The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1851-12-03

The alarm was given to the other rooms
on the same floor. and communicated 10
those Of the Principal of the school and his
assistants who occupied the third floor,
and it was generally believed by all that
the building was on fire, and accordingly
all rushed for the doors Of their respective
rooms. Mr., McNully Immediately placed
himself in front Of the door OF his room,
and forbade any Of his scholars TO leave,
and we hear that one Of the other teachers
did the m The children of the other
departments rushed out Of the doors OIL
their respective rooms, and down the stairs,
which were built in a spiral form. and
commencing on the ground floor was car.
ried up to the fourth story. The bannister
of this stair gave way about thirty feet
above the ground floor and precipitated
hundreds of the children to the tagging OIL
the first floor, killing and mangling a large
number.
The alarm spread. The fire bells tolled,
The Police Of the Ninth Ward (only a
hundred yards distant) rushed TO the spot;
the firemen were there in a moment. but il
was a very different thing from fire that
called for their services. When they frs
arrived. the children were still throwing
themselves down the stairways; a hundred
were piled in frightlul destruction at the
bottom: the very doorway was ~barricaded
with a pile Of dead and wounded.
Help was sent for; the police and fire.
men rushed up the stairs and forced the
frightened children back. stationed a guard
and then returned to save the wounded
and dying.
At this time the news began to spread,
and parents and friends came in breathless
haste to the place, and the heart-rending
scene which followed, battles description.
AS each l~ifeless or wounded body was
bourne to the Stalion.house, it would be
followed by a dense crowd of persons, all
striving 10 assure themselves that it was
not their relative, and when some distrac-
ted mother recognized the bleeding form
Of her beloved child, her shrieks of agony
were enough 10 move the stoutest heart to
fearful pity.
Another account, speaking Of the first
alarm Of fire, says:
Miss Whitney, the principal Of the Pri-
mary School, which was on the second
floor, opened the door to see what was the
matter; she was Immediately forced down
to the bottom Of the steps by the rush OF the
children, and had scarcely been there two
seconds before the railing by the side of
the steps began to give way.
After Miss Whitney had been forced
from the Primary School, the children took
the alarm, and forced their way from the
school rooms. Now a scene Of the most
horrible description presented itself. The
railing having given way, commencing at
the upright post at the bottom of the stair
case. the force which came against it made
il break from its fastenings from step to
step. until the whole length was broken
near half way up the staircase. The pres.
ure from behind still forced the children
forward. and they began 10 fall down the
pit between the circular stone steps. Many
OF them struck their heads against the
rough corners of the steps as they fell. and
in about two minutes the children we're ly.
ing at the bottom one on the top Of another,
10 the height offrom twelve TO fourteen feet,
in one confused mass.
During the time that this sad catasiro-
phe was occurring, information Of fire had
been carried to the police station, and the
fire bell was rung, which aroused the fire
department, and ladders were soon placed
at the windows Of the primary department.
Miss Clinton at this moment was told by
one Of the men on the ladder that the
school house was on fire, and she then
passed a large number Of the smallest
children through the window, and in do
ing so injured herself seriously in the shoul.
der.
The police officers and others by this
time had forced their way through the
crowd of children at the front door of the
school. and they saw that danger and
death was the dreadful position of hun.
dreds of poor children. The excitement
being still great, they commenced remov
ing the children one by one from their po-
sition, and soon the awful part of the ca
tastrophe manifested itself.
Many children were injured very badly,
but were alive. and numbers of others
were taken from the mass quite dead; some
from the effects Of the fall, and some from
suffocalion. About forty were taken out
quite dead, and one or two others died
Immediately after being released. The
bodies were taken to the police station,
and the news spread like wild-fre through
out the whole neighborhood. Thousands
OF persons rushed to the spot. and mothers
and fathers, frantic with grief. ran wildly
from place, to find their children One
poor woman went into the station house
and found two of her children dead, and
her cries and lamentations were the most
piteous that human ears have ever listened
to. One after another came to the police
1T