The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-05

Edt0u. linen i tried 10 WOrk my way Ddck
put was forced off my feet and carried
backward and forward in the swaying
crowd. | lost my hat; then my coat was
torn off, and then my waistcoat. All this
happened In a few seconds.
Immediately the full extent of the ca
lamity dawned upon US all. The flames
spread with startling rapidity through the
whole building. which rumbled like a liv-
ing furnace. but the roar OF the flames
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 scram-
ping through an opening made by some or
those who were near me. Two seconds
later | would have been a victim, for hardly
had / struggled through the hole before /
heard a dreadful crash as the blazing roof
fell in. | cannot describe the struggle for
life which ensued. No words can depict the
horror of the scene. 1t seems as l LOOK
back upon it a hideous nightmare: Inc
whole thing was over in twelve minutes,
and nothing remained but the charred and
blackened ruins of the bazaar"
The dead were piled in heaps, and es-
pecially near the exit, where the charred re-
mains were five feet high. In some cases
only the trunks remained, with no Vestgee
OF clothing. The fremen arrived at D
o'clock, and Il company of infantry Ioi-
lowed to clear the ruins and search for
corpses. The news spread like wild fire.
All the Cabinet ministers row in Paris went
Immediately to the scene. hundreds OF
equipages streamed along the Champs
dElysees, their occupants all anxious and
tear-stained faces inquiring for their rel
atives. There were many he~art-rending
scenes of grief and despair. one lady
rushed about frantically, calling her daugh-
ter by name. Some one told her the girl
was safe. wheraupon she jumped, danced,
screamed. then rushed to the coachman to
tell him to drive home, and fell in a dead
SWoon. Another lady went insane. A third
Imagined in her frenzy that she recognized
her daughters dress, and Historically called
upon her husband to tell the police TO pre-
vent the child from going TO the bazaar.
THIRTY SAVED BY TWO MEN.
Cabinet ministers. ambassadors, noble
men and members of the highest social and
financial circles were side by side with the
lowliest and the poorest, al xiously inquir-
ing for their missing relatives. About thir-
ty were saved by Pere Ambrose and Pere
Ball, who helped them over the wall with
a lacder to the printing room of the news
paper, La Croix. The staff of the Hotel du
Palais lent valuable assistance and saved
$50 persons through a barred window over
looking the bazaar, where. while the hotel
employees were carrying away the bars, they
saw three persons burned to death.
Pollcemen, their hands covered with
gloves, have been deputed by the project
OF ponce TO pick out the portions of remains
ana to wrap them in cloth, to be trans
1erred IN ambulances to the Palais d'Indus-
trle. The remains present a horrible spec
tacle OF limbs burned and twisted. On all
SIDES can be seen stretcherS piled with
nutllated corpses, skulls split open and
brains eXuding. Just behind a heap of
~ 49, GADhC liz way " q mo
me face is drawn, the head burned, the
bralns exposed, and from the empty socket
1i!g; me arms and legs are burned off. A
little farther off is the body of another
woman, nude, the entrails p%rotruding and
the head missing. 1t is a CHASTITY sight.
The building was constructed about six
months ago. AT the time it was remarked
that it would burn like match wood. The
interior was divided into shops a la old
Paris, constructed Of pwrettily painted
cenvas.
The correspondent of the Associated
Press has had an interview with Miss
Bushbeck, of Philadelphia, who, with the
Misses hawthorne and Dreher, was one of
the few who escaped, although not I'M
Scathed. Miss BuShbeck said: Il was a
salesWoman at booth No. Is, close to the
place where the fire originated. l arrived
at ten minutes past four with my friends.
we left our wraps and hats in the cloak
room and went to my booth. where four
nuns presided. In the booth were three
bilnd girls working, one reading the blind
alphabet, the other writing and the third
making brushes. The lady presiding over
that section of the bazaar told me / need
not hurry, but that it would be all right if
l came a little later. | started to look
around the bazaar and stopped at a lot
terry wheel, where | won a bunch of aspar-
agus. Just then, happening to turn round,
| saw and called my friends attention to a
flicker in the corner of the wall about fif-
teen yards away Hardly had / done so
when a gentleman behind me cried: Ecu,
mesdames! ~sortez!' (Fire, ladies'. hasten
outD and pushed me toward the door rath-
= 1Od6lhS, bAN una - LOl IAAC- az
this is my second experience under such
circumstances l advised my two friends to
raise their skirts in the front so they would
not stumble over them. We were then just
stepping on the first of the three steps lead
ing out of the building. Turning my head
to look back l saw the whole place in
flames. At my left 1 caught a glimpse of
an old lady emerging from an adjacent
door and saw her stumble on her skirts.
The next instant quite twenty persons piled
on top of her. l crossed the street and
turned round 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 a terrific crash, certainly not more
than five minutes had elapsed from the
first alarm. Such was the intensity of the
heat that I saw a fireman's Jacket ignited
and several of the horses were badly
singed. Out of the pile of persons who fell
near the door, none was saved. All We're
burned in a moment. OF the nuns at my
girls. The burned visitors were for the
most part ladies, g~orgeOusly dressed