Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1897-05-13
PARIS FIRE HORROR.
OVER ONE HUNDRED PEO-
PIE BURNED TO DEATH.
Scores of the Highest ArIStOOracy Per.
iSh~-FIrO Breaks Out In . Crowded
Charity BazAr-Ono OF the Most APP
PallIng Of Disasters Of Europe.

PARIS, May s. Fire and resulting
panic in crowded charitable. bazaar
in the Rue Jean Goujon at 4:30 o'clock
yesterday afternoon caused no fewer
than 100 deaths and the more or less
serious injury of 200 persons Many
leaders of Partisan society are num-
bered among the dead or wounded.
Most of the victims are women.
The building in which the fire broke
out was temporary structure of
wood. The flames were first discov-
cred above the stall presided over by
the Duchess Dues, and while the
place was densely crowded. The ba-
Ear is an annual function, presided
over by Partisan society women.
A terrible panic and crush followed
the alarm of fire. There was a wild
rush for the exits and the weaker per-
sons were borne down and trampled
upon.
The inAamable nature of the build
ing and contents caused the flames to
spread with great rapidity, and in q
very short time the bazar was mass
of flames
Before the firemen could arrive, the
roof of the bazaar crushed in, burying
numbers of those who had been una
BILE to make their egress from the
building.
PARIS, May 6 "A somber feeling
pervades every class of society. The
newspapers without exception describe
the disaster at the Grand Bazaar de
Charlie in the sober and simple terms
BETTING so appalling an event. The
catastrophe will always be remem.
bered as one of the most fearful that
ever befell European city. Nothing
comparable in loss of life has ever oc-
Cured here, except the fire which de-
stroyed the Opera Comique in 1887.
That disaster happened in the same
month of the year, and eighty persons
were burned to death, while fortyfve
were officially registered as missing
1t is now estimated that there were
about 1900 persons in the building
when the fire was discovered, about
half of whom escaped unhurt. Some
estimates place the number of dead at
143, Others at still higher figure.
The amount of administrative negli-
gence surrounding the catastrophe is
almost inconceivable. The structure
was so combustible that many of the
victims must have been burned alive,
without suffocation. No sort of in
spection seems to have been made in
advance by the municipal or police au-
thorities or by the perfect of police.
M. Lepine, the project of police, who
is severely censured for lack of proper
supervision of the preparatory ar
rangements, says, in excuse, that the
patrons and patronesses of the bazar
were reactionists and he feared that if
he meddled with their programme
they would say he was trying to sup
press Roman Catholic enterprise.
NJ. Faure has received kilograms of
coincidence from Queen Victoria, the
Emperor Nicholas, the Emperor Will
lam, King Humbert and other sover-
eigns, all couched in terms of the
deepest sympathy.
The police announce that III bodies
have been recovered. OF these, "a
have been positively identified, The
number of corpses by no means repre-
sents the number of persons who lost
their lives, as it is certain that many
were burned to ashes.
There are nineteen bodies still un-
identified, among which must be those
of the Comtesse DeLupe and Mime.
Nitot's second daughter, both of whom
are missing,
Mrs. Porges was the only American
victim. She was Miss Weisweiller.
Her daughter accompanied her to the
bazaar and escaped uninjured. The
Porges family reside in Vienna.