The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-05-05

the whole building, Wn1cn cfumDleu
like living furnace, but the uproar
| the groans and cries of the agonized
crowd Gradually I found myself
| pushed back against the wall Of the
building, and finally succeeded in
| scrambling through an opening made
by some Of those who were near me.
| Two seconds later I would have been
a victim, for hardly had I struggled
| through the hole before I heard
dreadful crash as the blazing roof
| fell in.
II cannot describe the struggle for
life which ensued. No words can de-
pct the horror Of the scene. It seems
as I look back upon it like a hideous
nightmare The whole thing was over
in twelve minutes, and nothing re-
mained but the charred and blackened
ruins of the bazar."
It appears that the unexpected fire
originated on the left side of the
| bazar. The Illuminating apparatus
Of the kinematograph exploded and set
| fire to the Turkish curtains and hang
ings. In a few moments the flames
spread along the whole side of the
bazar. The public threw themselves
| instinctively to the right side of the
building which backed on the high wall
altogether had eight doors, three in
front and one on the left side In the
rear were four, like French windows,
which were specially reserved for the
employees. The crowd near the main
entrance were able to escape, but those
at the other end not knowing of the
doors reserved for the Sloyes found
themselves hemmed in.
| AS the fire spread the pressure on the
right side where there were no exits,
| kept steadily increa sing. Here a num-.
Der of victims were crushed to death.
u.
ais, against which the baZar backed,
furnished a barred window. Imme-
diately on the alarm being given the
servants hurriedly broke the bars and
were able to rescue large number of
persons.
Suddenly above the roar of the flames
| were heard cries of terror andssdespair-
ing appeals for help from sthe rear
where the unfortunates were being
burned alive The fremen; threw hun
dreds Of buckets of water upon them
from above. at the greatest risk to
themselves, but their courageous ef-
forts were all in vain. The fire made
arose outside in the Avenue Montaigne,
the Place Alma and the Rue Fran
caise, adjacent streets. In all these
thoroughfares there was veritable
| fight of maddened people, mostly
women without skirts, petticoats or
=
ing either burned off or torn off. Every
available fiacre was taken by assault
The dead were piled in heaps, es-
| pecially near the exit where the
charred remains were five feet deep.
In some cases only the trunks re-
inained, with no. vestige of clothing
| The firemen arrived at 6, and a com
pany OF infantry followed and pro-
| ceeded to-clear the ruins and search for
the corpses. All the cabinet minis
| ters now in Paris went Immediately to
| the scene. Hundreds of equipages
streamed along the Champs Elysees,
| their occupants with anxious faces in
| quiring for their relatives. There were
many scenes of grief and despair. One
lady rushed about frantically calling
! for her daughter by name. Some one
| told her the girl was safe, whereupon
she jumped, screamed, danced, then
rushed to the coachman to tell him to
drive home and fell in dead swoon.
Another lady went insane Cabinet
ministers, ambassadors, noblemen and
members Of the highest social and
financial circles were side by side with
| the loWliest and poorest, anxiously in
quiring for their missing relatives.
About thirty were saved by Pere Am.
broise and Pere Bailly, who helped
| them over the wall with a ladder to
| the printing room of the newspaper La
Croix.
Policemen, their hands covered with
gloves, have been deputed by the pre-
feet of police to pick out the portions
OF remains and wrap them in pieces
OF cloth to be transferred in ambu-
lances to the Palais de PIndustrie.
The remains present horrible spec
tacle Of limbs turned and twisted On
all sides can be seen stretchers piled
with mutilated corpses, skulls split
| open, and brains exuding.
The missing who are SI1DnoSad to h1.
| dead include Gen. Meunier, the Mar
| chieness de Gallifet, the Duchesse d'Al-
encon, the Countess de Nun and St.
Perier, the Marchioness de Flores, the
Viscountess Hunol Holstein; Baroness
| Mackan, wife Of the leader of the pro-
ratists in the chamber of deputies and
Nine. Morlaunelamon, her son and four
| daughters. One hundred corpses have
been laid out in the Palais de PIndus-
1 trie. 1t is believed that another hun
dred are beneath the ruins. There was
| only one exit
At S:48 p. m. only six bodies had
been recognized with certainty They
are the bodies Of Nine. Henriette Hini-
hadal, Baroness Elizabeth ST. Martin,
| Vlscountess Marie Boneval, Sister Gui-
noux, the superior of the sisters Of
| the convent of st. Vincent de Paul at
Raincy; Mime. de Grancy and the Com
tesse st. Perier.
Other bodies supposed to be recog-
n:zed are those of the Baroness ST.
Didter, MINNIE Lauren Cosselyn and
| Nine. Chevigny. At midnight, owing to
the difficulty Of continuing the search
| for the purpose of Identification, by the
light Of torches and candles, the Palais
| de PIndustrde has been cordoned by
| the police, who are watching the bodies
The wounded are now known to num-
Der at least 1S0. Madame Flores, wife
of the Spanish consul, expired at the
Hospital Beaujon, where are several
| other injured. M Faure has visited
the hospital and the Palais de PIndus-
trie to pay his respects to the dying.
Further identifications believed to be
certain are as follows: The Comtesse
Mirimel, the Comptesse Broderville, M
| Victor Consselinb Sister Leonie Gull
laume, Mesdames Haussmann and
| Schlumberger. Other names must still
be accepted with reserve, but at II
| o'clock Duchesse d'Alencon had not
| yet returned home. Thessduke was
/ slightly injured. It is now noticed that
in most cases the heads of fhe victims
were burned to cinder, -exen when
other parts of the body were not much
injured. This Is explained by the fact