The record-union., 1899-08-29
The FIRE AT
SPARKILL, N. u
Nine Buildings of the 0rphanage
and Convent Burned,
Resulting In Four Deaths and a Large
Monetary Loss.
Two Children Are Also Missing,
Four Sisters Severely and n
Number of Inmates Slightly In
jured-Four Hundred People
Were Asleep in the Buildings
When the Flames Broke Out.

4 NNAO @AS1OOP AA GhO
When the Flames Broke Out.
SPARKILL IN. ", Aug. 2S.-The fire
! that broke out at / o'clock this morn
ing destroyed nine of the ten buildings
of the st. Agnes Convent and Orphan
age, entailing a loss of $150,000, and
causing the death of four persons.
| The dead are; Helen Brown, aged 81
Emma Mackin, aged Z; Jane" a pen-
sioner, aged 70; Mary Kate Mccarthy
aged IS.
The missing are: Therese Murphy.
aged Il; Mary Brown, aged 4.
The seriously injured are: Sister
| Sienna, shock and collapse; Sister
Marie, burns and concussion; Sister
Bertrand, concussion of spine and
shock; Sister Katherine, arm broken:
Hannah Shea, leg broken.
! Twenty-Five inmates were injured by
falls, 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 in
mates of the institution We're asleep.
Most of them were gotten out in almost
perfect order, but a score who risked
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 lawn in their night clothes.
BY that time the second dormitory,
where the smaller boys slept, was
ablaze. The older lads made a rush for
the building, and We're 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 flames, and between them and
the second dormitory the girls dormi-
tory blazed and cracked as the fire
leaped up it's wooden walls
A dozen Sisters were cut off in the
upper stories of the convent building.
They were forced to the windows, and
while some climbed out to the sills,
others knelt at the easements in prayer
Engineer Otto placed a long ladder on
the outer wall and rescued half q
Dozen Six were forced to jump for
their lives, and fortunately all but
Sister Bertrand escaped without seri-
Gus injury.
The escape of Sister Agnes seems al
most a miracle. She was cut off OH
the fourth floor and elected to 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 loosened 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
walked away, unhurt.
The fire reached the girls dormitory
last, but once it 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, fifteen-year-o boy, made
straight for the door, paying no heed
to the warnings of danger. A moment
later Cody came dashing out of the
building, under each arm carrying one
of the missing boys.
Firemen came out from Piedmont and
Nyack, but the best they could do was
to save the hospital, a large two-story
building.
The Sisters and children were con-
veyed by teams to the Blauvelt Con-
vent.
AS far as known, but one person
actually perished in the fire itself. That
was "Jane," an old pensioner. aged 40
years who was asleep in the servants
quarters Helen Brown and Emma
Mackin died from convulsions that re-
suited from fright Kate Mccarthy was
a servant in the convent, and had or
ganic heart trouble. She was badly
frightened, collapsed in the grounds
and died later in the day 1t is be-
lieved Therese Murphy and Mary
Brown both escaped from the fire, but
that the former became demented, and
is leading the other girl through the
woods.
There were 326 children in the or
phanage, sixty of whom were girls, and
their ages ranged from to 16 years.
Most of them were from New York
City, and they were IN most instances
committed by the Gerry Society and
city courts The orphanage was con-
Quoted by Sisters of the Dominican Or
der.
A Kentucky Feud.
LOUISVILLE, Aug. 2S. A special