The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-05-06

staying ABOUT l:3U, accompanying the
Vicomtesss Savigny. The sale was do
ing well, when suddenly her maid
cried: Madame, save yourself. There's .
fire."
Mrs. Gilmour with wonderful pres
enee of mind, rushed toward the main
entrance, but seeing the danger of be-
Ing trampled to death, she ran quietly
back to the rear Of the building, where
she saw window that opened in the
wall, through which she soon reached
the street.
Mgr. Clad. the papaI nuncio, who
had attended to pronounce his bless
Ing upon the bazaar, says he was talk
Ing to the Duchess d'Alencon shortly
before o'clock. He adds: Around
me was group of blind children. Sew
eral of these must have perished. My
heart is bleeding to think of all those
poor creatures. 1t Is too horrible to
speak of. My nerves are in a terrible
state"
The Vicomte Damas identified his
wlfe's body by piece of haircloth
which she wore next her skin as a
member OF the Order Of st. Francis.
M. Jean Raffaeli, the painter, says:
My daughter has the mark of
heel stamped into her back. She was
trampled in the heap at the door near
the main entrance. Her mother tried
to pull her from the blazing fire, but
she said; 1t is useless; save yourself,
as shall die in any case Her mother
replied: Y shall not leave you. 1 will
take you. or stay and die with YOU
jurcd."
The Able Marriott says that the Com
tesse Villeneuve returned to search
for her two daughters, failed to find
them, and perished herself
DR.. Nachtel, who has directed the
ambulance work, says that the num-
Der OF bodies found gives very in
adequate idea of the number of vic
tlnls, as dozens were burned COM
pletely to ashes. 1t is estimated now
that there were about 1900 persons in
the building when the fire was dis
covered, about one-half of whom es-
capped unhurt. Some estimates place
the number of dead at 143, others at a
stlll higher figure.
Michael Heine, the manager Of the
pazaar, admitted last evening that the
arrangement was evidently i'll made,
adding:
we ought to have foreseen that
such disaster as this was possible,
but the stalls have been increasing
every year, and we were very anxious
not to lose an inch of ground"
The unidentified bodies, as well as
the jewels recovered from the debris.
hpnn hnf
tlilon method. and the funeral service
of the victims has been fixed for the
cathedral of Notre Dame M. Faure
VIII attend, and Pers Richard will
probably ofiiciate
A somber feeling pervades every
class of society. The newspapers, with
out exception. describe the disaster at
the Grand Bazaar de Charlie in the
sober and simple terms BETTING SO
appalling an event. The catastrophe
Will always be remembered as one OF
the most fearful that ever berell n ELL
ropean city Nothing comparable in
loss or lie has ever occurred here, ex-
cept the fire which destroyed the
Opera Comique in 1897 Singularly
enough, that disaster happened in tho
same month Of the same year, and 80
persons were burned to death. While
45 were officially registered as missing.
In aristocratic circles the number
less dinner parties and other functions
of a gaily opening season have been
suddenly abandoned.
The amount of administrative negli.
gence surrounding the catastrophe is
almost inconceivable. The structure
was so combustible that many of the
victims, II not most OF them, must
have been burned alive, without suffo-
cation. No sort Of inspection seems to
have been made in advance by the
municipal or police authorities.
NJ Lepine, the prefect of police, who
is severely censured for lack of proper
supervision of the preparatory ar
rangcInents says in excuse that tho
patrons and patronesses of the bagaar
were Reactionists and he feared if he
with their program that they
would say he was trying to suppress
IA RanDD TntbnIir