Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-10-31
Remarkable 7 Courage and
self.Sacrifice s Shown BY
Cody Women in San An
tonic Fire.
MOTHER SUPERIOR
!, PERISHES IN FLAMES
Head Of Orphanage Return
ed to Raging Furnace to
Save Infant and Never
Returned; One Missing.

oan antonio. Tex, Oct. 3O.-sacr,.
l'cing their lives to rescue the eighty.
seven orphan children In their charr.
SIX Sisters Of Charity perished u ]
ire that destroyed st. Johns orphan
1ee today One babe fell to it's death
| with Mother Mary OF the Crc..
superior OF the institution. who ieft
her place OF safety In q vain effort fn
save the child. Another orphan il mias.
ing and 1t is feared It did not escane.
Flames broke out In the hnilainr
! early this morning. Reused from theirl
steep, the nuns marshalled tneir
charges to fire escapes. remaininr st
their posts until flames barrad Ina
way to safety. Two OF the sisters.
sisters kostka Farrell and Monica
Montez, were killed by jumping
Ihree sisters escaped Tnatrmctod - :
pilot the first column Of frixhtened
cnlldren out Of danger, they gained TN
ground IN time to escape the crash nf
falling walls. -. ~ y -.
Inc children owe their lives to the
daring and self sacrifice OF the num-.
| while attaches Of the orphanaRe
rushed to the burning building ana
aasned through bursts OF. flame. to,
netp II the rescue. yet many, lof the
i orphans would have been cremated ii,
the dormitortes IL the sisters had not
Draved the first outburst OF fire and
piloted them to places OF safe egress.
| The dead are:
MOTHER MARY OF THE CROSS,
who was mother superior Of the
asylum. She was Mary Roster. native
OF Wexford, Ireland.
| MOTHER FRANCES PASTEUR.
native OF France. 7a
SISTER PETER CLAVER sTEvIN,
teacher In San Fernando school, native
OF Dublin, Ireland.
| SISTER LEACADIA NOLAN. teach.
er In San Fernando school native 81
Dublin, Ireland.
| SISTER MONICA MoNTEz. nativs
OF Mexico.
SISTER KOsTKA FARRELL, ma
tive Of Kaldar, Ireland.
CHARLES MATHLOW, orphan.
aged 3 years.
The injured are.
Miss A. Temple an employe, nativs
of Germany.
Miss E. Stands, an employe.
The fires origin is not yet known.
Eighty-seven orphans ranging In age
from 2 to IL years, and nine nuns were
in the building when the flames broke
out. Marshalling their charges to
hurry them to safety. the Sisters Of
Charity remained In the blazing
orphanage until the building began to
crumble and fall.
The death of the mother superior,
Mary Of the Cross, was the sequel to
a demonstration Of remarkable cour-
age She returned to the burning
dormitory when she heard the cry OF
a child which had been overlooked In
the hurry and excitement. A few mo.
ments later she appeared at window
in the front of the building with the
babe in her arms
Fire Chief Wright attempted to save
her but he failed. A ladder was placed
against the unsteady wall and the
chief scaled It, but before he reached
her, the mother superior with the
child, fell back into the flames.
The three nuns escaped helped In
taking the children from the blazing
structure. They were marching them
across the yard when the walls began
to fall.
Sl6t0T hOSIkS, III JuIuViuH lTOm Iu0
fourth floor window to reach lite net,
evidently lost her balance. Her body
struck the railing on the second story.
Her back was broken and she had
been severely burned
Sister Monica Montez lost her life
by jumping. After the children had
been piloted to the fire escape on the
west side Of the blazing building she
returned to take q last look in the
dormitory. Her escape was cut or
by brust Of flames but she made her
way to the east side where firemen
stood below with tho net spread. She
leaped but missed the net. Death was
instantaneous.
Mother Frances Pasteur and Sisters
Peter Claver Stevin and Leacadia
Nolan were unable to escape from the
building. They perished in the flames.
While one child is known to have
been burned to death another is MISS
Ing and It is feared 1t, too, persisted.
Right Rev. Bishop ]. w. Shaw was
one OF the first to 60 into the burning
building. He carried out several chill
dren, some OF whom were mere babies
yan a hYn ~ hn1y, fhom ao1vas g + }es