The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-08-29

Spdrklli, N. T., aug. 2S.-F1re that
l"oke out a i o'clock this morning de-
stroyed nine OF the ten buildings Of tie
St. Agnes coryent ana orphanage, en-
failing loss of $3.50 002 and causing
the death of four persons.
The dead are:
HELEN BROWN, aged 6.
EMMA MACKIN, aged I.
JANE" pensioner," aged 20.
MARTY KATE MCCARTHY. aged %.
The missing are: Therese Murphy,
aged ID; Mary Brown, aged 4.
The seriously injured are: Sister ST.
emma, shock and collapse; Sister Marie,
burns and concussion; Sister Bertrand,
concussion of spine and shock; Siscter
Katherine, arm broken; Hanna Shea,
leg broken
Twenty-Five inmates We're injured by
falls, jumps and burns, none seriously
That more lives We're not lost was
due to the herosm of the sisters and
some of the older inmates. When the
fire broke out the 400 inmates of the in
stitution We're asleep. Most of them Were
gotten out in al,sn = perfect order but
score who rislsed their lives to save
others were finally forced to either
jump from the upper Stories or make
desperate dashes through stairways
and corridors filled with flames and
smoke.
The fire was discovered in the lava
tory and soon spread to the adjoining
buildings, attacking first a dormitory,
in which 200 of the older boys slept.
Sister Reginald, who had trained the
lads in the fire drill, rushed down the
line of white beds, and arousing the
sleepers, clapped her hands the simple
fire signal followed in the orphanage.
The boys turned out with a rush and
gained the ground in their night
clothes. BY that time the second DOR
mitory, where the smaller boys slept,
was ablaze. The older lads made a
rush for the building, and were soon
carrying the smaller ones out The
buildings were all finished with Georgia
pine and the wood burned furiously
The convent and chapel made a great
stack of flame, and between them and
the second dormitory the girls dormi-
tory blaZed and cracked as the fire
leaped up its wooden walls.
A dozen sisters were cut off in the
upper stories of the convent building.
They were forced in the windows and
while some climbed to the stills, others
knelt at the easements in prayer
Engineer Otto placed long ladder
against the outer wall ana rescued a
half dozen. Six were forced to jump
for their lives and, fortunately, all
but Sister Bertrand escaped without
serious injury. The escape of Sister
Agnes seemed almost a miracle She
was cut off on the fourth floor and
elected to jump from her window rath-
er 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 build
ing. Then she loosened her hold. She
struck the ground squarely upon her
feet and then fell over on her side. Be
fore anyone could reach her she got
up and walked quickly away, unhurt.
The fire reached the girls dormitory
last, but once 1t took hold of the build
ing, it burned fiercely. Most of the
girls were on the upper floors and 1t
was with the greatest difficulty that
they were gotten out Shortly after the
last of the rescuers left the second
dormitory there was a counting of
heads and the discovery was made
that two baby boys were missing. John
Cody, a 15-year-old boy, made straight
for the door, paying no heed to the
warnings of danger. moment later
Cody came dashing out of the build