The San Francisco call., 1899-08-29

~ the ten buildings of the St Agnes
Convent and Orphanage, entailing
a loss of $150000 and causing the death
of four persons. Besides the dead and
seriously injured. twenty-five inmates
We're 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 inmates of the in
stitutiOn were asleep. Most of them
were got out in almost perfect order,
but a score W risked her 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 dash 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 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 pray
er Engineer Otto placed a long ladder
on the outer wall and rescued half a
dozen. Six were forced to jump for
their lives and all but Sister
Bertrand escaped without serious
injury. The escape of Sister Agnes
seemed almost miracle. She was cut
off on 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 tbe
ground squarely upon her feet and
then fell over on her side. Before anv
one could reach her she got I'D and
walked away unhurt.
The fire reached the girls dormitorv
last, but once it took hold of the build
ing it burned fiercely. Most of the girls
were on the upper floors and it was
with the greatest difficulty that thew
were got out. Shortly after the last
of the rescued left the second dormi-
tory there was counting of heads and
the discovery was made that two babv
boys were missing. John Cody. a L.
year-old 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 from Piedmont and
Nyack, but the best they could do was
to save the hospital, large two-storv
building.
The Sisters and children were con-
veyed by teams to the Blauvelt Con- |
vent. AS ldi % htio"A pul Que person |
actually perished in the fire itself. |
That was Jane an old pensioner. |
aged 70 years, who was asleep in the |
servants quarter. Helen Brown and |
Emma Mackin died from convulsions
that resulted from fright. Kate Nc
Carthy was servant in the convent |
and had organic heart trouble She |
was badly frightened, collapsed in the |
grounds and died later in the day.
1t is believed Therese Murphy and |
Mary Brown both escaped from the |
fire, but that the former became de- |
mented and is leading the other girl |
through the woods.
There We're 326 children in the or
phanage, sixty Of whom were girls and
their ages ranged from to 16 years |