The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1899-02-14

Yankton, S. D., Feb. 14-At 2 o'clock
Sunday morning, with the thermome-
ter registering % deg. below zero, a
fire, disastrous in it's effects, broke out
in one of the cottages of the state in
sane asylum, which resulted in one OF
the most horrifying catastrophes in
the history of Yankton. Seventeen
human beings were burned to char
coal. The dead are:
Augusta Boerse, Lake county; Julia
Erickson, Meade; Ella Lokken, Cod
ington; Margaret Lynch, Union; Josina
Olson, Hamlin; Martena Fennlson,
Pennington: Elizabeth StOlpe, Davi-
son; Mrs. Rampant, Brown; Maggie
Flynn, Hamlin; Lucina Gossage, Ham
lin; Adelina Hurley, Potter; Christina
Johnson, Codington; Jennie Kronlg,
Pennington; Louisa Keene, Codington;
Caroline Lindberg, Brown; Katie
PlavitZ, Bon Homme; Gaini SWenSOn,
Kingsbury.
Owing to the crowded condition OF
the main building this cottage, three
stories high, was utilized for keeping
female patients, there being in the
builing at the time the fire started
fifty-two people, forty Of whom were
inmates and the other twelve attend
ants. The basement was used as
laundry, and it was in the dry room
of the laundry that the fire is
Supposed to Have Started
In this room, filled to it's utmost with
clothes to dry, accumulates a great
deal of fine particles similar to lint. A
coil of pipe is here heated with steam,
and the theory is that either these
fine particles were ignited by coming
in contact with the hot pipes, or else
some of the clothing dropped upon the
pipes. There is a possibility Of later
careful investigation developing the
exact cause. The cottage stood about
800 feet in the rear of the main build
ing, with the large water tank for fire
protection standing still another 100
feet back of it. The fighting of the
fire was seriously handicapped by rea-
son that the steam pipes from the
boiler of the main building passed
through the cottage for heating pur-
poses, and then OH to the water tank.
AS the fire progressed these pipes
were burst from the terrible heat,
thus cutting off the pumping power
and leaving only direct pressure from
ficient Two streams of water were
turned upon the burning building, but
to no avail Strenuous efforts were
made to save all the inmates. All that
could be done was done, but the fire
had the advantage and kept it. Those
that did escape came down the narrow
passageway in their night clothes and
bare feet
Into the Bitter Cold,
and had it not been that shelter and
warmth were so near at hand the re-
suit. terrible as it was, would have
been far beyond human description.
All that remains of the once handsome
three-story structure is the bare gaunt
walls. The interior was Quilted most
completely. Hardly a siX-inch piece of
wood remains. At the bottom of the
basement in the debris can be seen
portions Of charred remains of unfor-
Inmates. These appear to be in one
spot, showing that they had crowded
together either on the first or second
floor, perhaps both, at that point, and
the floors giving way, had thrown
them in this seeming pile. The work
of removing the remains and debris
will commence to-day. 1t will be a
hazardous task, as the walls of huge
stones are apt to collapse without a
moments warning. Competent men
will be employed, however, and the
walls will be taken down.