Editorial Note:
May Bragdon's letter to
Trudy about the
Orphan Asylum
fire, date : January 10,
1901. “…a little fellow about seven years
old who did exactly the same thing. The children all seemed very cool and manageable not a bit panic-y.
The third little boy at the window was afraid and ran back—covering his face and came like a streak down
three flights of stairs so dense with smoke no one else thought of attempting it. That was the trouble—the
main part and east wing were not burnt at all but were so full of smoke immediately that several were suffocated—two
little boys we worked over that were probably dead when they were brought in—and even
the nursery bedding—worst of which was brought to our house—was black with smoke tho’…”