The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1897-05-06

| 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 cloth, to be
transferred in ambulances to the Palais
du Industries.
The remains present a horrible spec
tacle of limbs burned and twisted. On
all sides can be seen stretchers piled with
mutilated corpses-skulls split open and
brains exuding Just behind a heap of
| corpses lies alone the body of woman.
The face in downward. the head burned,
| the brain exposed, and from the empty
socket of the right eye the brains are
slowly oozing. The arms and legs are
burned off. A little further off is the
body of another woman, nude, the en-
trails protruding and the head missing.
1t is indeed ghastly sight.
The correspondent of the Associated
Press has had an interview with Miss
Elise Bushbick of Philadelphia, who,
with the Misses Hawthorne and Drerer,
was one of the few who escaped. al
though not unscathed. Miss Bushbick
said:
81 was saleswoman at booth Is, close
to the place where the fire originated. |
arrived ut ten minutes past 4 o'clock and
went to my booth, where four nuns pre-
sided. In the booth were three blind
girls working. one reading the blind
making brushes. The lady presiding
over that section of the bazaar told me
| need not hurry, but it would be all right
if came little later. l started to look
around and stopped at lottery wheel,
where won a bunch of asparagus. Just
then, happening to turn around, l saw
and called my friends attention to a
fiickering in the corner of the wall about
fifteen yards away. Hardly had done
so when gentleman behind me cried:
Ecu, mesdames; sOrtes! Nire, ladies';
hasten outD and pushed me towards the
door rather roughly, fortunately for me.
las this was my second experience
under such circumstances | advised my
two friends to raise their skirts in the
front so they would not stumble over
them.
"We were just then stepping on the
first of three steps leading out of the
building. Turning my head to look
back, saw the whole place in flames.
l caught glimpse,of an old lady emerg-
ing from an adjacent door and saw her
stumble on her skirts. The next instant
quite twenty persons piled on top of her.
| crossed the street and turned around to
face the fire, but already the heat was so
intense that it scorched me, and | was
obliged to raise my hands to protect my
face. When the roof fell in, with Il
terrific crash, not more than five min
utes at the most had elapsed from the
first alarm. Such was the intensity of
the heat that | saw fireman's jacket
ignited and several of the horses were
badly singed. Out of the pile of persons
who fell near the door none We're saved {:
all being burned almost in moment. OF
the nuns at my booth two were saved and
one of the blind girls The burned visi-
tors were for the most part, ladies, gor-
geously dressed
The Duchess d'Alencon, sister of the
Austrian empress, is among the injured.
The whole of highest society of Paris is
in a horrible pell-mell, a prey to the deep
despair, husbands calling for wives and
fathers seeking and calling for daughters.
One young woman, wearing on her
breast the badge of stall attendant, was
seen rushing about in her petticoat. her
dress having been torn off to be thrown
over a lady who was in flames. Her
one object was to find her parents and
tell of her safety. Words can not de-
scribe of the scene at the Palais de rIn-
dustrie, where the bodies are exposed ON
the side next the Avenue BantOn in the
portion of the building now in course of
demolition. Here in large room, rude
ly covered the bodies, as they arrive
from the ambulance, are being placed in
three long rows. Here is exemplified
death by fire with all it's horrors-bodies
completely nude, limbs twisting in the
writing of agony, some merely skele-
tons or grinning skulls blackened with
smoke. A large force of public officials
is engaged in regulating the admission of
friends at the entrance. Only small
orr oIt Itnsft tA1 ,..l Al
visitors are supplied with candles to
assist them in their search. 1t is a
strange scene as they go cropping about
amid human debris and turning over
shapeless and unrecOgniZable masses of
flesh.
AS soon as President Faure heard of
the disaster he sent most searching in
quiries for full particulars to the prefect
of police.
Midnight-Owing to the difficulty of
continuing the search for the purpose of
identification by the light of torches and
candles, the Palais de lIndustrie has
been surrounded by the police, who are
watching the bodies. The wounded are
now known to number at least 7SO. Nine
Flores of the Spanish consul expired at
the hospital, where there are several
others of the injured. NJ. Faure has WIS.,
tied the hospital and Palais de rIndus-
trie to pay his respects to the dead.
1t was reported that Mile. Lucille
Faure, who left the Elisse to 90 to the
bazaar, had pershed. M. Hanotaux
drove up in great haste to inquire con-
cerning her. and was Immediately follow
ed by Nine. Faure, pale with terror and
excitement, who was reassured by learn
ing that her daughter was not dead
having been delayed on the way. Many
Americans, English and other foreigners
were among the stall holders, but it is
impossible as vet to ascertain the names
of all the victims