Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1904-01-07
GOLDSBORO N. c.. THURSDAY JANUARY 7 1904.

1 ~
became greater and greater and
c'amored more insistently Tor "d-
| miitance.
Men ciutched at the sieeves OF
stold policemen and begged that
they might be allowed to go in. One
| woman dropped TO her knees and
! "led after the sergeant, who had
turned away to avoid her entreaties.
Others walked up and down the
street, wailing and moaning in their
| agony. The strain on the nerves of
the police became unbearable, and
at 1870 O'Clock the Officer in charge
Of the detail of twenty demanded
additional men. Fifteen patrolInen
sere sent to him, and with their ar
rival the others dropped back to
rest. Inside the mo que silent men
were passing among the thick rows
of dead, seeking TO identify them
and to tabulate descriptions of those
upon whose bodies no identifying
mark could be found.
AT the other morgues conditions
were equally cruel. The crowds beat
against the police guards, muttering
futile excuses to be allowed to enter.
They were pushed back again, dazed
and desperate. Many of those who
watched the Sufferers declared that
often the police were unnecessarily
harsh and unfeeling in their treat
stneut of the people.
In the second gallery, seen by the
light CT fire!nan's lantern, two
rigid figures sat erect in the east side
Of the front row. The horror look
was On their faces. But they had
not moved. The mans arm was
stretched in front of the woman, as
# he had prevented her from rising
e.liG osl.fF1 Z e II fire rtssfT Ton the door.
;;harfed opera glasses were in her
burned hau!s. These We're the last
bodies to be taken from the theatre.
A WHITED sEPULCHRE.
Though serene without the inter-
ior of the theatre marked it as a
true whited sepulchre. Upon the
marble staIrcases at the left and
right within were the mess and con-
fusion of the grim march of the bear
.rs Of the dead Among the thous-
or,I- nf hut nF hriI{TnpfJxv
glass, shattered in the fight against
the flames, lay many scorched pieces
Of clothing and occasional fragments
If charred bodies. From the upper
galleries the view seemed a remind
er Of burned out volcano crater.
In saloon near the theatre was
being guarded huge pile of gar
ments and furs gathered up in the
theatre after the fire. Five bushel
baskets we're filled with the purses,
gloves and hankerchief5 of the flee
ing, terror-stricken women. Two bar,
reIs were needed to hold the over
shoes and shoes found.
The greatest center of excitement
:e,-day was not the theatre, but Rol-
ston's morgue. All of the morgues
were surrounded, but at Rolston's
where more bodies of the dead were
taken than to any other, the. scenes
# anguish were the worst. The po-
ice stationed there could not begin
to handle the crowds and extra de-
tails were hurried to the beseiged
morgua On a. lesser scale the same
fearful siege was in progress at the
various other morgues.
GHOULS REAP A HARVEST.
Immediately after the fire ghoul-
ish thieves reaped a harvest They
succeeded in passing the fre lines
by sfalnming grief and telling the
police they wished to search for bod
les ofrelatives. Inside the theatre
the floors were streWn with purses,
watches and pieces of jewelry which
the people had lost or thrown away
in the wild scramble for their lives.
The ghouls plundered the purses
and stuffed their pockets with the
jewels. They snatched rings from
charred fingers, in some instances
| breaking off the fingers. They tore
ear drops from the ears of patrician
women and filched the watches out
! Of their pockets.