A Terrible Calamity.

Otago Witness, Issue 1622, 23 December 1882, Page 29

A Terrible Calamity.

[ The City and Provincial Almshouse, near the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, was burned on the morning of November 9th, and from 30 to 50 inmates perished in the flames. The storey just under the eaves of the building was used as a hospital, and at the time of the fire there were in the wards some 70 patients, mostly bedridden. The flames weie swept through the elevator from below to the upper part of the edifice, and soon were burning fiercely in the hospital, from which escape was cut off. It was impossible to extend aid to the helpless victims in the jaws of a fiery death, The fire soon burned through the roof, and the scene was one never to be forgotten ; for above the roar of the flames and the crack of bursting planks were heard the cries of tho wretched patients, roasting to death. Most of them, not being able to leave their beds, were perhaps stifled by the smoke before the flames reached them ; but others were seen to dash themselves against the windows, and to cling to the sashes, till, their screams silenced, and their hands burned off, they fell back into the seething caldron of flames. A woman was seen to drag herself to the corner of a window, and forcing her body half out till she -could breathe cooler air, she remained iv that position till her head was burned off. The building, which was totally destroyed, was insured. The fire began in a shed that contained 10 cords of wood, near the main building.