The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-12-23
The Dead:

dozen others were burned more or less
severely.
The Dead:
Irena Frieberg.
May Wavering.
Mary Althoff.
Bernadino Freund.
Colletta Middendorf.
Mary Hickey.
Wilheimina Cuttendorf.
Olivia TimDe
Addie Eutterer
Josephine Bohne.
Margaret Warner.
All these are between 9 and IL years
old. Helen Zebbing and several other
teachers, Father Nicholas and Profess
sor Mushold were painfully burned in
trying to save the children.
The fire started in a little dressing
room Three or four little girls were
there dressing for the rehearsal and
laughing gaily among themselves. A
dozen others were grouped in the wings
of the stage near the foot OF the stairs
descending from the dressing room
The girls in the dressing room had
nearly completed their costumes when
one of them burshed against the gas
jet, but which child is was will never
be known A touch of the flame was
sufficient and in an instant her dress
blaze.
Spread Fire to Others.
She screamed and ran out Of the
room, spreading the fire to the others
as she ran. One of~the girls with dress
in blaze jumped out of small WIN
dow into the stairs leading to the
stage and down the stairs. A flaming
torch she was. as she almost fell down
the stairs and rushed into the groups
of children standing in the wings.
They were all clad like her. in fancy
costumes of cotton, lace and silk. and
the fire spread with Incredible rapidity
from one TO the other. There were
fourteen children in the cast of the
Christmas entertainment, and few
escaped 1t was all over in ten mini
utes, and in that time four persisted,
seven were fatally burned and others
more or less severely burned
The children were panic stricken and
rushed this way ard that screaming
with pain. But the agony was brief:
Only a few minutes and then four OF
them sank to the floor dead. Others
fell. too. but they still lived, suffering
great agony.
The school hall was filed with chill
dren and many would have been killed
in the panic which followed had it not
been for the prompt efforts of the
teachers and sisters who were In
charge of the entertainment and were
present. The children rushed for the
doors. but prompt efforts quieted them
and no one was hurt in the rush.
Crazed With Fright and Pain.
Frank Mushold. a teacher of the
school was standing at the foot OF the
stairs from the dressing room when he
heard the cry of FIRE and. turning
to where il came from, saw the flash
of flame in the dressing room. He was
half way up the stairs at one bound
when he met a child rushing and tum-
bling down. a mass of flame from head
TO foot. Tearing off his coat he threw
il around the blazing child, and en-
deavored TO extinguish the flames, but
crazed by pain and fright, she jumped
out of his arms and rushed on down
past him. still wrapped in his coat, into
the group of other children standing
about in the wings of the stage.
The shriekS and screams OF the IN
jured were agonizing. The little ones
lay helpless and impotent on the floor
and writhed about in their agony. The
dead were charred in most cases be
yond recognition The home of peaceful
pleasure had in an instant become
charnel house.
Frenzy of Parents.
The doctors hurried about on their
missions of mercy, seeking to supply
soothing lotions to those who were still
alive. and seeking also to cover the
charred bodies of the dead with blan-
kets or other covering. The excitement
inside the building was soon intensi-
fed by the situation without. The
crowds congregated in an instant and
parents soon came searching ANXIOUS
iy for their little ones. The landing at
the third floor was a combination of
hospital and morgue.
All telephone lines in the neighbor-
hood were in service summoning sur
geons, and in few moments nearly all
the doctors in town were on hand. Be
sides the many patients within the
smoke stained walls, there were dozens
of fainting and heart-broken women
without.