We got the remainder of the children off to various hospitable houses,
except the older boys, who worked all night as well as any one. It was
absolutely inspiring to see the way this entire township turned out and
helped. People who haven't appeared to know that the asylum existed came
in the middle of the night and put their whole houses at our disposal.
They took the children in, gave them hot baths and hot soup, and tucked
them into bed. And so far as I can make out, not one of my one hundred
and seven chicks is any the worse for hopping about on drenched floors
in their bare feet, not even the whooping cough cases.
It was broad daylight before the fire was sufficiently under control
to let us know just what we had saved. I will report that my wing is
entirely intact, though a little smoky, and the main corridor is pretty
nearly all right up to the center staircase; after that everything is
charred and drenched. The east wing is a blackened, roofless shell.
Your hated Ward F, dear Judy, is gone forever. I wish that you could
obliterate it from your mind as absolutely as it is obliterated from the
earth. Both in substance and in spirit the old John Grier is done for.
I must tell you something funny. I never saw so many funny things in my
life as happened through that night. When everybody there was in extreme
negligee, most of the men in pajamas and ulsters, and all of them
without collars, the Hon. Cyrus Wykoff put in a tardy appearance,
arrayed as for an afternoon tea. He wore a pearl scarf pin and white
spats! But he really was extremely helpful. He put his entire house
at our disposal, and I turned over to him Miss Snaith in a state of
hysterics; and her nerves so fully occupied him that he didn't get in
our way the whole night through.
I can't write any more details now; I've never been so rushed in the
whole of my life. I'll just assure you that there's no slightest reason
for you to cut your trip short. Five trustees were on the spot early
Saturday morning, and we are all working like mad to get affairs into
some semblance of order. Our asylum at the present moment is scattered
over the entire township; but don't be unduly anxious. We know where
all the children are. None of them is permanently mislaid. I didn't know
that perfect strangers could be so kind. My opinion of the human race
has gone up.