Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2018 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== American Architect and Architecture Vol. 17 - January 31, 1885 [p49] A DEPLORABLE fire occurred recently in Illinois, by which one of the wards of the Eastern Illinois Insane Asylum, at Kankakee, was totally destroyed, thirteen out of the forty-five patients in the asylum meeting a dreadful death. The fire broke out in the middle of the night, and spread rapidly through the woodwork of the building, filling the whole in a few minutes with fatal smoke. The asylum is half a mile from the town, so that help could not reach it from outside, and, al- though a few pipes and hydrants had been put in for protecting the wards, the appropriations had not been sufficient to complete the water service, and there was practically no means at hand for checking the flames. It is well-known that the insane are very difficult to control in case of fire, which excites and attracts them; and although the officers and at- tendants worked heroically to save their patients, they could not rescue all. It appears from the evi- dence given before the coroner's jury that the super- intendent of the asylum, Dr. DEWEY, had repeatedly called the attention of the Legislature to the un- protected state of the building, but had not suc- ceeded in obtaining the appropriation of a sum adequate for making a change; the Legislature hav- ing apparently dismissed the subject with the easy assurance, which we find in the newspaper account, that "it was supposed that every precaution possible had been taken against fire." The character of these "precautions," which were, as we suppose, under the direct charge of the three State Commissioners, may be inferred from the fact, shown by evidence before the coroner, that the top of the hot air furnace in the basement was only four inches from the under- side of the pine floor-beams. This circumstance is quite sufficient to account for the fire, and the only wonder is that it had not occurred before. It seems that the superintendent had asked to have the floors over the furnace changed, but his re- quest was disregarded, and after the joists had become thoroughly dried out, a cold winter's night, with a little urging of the furnace fire, were followed by their natural consequences. -------------------------------------------------- The Chicago Daily Tribune Monday, January 19, 1885 A MAD-HOUSE FIRE One of the Detached Cottages at the Kankakee Asylum Burns to the Ground Seventeen of the Patients Literally Roasted to Death - Thirteen Bodies Recovered Senator Hereley's Brother Among the Lost - The Fault Apparently with the Furnace System THE ALARM DISCOVERY OF THE FIRE IN THE FURNACE ROOM. KANKAKEE, Ill., Jan. 18. - [Special] - At 4:20 a watchman in the infirmary south of the insane asylum discovered fire in the room directly above the fur- nace. He at once called the Superintendent and other officials of the asylum. The alarm was given instantly to the entire force to go to the burning building provided with buckets, and within a very few minutes it was surrounded by hundreds, who instantly saw that the time for saving the building was passed, and earnest efforts alone could prevent a frightful loss of life to the infirm and helpless patients within its walls. Excited groups stood in snow knee-deep, with the keen wind each moment increasing the peril, at first unable to comprehend what had been done and what was to be done. The attendants of the building, however, had done noble work in rescuing the patients of the first floor, and within ten minutes after the flames were discovered it was sup- posed all the patients had been helped or carried out bodily. Two, however, were missed altogether, it was afterwards learned, and perished. PARALYZED WITH TERROR Then attention was called to the second floor, where there were twenty patients in the dormitory and two in single rooms. A ladder was speedily raised to the south dormitory, Dr. DEWEY, the Superintendent, running up it before it was fairly to the wall. The smoke prevented him entering, and the doctor stood and pleaded to the victims to save themselves. Moans and groaning were the only respone. They were apparently smothered by the smoke. As it was evident that the saving of any in that dormitory was impossible, the ladder was taken to one of the single rooms, occupied by a helpless paralytic, and the doctor again ran up the ladder. He was unable to break the sash, and, after getting an instrument to break it, found himself unable to withstand the smoke. He was quickly followed by two others, but they likewise found their endeavors futile, and came down repulsed. The ladder was then removed to the other single room on the same side and near the first, Dr. DEWEY again leading the forlorn hope. This time he was successful, and an old man almost helpless in some manner managed to crawl down the ladder to the ground. JACK COYNE'S BRAVERY. In the meantime JACK COYNE, an old Chicago sailor, mounted a second ladder which had been raised to the north dormitory. The undertaking seemed hopeless. Dense clouds of smoke rolled out of the windows. The west wing, where the fire was first seen, was a solid mass of fire, with the wind blowing the flames like a blast to the interior of the building. The stairway and the floor of the hall had fallen. COYNE intrepidly went through the window at the top of his ladder. He crawled along the floor, ly- ing close down, where he found he could escape the densest part of the smoke. He groped his way to the beds and pulled their occupants down to the floor and to the window, where a breath of air sufficiently revived them so that they could go down the ladder unassisted. FOUR LIVES SAVED. COYNE again returned into the dormitory, where he picked his road to other beds and rescued others in the same manner. Thus four times did he return, each time laden with his human freight. With the fourth one the smoke proved too great for even the brave COYNE. Standing in the window he vainly called, as Dr. DEWEY had done at the south dormitory, upon the inmates to come to the window, but his calls went without response. At a window nearer the flames for an instant a hand was seen to move listlesly across the panes and then its owner sunk out of sight and into death as the cornice and roof above were falling, and rendered any idea of help from those below futile. DOOMED TO DESTRUCTION. From this time it was evident that those in the upper story were doomed to destruction, and efforts were diverted to getting furniture out of the basement and portions of the first story. Besides the four rescued by COYNE and the one by Dr. DEWEY from the second story, two gained the ground by their own exertions. SANE ACTS OF THE INSANE. HOLLIHAM, who was considered but partially insane, on being awakened made a rope out of his sheets and blankets, which he let out of the window to the steps by the side of the burning wing. He then crawled down the rope, after telling another inmate to follow him. He reached the steps safely, but the second one let go his hold when part way down and fell and received serious injuries. The third one looked at the flames and then the distance beneath, and retreated from the window. He was not seen again and is among the lost. The patients, as fast as they were taken from the building, were conducted to neighboring de- tached wards, where the feeble and injured ones were cared for and their wounds dressed, and stimulants administered. Nearly all of the patients saved their clothing, which the night before had been laid together by the side of their beds. In the excitement they had not forgotten it, but taken it in a handful as they were told by the attendants to run for life. WILL DIE FROM THE SHOCKS. One or two of the sick ones were consider- ably shocked, and it is probable they will die from the effects. The remainder of the rescued are said to be doing well tonight, and no immediate danger is feared with them. It is certain, however, that to the seven- teen supposed to have been burned the mortal- ity list of the fire will be increased ma- terially, as the old and infirm cared for in the building will not be able in all in- stances to survive the shock and surrounding excitement. THE VICTIMS The following is a list of the dead: HENRY BROWN, Rock Island County H. W. BELDEN, Galesburg GEORGE BENNETT, Morris JAMES COLBERT, Chicago THOMAS HERELEY, Chicago, a brother of Senator HERELEY. ORLANDO ELLIS, Pontiac J. W. GALLOWAY, Macoupin County THOMAS HACKEY, Springfield MATTHEW HAGNE, Chebanse T. HACHNER, Stephenson County JOHN JOHNSON, Vermillion County MICHAEL JORDAN, Chicago J. NATHAN, Chicago A. RUNYARD, Winnebago County C. STRATZ, Chicago J. W. TYLER, Chicago F. WEYMOUTH, Putnam County THIRTEEN BODIES FOUND Thirteen of these bodies have been found. Four are buried in the ruins. The sights at the fire were terrible in the extreme. Patients were running in and out of the burning building with nothing on but their night-clothes, and the screams of the burning victims were pitiful. The wind was from the north and blowing hard, while the thermometer was 12° below zero. Many patients and attendants were severely fro- zen and injured. Attendants rendered heroic aid in rescuing the unfortunates, Dr. DEWEY, the Superinten- dent, supervising them. The patients were unmanageable, one man running into the building three times after being brought out. He finally perished. Those who were bedfast were rescued and taken into ad- joining wards, while the others ran around in the building and were finally smothered to death. A HORRIBLE SIGHT. One of the attendants describes a horrible scene. He says as he looked into the burning building he saw a number of the bodies lying on the girders burning, the heads and feet dropping off and the bodies finally going into the cellar below. There were no means for putting out fires, excepting the water- works supply, but that was useless, as there was no hose or other apparatus. The last Legislature made a small appropriation to guard against fire, but the amount was large enough only to put in the hydrants. The pre- sent Legislature has been asked to finish the appropriation. THE RESCUE. IT IS PREVENTED BY THE PERVERSITY OF THE PATIENTS. KANKAKEE, Ill., Jan. 18. - [Special.] It might have been supposed that the feeble and bed-ridden would have been the readiest victims to the flames, but from their position on the first floor they were all saved with the excep- tion of E. ELLIS, a paralytic from Livingston County, and J. JOHNSON, from Vermillion Coun- ty. The able bodied patients on the second floor, who might reasonably have been thought able to take better care of themselves, were either rendered insensible by the smoke, or, with the perversity which has so often been observed as characteristic of the insane under such circumstances, failed to cooperate in at- tempts at their rescue. THE ALARM GIVEN B. B. COBBS, the watchman on duty at the building when the fire was discovered, said he smelt the smoke while leading a patient to a water-closet, and went to a room directly over the furnace on the west side of the hall. There he found smoke coming out of the cracks in a clothes-closet. He then gave the attendant in the east side of the building the alarm. He also woke two other attendants, and the three attempted to put out the fire by carrying water in buckets. When they saw the fire had gained too much headway for them to combat they began at once to awaken the patients on the lower story. It was then impossible to go to the upper story, as the smoke was too dense. Le BARGE, one of the attendants, got nearly to the door when the smoke drove him back. He came down and assisted in the lower ward. As it was impos- sible to rescue the patients on the second floor from the inside, a ladder was placed on the east side and the windows broken in. By these means four patients were dragged to the window and carried down to the ground, they were so stupefied by the smoke as to be perfectly helpless. DR. DEWEY'S WORK. The ladder was then placed on the east side of the building, when Dr. DEWEY en- deavored to break the sash. He cut his hand badly, but was unable to make an opening large enough to enter the room. The watch- man said that he and S. P. ROGERS then took the ladder to a single room occupied by H. W. BELDEN, a paralytic, when the main por- tion of the roof had fallen in. It was found that nothing could be done there, when the ladder was again to the southeast corner. Mr. DEWEY, the Superintendent, ascended himself this time and got out a patient named ISAAC WHITE, from Champaign County. The watchman's duties was to make rounds of the two dormitories on the lower floor and attend to the wants of the patients. He is what is known as special nightwatch to the sick, and was required to turn in his record every half-hour. The last he gave was at 4:05. He was the only person supposed to be awake at that hour on the lower floor. THE CARE OF THE FURNACE. The furnace came under his supervision. He generally made three trips each night to build the fire and see that it was all right. His last visit he states was fifteen minutes before 4 o'clock. The fire was not burning very briskly then. The dampers were all closed, and the flues had been frequent- ly hotter than at that time. Just twenty- five minutes afterward he discovered the flame. The watchman has been employed in the asylum fifteen months. Before the open- ing of the destroyed building he ws employed in the main building as regular attendant. He came from the Jacksonville Deaf and Dumb Institution, and was engaged on the recommendation of Dr. GILLETTE of that in- stitution. He has always been considered a faithful attendant, and especially adapted to the work by his even temper and kindness to patients. He has always been found to be as careful as the average attendant in the asylum, and from the electric record kept it is absolutely certain he was attending to his duties properly within twenty min- utes of the time the alarm of fire was sounded. AN ATTENDANT'S TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. HARRY BROWN, the attendant on the second floor, occupied a single room on the extreme east of the building. He was aroused at about 4:30 by a sense of suffocation, as he was in the habit of sleeping with a blanket over his head. He immediately started towards the stairway down the main hall, but the smoke was so dense it drove him back. On is way back he groped his way to the single room on the left of his own, occupied by Mr. WHITE. He attempted to unlock the door, but owing to the excitement he was unable to do so and was forced into his own room, where he broke out a glass to get air. Tying his sheets together he made his way part way to the ground, when he swooned and fell the remainder of the distance, or about ten feet. Recovering con- ciousness he went to work to assist in the removal of those saved to an adjacent building. RESISTING ATTEMPTS TO SAVE THEM WILLIAM REID, the head attendant of the building, occupied the room directly under that of BROWN. He was the first one called by the watchman (COBBS), and immediately began to carry out the patients on the first floor. One man, named OLAF FLINK, sent from Carroll County, resisted his efforts and re- turned to the burning building three times in spite of the efforts to save him, and he was finally secured on the arrival of the atten- dants from the other wards and was saved. The same peculiar freak was exhibited by PETER E. EITER of Macoupin County, who es- caped from his rescuers twice before he was taken out of sight of the flames. Mr. REID endeavored when he was called to reach the upper story, to arouse the atten- dants there, but finding it futile he made the most of the time in saving the patients on the lower floor. Le BARGE and WILLIAMS, two attendants, whose rooms on the first floor were located right above the furnace, were awakened at the same time as Mr. REID by the watchman. Le BARGE immediately ran down the stairs into the base- ment with a pail of water. WILLIAMS started for the officers' quarters to give the alarm. THE LOCATION OF THE FLAMES Le BARGE found the timber above the furnace was on fire, and had to break a window-pane to get out, the fire having cut off his retreat. He then rushed up the stairs, which were en- veloped in one mass of fire, to the room oc- cupied by J. F. ROSE and wife, attendants on the second floor, and aroused them. He then returned to a single room off his own room, containing ISAAC STANLEY, of Peoria County. Mr. Le BARGE took off his own pants and put them on the patient and hustled him outdoors. He then returned to his room to clothe him- self. One foot went through the burning floor. Owing to the exertion and excitement attend- ing the discovery of the fire he lies at home quite ill tonight, but it is thought not dangerously. His roommate, WILLIAMS, after giving the alarm, returned to the burning building and assisted in the removal of the rescued patients to the main building. THE BUILDING. AN OUTLINE OF THE EDIFICE WHERE THE CREMATION OCCURRED. KANKAKEE, Ill., Jan. 18 - [Special.] - The infirmary cottage or detached ward in which the fire occurred is a stone building about 100 x 75 feet, situated to the southwest of the main building. It is one of a row of four buildings facing the south avenue, between which there is an average distance of sixty to eighty feet. This building has been devoted to the care of the feeble patients who need special care and nursing. It is a two-story building with room for twenty-five patients on each floor. At the time of the fire, there were forty- five patients in the building, about equally divided between the two floors. The first floor was devoted to the care of bedridden specially, while the second floor wsa occupied by the more able-bodied. The force employed in the care of the patients consisted of one head attendant and two other male assistants, the wife of one of whom was in charge of the dining- room. THE NIGHT WATCHMAN'S DUTIES. A night-watchman had the care of the patients and looked to the furnace fires and the nursery during the night. He was required to register half-hourly on the dial of an electric watch- clock in the centre of the building after making a round of the wards and single rooms, there be- ing two wards on each floor with ten beds each, and three or four single rooms. The building, in addition, contained a dining- room in the basement with a dumb-waiter to ac- commodate each floor. The infirmary was viewed as a great accession to the asylum. KANKAKEE, Ill., Jan. 18 - [Special.] - The burned building was erected during the summer of 1884, and for the express purpose of keeping the sick and infirm cases apart from the main building. It was occupied Sept. 1 last. It had a capacity for forty-six patients, and was fill- ed with the exception of one vacant bed. It was one of a series of buildings erected under the appropriation of the Legislature of $400,000, which was expended in increasing the capacity of the asylum from 500 to 1,000. About $15,000 was expended on the burned building. Its archi- tect was JAMES H. WILLETT of Chicago, who also acted as superintendent of construction. It was a rubble stone with brick in the main partitions. There were two stories and a basement, the latter containing the dining-room and heating apparatus. The two stories were identical. Each have two dormitories with attendants' rooms adjacent. Through the centre of the building was a hall about ten feet wide, which was also used by the patients as a promenade quarter. THE FATAL HEATING APPARATUS. The furnaces were of the Ruttan pattern, manu- factured at Bloomington. The brick-work, which is supposed to lay at the bottom of today's loss of life, was done by a home mason, under the super- vision, however, of Mr. WILLETTS. The system was similar to the usual hot-air system of heating, fresh air going through the flues before being conveyed by galvanized iron conducting-flues to the rooms. The furnace came within a foot of the wood floor above. It appears from the statements of the attendants that the fire originated at this point. Out of the appropriation of $1,000 two years ago for fire protection, and mains and hydrants had been put in at each corner of the building, but, the money running out, the neces- sary hose and other appliances were not provided, and the asylum was without any protection except hydrant-buckets in the wards, which, of course, proved absolutely useless. THE THIRTEEN UNFORTUNATES A SMALL COLLECTION OF HUMAN CHARCOAL - THE ATTEMPT TO SAVE BELDEN. KANKAKEE, Ill., Jan. 18 [Special.] A glance at the remains of the thirteen poor unfortunates as they lay on two tables in a vault under the main building revealed nothing but a small collection of human charcoal. A few charred vertebrae or a headless trunk, burned out of all recognition, were all that remained to identify the living forms of the morning. The whole remains would not fill one ordinary coffin. The only remains that had any semblance of humanity were those of W. H. BELDEN of Galesburg, Ill., and these showed only a black, headless trunk, with traces of flesh still clinging to the bones. The only means of identity was the position in which the bodies were found as they were picked out of the base- ment. Every attempt was made by Dr. DEWEY to save BELDEN, who was in one of the private rooms on the second floor, but the fastenings on the in- side of the window rendered assistance impossi- ble. BELDEN'S wife is at present very sick in Chicago, being much worked up with nervous excitement on account of her husband's con- dition. ONE COMMON GRAVE A number of the friends of the deceased ar- rived tonight on the late trains fully expect- ing to take the bodies home. There have been no preparations for burial as yet, but it is probable that there will be but one funeral held over the entire number, as there are no means of identifying the dead excepting as they came from the ruins, laying side by side, and in regular order as they retired. One singular fact related by Dr. BANNISTER is that most all of the patients sleep with their heads covered with bed-clothing. According to this and the positions which they were found in in the cellar it is probable they were smothered. None but male patients were in the burned infirmary. The remains of THOMAS HERELEY were rever- ently laid in a coffin by his two brothers, Senator HERELEY and JOHN F. HERELEY, about 1 a.m. As they lay in the coffin only the pelvis and spinal column and a few of the unconsumed muscles of the back remained to mark the form that had been vigorous in life. THOMAS HERELEY had suffered from dementia for over five years. BELDEN'S body was also laid in its coffin about the same hour and forwarded by express to Galesburg via Chicago. THOMAS SWEENEY, the night watchman of the main building, who, along with Dr. DEWEY, attempted to rescue BELDEN, states that, after breaking four panes of glass in the only window in the room, the cross por- tions of the sash would not yield, and the door of the room being bolted there was no earthly chance of saving BELDEN. Dr. DEWEY in his hu- mane attempts to save BELDEN received a severe cut to severed an artery in his wrist, causing considerable loss of blood. THE INQUEST. TESTIMONY BROUGHT OUT. KANKAKEE, Ill., Jan. 19. - [Special.] - The Cornoer impaneled as a jury S. M. DAVIS, fore- man; S. P. MACLEAN, J. S. WHITHALL, F. FIBRIECH, A. KURRASH, and ALBERT SCHNEIDER. The jury met and, after examining a few witnesses, adjourned until 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon. Night-Watchman COBBS testified before the Coroner's jury that he registered a report of his calls every half-hour. The register showed he visited the furnace-room at 3:40 and found it all right then. At 4:10 he discovered the fire. He said that the floor immediately over the furnace had frequently been noticed by the attendants sleeping there to be uncomfortably hot; that the furnace was roofed by sheet-iron, then by two layers of brick laid in mortar, with a space of but six inches between them and the pine. Attendant R. C. WILLIAMS testified that five minutes after the fire was discovered it was blazing through the floor; that on being roused he ran outside and saw that the fire was only visible about and around the furnace. Attendant J. C. McFARLAND, outside night- watchman, testified that he heard the cry of "Fire!" He raised the attendants of wards Nos. 5 and 6 and carried two ladders to the burning building from the carpenter-shop, 100 yards away. P. SKULLY, foreman for Architect J. R. WILLETT of Chicago, who has charge of all the hospital buildings, testified that he inspected the fur- naces when completed. He was satisfied with them then, and had not inspected them since. The air circulated between the furnace-roof and the pine timber. The hot-air conductors are brick flues. There is no wood about them. The hot-air flues had four-inch walls; the smoke-flues eight-inch walls. The Coroner's jury are well-known citizens, who promise a careful consideration before rendering a verdict. Dr. DEWEY gave his experience in regard to the action of insane at fires. He said they would not make any effort to help themselves or others, but would act either as though indifferent to everything around them or else try and keep where there was the most danger. This was illustrated today in the case of a patient who three times entered the burning building and tried to throw himself into the fire; also by one who appeared at an open window and looked out as unconcerned as could be. Some of the patients had to be held by two or three attendants to prevent them from running back into the fire.