| Show Excitement Over the Chenango Horror NORWICH N 1 May SThe excitement over the destruction of the poor house and county insane f in-sane asylum this morning i intense All who J had friends amon he unfortunates eagerly sought information or their fate Preston i six miles from any railroad and a procession of all ors of vehicles has been going there all al The smoke and stench from the holocaust are perceptible here At the scene of the disaster the stench i sickening The idiots were locked in and roasted like beasts Keeper Wainwright said On opening the door leading from the hall to the idiot de partment I was thunderstruck to see the interior a mass of flames I attempted to 4 rescue the poor inmates who were all securely 7 shut i their cells as usual but were driven F back by the heat and smoke J saw the idiots were doomed and nothing could save idots then aroused the paupers In some instances istances the poor people were dazed and it was neces nary to carry them bodily from the house and turn them loose in the yards and fields There were twelve inmates in the idiot asylum and they must have been overcome by the heat for I i heard nothing from them and they were roasted like pigs Deborrah Bible a feebleminded old woman was smoking a pipe and fet her clothing and bedding on lire and was burned fatally before the flames could be extinguished It is supposed the lire started from undiscoiered 1e fre stred frm undlcoered smoldering sparks from this event The porter was awakened by a pauper and at tempted t release the idiots at was driven back by the lire He then went through the other buildings in his night clothes rescuing the inmates and insane patients Some of them were forced out and fought against release but all were saved Most of them were taken to tho Methodist and Univer 1 ealist churches till other a1st ti quarters were provided pro-vided Some escaped and took to the woods where the sheriff and deputies were hunting for them today Coroner Fernald of this place went to Preston and ordered the removal of the charred and blackened remains in the ruins Buckets of water were dashed upon them and at length the roasted trunks were pulled out and laid upon the grass All were burned beyond recogni tion In some instances the remains were re moved with hovels nothing hut the skull or a few bones giving any indications that they were once human beings |
