The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-05-06
GAY CAPITAL OF FRANCE In
MOURNING FOR THE FIRE
VICTIMS.
THE WORST OF ITS KIND.
EUROPE HAS NEVER BEFORE
KNOWN A Similar DISASTER
SO SERIOUS.
DUCHESS OF AIIENCONa A. VICTIM.
Body of the Sister OF the Empress Of
Austria Officially identified
List of Dead.


vades every class of society. The
newspapers, without exception, de-
scribe the disaster at the Grand Bazaar
de Charlie in the sober and simple
terms bef1tting 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.
Singularly enough, that disaster hap
pened in the same month of the year,
and eighty persons were burned to
death, while forty-five were officially
registered as missing. In aristocratic
circles the numberless dinner parties
and other functions Of gayly opening
season have been abandoned. 1t is es-
timated that there were about 1900
persons In the building when the fire
was discovered, about one-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 combusrtible that many of the
victims, If not most Of Them must have
been burned alive without suffocation.
No sort of inspection seems to have
been made in advance by the munich
pal or police authorities or by the pre-
feet of police.
M. Faure has received kilograms of
coincidence from Queen Victoria, the
Emperor Nicholas, the Emperor Will
eigns, all couched in terms of the deep
est sympathy.
This evening it was announced that
ninty-four corpses had been positively
identified. There are nineteen bodies
still unidentified, among which must
be those of the Comtesse de Lupe and
Nine Nitot's second daughter, both Of
whom are missing. Vicountess Male
zieux is now placed among those Of
ficially identified.
The most prominent victim of the
disaster is the duchess of Alencon,
whose body was finally identified this
afternoon. She was the sister of the
empress of Austria and sister of the
wife of Prince Ferdinand, of Orleans.
She was duchess of Bavaria and was
born in 1847 and married in 1863 Her
daughter, Princess Louise, is married
to Prince Alphonse, of Bavaria, and her
son. Prince Philliuue, is the husband
of Princess Henrietta, Of Belgium. The
former queen of Naples Is one of her
sisters. The duchess was woman of
great wealth and one Of the most prom
inent ladies of France. The remains of
the duchess were identified by her dem
ST vxyhn mil od q fpp,th nf a char
red body which was believed to be hers
Particulars regarding the finding of
the remains of the duchess show that
the secretary of the prefecture, accom-
panied by the maid of the duchess and
footman, belonging to the household
of the duke, examined the rows OF
bodies. The two servants stopped be-
fore blackened and mutilated corpse.
They declared that 1t was the remains
of their mistress and also sent for the
dentist of the duchess The latter, af-
ter examining the corpse for half an
hour, declared it was not that Of the
duchess. He claimed there was a tooth
too many in the head, but the servants
insisted, whereupon the dentist and two
doctors operated upon the upper Jaw,
and then the dentist was able to for
mally identify the remains as being
those Of the duchess d Alencon.
A dispatch from Vienna says: Not
until this morning wednesday, had
the Emperor and Empress OF Austria
heard that the Duchesse d'Alencoa was
among the victims. The empress was
devotedly attached to her sister and IS
completely overcome by the bereave-
ment The dinner which was to be
given to the queen regent and the
queen Of Holland at the Chateau Lainz,
where the emperor and empress are
staying, has been cancelled. Nine
Josephine Portges, one of the victims,
was a. near relative of the well known
Vienna banker, Ephrussi.
The unidentified bodies, as we'll as
the Jewels recovered from the debris,
have been Photographed by the Bertil-
lion method The funeral service of the
victims has been fixed for the cathe-
dral of Notre Dame. M Faure will
attend, and Pere Richard will proba-
bly, of1ciate
At tonight's session of the cabinet 1t
was decided to ask the chamber of
deputies for a special credit in aid of
the needed families. The minister of
justice communicated, to his colleagues
the first results Of the inquiry into the
causes Of the fire. The investigation
magistrate, NJ Bertolu, reports that
7 there was great care1essness and i'm
prudence in the principal arrangements
for the bazaar.
Former United States Consul Gen.
eral s. e. Morss said to the represent,
tative Of the Associated Press this
afternoon: cit was singularly fortu-
nate that there was only one Ameri-
can victim. This was indeed remark
able, because just now there are all
| unusually large number of Americans
in. or
porters of such fetes as the grand
Bazaar de Charlie, and, moreover, it
gave them a favorable opportunity of
getting into close quarters with the
aristocracy and many Of the celebrities
Of Paris