Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-10-31
6 NUNS PERISH IN
FIRE, TRYING To
SAVE ORPHANS
Ten Children Missing After De-
struction of Catholic Home
in San Antonio, Tex.

SAN ANTONIO. TEXAS, Oct. 80
Sixteen persons, ten of them children
lost their lives today in fire which
| destroyed St Johns Orphan asylum
here. Among the dead are Mother
Mary of the Cross, sister superior in
charge of the home, and five of the
phans.
The sisters lost their lives in q heroic
effort to save their charges An effort
was made this morning to ascertain
definitely the number of children who
lost their lives Ten are known to be
missing, and it is feared that others
have been recovered.
The fire broke out some time after
midnight The building was stone
structure. but the flames spread so
rapidly that the whole place was In
flames before efforts to rescue the
children could be made. The sisters
made a desperate effort to save their
charges.
Another Sister Dying.
The known dead:
MOTHER MARY OF THE CROSS.
sister superior, known in the world as
Katherine Rossiter, of Wexford Ire
land.
SISTER MONICA, formerly known
as Miss Monica Montex. OF Monterey.
MOTHER MARY FRANCIS.
SISTER CLEVER, formerly Miss
Slavin, OF Dublin, Ireland.
SISTER LEO, whose home was in
Dublin.
KATHERIN DE TEMPLE, employed
at the orphanage; killed when she
jumped from an upper story
Ten children missing, unidentified
and believed to be dead.
Sister Mary Kostker, known former
ly as Miss Sullivan, is dying. She
jumped from an upper story after she
had been driven to a window by the
flames. A life net was spread, but
Sister Mary missed It in her fall Her
back was broken and she was inter.
nally injured
The market house today was turned
into a temporary morgue and the bod
les of the recovered dead were taken
there
At o'clock the fire had burned it
self out, but search Of the ruins up to
noon was impossible because of the in
tense heat The fire originated in the
! kitchen.
Mother Mary of Cross Heroic.
Two of the sisters who lost their
lives died when they made a heroic
effort to fight their way through the
flames on an upper floor and save the
children under their care. Others
known to have lost their lives are Iy-
ing in the ruins OF the building.
| Mother Mary of the Cross refused to
leave the building as long as any of the
children were inside. She did heroic
work in attempting rescues and to her
efforts largely Is due the fact that any
of the children were saved.
! Sister Clever and Sister Leo lost
their lives while endeavorlng to help
their mother superior in the rescue
Their bodies also are among the ruins
of the orphanage.
| The flames spread so rapidly that
there was little opportunity for them to
assist in the rescue. The flames were
then leaping from the upper windows
while the entire lower story was so
| filled with flames and smoke that it
was impossible for anyone to attempt
to enter The f1remen tried to save
those imprisoned above by spreading
| life nets. Only few of the children,
however, made their way to the win
dows 1t is believed that they were
caught asleep in their beds and per-
! ished before the sisters were able to
reach them.
Work of checking up the children
escued from the fire has been extreme
! ly difficult. Mother Mary, in charge of
the place. and the sisters who lost their
/ lives with her are the only ones who
knew definitely the number of children
in the institution. The records of the
| place were burned.
Children Trapped in Beds.
The asylum is outside the city limits
of San Antonio. The building was very
old and while the walls were Of stone
the floors were of wood. The building
was four stories high with an attic
above. The attic was also used for
wards, the institution at all times be-
ing practically filled.
The distance of the institution from
the heart of the city made the firemen
slow in getting to the place of the
| flames.
Most of the sleeping rooms were on
| the second floor The fire attacked the
wooden stiarways soon after 1t started
and there was little chance to get the
children to safety.
| Most of the inmates We're small, the
orphanage receiving children one year
old and keeping them usually until they
were about twelve years of age.
II Dead in Fire in