawn about the blackened ruins Chill
dren were there, weeping for lost parents,
and the old and the young and the middle
aged joined in the murmurs of lamentation
and exchanged hopes and fears The at
mosphere of the hall in the Palais de lin
dustrie, where the burned bodies were
ranged, was almost unbearabe and there
again most heartrending scenes were wit
messed Men, women and children passed
up and down, weeping distractedly before
the lines of black bodies, eagerly scanning
the terrible remains and now and then
throwing themselves down by the side of
some seemingly recognizable corpse, which
they. by an instinct which an outsider
could not understand made some dearly
loved one, and missing relative.
President Faure all yesterday evening
was in constant communication with the
prefect of police, who forwarded to him
the names Of the identified dead and those
of the injured The President also dis
patched orderly officers everywhere to in
dure into the condition of the injured and,
hearing that a number of the latter had
been taken to the hospital Beaujon, the
President at 10 o'clock, proceeded there
to console them. In the courtyard of the
hospital President Faure met the surgeons
who were attending the injufed and
thanked them for their devotion. Nine.
Florese, the wife of the Spanish consul,
expired just as President Faure reached
her bedside.
ATTEMPTS AT RESCUE.
Many details of despair are told. Nine.
Fulard was saved by her husband, who, as
soon as he had placed her in safety, dashed
back to the burning building in order to
save his daughter. He had clasped the girl
in his arms and had nearly reached the
door when they were caught in the flames
and father and daughter pershed before the
ewes of the agonized mother The Baronne
de Mackau had a similar experience. Seven
times he penetrated the flaming ruins in
search of his sister, each time to save an
other and only to see his sister, later, fan
before his eyes, when he no longer mad
strength to lift her. The MarquiSe Aigle
was rescued by fireman after she had
given herself up as lost. All her friends
had fallen around her and she was on her
knees in prayer awaiting death when a fire
man caught her up and succeeded in extri-
eating her, though she was frightfully
L
ing building was the Baroness de Reuter-,
formerly Miss Beatrice Potter, OF Phila-
delpha.
The ladies who succeeded in escaping
rushed shrieking madly into the courtyards
of adjoining houses, wildly beSeechlng help.
The fact that the faces and heads of the
dead were so horribly charred and disfig
ured is explained by the fact that the capes
worn were generally of flimsy material and
were the first article OF apparel to catch
fire.
An eyewitness describes the scene as fol-
lows The women, mostly, wore light
costumes, and those who escaped from the
furnace were screaming Fire! helpi' The
faces of many of them were covered with
blood From time to time children ran out
of the burning building crying for their
mothers. A number of women of the poorer
class, standing in the crowd, at the risk
of burning themselves, tore the flaming
clothing from the persons of the ladies as
the latter dashed in terror through the
streets. The bazaar at that moment was
nothing more or less than huge blaze. AS
the heat was unbearable, we made our way
to some vacant ground between the bazaar
and the Convent of the Rue Bayard and
ioined a handful of workmen who were try-
ing to rescue people from the flames by
means of ladder too short to avail much
AN AWFUL DRAMA.
while the work of rescue was in prog
ress heartrending cries from the rear at
tracted us. Two women who had just es-
capped from the flames were writhing on the
ground just beyond the margin of the fire
we Qdrted IN JntlL QlTeCLlOn ana as We
neared them pieces of burning debris fell in
showers upon our heads and we were un-
able to reach these unfortunates who We're
then burning like torches They had
ceased to stir and they soon entirely disap-
peared in the flames. The witnesses of
this awful scene groaned and wept. The
awful drama was then at its height In the
midst of Kissing, cracking flames we heard
the shrieks of the victims, but they were
speedily Sttlled.
bazaar, the fremen turned their attention
to the adjoining convent, up the walls of
which the flames were leapng. In a few
moments the bazaar collapsed with a
frightful crash, enveloping the vicinity in
flaming debris. [ was then able to APP
proach it. On all sides We're the bodies of
lately elegantly dressed people, many of
them stretched on their backs with arms
extended as though appealing for help.
Owing to the heat we were unable to give
the remains the attention which would have
permitted their relatives to identify them
The space in which we were standing was
speedily invaded by despairing crowds of
relatives, some of whom had to be forcibly
prevented from leaping into the flames
The bazaar was opposite Baron Roth
Schild'S stables One of the grOoms saved
many of the people whose clothing was in
flames by drenching them with the stable
hose. General Mennier, with his clothes
abIaze, rushed into the stable yards and
plunged into a tank of water.
Further particulars regarding the finding
of the remains of the Duchess dAlencon
show that the secretary of prefecture ac-
companied by the maid of the duchess and
a footman belonging to the household of
the duke, examined the rooms of bodies
The two servants stopped before a black
ened and mutilated corpse, whose abdomen
was torn open They declared that If was
,ff,s. NF bliT