The herald., 1897-05-05
CHARRED CORPSES
COUNTED BY SCORES

III - ANAA
previously succumbed to the sitting
smoke.
In spite Of the efforts Of the fremen.
some time elapsed before the charred
bodies could be pulled from the smoke
and the burning mass Of debris cover
ing the spot which had been but a
short time before the scene OF so much
gaiety
The prefect, NJ Lepine, was one Of
the first officials to reach the scene.
and he directed the operations for the
recovery Of the bodies and distributed
the injured among the various houses
in the vicinity.
In the meanwhile the pumps played
on the burning ruins
AS the work progressed and the in
Quirles became more numerous and
pressing, it was seen that the death
rate would be much higher than at
first estimated.
AMONG THE INJURED
Among the injured are Duchess de la
Tore, Princess Kotchinbay. the WIS.,
countesse de Avrel and Mesdames Mo-
reau, Du Brouit. Malezieux, Eugenio.
Challemel, Recamier and st. Didier.
The missing. who are supposed to be
dead, include Gen. Meunier, the Mar
chioness de Garlifet, the Duchess
d'Alencon the Countesses De Nun and
st. Pierier, the Marchioness De Flores,
the Viscountess Hanoi Hulstein, Bar
oness Mackan, wife of the leader of the
pro-ratists in the chamber Of deputies,
and Madame Morlaunelamon, her son
and two daughters.
One hundred corpses have been LAID
out in the ralais de pIndustrie 1t is
believed that another hundred are be-
meath the ruins.
The building was erected in the finn
siest manner, the nudity Of the scaf-
folding on the inside being concealed
by tapestry Of the most inf1ammable
material. Moreover, there was only
cne exit. The bazaar was in full swing,
when suddenly about 4 o'clock, the cry
of fire rose from the quarter where the
kinetomotograph was being exhibited.
AsURvIvOR'S STORY
One of the survivors tells to the CORE
spondent of the Associated Press his ex-
perience thus: 'The place was crammed
full of people and the heat was sitting.
Being very uncomfortable. my friends
Tand determined to leave. but somehow
we could not make much headway
through the throng toward the door. 1
stayed little behind, as I was offered
nosegay by stall holder, when of a
sudden the shout of fire was raised.
Instantly all was commotion.
I'VE tried to keep cool, but the rush
from behind forced US forward, and we
were separated. Then I tried to work
my way back, but was, carried off my
feet and carried backward and forward
in the swaying crowd. I lost my hat
then my coat was torn of and then my
waistcoat. All this happened in few
seconds
! Immediately the full extent Of the
calamity dawned upon US all. The flames
spread with startling rapidity through.
out the whole building, which rumbled
like living furnace. but the uproar of
the conflagration could not drown the
groans and cries Of the agonized crowd.
Gradually found myself pushed
back against the wall of the building,
and finally succeeded in scrambling
through an opening made by thoee who
were near me. Five seconds later 1
would have been victim, for hardly had
i struggled through the hole when l
heard dreadful crash as the blazing
roof fell in. I cannot describe the stug-
gle which followed. No words can depict
the horror of the scene. It seems, as I
look upon it, a htdeous nightmare The
whole thing was over in twelve minutes,
and nothing remained but the cfuarred
and blackened ruine Of the bazaar"
HEAPS OF CORPSEs
The dead were piled in heaps. and
especially near the exit where the
charred remains Were five feet deep.
In some cases only the trunks re-
mained, with no vestige Of clothing.
The firemen arrived at 6 o'clock and a
company of infantry followed to clear
the ruins and search for corpses. The
news spread like wildfire. All the cab
met ministers now in Paris went imme-
diately to the scene.
Hundreds of equipages streamed
along the Champs Elysee, their occu-
pants all anxious and with tear stained
races. inquiring for their relatives.
There were many heart rending scenes
lof grief. One lady rushed about franti-
cally calling her daughter by name. Son. e
one told her the girl was safe, whereupon
she jumped, danced, screamed. then
rushed to the coachman to tell him to
drive home, and fell in dead swoon.
Another lady went insane. A third
imagined in her frenzy that she recoe
nized her daughters dress and hysteri-
cally called upon her husband to tell
the police to prevent the child from go
ing to the bazaar. Cabinet ministers
ambassadors, noblemen and members of
the highest social and financial circles
were side by side with the lowliest and
the poorest, anxiously inquiring for their
missing relatives. About thirty were
saved by Pere Ambrose and Pere Bailli
who helped them over the wall with a
ladder to the printing room of the news
paper La Croix. The staff Of the Hotel
de Palais lent valuable assistance and
saved $50 persons through barred win
dow overlooking the bazaar where,
while the hotel employees were carrying
away the bodies they saw three persons
burned to death.
PICKING UP PIECES
Policemen, their hands covered with
gloves. have been deputized 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 ambuIances