Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2023 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. =========================================================================== The Daily American Saturday, 14 March 1891 HORRIBLE Helpless Lunatics Enveloped in a Sheet of Flame The Beautiful Tennessee Insane Asylum in Ruins Six of the Poor Unfortunates Are Cremated Alive Most Heroic Efforts to Save Them Avail Nothing About Twenty-five Others Roaming at Large The Flames Reported Under Control at 3 O'clock Complete List of Those Who Lost Their Lives Dr. Frank Hollowell, of This City, One of Them Harrowing Scenes Witnessed by a Large Crowd Which Soon Gathered This morning the beautiful Central Insane Asylum, situated seven miles from this city on the Murfreesboro pike, is almost a mass of ruins; beneath it are the charred bodies of half a dozen of the unfortunate inmates; in the outhouses near by are huddled the poor demented creatures who found an asylum in the grand old structure now laid low; and on the lawn the long, parched trees, denuded of branch and foliage, stand, the spectral trunks with gaunt outstretched arms marking the spot where but yesterday stood the massive building alive with human beings, the observed of all who passed that way, and one of the most beautiful and attractive spots in lovely Middle Tennessee. At 10:15 o'clock last night Watchman Fitzhugh discovered an ugly tongue of flame just breaking through the roof in the rear part of the west or male wing of the building. How it caught none could divine, but it reached from the ground through the second and third stories and cut off the few rooms that were behind it. In a moment the alarm was given and the 400 inmates of the Institution were thrown into wild commotion. Consternation was depleted on each face as the gravity of the situation burst upon them. There were twenty-eight men in the wing when the fire caught and twenty- two of them were quickly removed to the main hall, the other six being left to their fates behind their impassable wall of flames. The city was telegraphed for aid, but Chief Carrel, of the Fire Department, could not be found, and his subordi- nates refused to move without orders. Finally, after two hours' delay, the Chief was found, and he, with two engines left for the scene of the disaster. In the meantime the west wing had collapsed, the fire had caught the main building, and the inmates, made frantic by their danger, were beginning to break from the guard and scatter like affrighted animals over the surrounding country. By 1 o'clock two AMERICAN reporters arrived on the scene in time to see the long wall of the west wing cave in. One reporter returned after a few minutes to the city and the other stood by the telephone in a room that was already heated almost like an oven and gave the latest news to the office. The fire department arrived on the scene at 2:15 o'clock, having made remarkably fine time after they got started. In a few moments a fine stream of water was playing on the main building, and the contest between the firemen and the fire king commenced in earnest. Previously the inmates of the asylum, the servants and the guards had rendered fine service with buckets and succeeded in holding the fire in check to some extent. Had it not been for their valiant services the entire structure would have been in flames before the arrival of the fire department. At 3 o'clock this morning the fire was still raging, but was pronounced under control. There was an abundance of water in the lake in the lawn, and no further great danger was apprehended. The loss is roughly estimated at $25,000. The building was fully insured, the total carried being $75,000. THE DEAD List of the Unfortunates - The Firemen Victorious The unfortunate inmates of the asylum whose funeral pyre was the west wing are as follows. They were all male and white. J. S. Johns, Rutherford J. Burt Dexter, Wilson Blue Preston, Cannon John Kelly, Wayne W. H. Beasley, Hickman B. F. Hollowell, Davidson PREPARING TO GO Gov. Buchanan Calls Out the Militia - Police and County Officers Accompany Them At 1 o'clock a patient of the asylum reached the city, and going to the Maxwell House aroused Gov. Buchanan, who dressed hastily, and waking up Hon. B. A. Enloe and Maj. E. B. Stahlman, came to THE AMERICAN office to catch the latest information from the fire. After a hurried consultation, and having telephoned the asylum and finding that militia were needed to guard the affrighted inmates, Gov. Buchanan started out, accompanied by Mr. Enloe and an AMERICAN reporter, to awake the Captain, Charles Robertson, while Maj. Stahlman sent an order to the Union depot, and within less than half an hour a special train was panting under the shed ready to carry out the Governor and the militia. In the meantime Lieut. Robertson was found and aroused from his warm bed, and in five minutes he had dressed and received his orders from the Governor to gather as many men as he could and report as quickly as possible at the depot. As the Governor's party was passing down Union street they met H. B. Buckner, President of the Board of Trustees, in a drag with Lieut. Curran going to Chief Clack's house to get an order to carry out a squad of policemen. Sheriff Hill and Deputy Sheriff Milam were also aroused and went to the train with a squad of deputies. During all this time no light could be seen in the southern skies, and not until after 2 o'clock was a slight reflection distinguished. AN AWFUL SCENE Guards Powerless and the Maniacs Terror-Stricken The scene within the quadrangle in the rear of the Superintendent's office was all glare and confusion at 1 o'clock when an AMERICAN reporter arrived. The flames in the west wing were tower- ing above the parapeted walls, and guards were hurrying hither and thither. A moment later the inner wall of the burning building fell in with an awful crash and clouds of sparks covered the entire visible heavens. In another instant a shower of cinders and charred fragments of wood fell upon the roofs of the remaining buildings and rattled upon the stone- paved court. In the hall connecting the east and west wings, and in the corridors of the east wing, the terri- fied unfortunates were huddled together like sheep, men, women and bed clothes being so intermingled that it was hard to distinguish between them. They did not seem to comprehend the awful situa- tion, and most of them were still undressed, as they were when they were dragged from the rooms of the building already in ashes. Dr. Callender sat in his office with an ex- pression of despair on his features, and great beads of perspiration stood upon his brow. Attaches were rushing into the room receiving his orders and hurrying to execute them. Crouch- ing in the corners were the figures of inmates who perhaps had a clearer appreciation of the pending danger than their companions and had stolen in, thinking themselves safe with the Superintendent. When the fire was first discovered every hand on the place was pressed into service, and a vigorous fight was made, but, although hundreds of gallons of water were thrown upon the flames, the fire-god steadily gained ground, and in a little while the building was beyond the power of human hands to save it. By midnight nothing remained for the men who had fought so nobly to do but to stand and await the coming of the engines from the city. It was a heartrending sight to see hundreds of men who had gathered from the country for miles around talking in groups or gazing helplessly on the work of destruction, while within the hall, only a few steps away, the wild eyes of a mass of miserable creatures glared about in the unearthly light, and the minds behind them were too weak to know that in a short while they might be out in the cold night with nothing but the sky for a covering. When one of the reporters was about a mile this side of the conflagration, on the way out, he met a couple of inmates in shirt-sleeves trudging along the highway with their arms locked about each other's necks. As they passed one of them cried out "Fire, fire -- cold, cold." On his return the same pair was overtaken just within the corporation line. This time the re- porter heard, "we are free, we are free, but don't you tell, don't you tell," and turning around he saw that their arms were still locked about each other's necks. Hiding in the shrubbery immediately around the asylum were many who had escaped when the sudden exodus was made from the west wing. Most of them were but partially dressed, but almost without exception their faces were covered with smiles, as if the downfall of their refuge was a source of pleasure to them and the biting wind a thing unfelt. ===============================================================================