The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1899-08-29
HEROIC WORK At FIRE
Sisters of st. Agnes Save Lives
Of Many Inmates.
FOUR ARE DEAD, TWO MISSING
About Thirty More or Less Seriously In
the Number-Four Hundred Persons
Asleep i'll Convent and OrphsnaEe at
SnarkiIi, n. Y. Whel the Alarm of
Fire Was Given-A Loss of S150 900.

SparkilI, n. Y. Aug 2S.-Fire that
broke out at l O'Clock this morning de-
st-eyad nine of the ten buildings of St
Agnes Convent and Orphanage, entailing
a loss of $4,000 and causing the death OF
four persons. The dead are:
HELEN BROWN. aged six.
EMMA MACKIN. aged seven.
JANE a ieEsiorer. aged seventy
MARY KATE MCCARTHY. aged twenty-eight.
The missing are; Therese Murphy aged sixteen
Mary Brown, aged four
The seriously injured are: Sister Sienna shock
ard collapse; Sister Marie, burns and eoncussion
Sister Bertrand. concession Of spine and shock; Sis
ter Katherine. broken; Hannah Shea. leg
broken.
Twenty-Five inmates were injured by
fails, jumps. and burns, none seriously.
That more lives were not lost was due
to the heroism of the sisters and some of
the older inmates When the fire broke
out the 400 inmates of the institution were
asleep. Most of them were gotten out in
almost perfect order, but a score who
risked their lives 10 save others were
finally forced 10 either jump from the
upper stories or make desperate dashes
through staiTways and corridors filed
with flames and smoke.
Saushl in he LavatoTy,
The fire was discovered in the lavatory
and soon spread 10 the adjoining build
iEgs, attacking first a dormitory In which
200 Of the older boys slept. Sister Regi-
rald, who had trained the lads in the fire
drill, rushed down TIE line Of white beds.
and arcusing the sleepers, clapped her
hands. the simple fire signal followed in
the orphanage. The boys turned out with
a rush and gained the lawn in their night
clothes. BY that tine the second dormi-
tory, whore the smaller boys slept. was
ablaze. The older lads made a dash for
the building and were soon carrying the
smaller ones out The buildings were e.!
finished with Georgia pine and the wood
burned furiously. The convent and chapel
made a great stack )f flame. and be-
tween them and the Sc cond dormitory the
girls dormitory blazed and cracked as
the fire leaped up its wooden walls
4 dozen sisters were cut of in the up
per stories OF the convent building. They
were forced 10 the windows. and while
some climbed out 10 the Eills, Others knelt
al the easements in prayer. Engineer
Otto placed a long ladder against the
outer wall and rescued half a dozen. Six
were forced 10 jump for their lives. and
( fortunately al but Sister bertrand es-
capped without serious injury. The escape
OF Sister Agnes seemed almost a miracle.
She was cut OF on the fourth floor. and
elected 10 jump from her window rather
than plunge into the furnace that had
once been a stairway She climbed out
on the sill, and then seizing the shutter
swung out clear OF the building. Then
she loosed her hold. She struck the
( ground squarely upon her feet and then
! fell over on her side Before any one
/ could reach her she got up and wake
| quickly away unhurt.
Reseue al Two u bv D~ys-
The FIRE reached the girls dormitory
/ last, but once it took hold of the building
| il burned fiereely. Most OF the girls were
on the upper fee.s, and Il was with ths
! greatest difficulty that they we're gotten