Indiana State Sentinel, Indianapolis, Marion County, 27 January 1892 — Page 1

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FIRST PfiRT. WS? 4$ ESTABLISHED 1821. INDIANAPOLIS, WEDNESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 27, 1892 TWELVE PAGES. ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR,

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1WEHTY ARE DEAD;

As the Result of the Fire Friday Morning. Helpless Victims in a Mantrap. Surrounded by Rapacious, Greedy Flames Right in the Clutches of Death. SURGICAL INSTITUTE FIRE. A Constantly Expected Catastrophe Occurs. The Building Was a Veritable Daath Trap Where the Helpless Victims Were Cooped Up. Pitiful Scenes Attend the "Work of Ilecoveriiifc the Dead Some Acts f Quit-t Heroism The Full I'.xtent of the Honor Not at First liralizetl The IJodies Identified An Attempt to lie Made to Patch Up the Old Trap Four of the Injured Die from the Shock Thousands Gaze on the litiins Latest Developments in the Terrible Tragedy. MINNIE McDONALD, aged sixteen, Negunnee, Miel. FR K D I 0C K KN DO HIT, aged twentyfive, Stillwater, Minn. HANNAH BBOOK, aged sixteen, Taylorsile, 111. FANNIE BBEEDEN, aged fourteen, Memphis, Tenn. IP.MA PAYNE, ccel sixteen, Dexter, Mo. MINNIE A EN OLD, eged seventeen, Lancastt-r, Mo. WILLIAM KAMSTACK, aped seventeen, Milwaukee. MKS. CIIAELES E. EARL. Shelby, 0. MAGGIE EARL, ated six, Shelby, O. MKS. SAMUEL LAZARUS, aged thirtyfive. Dallas, Tex. STELLA SPIES, aged thirteen, McComb, 0. G. 31. ELLIS, aged forty-four, California, Ky., KATE L, STRAUGIIN, aged nineteen, Salem, O., reiativea at 1S4 Massa-chusetts-ave. MISS KATE BURNS, aped forty-five, Newport, Minn. FRANK BURNS, aged fourteen, Newport, Minn. M AKTIE DE CLOE, aged three, Farnham. Neb., died from exposure. MRS. M. KLUMP. ARTHUR 13 AYL ESS. II. A. 1'IIIEIL. Wisconsin. Injured. Mrs. II. II. Idena and Bon, Grand Eapids, Mich. ; reported badly burned. John Drown, Athens, O. ; injuries TV. M. Taylor, severely burned. Rem Collins, injured internally. Lizzie Fisher, Ontario; a number of painful brazen. F. H. Clxxixgiiait, Cincinnati; badly burned. Lottie Lazarus, aged eeven, Dallas, Tex. ; leg broken and injured internally. Recovery not possible. Lkoc v Olds, Independence, Ind.; hurt in left hip. but injuries not serious. Kate Thomas, 1S4 Massachusetts-ave. ; face badly bruised, but condition not necessarily fatal. Louis Vax Vobis, Athens, O. ; jumped from the fourth story to the kitchen roof; is badly burned about the hea 1. He is a paralytic. . M. McJoseph, Des Moines, Ia.; not badly hurt. Klk& Thornbeck, near Columbus, 0. ; arm hurt. Robe et Connor, Aubendire, Wis. ; back hurt Mahlo.v TV. Widen er, aged thirty-nine, Miami county, Ohio, cut on the head and badly bruised. Mamie Stern. age eighteen, Des Moines, la., feet badly burned. Arba Cokxell, aged thirteen, Sioux Rapids, la. ; not hurt. Albebt Eoquexe Nickelson, aged fourteen. Elk Creek, Neb.; not hurt. Mrs. John Stokes, Danville, Ind. ; not hurt. Mrs. C. K. Smith, aged forty-eight, and Baby Bessie Smith, teed six, Elk Creek, Neb. Mrs. J. It. Guild, age forty, and infant, Ava Guild, age three, Medaryville, Ind.; mother fatally injured. Mi6 Em ma Rich, age fifteen, Jacksonville, Ind. ; uninjured. Mr. C. P. Cullom, age forty-five, and baby,. Neil Cullom, ago four, Carthage, Tent.; uninjured. Nellie Mason, fourteen years, Java, N. Y. ; burned and collar-bone broken. Clara Morris, hurt in back. Gram Vax Hoesen, Athens, N. Y.; hand and ear burned. Clarence Mead, Athens, N. Y. ; leg slightly hurt. William II. Albach, Dunkirk, N, Y.; lightly burned. Mrs. John S. Stokes, Danville, 111.; fprained ankie, Mrs, G. J. Simpson and little girL A lone-dreaded, long-expected firo has occurred in Indianapolis. The surgical institute burned cut at midnight. Shortly before 12 o'clock Thursday night

an alarm was tamed in calling the fire de

partmcnt to the corner of Illinois andj Georgia-3ta. Everybody who counted the number of the signal commented on the fact that j the surgical institute was in that vicinity, and that tha chances were good for j a heavv loss of life. When it I becamo known throughout the center of : the city that the fire really was in that institution there was a great hurrying to the scene, and to this is largoly due the fact that few lives were lost. Chief Webster of the fire department was early on the scene and his experienced eye quickly caught the terrible possibilities of disaster. He rang in a second, third and fourth alarm, and within twenty minutes every piece of fire fighting machinery in the city was on the ground. The 250 or 300 cripples, deformed, halt or blind, who had but two hours before retired to needed rest and dreams of future soundness, were suddenly awakened to find themselves surrounded by stilling smoke and threatening flames. Some went fairly wild with fear. Others more sell-possessed sought the unequal Cre escapes and outer windows and calmly awaited the outcome. They searched blindly for crutches cast under their couohes, and dragged their wasted forms to nearest windows with a coolness and deliberation, as a whole, which was most remarkable. Some, to be eure, had not the presence of mind and self-possession to thus eecure themselves against a panic and its consequent horrcs. Some men and women hobbled, crawled and hitched themstvcs to windows on the street, where they piteously pleaded fur succor in tones which met with prompt and heartfelt response from the rapidly gathering crowd below. Put the children those doubly heirless victims of aliiiction more than any others excited the sym pathy of the quickly assembled" multitude. These young sufferers fast as their emaciated and distorted limbs would permit, appeared at the windows on Illinois and Georgia-sts. Their faces were blanched with terror, and their wild-staring eyes spoke irresistible appeals to the hundreds of mute spectators rushing here and there through the heavy snow which almost blocked the surrounding streets. The work of relief was prompt and ef fective. Even before the first shrill scream of fright from the earliest awakened patient had died UDon the crisp night air, a volunteer and disorganized but faithful and dauntless relief corps had been organized and from the narrow hallways appeared big, burly men, half suffocated with smoke, bearing in their arms men, women and children, deformed and helpless, braced and harnessed In every way with surgical appliances. The volunteer rescue force did noble woric. When the fire department reached the eceno the work of rescue was rendered comparatively easy. Dozens of ladders were set against the stuccoed walls, and those who could not escape through their own eiTorta were carried from the -burning, smoldering rookery to points of safety if not of comfort in restaurants, hotel offices end other places near the ecene of the disaster. The firemen also did heroic work in the way of rescuing the inmates of the in stitution. Men in blue fought and groped their way through the stuffy corridors, felt where they could not see. through the rooms of the dormitory. Whenever a patient waa found he was quickly gathered in strong arms and carried to the nearest escape. It was not till 2 o'clock Friday morning that it was known lives had been lost Then it became noised about that in the Georgia-st. dormitory, where tho fire originated, a number had lost their lives. Itwa3 2:30 before the fire was under control. Then a searching pipeman came to a window and whispered to the mrm at the head of the ladder that he bad found bodies in the northeast room. Down the ladder, across the street, the word was passed. Police officers were seen in whispered consultation. Then the work of recovery began. For two hours it went on, and then it was believed that all the bodies had been recovered. The main building had been searched. The eastern wing or annex of the building was still a seething mass of flame. It was known that a terrible loss of life bad occurred there, but it waa hours before the etreams of water had sufficiently reduced the flames to permit of entrance. The dead from the main building had long since been conveyed to the various undertaking establishments. It was 9 o'clock before the first entrance was made to the office building and there the first fears were quickly realized. Cody after body, horribly twisted and distorted, waa taken out, and not till noon was tho full extent of the catastrophe known. A DEATH TRAP. Maor KipraiiloB in Regard to the Insti tution'! Unsafe Condition. All day Friday could be heard on every eide expressions of opinion wholly unfavorable to the structure in which so many unfortunate, crippled and helpless persons made their home. Said George TV. Bruce: "I have been here thirty-five yearn and the institute buildinz on the corner of Illinois end

Georgia-sts. waa standing when I came as the Farmers' hotel. I don't know how long it had been built before that. I only know it was not constructed upon such architectural principles as to render it a eafe habitation. The passage ways were narrow, the ceiling low, stairways steep, partitions wood on the upper floor, ventilations abominable and the building, in short, altogether dangerous. I havo been through this building many times since- and while there have been many alterations on the interior, I believe they have tended to increase rather than

lessen the danger to be apprehended from j fire and panic. The means of eeress from I this building are outrageously insufficient and imperfect. When the old Farmer's hotel was running there was a rather commodious stairway leading from the second floor lown to the Illinois-st. sidewalk. This has disappeared and in place of it I believe a fruit store is now located. Tho building should have been condemned and the condemnation made to slick years ago." Said Abner F. Newland: "There is a ponderous weight of responsibility to be fastened upon somebody's shoulders before this dreadful work has ended. 1 believe, in the short t ?.. that has elapsed siucu the flames were subdued and all the horror of tno results dawned upon the community, that a public sentiment regarding this dreadful occurrence, has been born and has rapidly gained strength until even this afternoon could be heard demands from many citizens, who, as a rule, seldom express themselves bo decidedly, that tho individual responsible for the awful catastrophe should be searched out and made to answer to an outraged public before a court of law." Said a leading lawyer: "A coroner of this countv never had a better opportunity for displaying tact, courage and common sense than has now fallen to tho lot of Coroner M anker. If any criminal responsibility exists the first legal step iifdiscovering the responsible parties must, of course, be taken by tho ccroner, and much of grave weight rests upon that gentfCTulm right now." A short time after the fire hail burst forth from the roof of the Georgia-st. building and had eaten its way into the old Farmer hotel annex, a Sentinel repoiter saw a large number of the smaller children taken from their cols in the two rooms on the upper floor by men who started back over the route by which they had come up on the lloor and became lost in their efforts to find their wav down stairs and out of the building. The stairs leading down from the third floor to the second, consist of two short flights, the first of about nine steps descending to a contracted and narrow landing. A sharp turn to the right without the utmost care would cause the average person, having perfect bodily power even, to break his neck outright or run the risk of fractures or other injuries, for right there tho distance from the lloor of the landing to the first step of the lower flight is twenty-nine inch-'. A sudden downward step would nine times out of ten precipitate a man to the bottom. During the lire three men with crippled children in their arms had to stop at this trap. Bit down on the floor, let their legs over the edge and slide until their feel struck the first step. Again, the exit from tho north and south hall of tha second floor opens on n narrow, rickety stairwav that trembled warninglv as the men found their way onto and down it to the street. A DAY OF HORROR. Tue Work of Iieccun unit the Incidents Accompanying It. At G o'clock Friday morning when a human Georgia Sentinel reporter visited the charnel house at the corner of and Illinois-st., better known as the National surgical institute, the blackened walls, crystallized with ice, stood out as a menace to passers-by of the terrible scenes that were enacted within their borders but a few short hours before. Engaged in the alleyway between the main building, fronting lllinois-st. and the office annex on Georgia st.. a ladder. was raised to the roof of the one-story building back, and from its roof a detail of police under command of Capt. Quig ey and Sergt. Laporte, assisted by several firemen and a volunteer corps of citizens, were engaged in tearing away the debris in search of bodies that were supposed to be located in the neighborhood of the diningroom. A Sentinel reporter mounted the roof and from a window obtained a clear view of the men operating below. Only a few minutes had elapsed when one of the workers, who was excavating with a shovel, came across two human trunks glued tightly together in the horrible cooking process they had undergone. Probably the two fell together where they were subsequently found, grasping one another in death's last embrace. A call was given below for ambulance wagons and two immediately pulled up at the corner of the alley back of the fated building. The remains were taken out and tenderly wrapped in heavy linen cloth, placed upon a 6tretcher lowered from the roof by means of a hastily constucted tackle, then transferred to the sombre black coffins, patterned after the old style of casket and gently conveyed by policemen to the ambulances in waiting. Operations were again proceeded with and the same scenes were enacted by tho workers until five charred and horribly distorted human trunks, bearing scarcely a snmb'auce to human forms were unearthed in the lower end of the diningroom upon wnich tho debris from the falling roof and upper floor had fallen. In the upper portion of tho dining room the tables were set for breakfast, while the lower portion was caved in from the upper floors bearing down upon it The picture here presented was a graphic one, reminding the sight-eeer of "a banquet to tho death." The search for more bodies was continued until late in the afternoon, but the efforts of the men, who dug slowly through the vast conglomeration of debris, comprising board partitions, dining tables

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and chairs, trunks of the inmates and almost every conceivable implement in the housekeeping line, until tho cellar below was reached about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. AH day the employes of the institution were going and returning from tho building to tho annex across the street bearing clothes, trunks and other chattels, the belongings cf the unfortunato inmates that had not been despoiled by lire or water. Tho find in thin direction wa3 comparatively mecger, as almost everything in the Georgia-st. building was utterly ruined where it had not been completely destroyed by the devouring elements. The crowd of curiosity seekers about tho ill-fated building was pimply immense, as tho news wa3 early communi.-ated to the up-town people through the morning papers. Ropes were Btretched along Georgia-st. from Illinois to the alley adjoining the wholesale grocery house of J. C. Perry on the east," to keep back the crush of peoplo that had gathered to view the ruins. The police detail under command of Superintendent Colbert met the emergency, and the great throng was quiet and orderly all the time that the search for victims of the horrible disaster was being prosecuted. At 2 o'clock a 6tir was noticeable among the great crowd in the streets to allow the passing of an ambulance to the Georgia

ns entrance of the TVeddcll house annex, whete another death, that of Fannie Breed en of Memphis, had occurrod but a few moments before, and thus another fatality was added to the long list of those recorded as hurt tho night previous. The police and rescuers found numerous valuables belonging to the inmates during the day and niizht. Capt. Quigley reported the finding of a dictionary supposed to belong to the ill-fated lady, Mrs. S. Lazarus of Dallas, Tex., who died from the effects of jumping from a window of the main building. Her name was inscribed on a lly.eaf of the book and between the loaves were several bills, amounting in the aggregate to $30. W atches, rings, pocket books, etc., were found scattered about the rooms of the buildings, showing that the terrified occupants had cast aside everything in their eagerness to escape the impending doom. In one of tho email rooms of the main building which wa searched as soon as flames had subsided, a man was found lying on a couch and beside him on her knees, a woman with her right arm clasped tightly about his neck, as if 6ho had attempted in her weak way to rescue the helpless invalid. The two had died together and their blackened bodies were found in the position described. Under the pillows of this couch some money and a diamond ring were found by one of the police oliicers. All valuables found were promptly turned over to Drs. Allen and Wilson, that they might bo distributed to tho relatives of the unfortunates. One voman owes he life to the efforts of John Iliggins, a volunteer. Sho was found in a window on the third floor of the main building and when Mr. liiggins attempted her rescue she refused positively to come down ,.i the ladder without her trunk. Sho parleyed with him fora minute or two when ho persuaded her to leave her treasures, but not until she had opened the trunk and secured some money which it contained. By this deiay she was caught in the blinding smoke and would have perished but for Higgins' timely action in pushing into the room and secir ng her now prostrate form and fairly dragging it out onto the ladder and descending with her to the pavement below. A BROTHER'S QRiEF. Air. Beard Take th Mri:e Announcing th DnntH of Mrs. Lm irua. Frank Beard, a brother of Mrs. Lazarus, is a telegraph operator in Chicago. About 1:30 hundreds of messages were flying over the wires from those whose lives were saved from the awful wreck. Beard received the messages, the general tenor of which were: "Institution burned. I am safe." After about twenty had been sent Beard asked the operator at this end "What institution is it that ia burning?" 'The National surgical institute,"was the local operator's reply. "My God" clicked the little instrument, "i nave a fisur at mat place, nave vou heard anything of Mrs. Lazarus?" The sender replied that it was understood that she had jumped with her child from a window but that both had probably been saved. After a half hour's suspense, it was learned that the unfortunate woman was dying and the local operator called Mr. Beard and informed him he had bad news for him. Then he sent particulars. In another half hour he sent the news of her death. A pathetic feature of the affair was that the brother had raised his hopes too high on receiving the first news and had wired a congratulatory messaee to his relative. This was never delivered. PinLArEi.rmA, Jan. 22. Samuel Laz arus, a clnthinp merchant of Dailaa, Tex., whose wife and child were victims of the terrible fire which destroyed tho National Surgical institute at Indianapolis, is in the city on business. His daughter Minnie, aged seven, was being treated at the institute for disease of the spine and his wife I was nursing the child. Mr. Lazarus' first i information of the dieaster that has beI r - 1 1 i. 1 iauen mm came mrougu an -vssuciaiou DONNELLY TO. THE RESCUE. Tress dispatch announcing that Mrs. Lazarus was baaiy nun. coining wua known at that time of the condition of the 1 child. Upon being told that his wife was ! dead the unfortunate man fainted and i his .condition now is pitiable. Since the ' first dispatches intelligence has been received that Mrs. Lazarus died from her injuries and that the daughter is in a critical condition, one of her legs being broken. Mr. Lazarus will depart for Indianapolis on the St. Louis express over the Pennsylvania road at 4 :25 this afternoon if hia condition will permit of his traveling. The bereaved hubband and father is at the clothing house of GooJEcaa Bros., where he has been trana.

acting business, and it is necessary to i

hoid turn down on a sofa. It is feared that his mind will become allected. DR. ALLEN'S STATEMENT. lie Think th Paptrt Ar Treating Him Unkindly. Dr. Horace It. Allen was seen early Friday morning after tho morning paper accounts of tbe horrible occurrence had been published. Tho doctor was standing in front of the office building gazing into the blackened ruins. "Doctor," said the writer, "have you a complete list of the patients recorded yesterday." "Yes, sir," he answered, ''but it is locked in the safe. We have made a list, however, and checked it, and find but about irrrfrriiti IN THE EAST WING. twenty 5-et unaccounted for, though I feel satisfied we will vet find most of them." "What paper are you with sir," said Dr. Allen turning to the interviewer. "Tnz tENiiNKi.," was the reporter's answer. "The papers," said the doctor, "have treated us very unfairly in this calamity, calling the institution a death-trap. They also claim that the catastrophe was one that was constantly expected. Now look at that oiliee," he continued "is it fair to suspicion that a fire might get started there? That building sir was as safe as is any in the city. And the old building about which there has been so much comment was burned only on the roof and upper floors. "The patients had sufficient warning for all to leave tho buildings in safety, and I have been assured that every person in the building was aroused." "It is the arrangement and manner in which the old building is cut up, doctor, over which tho complaints have been made." "Well, Firo Chief Webster visited the institution two weeks ago and made an inspection, and said it wa3 as safe as any hotel in the city. 'There are nine stairways and means of escape in the old building, and the loss of life was due to fright and delay of 6ome who stopped to securo clothes and eome trinkets. "I suppose, however, that the capers wrote their accounts under the influence of excitement and really Eaid somo unintentional harsh things." PR ES b NC E OF MIND. How Lit tin Flnrrnc Cut Succeeded In Saving Hr LT. There wore noted several very remarkable exhibitions of a perfect presence of mind and rare self-control on the part of the child inmates. Florence Cale, eleven years old, of Salem, O., awoke to find her room filled with smoke and the atmosphere so hot that it seemed, as she subsequently said, "as if some one had poured hot water all over me." She awoke her room-mate and then, in her night-dress, pushed her way out into the hall. She passed along toward tbe stairway amid smoko that was becoming rapidly more dense. Turning about, she bethought herself o' her room-mate, and started back to see if she was out, but the flames had by that time eaten their way through tho partition and precluded her re-entering the room or even coming near the door, he then turned again to retreat. Said she: "I knew that I could get along all right if I get mv knee cap off." I .vho referred to the metal caps fastened over her knees. "Just as soon as I got out of bed I took them off. It uidn t take any time nt all. Then I went out to get away. When 1 started back and found I couldn't get to the room I just made up mv mind not to get frightened and I didnt'. I got down to the second lloor and some man carried me across the street to the annex, and I etaved there until I came here." The little girl was found at tho residence of Capt. John B, irt on Indiana-ave., where she was engaged in amusing herself in n solitaire game of "tiddly-winks." Sho has been hero undergoing treatment for abgilt eight months and yesterday she would have formally been discharged from the institute. CNB OF IHK HEROES. lie Carried Oat Two Children bat Could Not Mir 111 Third. Clarence Hill, who works at 53 N. Tenn-sylvania-st., was one of the heroes at the fire on Friday morning. Ho was one of the first on the ecene, arriving there about tho time the first alarm was given. Mr. Hill said last night: "I went in from the Georgia-st. eide when I heard the screams und mado my way to the second lloor and carried out two children. I also rescued one from the third floor. 1 was much exhausted but made my wav back to the fourth floor where I fcund two little fellows in the same room. I seized one of them to take him out when the other begged me piteouslv to come back and save him. I told him I would, and when I had carried the first one down and tried to get back, the smoke was so dense and stifling that it was impossible. So far as I know the little fell3w was not rescued and must have been burned. It was heartrending but I wr.s unable to help him. I rescued live m all. THtt LAW IN THE CASK. What th 8ttaea IIt to Smj Abont tn. sofa Ilutldlngs. A great deal of criticism is being voiced by the people of the city against the pro prietors and owners of the Surgical insti tute. They think tho proper precautions were not exercut-d to-prevent loss of life should lire occur. A number of reputable people occupying the most responsible positions of honor and trust are very severe in their accusations. A gentleman in conversation with a Sentinel man Friday on the Eubject referred to sec. 2,151 of the laws of Indiana relating to tho public health of the state. It reads: Whoever, being the owner, lessee, superintendent or manager of any hotel or place of amutemeut for transient gueats or boarders, ia any city of 6.000 inhabitants or vpward, whioh la more tnaa two itoriea In hizat conducts.

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operates or carries on such hotel or place of entertainment without proTidiog aüicient and suitable fire-escapes or lad if rs at convenient places in the stories of such building atiore the ecocd, for tbe spredj escape of such guests or boarders in case of fire; aud without causing written or printed notices of the location end manner of using such fire-escapes or ladder, to be potted in a conspicuous place in tbe room of each guest or boarder, shall be fined not more than 50 nor leas than fi for es oh day of such failure. AT THE MORGUES.

Sickening Sights Meet the Gaze Some of the Bodies Taken Attht. At the Tarious morgues Friday evening where lay the charred remains of those who fell victims to the unrelenting flames the sight was sickening. At Powers & Blackwell's on S. Illinoisst. four black, ghastly resemblances of human beings were to be seen. They had changed much since they were taken out of the ruins. The remains of Fred Duckendorff of Stillwater, Mich., reposed at full length upon an impromptu trble. A few feet away the body of Stella Spies of McComb, O., was at re3t. Several portions of the skull had fallen away and the brains protruded. The different parts of their features were like so many cinders. The body of ilium Itamstock of Mil waukee, Wis., was perhaps less burned than the others, but the face, which was all that was visible, pre sented on awful spectacle. I he body identified as Katie ütrauzhn, who was a resident of Salem, O., was laid to rest in a casket. At Kregelo's morgue on N. Deiaware-Et. five stark, crisp corpses were laid out in ghastly array. Those that had once been so lull ot nie noxwnneianaing their physical infirmities and now reduced almost to cinders were Mrs. Jane Lazarus of Keokuk, la. ; Mr. Charles Earl, Shelby, O. ; Maggie Earl, Shelby, O.; Hannah Brook, Taylorsvillo. 111.; Minnie McDonald of Vegaunno, Mich. The four bodies that had remained at Tutewiler's all dayFriday were removed at different hours at night. I heir friends had been telegraphed for and when they arrived they took their loved ones away for interment. Those bodies were: Irma Payne, Dexter, Minn.; Minnie Arnold, Lancaster, Mo. ; Frank Byrne, Newport, Minn., and Martie DeClowe of Fornham, Neb. Another body that of Katie Byrne was at Blanchard'a morgue, tfhe came from Newport, Minn. It is thought she was a sister to the boy whose body lay at Tutewiler's. Mr. Planchard will have the reruaiiia of both conveyed to Newport today. The body of Hcttie Breeden, th6 beautiful girl who jumped from the third floor after having sustained horrible injuries from the flames, was lying at Girton's morgue on Indiana-ave. Her mother had telegraphed from Memphis, Tenn. that she would arrive on Saturday morning to take the remains to her home. While the body was being undressed at the undertaker's the flesh came away with the clothing. At D. Kregelo & Son's a body, supposed to be that of Dr. Prior, lay, without any friends coming to identify it. The corpse measured five feet ten inches. The hair was dark yid partially einged. The man in life wore a beard. HOW SOME WERE KESCUED. Koble Work or Ona Little Hand Very Daring Work. Among those who were first to enter the burning building on a lifesaving mission was Merchant Policeman Breen, Dennis Q. O'Brien and his brother Daniel and John Higgins. By means of the awning on one of the stores in the basement they succeeded in climbing on to the veranda from which they mado their way to the rooms on tho second lloor. Some they found sleeping as tranquilly as if no danger had threatened them. When the rescuers rudely woke them up and informed them that the building was on fiie they became dazed with fear und implored them to Have their lives. There was not much time for thought in the panic that toon became general amongst the waking inmates and tho rescuers seized tho poor unfortunates and brought them in pairs to the windows, where they left them while ladders were being procured. The ecene was ona of wild terror end supplication. Tho crisis was one to thriil the neryes of the strongest man and the stoutest heart quailed as the smoke spread itself in thick volumes over the hallways. But, liho soldiers in a battle, the little band, guided by one common instinct, adapted themselves to tho ordeal of saving the lives of those who were unable even to move in their little beds which tbey occupied. These terror-stricken burdens they raised up in their arms and ran with them to the- most convenient place of exit where they handed them to other volunteers and again rushed back to ransack for human beings through the apartments of the diü'erent wards. THE BUILDING CONDEMNED. Officially Declared Unsafe Some Montba AgoThe sole topic of conversation in the hotel lobbies Friday was the surgical institute horror. Georgo D. Hill, editor of the .lnifrfcan Farmer of Chicago, was one of the first to assist the inmates to escape. "I went up to the fourth lloor," eaid he, "and in a small room found eight little girls in cots in a room so small that there vras no space left between them. I am surprised that the citv authorities allowed the crowding of children in ßueh a manner. I took three of them with me on the first trip down stairs. Another man carried two down at the same time. I went up again by the stairway, but the smoke compelled me to escape by a ladder with two more of the unfortunates. 'Won't you come back for me,' pleaded the last one. Of course I did'. She could not use her lower limbs. This little girl had no night dress on, and Bleeping in a cot without one must havo been injurious to her. I carried her down in a blanket. I am astonished that 6UCh a state of affairs was tolerated in tbe capital city of Indiana." The drummers were especially severe in their denounciation of the institution. An ex-member of tbe legislature said: "If I come back next winter I will endeavor to get a bill through providing that no hospital or dormatory for chil1 dren ot any kind snau be more than two 'stories high. This : institute ought not to have been carried ! on in the heart of the city in a fourstorv building. The proper place i for each an institution ia the eubI urbs where the children could ' get fresh air and grounds and parks to exercise themselves. But I am told that this institute wai kept near the depot and the children made

to walk up and down the street from tho depot to the Grand hotel for the pur poe of advertisement. Many of these: children were deformed and ehould not have been allowed to be exhibited neat places most frequented by ladies. Th first time my wife came to Indianapolis during the last session she was greatlj effected by the sight of a boy who wat carrying his head in a brace and a litt! girl deformed. ou could not have tempted her to walk ud Iilinois-et, from the Grand hotel to the depot afte this. When we went home we had t3 dodge around to reach tha depot." Commissioner of Public Safety Cat terson, in speaking of the Institut building, said: "Six months ago Sterling It. Holt, then president of the board, often referred to the unsafe condition ot this building and wanted it condemned. Finally we ordered Chief Webster to ga through the building and make diagrams and posting his men, so that the fire department would be pre-

pared when the building took fire. Yes, tha board recommended tho condemnation of the building." FORMER INDIANAPOLIS HORRORS. The Fair Gronnda Iiaastr end (he Dowib Jtierrill Fire. There is one frightful horror which will linger in the memory of most old! citizens now living as long as life shall endure. This was the dreadful explosion of the Sinker boiler at the state fair grounds, Oct, 1, ISO!), while the fair waa in progress and the grounds filled with an indiscriminate congregation of men, women and children. The awful results of that calamity, ta those who were there and who ara now living must through the years, have been a never-lessening night mare. It was the fourth day of the fai and 1 o'clock p. m. had been named a the hour for trying and testing portable engines. Sinker it Co., engine builder with Long, Joseph & Carter, sawyers, had a combination of engine, boilers and mill on the ground which was to pass through the test, which was finally completed in a. run of eeven minute, the mill beinj strained to its utmost tension. Tha fires had been allowed to subsida and die down, when Sinker' fireman concluded to saw up the surf lul logs on hand. The engine was started and with the exception of a couple of "turns the task was completed. The pit undo the 6aw was filled to its rim with dust. A large circle of interested people suiv rounded the machinery. The races wer about to commence, and comparativa quiet reigned throughout the great enclos ure when a tremendous report, as if of a bat tery of artillery in simultaneous discharge was heard and the big boiler let go an 4 buret to pieces. In an instant clouds of blinding steam, dust, etc., filled the air, and broken timbers, fragments of iron mutillated fragments of human bodies, legs and arms and even ghastly heads! almost instantly commenced to fall i.-i every direction. Tho bodies of men and women blown into space fell her and there among horrified and uninjured crowds. A desperat panic was only averted through, the energetic and systematic efforts of the officers of the state board who were on the ground. The engine and boiler wer blown to fragments, and heartrending cries told of the dreadful agony of nuraer ous suffering. It was a horrible accident, the worst, perhaps, up to the present Indianapolis has ever known. The dead were gathered together and removed to Weaver's undertaking establishment. As far as could beasco tained those killed were as follows: P. L Davis and son, William Dunning, Kuei Beverly, II. P. Jackson, Philo M. Becham, Lewis Wilson, Daniel Long, Ignatius L. Bositer, John Wilson, John Gould, Myron B. MeVey, Peter Kreutzer, Jeroma Sprague, Clara Dawson. John Kennedy, four persons unidentified, eight reported killed, but the same unauthenticated. There were thirty-threa more or less injured. Of these ten were) taken for treatment and nursing to the eurgica 1 inetitute, the establishment whic'u. twenty-three years after has given to In dianapolis and the state of Indiana the modt wretched horror that has eveC shocked the sensibilities ot our citizens. Another dreadful event which cast upon, Indianapolis a pall of deep, darkening sorrow was rung in on March 17, lb'.K), w hen the alarm bells in the fire-house towers called tho department to the burn i::g of the Bowen-Merrill establishment which, though a trivial affair at first, through the gross mismanagement of Chief Frank Ij. ougherty, became a funeral pyre, which only died out after twelve brave firemen Lad gone down in horrid mo lstrom ot flame and smoke and death, and eighteen men had entailed upon them days ani weeks and months of untold suffering. The day had taken oa the semblance of a labor holiday. The streets were well filled and at 3 p. m. little rifts of smoke coming from the gratings of the Bowen-Merrill building were quickly seen and as quickly tbe alarm sounded from box 45. It seemed an insignificant fire and the crowd gathered slowly but regularly. It wa9 at leatt an hour beforo an alarm was sent ia calling out additional assistance, and ever then much valuable time was wasted br Dougherty in leaving the engines idle at the corner of Meridian and Washiogton-ets In the meantime the flames had coniniu nicated with the upper stories and wert progressing with frightful rapidity. Tho lire, which at first could have been ex t inguished with a single tank of a chemi cal, was now fierce and persistent eating its way throughout the building as if to gainv strength for the dreadful work that was to follow. Dougherty had sent men to the roof exactly when they ehould not have been, and it'was comparatively a brief epace ot time when the dense throng in the street below were startled by a crasU and rumbling sound. The roof collapsed and through the gaping openina down were hurled the brave, faithful servitors of the city's interests into tha hot. seething cauldron beneath. Indi1 onapolis citizens will not forget the dread- ' . . . . . r n j a 1 l IUI occurrence mat iouoweu; me eearca for and finding of the bodies; the burned and disfigured dead and dying or th solemn tones of the church bellt which rang out a requiem that caused th public heart to throb with woe when tn firemen were borne to their resting placet in God's acre. Over at Terre Haut, suspended on carved brackets in . tha chief's office at department headquar. ters is a rusty, broken fireman'f ax covered with a drapery ot black. It is the ax taken from the" hands of poor Dici Lowrey when his bruised and blackened corpse" was dug from the ruins of th Bowen-Merrill fire. The brave men sacrificed on that awful day were the foliowing: Andrew O. Cherry, George Faulkner, Kapy Stormer, David It. Lowrey, Henry D. Woodruff, Ulysses G. Glazier. George D. Glenn, Albert Hoff man and Anthony Vcitz. Thomas A, Black and William F. Jones died lateX from, their iniuri-