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Page 10
You will be sorry to learn that the whole of the government buildings on
Ellis Island have been destroyed by fire.
No one knows how the accident happened, but just after midnight a
watchman noticed smoke coming out of one of the rooms, and gave the
alarm of fire.
There were more than a hundred immigrants on the island, as well as a
large force of people to care for them. In addition to these people,
there were some fifty patients in the hospital. In all, there were two
hundred and thirteen people in the buildings when the fire started, but
the discipline was so perfect, and the employees of the Island were so
well trained, that not a single person was injured.
The patients from the hospital were removed from the wards in quick
time, taken on boats belonging to the Island, and brought to the Battery
without delay. The rest of the people were put in the tugs and the
various kinds of river craft that hurried down the Bay the moment the
fire was discovered.
Some anxiety was felt lest the papers and records of the Immigration
Bureau had been destroyed in the fire, but it was found that most of
them were in safes and had escaped injury.
New buildings will be put up as soon as possible; the work on them will
be begun without delay. This time, however, they will be built of brick
or stone, and not of wood.
* * * * *
Many of our friends have asked us whether Robinson's Crusoe's Island had
really been swallowed up by the sea, according to the report which was
given out, and which we mentioned on pages 243 and 290 of THE GREAT
ROUND WORLD.
To make absolutely sure of the matter, we wrote to Mr. James Dobbs,
United States Consul at Valparaiso, Chile.
He has sent us a very kind letter, which we copy for you here, and with
the letter a picture of one of the ports of the island (see
frontispiece).
You will be glad to know that the report was not true, and that
Crusoe's Island still rises out of the sea, just as it did in Crusoe's
day.
Here is Mr. Dobbs' letter:
CONSULATE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
VALPARAISO, CHILE, May 7, 1897.
EDITOR "GREAT ROUND WORLD":
Your letter of March 17th was received by last mail, and I take
pleasure in replying that there is not the slightest foundation for
the report that the Island of Juan Fernandez has been swallowed up
by the sea. During the month of April President Err�zuriz and his
staff made a trip of inspection on one of the Chilean men-of-war to
the island, and spent several days there. A passenger steamer also
made regular trips back and forth from this city during the past
summer (our winter), and the excursionists, upon returning, have
invariably expressed their enjoyment of the trip. You may depend
Robinson Crusoe's old home remains intact, and still inhabited by
goats. I enclose you a copy of the English paper here, containing a
cut of one of the little ports of the island, photographed by
Spencer & Co., of this city. Thanking you for the two copies of THE
GREAT ROUND WORLD, I am,
Very truly yours,
JAMES M. DOBBS,
United States Consul.
* * * * *
The latest news from Miles City tells us that the two hundred Indians
are still off the Reservation, and that those who remain under
Government control are unruly and hard to manage.
Settlers continue to bring their families into the city for protection.
The Indians are reported to be riding all over the country in small
parties, destroying everything in their line of march.
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