The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-10-28

crying and laughing by turns, move
| away, to be lost In the gathering
! throng.
For some, the search did not end I'M
til they came upon huddIed mass OF
mites of humanity In a nearby build
ing which had been hastily turned in.
to morgue.
Firemen and police v;:rkins about
! the building, wept as they saw these
pitifuI scenes enacted over and over
again.
"a never saw anything like It In my
| life, and ! hope I never will again.
one man said as he staggered away
| from the burned building, his face
| fsor. m, and after | had done all Il
could, | left; Il was terrible"
One Brave Sister.
Sister Aldegon, Of the Order of the
Sacred Heart, was one of the heroines
of the holocaust. She saved the lives
of twenty-five children by dropping
them from window to the outstretch-
ed arms of men standing below.
Some of the youngsters she threw
from the window by main force as
they chung to her skirts. sobbing and
terror stricken. Twice clouds Of
smoke rolled from the window where
she stood and hid her from the view Of
watchers below. Murmurs of horror
swept through the crowds, but subsid-
ed when the smoke rolled back and
the black robed sister was seen swing
ing another child over the sill.
Exhausted f1remen told of acts Of
rare courage on the part OF the six
tnnv 81 or hyf ocrooI fho< tho hra ",
cry of none Of the women eclipsed
that of Sister Aldegon. She was in
charge Of about thirty children, most
of them girls between SIX and eight
on the second floor The cries Of
Of smoke that burst suddenly throug,
thing was wrong. Her little charges
fright She first made efforts to
calm them, patting the sobbing little
jgirIs and drying their eyes. Then
| she gathered her flock together and
made her toward the hallway.
Through the haze that filled tho
corridor, Sister Aldegon made her
way, closely followed by the littls
girls A gust of smoke swept up as
size ISdCAcu Tic uSou III lHC StolA "oJ
and cinders and bits of burning wood
brushed her face.
She halted the procession Of chill
dren. Without betraying the slightes.
alarm, she waved them back toward
the room whence they had come. BuE
the Railways were now filling with
smoke shrieks Of children on the
first and third floors were heard
Throughout the building and the little
girls ran toward the windows crying
ihysterically.
! Sister Aldegon raised window as
the flames roared up the second f1ooT
stairway. Her shouts were heard by
| a group of volunteer rescuers just
outside and several men ran beneath
the window. Sister Aldegon took six
year old girl in her arms, kissed her
and swiftly lowered her over the
ledge A blue dress fluttered through
| the air and man emerged from tho
smoke haze under the window with a
child safe in his arms. The flames
grew closer as the sister carried one
child after another to the ledge.
Meanwhile blankets had been rushed
from neighboring houses; men had
dotted heavy overcoats and a dozen
life nets had been improvised.
| More than fifteen little girls were
dropped to safety within a few min
utes. Then watchers were Mortified
to see one child swung over the win
dow ledge, her dress afire. She alight
ed In blanket, the blaze was ex.
tinguished and Sister Aldegon appear
ed again at the window, this time
with a child under each arm.
More men massed under the win
dow. The remaining children were
tpassed out swiftly, some of them
sobbing and clutching at the window
ledge as they were dropped to safety
| Red flames we're licking the top OF
the window when Sister Aldegon her.
self climbed out upon the window
ledge and signaled that she was about
to Jump. A huge blanket was held for
her by eight sturdy men. She dropped
uninjured.
At the convent across the way
where she was given medical atten
! ton, it was found that the fire heroina
had been badly burned about the
shoulders. Her robe had been partly
eaten away by the licking flames but
each tiny blaze she had extinguished
with her bare hands, pausing only al
I instant in the work OF rescue.
! Only one Of Sister Aldegon'e
;charges was seriously injured. lit
tie 10y slipped through the arms OF
one of the men waiting to catch him
His leg was broken
FIVE HUNDRED IN PERIL.
| PEABODY, Mass, Oct. 28.-Four
children are known to be dead, while
elaht others are not accounted for as
the result Of fire following an ex
pIosion in the basement Of the St
Johns parochiaI school today. Fire
broke out shortly after 500 children
had gathered for the morning session
Some firemen reported that the
death list might reach as high as
twenty. Many Of the children wore
Mothers Friend.