Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-05-05

believed that an other hundred are
beneath the ruins.
The building was erected in the film
Siest manner, the nudity Of the scat
folding inside being concealed by ia
pestry hangings of the most intiamma-
BILE material Moreover there was only
one exit
The bazaar was in full swing when
suddenly about ( o'clock the cry OF tre
rose in the quarter where the kinema-
tOmagraph was being exhibited. one
of the survivors tells 10 the correspond
ent of the Associated Press his expert
euCe.
The place was crammed full OF peo-
pie and the heat was sitting. Beng
very uncomfortable, my friends and 1
determined to leave. but somehow we
could not make much headway through
the thrOng toward the door. l Jagged
a little behind as l was offered a nosegay
by a stallholder when, on 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 separated Then l tried to wor'-
nv way back. but was carried off my
feet and carried backward and forward
in the Swaying crowd. / lost my hat,
then my coat was torn OF. and then
my waist-cOat. All this happened In
a few seconds.
Immediately the full extent of the
calamity dawned upon us all. The
flames spread with startling rapidity
through the whole building, which rum
bled like a living furnace but the uproar
of the cOnfagratiOn could not drown
the grOans and cries of the agonized
crowd. Gradually I found myself push
ed 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 a dreadful crash, as the
blazing roof fell in.
II cannot describe the struggle for
life which ensued No words can depict
the horror of the scene. 1t seems as |
look back upon it like hideOus night
mare. The 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
especiallv near the exit where the
charred remains were five feet deep. In
some cases only the trunks remained
with no vestige of clothing.
The fremen arrived at 6, and COM
panv of infantry followed to clear the
ruins and search for cOrDses. The
news spread like wild-ire. All the cabi-
me- ministers row in Paris went imme-
diatelv 10 the scene. Hundreds OF
eCuippages sreamed along the Champs
d'FNsee. their occupants with anxious
and tear-s-ained faces. inquiring for
their rela a.ives. There were many
heartrending scenes Of grief and de-
sD9ir. One lady rushed about tranu-
callv calling her daughter by name.
Some one told her the girl was safe,
wbereupoa she umped,danced. scream
cd then rushed 10 the cOachman TO tell
him to drive home and fell in dead
SwOOn.
Another lady went insane. A third
imagined in her frenzy that she recog-
nizad her daughters dress. and hySJerl-
caIlv called upOn her husband to tell
The Dolice 10 prevent the child from
Going to the bazaar. Cabinet ministers,
ambassadors. noblemen and members
of the highest social and financial CIR
cles were side by side with the lowilesc
and the poorest. anXiously mQulrlhs
for their issing relatives.
AbOut thirty were saved by Pere Am
boise and Pere Bailey. whOhelped them
over the wall with a ladder 10 the
nrinting room of the newspaper La
Croix. The staff of the hotel Du Palais
lent valuable assistance and saved loJ
persons through a barred window over
looking the bazaar. where, while the
hotel employees were carrying away
bars. they saw three persons burned to
death. ,.,,
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 oil
cloth. to be transferred in ambulanceS
IN the Palas rIndustrie. The remains
nresent a horrible spectacle of limbs
burnad and twisted. On all sides can
be seen stretchers piled with mutllateu
corrses. skulls, split open and brains
exuding. Just behind a heap OF corpses
lies alone the body of a woman. Inc
face is 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.
4 little further off is the body Of an
other woman. nude. the entrails pro-
truding and the head missing. 1t is
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 Ia Old Paris, constructed
of prettily painted canvass. The cor
respondent of The Associated Press has