Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1899-12-28
LITTLE ONES PERISH.
ELEVEN CHILDREN BURN TO
DEATH At QUINCY. Ill.
Several More Fatally Injured i'm the
Flames FrightfuI Tragedy Occurs
While Rehearsing- Hundreds of Pu-
pile In st. Francis Parochial Building.

Eleven persons were burned to death,
eight others fatally burned and half q
dozen injured in the most narrowing dis
aster Of years in Quincy. ILL.,, at 3 o'clock
Friday afternoon.
While score of happy children were
on the stage in the auditorium Of st.
Francis Catholic school rehearsing for
a Christ<5as entertainment, the garments
of oae>o(Ff4e children came in contact
witAx burning gas jet. In an instant
the hApes sptEH over her. The little
ones scrkamed "a as they and the sis
tiers tAebgd zf&Acach Others assistance
the terASoE:tAf situation appalled, them
and paficf 1owed. The fire depart
ment hurriedeto the scene and the flames
were quickly extinguished,. but there re-
manned the task of taking out charred
bodies and of rescuing the little ones
who were lying in half-suffocated an
guish.
The dead are: Irena Freiburg, May
Wavering, Mary Althoff, Bernadina
Freund, Colletta Middendorf, Mary
Hickey, Wilhelmina Guttendorf, Olivia
Timpe, Addie Futterer, Josephine
Bohme, Margaret Warner.
In the hail at the time Of the calamity
there were between 500 and 600 pupils
of the school and a number of children
from Saint Aloysius' orphan asylum, near
by. They had been invited to attend
the dress rehearsal, which had begun
early in the afternoon and eight numbers
on the program had been given before
the tragedy occurred. The ninth num-
Der was tableau, "The Birth of Christ"
and every one of the little girls, ranging
from to IL years of age, who were to
take part in it is either dead or fatally
burned.
The girls were just preparing to take
their places on the stage, when Laurena
Menke, who was adjusting her mask,
came in contact with the gas jet in the
dressing room. In an instant she was
enveloped in flames and as she ran
screaming among the other girls their
clothing was set on fire.
The screams of the sisters and horror
stricken girls behind the curtains start
ed panic in the front part of the hall
and before any Of the girls whose cloth
ing had been set on fire had emerged
from the stage the Juvenile audience
was rushing pell nell down the stairs to
the street. Oscar Kaufman, 8 years old,
suffered nothing more than broken fin
ger. But for the fight against the flames
made by Father Andrew and the sisters
the list Of dead and injured would have
been much longer. Probably the sad
dest sight was that presented by little
Bernardino Freunde, who ran down the
stairs with nearly all of her clothing
burned off and threw herself into the
arms of a man, crying, Il am BERTHE
Freund," and fell lifeless to the floor.
The excitement inside the building was
soon intensified by the situation without.
Crowds congregated in an instant and
parents soon came searching with anx-
ious eyes for their little ones. The land
ing at the third floor was q combination
of hospital and morgue. Bodies charred
to crisp were lying there, side by side
with forms in which life still remained.
Father Andrew was seriously burned
about the hands. Prof. Musholt and
Sisters Theotama, Ludwiga, Redultha
and Ephren were also badly burned in
rescuing the children who ran through
the halls and around the building, shrek
ing and begging to be saved.
st. Francis school is where the men,
bers of the congregation of st. Francis
Catholic Church, one of the largest and
most fourishing in the city, educate their
1t is handsome new building
across the street from the imposing
church. In the rear of the church is the
st. Francis monastery, and in the block
adjoining is st. Francis Solames Col
lege, one of the largest of its kind in the
West. All of these institutions are To-
Gated in the northeast part of the city.