The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1911-08-04
INSANE DIE IN FIRE
EIGHT BODIES RECOVERED FROM
RUINS OF ASYLUM OF HAMIL-
TON, ONTARIO.
LIFE NETS USED EFFECTIVELY
Maniacs Fight Rescuers and Are
Saved with Greatest Difficulty
Others Are Missing and May
Have Escaped.

Hamilton, Ont, Aug. AT least
eight, and perhaps fifteen, lives were
lost in fire which partly destroyed
one of the main buildings of the in
sane asylum on the side of the noun
tain southwest of the city. There were
800 patients in the building when the
fire was discovered. Eight bodies
have been recovered.
Eighty-five patients, considered
among the most dangerous, were con-
fined on the fourth floor. The asylum
is located on the mountain side out
side of the city, and in an almost in.
accessible position, so far as the city
firemen were concerned.
The fire was marked by a display
of heroism on the part of the doctors
and nurses seldom equalled in the his
tory of Canada. Many of the patients
were absolutely helpless from disease
that confined them. to their beds.
Others, their reason gone so that the
instinct of preservation was entirely
absent, saw in the leaping flames
merely splendid spectacle for their
entertainment. The result was that,
in numerous instances, the endangered
inmates of the wards had fairly to be
lifted on the shoulders of the hospital
force and carried into the roadway.
Rescue Work Difficult.
Most of the fatalities occurred on
the top floor, where the hopelessly in
sane were confined. The smoke pour
ing into the big room filled it so that
it was impossible to see anything, and
the doctors and attendants in charge
there had to grope their way about
the room. By the time the attendants
got there the escape by the stairs had
been cut off and there was only the
windows left through which to get the
helpless to safety.
The first firemen to reach the scene
quickly spread out life nets and doz-
en- patients were dragged to the win.
dows and thrown out, falling into the
nets unframed. Many of the insane
cried aloud with terror, their shrieks
terrifying the people outside, and it
was only after some of them were
made unconscious by the dense smoke
that they could be rescued
The fire was caused by defective
wiring and burned with great intensity
for more than three hours. A large
part of the city fire department was
hurried to the scene, but before it ar.
rived on the mountain top the entire
wing of the big structure was ablaze.
The main dining room, which was far.
thest removed from the scene of the
fire, was used as a place to confine
the patients as fast as they were TAX
en- out. Some tried to escape and had
to be knocked unconscious before
their lives could be saved.
There would probably have been no
fatalities had it not been that the
windows on the upper floors were COW
cred with fine wire mesh to prevent
the dangerous patients from escaping.
The rescuers found it almost impossi-
BILE to wrench this covering off and
much valuable time was lost while the
attendants secured big shears to cut
through the guards.
The shrieks of the inmates could be
plainly heard in the south end of this
city and an enormous crowd soon
gathered and tried to help. AS soon as
the ruins had cooled sufficiently the
work of searching for bodies was be-
gun. 1t will be several hours before
the records can be checked and the ex-
act number of dead learned, but it was
believed this morning that it will not
be more than twelve or fifteen.
There are four buildings in the
group within the asylum grounds. The
main building where the fire occurred
is a four-story brick structure with
Easement 200 feet in length. The wo-
men patients, numbering about $50, &C
Cupied quarters in the west wing and
were moved without difficulty to
houses in the adjoining buildings
AS the firemen worked their way
into the burned section bodies were
found. Three were in the hallway on
the top floor and one helpless paralytic
was burned to death in his cell. Four
more corpses were found huddled to-
gether in small room. 1t is thought
that several of the missing have es-
capped and are still at large in the sur.
rounding fields.