Brookings weekly register. (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1898-1903, 1899-02-16


Sunday morning. with the thermome-
ter registering % deg. below zero.
| fire, disastrous in its effects. broke out
in one of the cottages of the state In
sane asylum, which resulted in one of
| the most horrlfying catastrophes in
| the history Of Yankton. Seventeen
| human beings We're burned to a char
coal. The dead are:
Augusta Boerse, Lake county: Julia
| Erickson, Meade: Ella Lokken. Cod
| ington; Margaret Lynch. Union: Josina
Olson, Hamlin; Martena rennison,
Pennington; Elizabeth Stolpe. Dayi-
son; Mrs. Rampant. Brown; Maggie
Flynn, Hamlin: Lucina GoSsage Ham
! lin; Adelina Hurley, Potter; Christina
Johnson, Codington: Jennie kronig.
| Pennington: Louisa keene, Codington,
| Caroline LindherG, Brown; Katie
PlavitZ Bon Homme; Gainl Swenson,
| KingSbury.
Owing to tho 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, accumulatas great
! deal of fine particles similar 70 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
| 400 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 on 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
N,
| 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 aud
| bare feet
Into the Bitter Cold,
! and had il 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 structure Is the bare gaunt
| walls. The interior was gutted most
| completely Hardly six-inch piece or
wood remains. At the Bottom OF the
| basement in the debris can be seen
portions Of charred remains OF unfor-
| tunates. 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 4
| 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.