Omaha daily bee., 1897-05-09

| go. aaron In the wild Woods"
| New Invasion of Great Britain.
| agony for a few weeks; OF others still whose
| faces have been SO awfully disfgured that
| they must exist only in seclusion for the re-
| mainder OF their days. movement has
| been started to purchase the plot on which
| the building stood and erect upon 1t me-
mortal church.
touch of added tragedy Is given to the
! catastrophe by sinister rumor prevalent to-
| day In the Fouberg st. Germain that the
| Due dAumale died not from heart failure
| but from an overdose of an opiate taken pos
| sibly by accident, but it is feared by de-
| sign. The strictest retcence observed con-
| cerning his last moments, of which
| only vague and unsatisfactory ac-
| count is forthcoming, may be responsible for
! this report In Sicily there are no enterpris-
| ing reporters to ascertain the truth, while
| in the case of royal personages all ordinary
post mortem examinations are relaxed in
| continental countries.
| graphic personal experience has been
| given to the World correspondent by young
student and author, Leopold Aujar, vino is
secretary of the Chamuel library, in the Rue
o'clock" he said, "and after wandering
around for an hour or so l went up two or
three steps to the cinematograph exhibition,
where there were about a dozen persons.
Suddenly all was plunged in darkness and
l heard voice say: L will put some spirits
of wine in the lamp few seconds later a
flash lit up the hall and l soon saw that fire
had caught the drapery. We jumped up,
nlosr out A
whom l have since learned was Mile. de
Rochefort, ran TO the counter of Duchesse
d'Alencon, who was conversng with another
woman, without noticing that the roof over
her stall was already taking fire and cried
out: The place is on fire!
81 do not think that the danger was i'm
minent, at this moment, and / was scarcely
even anxious So it was very TRANQUILITY that
said to several people: The place is on
fire, leave quickly Suddenly the fimsy roof
of the bazaar dared up like train of powder
and a cry of fear burst from 1000 throats
Everybody rushed toward the exit and
horrible crush ensued Those behind could
see that they would never get out. The fire
was spreading rapidly and the stalls were
beginning to catch.
FIRE SPREADS RAPIDLY.
"Slence followed the first shout OF dis
may, and l heard only the tramping of feet
of the panic-strcken members, struggling
and fighting to escape, broken by an oc-
casional Shrek Of despair. The fire con
tinued to spread and some Of the people
began to seek other means of exit.
"I remembered that in going to the
cnematograph l had noticed a large plot OF
waste land l ran toward the passage, al
though the fire had begun at that end, and by
strange chance found that at this corner
it burned sowest. l passed through and
found myself on the waste ground, other
persons following me. We could see no way
out and found ourselves caught between the
burning bazaar and stone walls several yards
high / re-entered the building by another
window to see if there was still no chance
of escaping by the door. Drops of melted
and blazing pitch were falling at the left
side of the bazaar, causing the decorations,
which were still intact, to blaze up instan-
taneously. Some 400 persons were still strug
Cling at the exit, and the burning drops were
falling on bonnets and friled lace collar
cites.
81 was too petrifed with horror to shout
that there was still chance of being saved
where / was. To the right of the hall the
crowd of people was being continually driven |
further back by the flames. All that | could |
see was a dark moving mass through the |
smoke. Suddenly heard a cracking sound. |
The planks of the partition at the end had |
given way under the pressure of 300 people, |
and the rush of air through the bazhar |
famed the flames, Screams arose and the |
heat became intolerable.
HUMAN TORCHES.
"From the end OF the bazaar shadowy forms !
ran toward me. These shadows were on fire, |
and their arms held up in the air seemed |
to be torches. Then the tarred roof fell on |
the other half OF the bazaar, right on top OF |
the crowd, wrapping them in flames. All
this had taken place within a few seconds
after my return to the bazaar. The flames
were now rising high in the air, and cries
and screams mingled with their roar. ] ran
around the building, seeking a means of es
cape, and saw other human torches which
seemed to come from the black heap against
the wall, which | had seen through a gap
In the side of the bazaar. The inside was
now mass OF flames and between the fur
mace and wall a roasting seemed to be in
evitable. But a man in a white apron ap- |
peared at an irOn-b bound window and began
striking the bars and calling out This way.
This way. Everybody rushed toward the
window, in front of which new crush now
look place, But nobody had any strength
eft, and the rescuers easily pushed back
hose in the way. waited my turn. Mean.
line no more torches came from the black
leap. which continued to burn There were
nearly 100 persons there. some Of whom fell
o the ground when the partition gave way,
'thers falling over them. But the heap still
moved showing that not all life was ex-
inct.
''The work of rescue by the window seemed
earfully slow, The flames reached us, al
hough we were over thirty yards from the
'uilding Suddenly. five persons ON fire
Continued on Sixth Page1