The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-05-05

The place was crammed full of peo-
pie and the heat was sitting. Being
very uncomfortable my friends and l
determined to leave, but somehow we
could not make much Roadway through
the throng toward the door. l STAYED
a little behind as l was offered a
nosegay by a stall holder, vAlen. OF a
sudden, the shout of fire was raised.
Instantly all was commotion.
we tried TO keep cool, but the rush
from behind forced us forward. and we
were se9arat ted. Then [ tried to work
my way back but l was carried off my
feet and carried backward and for
ward in the swaying crowd. ! lost my
hat: then my coat was torn off, and
then my waistcoat All this happened
in a few seconds.
SPREAD RAPIDLY.
Immediately the full extent of the
calamity dawned upon US all. The
flames spread with startling rapidity
throughout the whole building, which
rrmbled like a living furnace, but the
uDroar of the confiagration could not
drown 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 sec
onds later I would have been a victim
for hardly had | struggled through the
hole before / heard a dreadful crash as
the blazing roof fell in.
I cannot describe the struggle which
followed. No words can depict the hor-
ror of the scene. It seems as l look
back upon it, a hideous nightmare. The
whole thing was over in II minutes
and nothing remained but the charred
and blackened ruins of the bazaar. The
dead were piled in heaps and es9ec-
tally near the exit where the charred
remains were five feet deep. II fiome
cases only the trunks remained with no
vestige of clothing
LIKE WILDFIRE.
The firemen arrived at and a COM
pany of infantry followed to clear the |
ruins and search for corpses. The |
news spread like wildfiTe. All the cab !
met ministers now in Paris went inn |
to the scene. Hundreds of |
equipages streamed along the Champs I
ID Elysse and their occupants, all anx- /
lous and with tear-stained faces. in I
CURED for their relatives. There were
many heartrending scenes of grief. One /
lady rushed about frantically calling I
her daughter by name. Someone told |
her the girl was safe, whereupon she
danced. screamed. then rushed /
20 the coachman to tell him to drive
home and fell in a dead swoon.
Another lady went insane.
y third imagined in her frenzy that
she recognized her daughters dress,
and Historically called upon her nus
band TO tell the police TO prevent the
,hild from going to the bazaar. Cabinet
minister's, ambassadors, noblemen and
members of the highest social and
financial circles were. side by side with
fel hn III
nquiring for their missing relatives.
About 80 were saved by Pere Ambrose
md Pere Bailli, who helped them over
he wall with a ladder to the printing
com of the newspaper La CroiX. The
staff of the Hotel Du Palais lent val
liable assistance and saved $50 persons
through a barrel window overlooking
he bazaar, where, While the hotel en-
'loyees were carrying away the bodies
hey saw three persons burned to
leath.
PICKING Up THE REMAINS.
Policemen, their hands covered with
doves. have been deputed by the pre-
ect Of police to pick out the portions
f remains ard to wrap them in pieces Z
f cloth, to be transferred in ambu-
ances to the Palais d L'Industrie
he remains present a horrible spec I
acle of limbs burned and twisted. On I
II sides can be seen stretchers piled {
With mutilated cOrpses. skulls split ]
pen and brains exuding. Just behind
heap of corpses lies alone the body 8
womsn- The face is downward. 7
he head burned. the brain exposed i
nd from the empty socket of the right q
We the brains are slowly oozing The .
rms and legs are burned off. q
y little further off is the body of I
mother woman. rude, the entrails pro- t
-uding and the head missing. 1t is a t
hastily sight. S
The building was constructed about i
x months ago. T
AT the time ii was remarked that ii T
'ould burn like matoh-wood. The in n
arior was divided into she's a la old i
arts. constructed of prettily painted I
anvas.
The CORRESPONDENT Of the Associated s
ress has had an iLterview with Miss c
ushbeck Of PHILADELPHIA, VINO. with
lie Misses Hawthorne and Bushbeck.
as o-e &C the few WHO escaped. al
lough not unscatned.
MISS BUSHBECK SAID: f
I was saleswoman at Booth No. Is. O
ear the place Where the fire origin
ed. l arrived at ten minutes past 4
IN m" friends. We stopped to look ,
ound and stopped at a lottery wheel c
here Won a brnch Of asparagus. t:
list then, happening TO turn around, Il
saw and called my friends attention r
a flicker in ehe corner OF the wall r.
'out IL yards away. Hardly had / Is
me so when a gentleman behind me c;
led Fire; ladies', hasten ou.,' and n
lshed me toward the door rather
ughly, but fortunately for me. t.
As this was nv second experience Il
lder such circumstances. l advised |
Y two friends 70 raise their skirts h
the front so they would not stumble a,
er them. h.
We We're then just stepping on the W
st of the three steps leading out OF a.
e building. a
Turning my head to look back saw N
e whole place in flames. At my left So
caught a glimpse of an old lady vi
lerging from an adjacent door, and
" her stumble on her skirts. The N
xt instant quite 20 person piled on ca
D &C Ter. ] creased the street and r.
rned around to face the fire, hut al III
ldy the heat was so intense that it Al
)Iohed me and l was obliged to raise or
: hands 70 protect my face When CT
2 roof fell IL with a terrible crash 70
-tainly 20 more than five minutes ne
d elaDsed from the first warning. de
ch was the intensity Of the heat that al
saw a fireman's jacket ignited and
49, Sc
cont fFarrn