Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 January 1884 — A FIRE HORROR! [ARTICLE]

A FIRE HORROR!

Burning of the Convent of the Immacnlaft Conception at Belleville, DI. Twenty-seven Persons Engulfed by Smoke and Roasted by Cruel Flames. [Belleville (Ill.) telegram.] The llvee of twenty-seven women were lost by the burning of the Immaculate Oon'oep tion Convent at this place. Many others were injured more or lees severely by jumping from the windows of the third or fourth story to the frozen ground beneath. If'ie not known exactly how the fire started. The first report was that it originated in the third story, which was used as a dormitory. An attempt was made by tbe Sisters to extinguish it, but without success. The latest and most probable theory is that it broke out near the boiler in tbe basement. When it was first discovered the floor above was ablaze and volumes of smoke were roll n? up and filling tbe stairways, balls, and corridors of the building. By the time tbe sleeping in- { mates were thoroughly aroused all avenues of escape seemed to be cut off bj» blinding smoke and flames. Then a panic ensced, attended by scenes so heartrending that even the imagination can scarely picture them. Forty or more of the pupils and teachers, in spite of the terror and wild confus on, succeeded in getting out of the building unharmed, and were given shelter from the icy wind in neighboring houses. Their companions were far less fortunate. Many remained in the dormitory, and, rendered helpless by fright, perished without making an attempt toescape. Others rushed to the windows, and, appilied at the prospect of leaping to an almost certain death, drew back and were either suffocated by tbe thick smoke or died in the flames. Some, braver than the rest, jumped from the upper windows and were either killed or badly injured. Miss Mary Campbell, a teacher, of East St. Louis, leaped from the third story and died in a few minutes. Another, whose name was not ascertained, climbed to the roof and either fell or was blown off. She was fatally injured. The fire spread w’th great rapidity, and the fire department was of little avail. The extreme cold retarded the work of the firemen, and even if they could have reached the scene without delay they could‘have been of but little service in rescuing tbe victims. There are no ladders in the fire department, and no provisions for such a deplorable emergency had been made bv the managers of the convent. The unfortunate inmates were, therefore, unable to help themselves, and those who were witnesses of the horrible holocaust were powerless to help them. The streets in the vicinity were thronged with people anxious to be of service. They could do nothing but stand and look on or listen in silence to the appeals of terror-stricken parents rushing frantically around looking for their children or wailing oyer their supposed loss. Within an hour from the) time the fire was discovered the famous Convent of the Immaculate Conception was reduced to ashes ana a few charred and broken walls. As soon as possible the work of recovering the remains of victims was begun. The firemen poured water on the ruins until daybreak, so as to quench the embers and preserve in recognizable shape the bodies of the unfortunate women. Then volunteers were called for, and during the day a large force of men were at work in the ruins. It was a terrible sight. At times the searchers would find two or three charred masses huddled together, seemingly seeking each other’s protection from the advancing fiames. Two bodies were found in the rear part of the building, burned into an unrecognizable mass, but the majority were found beneath where the dormitory was situated. They seemed to have sought shelter in this room when they recognized that escape was impossible. The flames beneath, eating away the supports, let down tho floor with those upon it into the seething vortex of fire and smoke. The pupil boarders and three Sisters slept on the fourth floor; on the third floor the remaining Sisters slept, and on the floor above the basement the orphans and halforphans slept. Those on this floor escaped. The following is a listof the killed, missing,, and injured, as far as is known: The dead identified: Sister Maduedo, Sister Angel'a, Sister Edwina, Mother Superior Mary Jerome, Mary Campbell, Lizzie isch, Susie Weimar, VirgieHeinzelman, Mary Manning, Mamie Pulse and Gertie Strunck. Missing: Agnes Scaling, Mary Scaling, Martha Mantell, Laura Thompson, Miss L. Simott, Lottie Pierson, Hilda Hammell, Mary Bien, Katie Urbana, Mary Bertels, Delphi Bchlernezauer. Josie Plouder, Mamie Bailey. Injured: Sister Monnesse, Sister Stylites, Sister Repartie, Sister Paschales, Sister Daisy Ebberman, Fanny Brurks, Agnes Schneider. The building and contents were valued atOther Blazes. Fires are reported for the week as follows: The court’house and jail at Jerseyville, Hi., four prisoners perishing in the flames, loss$20,000; an oil refinery at Cleveland, Ohio, loss $15,000; a hotel at Clintonville, Wis., loss $15,000; Shultz’s box factory and other property at Milwaukee, Wis., loss $15,000; halfdozen stores at Dalton, Ga., lose, $ 0,000; two mills at Scottdale, Pa., loss $22,000; a cotton warehouse at Atlanta, Ga., loss $210,000; a furniture factory and hotel at Hickman, Ky., loss $00,000; au office building at Peru, Ind., loss $20,000; Hyman & Simons’ grist mill, Wabash, Ind., loss $10,000; Sherman’s shovel factory, Middleboro, Mass., loss . $25,000; a furniture factory at Fairfield, lowa, loss $10,t06; two residences at Wheeling, W. Va., loss $15,000; several stores at Weatherford, Texas, loss $25,000; Tabor Opera house block, Denver, damaged $20,000; Brunson & Co., rubber belting, Chicago, loss $40,100; Dean’s tannery, Tecumseh, Mich., loss $15,000; the St. Nicholas hotel block, St. Louis, Mo., loss $200,000; a warehouse at Racine, Wis.,‘loss $15,000; Weingarth’s dry goods store and other property at Pinckneyville, 111., loss $10,000; a block of buildings at Avoca, N. Y., loss s_o,o<o; tho Academy of Music, Binghamton, N. Y., loss $12,0j0; Church's flour-mill, Union City, Pa., loss $25,000; the City grist-mill, Corry, Pa., loss $15,0v0; Muehe’s hardware s'o e, Dyersville, lowa, loss $15,000; several stores at Milan, Tenn., loss $20,000; a dairy warehouse near Watertown, Wis., loss $10,006; Marston’s flouring mill, Amboy, 111., loss $10,600; a fertilizing warehouse at Montreal, loss $30,000; a brick building at Louisville, Ky.. used for manufacturing purposes,loss $17,000; eight business houses at Carlinville, Mo., 1055525,000; $25,000; a block of ten stores on Fourth street, Bt. Louis, Mo., loss $5 0,003; several railway coaches at New Albany, Ind., loss $30,000; the Beaurivage French-flat building and a cracker bakery, ar. Chicago, loss $120.000; a church at Philadelphia, loss $10,(00; two small stores at Cincinnati, loss $10,o00; a. wagon-factory at Syracuse. N. Y., loss $40,000; mining property at Coketon, Pa., loss $30,000; five stores at La Granze, Ind., loss $30,000; a fiber factory at Parkersburg, W. Va., loss $40,000; the Convent of the Notre -Dame Sisters, Belleville, 111., loss $100,000; a theater and a church at Cleveland, Ohio, loss $200,000. y . . .=7 ■ =■ ■ A dozen cows and a lame horse feeding in a pasture near Glouoes er, Mass., Were attacked by a Newfoundland :dog. • The lameness or the horse left him at the mercy of thedog. The cows huddled together and seemed to consult. They thdn advanced sh a body and covered the retreat of the horse, keeping their heads lowered and their horns presented to the dog until ft gave tip in pubsult \ I A belonging to H. G. Heidt, of Columbia, 8. C., jumped upon a ehelf where its master's revolver lay, and began playing with it. The revolver was discharged, killing the crow. Mrs. Achsa Bvbton, of Croydon, N. H-, has just celebrated her 93th birthday.