A Sad Story.
A few days ago, a house in North Woodstock (Conn.) was destroyed by fire, and four children were burnt to death. The Windham County Telegraph furnishes the following particulars:
About four o’clock in the morning Mr. Phillips, the tenant of the house; discovered everything in flames, and the first impulse led him and his wife, forgetful of everything else, to rush into the street. The thought passed through his brain on the instant he had attained safety for himself, to see if his children, four in number, who slept in the second story, were safe, and with a parent’s fondness he leaped up the stairs, but, alas, too late. Three of the little ones were past the help of man, and the fourth so badly burned as to die in a short time. Mr. Phillips was himself so burned by the flames as to lose all power of sight; his eyes were almost literally burned out, and he is suffering from other effects of this awful catastrophe. Mr. Phillips is an Englishman, and has been very unfortunate hitherto. His family originally consisted of seven children, three of whom died by starvation and sickness in the Atlantic voyage, while the other four were reserved for a latter and even more horrible death.
Source: The San Antonio Ledger, San Antonio, Texas, Thursday, May 1, 1851; Pg. 1, Column 3
