The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1904-09-27
CRIES
of EntOm bed.
Children
In the Vault Near
Cincinnati
IWERE PHIfUL.
mime PeriShed i'm the
| Miry Filth.
Teachers Rushed to Rescue
and Saved Many
lives.

Cincinnati. Sept 24.-School closed
yesterday at Pleasant Ridge, seven
miles north of Cincinnati, with the
first quarter Of the session, when nine,
possibly ten, school girls were suffo,
Gated in a vault during the forenoon
recess, and a score of others narrowly
escaped the same horrible death.
During the rest of the day this suburb
was wild with mingled excitement.
sorrow and Indignation, and last night
those openly charging the calamity to
official negligence are making serious
threats. among them being many wo-
men. The dead:
Loretta Finke, aged II; Emma Stein
kamp. aged 13: Amelia Hesse, aged 9;
Martha Buhr. aged s: Edna Thee.
aged 10; Hazel Glover, aged s: Fausta
Card. aged IL; CHAIRMAN Card, aged
9; Lillian Witham, aged 13.
The large building is used for q
high school as well as for all lower
departments. All OF the victims were
from primary grades. On opposite
| sides Of the spacious ground In the
rear OF the school building are two
outhouses. When recess was given
about 30 OF the smaller girls were In
the Clubhouse assigned to them, when
suddenly the floor gave way, precipi-
| tating them into the vault below. This
vault is IL feet deep and walled up
with stone like a well. There was In
Il four feet of water that would would
have been over the heads Of the chill.
dren falling in II singly. but those
falling foremost filled up the vaul,
partially. so that others were not en-
tirely submerged. The girls fell eigh,
feet from the flooring. and the strug.
| giles of those who were on top kept al
least nine under meath until they were
dead. The frame sheds of these vaults
were about 20 feet square without
windows, and only one narrow door.
way. so that only one girl escaped
from the door. She ran into the schoo
building and told the teachers what
had happened. The principal and
other teachers rushed to the rescue
The screams OF the girls were dimly
heard while within the vault, and
they were most of them unable e
speak when rescued. The teacher.
were soon reinforced by the entire
population of the town, the police ant
fire department rendering most ef
fective service. The hremen drained
the vault so as to be sure that the res
cue was complete.
| Those engaged in the rescue worl
recite the most ghastly experiences
Even those rescued alive presented
such an appearance as to make man.
in the crowd of spectators faint, bu
the sight within the vault beggared al
description.
Among the first to come to the re
lief Of Principal Simmerman wer'
Rev. I. d. Lambert, of the Presbyteri
an church, and Frank 8. Johnson, o
the Herald and Presbyter, Of Cincin
natl.
James Smith, aged IA. one OF tn
pupils, climbed to the roof OF tn
school house. united the flag and ral
, to the vault BY means of this I'm
promptu rope several were rescued
Marshal Wood had great difficulty 4
keeping the crowd back and from In
terfering with the rescuers. The i'm
portunities of friends. especially of tn
weeping mothers. were almost beyon
the control of the officers.