HOSPITAL IN FLAMES.

From A. BEAUMONT. MILAN, Thursday.

Fire broke out last night towards midnight in the oldest and most famous charity hospital in Rome – that of Santo Spirito, where 800 patients were sheltered. Of these nineteen, according to this morning’s report, perished. The fire originated in the laundry rooms, which were deserted at that time, so the flames had time to spread to the Sala Plaiana, an empty ward. This explains why the danger was not immediately noticed by the hospital staff, there being nobody in that ward at midnight. Suddenly flames burst through the partitions of the Sala Viale, where patients with chronic maladies were in their beds. The attendants gave the alarm, and a panic followed among the unfortunate inmates, who dragged themselves from their beds. The attendants were too few in number to help the patients out immediately, and these having gathered all in one corner, the floor suddenly gave way, and more than twenty persons fell with the crumbling mass and were followed by sparks and bits of clothing and bedding which caught fire and smothered or burnt them to death. The medical staff and attendants meanwhile collected from all parts and tried their best to save the remainder, working under great difficulty, the electric wires being severed and current stopped, so that the entire hospital was in darkness, except the rooms nearest the fire, which were lit up with lurid flames. Panic spread in all the wards, and the stairs being inadequate or unsafe, most of the patients were hurriedly let down through the windows in sheets, their groans and appeals filling the darkness. The appearance of firemen with blazing torches in different wards added to the terror of many who were unable to move or help themselves, and who begged to be saved.

At two o’clock more than twenty fire engines were at work, and fire companies from all the surrounding quarters were helping in the work of rescue. The Mayor of Rome, the Prefect, and other authorities were immediately on the spot giving directions, and a vast crowd numbering thousands had by this time collected. The relatives of many of the inmates made desperate efforts to break through the cordons of the Royal Guards and Carabinieri.

It was towards three o’clock before the firemen could approach the ward where the fire first broke out and begun to carry away the carbonised bodies from under the débris of the collapsed floor.