CANADIAN TRAGEDIES.

Feilding Star, Volume I, Issue 281, 1 June 1907, Page 1 (Supplement)

CANADIAN TRAGEDIES.

the window which she had just left was shut out from view. An hour later Miss Maxwell's body was taken from the partly-destroyed building, a little blue-eyed girl clasped in her arms. Beside this noble woman 16 more babies were smothered j and charred to death. | Meanwhile, the news of the fire spread throughout the community, and mothers and fathers rushed to the spot. A scene of indescribable panic and grief ensued. The rescued children had been hurried into adjacent houses, many of them ill from the effects of the smoke, and cries of joy were mingled with lamentations as one after another, given up for lost ; were found, and the sad work of identification begun. The people of Canada may always be trusted to fittingly recognise an act of heroism such as that in which Miss Sarah Maxwell sacrificed her life. Subscriptions were opened everywhere, and money began at once to pour in for the establishment of a suitable memorial. Every school child in the Dominion has been asked to contribute, if but a penny, and men of means have opened their purses. The widowed and dependent mother of the brave teacher will first be provided for, and later something in the nature of a monument — a building or a hospital for children — will be erected. The Governor-General sent in a handsome contribution, and the Queen promptly cabled her sympathies and appreciation. As has been said, the wiiole nation has been stirred by mingled feelings of grief and admiration. A MARTYR INTHE CAUSE OF NATION-BUILDING. It would seem that this letter must in large part be given up to stories of. human suffering and death. Just before the terrible loss of life occurred in Montreal there came to us an account of one of those grim tragedies of the frozen Northland which are, happily, rarer than might be supposed. Were it merely the case of another life sacrificed in the search for knowledge of the great region lying about Hudson Bay, the tale would perhaps be commonplace; but the circumstances associated wTth this particular incident are of a character 'which invest the occurrence with special interest. It brings the matter home to those of us who sat in comfort at our hearths while one who had just left us gave his name to the long liat of martyrs in the cause of nation-building. During the past year the Government sent another of a series of expeditions to Hudson's Bay. There are fisheries in that inhospitable region which require regulation, custom houses to bo visited, and commercial interests (which may yet become considerable) to be looked after. During the winter the steamer lies up in the ice, and it is during this period that observations are made which could not be undertaken at any other season. The ice and snow are Nature's bridge-build-ers and road-makers. Excursions aro made into the interior for the investigation of mineral areas, and the gathering of geographical and other data, which may later be turned to account. It waa in connection with one of these sorties that Dr. Flood, of Quebec, the surgeon of the expedition, lost his life. In this instance the doctor had accompanied Major Moodie and Civil Engineer Thibadau for the purpose of examining some timber lands. They had journeyed inland by means of a dog train, and had reached the point where their camp was to be located. It was then discovered that a box containing an important part of their food supply had been dropped. It was believed to be not far away, and, with a light heart, Dr. Flood volunteered to go back for it. He took the dogs with him ,and fine specimens of the Esquimaux species they appear to have been— faithful and unerring in their instincts. Waving from his seat a jocula-r good-bye to nis companions, he started off, and that was the last seen of him until his body was found three' days later. As Dr. Flood doubled back over the track, a snowstorm which was destined to bury him came up, and he lost the trail. Over the bleak wilderness, miles away from any chance of succour, unless he could find his way to the camp, he wandered until he dropped from exhaustion. The search party found that he had guided the dogs, and when they instinctively turned towards camp he turned their heads away and went further into the wilds, as the faithful leader took the trail in the direction indicated by his driver. That wonderful instinct which has been noticed in horses and dogs, who never seem to lose their sense of direction, guided them, and had he let them go they would have taken him to safety ; but he trusted to his intelligence in the blinding snow and perished . Whenever the trail left by him showed that the dogs were given their heads, they turned towards the camp and made for it, only to be turned away into the very way of destruction. When the body was foil ml it was a pitiful sight. Flood lay in the snow, arid his faithful leader lay alongside of him, also frozen stiff. Faithful to the last, the dog had tried to keep his master's body warm, and had perished. The responsibility of a leader of a dog train is felt by that animal, and when Flood dropped in his tracks the other dogs bit themselves free of the harness and each other and sought safety, while the leader lay down beside his master, and with him died in the snow. Dr. Flood belonged to a prominent Quebec family, and wag a young man of considerable promise. — Dunedin Times.

A MONTREAL SCHOOL BURNED. TEACHER AND 16 CHILDREN PERISH. A WOMAN'S HEROISM. Ottawa, February 28. The closing days of the month have brought with them one of those dark and unexpected tragedies which' stir a whole nation. When men go down to their death by ways that are horrible the popular mind is in a sense {prepared for the shock, but when ittle children are trapped by fire in their kindergarten and burned to death the event causes peculiar agony. The reason is obvious. Such a holocaust touches the home instincts of the people at large. The helplessness of the little ones and the grief of the bereaved parents are things that touch a common chord. Every fireside makes response to the appeal for sympathy. In this instance there is joined to the sadness occasioned by the loss of life a feeling of reverent admiration for the heroic teacher who gave herself in an effort to save her little charges. The burning occurred in one of the suburban divisions of Montreal — Hoohelaga, a name rich with memoriei of the early days of the fur traders. In the province of Quebec the separate schools are Protestant, and it was in one of these school buildings that the fire broke out early in the afternoon of the 26th inst. The structure was three storeys in height, and the kindergarten was on the top floor. This ill-thought arrangement waß entirely responsible for the waste of life, since it was the inability of the children ranging between five and seven years of age, to help themselves which led in the end to many of them being cut off. The blaze began in the basement, as the result of the bursting of the boiler connected with the heating apparatus. Dense smoke at once ascended to the school rooms above, although it was some time before flames actually broke through. At first there was no alarm, owing to the belief that there was^no danger from fire. Thus valuable time was lost. Then it was discovered that the children had to be got out with the utmost expedition. The fire drill was immediately put into operation, and the two lower floors were emptied quickly. The pupils \ in these division had been well train- j el, and responded with tho precision \ of soldiers to the commands of their teachers. The tots at the top, however, could not be moved in this way. They were hurried to the j stairway, and encourage^ by word'j and example to go down ; but the ; smoke was rolling upward in rapidly | increasing volume, and the terrified I children shrank back into the school- j room, clinging frantically to their j three teachers. The principal, Miss j •Sarah Maxwell, wisely closed the ; door and screamed for help from the j window. ? This then was tho terrible situa* i tion : On the top floor of the build-- j ing, too high for anyone to jump td 1 the frozen ground, were 60 or 7lfj little boys and girls, the fire rushing ! swiftly towards them, and not a lad T der, nor as much as a rope, by, which to escape. The three lady teacup ers imprisoned with them were brave and resource! ul. As if appreciat-- ! ing the number of seconds between ' their helpless wards and death, they j sought to olose every crevice by which ■ the deadly smoke was forcing itself into the room. They kept the little ones together, and endeavoured to allay their panic. The fire station , was at some distance, and had no* j thing been done until the brigade arrived the toll would have been appauling. But some workmen near by took in the situation — thank God for the working men with strong arms and unfaltering courage who turn up in nearly every emergency — and ran with ladders to the scene. The teachers broke the windows, and began handing out their screaming pupils. Miss Campbell was first driven out on the Bill of the window at which she was working, and at last Miss Keyes, with face and hands frightfully blistered, fell unconscious into the arms of one of the rescuers. Miss Maxwell, however, would not give up. The flames were now shooting out at many points ; but still she kept going back and returning with as many tots as she could gather in her arms. ' Scores of men and women below, looking on in helpless despair, ehout- , ed to Tier to come down. "No" she . called back; "there are children still i in the cloakroom." Again and again * she plunged through the blinding smoke, each time saving the darling r of some home; but, of course, this , could not last long.- With" a spout of • flame and a great outburst of smoke