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Alton (Illinois) Telegraph
Thursday, January 17, 1884


                           THE BELLEVILLE FIRE
                           
                     Latest Particulars from the Scene
                             of the Disaster.
                             
              BELLEVILLE, Ill., Jan. 12. - There were no de-
            velopments regarding the convent fire yesteday,
            but the Coroner's jury was in session again this
            morning. Among the witnesses examined yesterday
            was Mr. EMIL KOHL. He was at home when his mother
            called his attention to the cries of the watchman
            at Harrison's that the convent was on fire, and,
            there being a telephone in the house, he immedi-
            ately notified the Police Station, and had the
            alarm sounded. He then put on his coat and ran
            over to the convent. The first person he saw
            was a woman hanging on the fence near the north-
            east corner. She had jumped from a window, and
            evidently had tried to climb the fence, when 
            she got fast. He helped her down, and then, as
            there was a cry for ladders, he started after
            one which he knew, from his school days, used 
            to be kept in the rear of the church. He found
            two ladders, and taking one, he had another man
            take the other, and they ran back with them. He
            next ran to Chuse's store and procured a lot of
            rope and returned with it. At this time MISS
            SCHNEIDER was up over the main entrance, hanging
            to the cross, and they were trying to get a rope
            to her, when an explosion took place and she was
            blown from her position. Father LUCAS assisted
            him with the ladder.
              DR. JULIUS KOHL was also before the jury and
            testified. He gave it as his opinion that those
            who were in the third story died from suffocation
            before the fire engines reached the scene.
              The jury has now the matter under consideration,
            but will not order a verdict until some time to-
            day. The arrangements for the burial of the un-
            identified dead have all been made, the funeral
            taking place Sunday morning from St. Peter's
            church. So far two coffins have been provided
            for the remains of the unidentified, these being
            sufficient to contain them. The ceremonies at
            the church will be similar in character of those
            over the Mother Superior and the Sisters, with
            the exception, perhaps, that Bishop BALTES will
            not be there.
              Another searching party, at the suggestion of
            MR. SCALING, of St. Louis, have commence work
            in the ruins yesterday, the object being to see
            if anything can be found that will serve as 
            momentoes of his lost daughters. A number of
            young men have volunteered for this service.
                  
            
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