The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1905-03-22

by one. and passed them to the res
cuers. Then the fire reached him and
he died.
Father O'Rourke's Heroic Work.
A woman who was entangled in a
shoe machine cried out that she was
dying and commanded the rescuers to
attend to others who might live. She
begged to be shot. Soon the flames
enveloped her. Among the first to ar
rive on the scene was Rev. James A.
O'Rourke, curate at st. Margaret's
Roman Catholic church near by. At
the risk of his life he removed seven
persons from the ruins before the fire
reached them and was returning for
the eighth time when he tainted from
the effects of the smoke and the
shock Father O'Rourke administered
the last rites of the church to many
of the sufferers.
Father O'Rourke said: PINNED be-
meath heavy pieces of machinery,
timbers and twisted coils of pipe,
were many, oh, so many poor men and
women, suffering terrible agonies.
In order to reach these imprisoned
sufferers we had to crawl through the
debris and with the aid of large tim
ber raised the wreckage which held
fast several men and women. In this
manner and by main strength we pull.
ed out seven employees.
by this time the flames were al
most upon us and we were about to
flee for safety when one poor fellow
begged that a last effort be made to
save him. Three of us grasped the
man by the shoulders and arms and
tugged and pulled until suddenly he
cried: MY God my leg is pulled Off
"a moment later, with our clothing
scorched, we were ordered away by
the chief of the fire department and
we were reluctantly compelled to
leave the poor man to his fate.
Just before leaving | saw at least
Is of the imprisoned sufferers, some
already suffering untold agonies from
the flames and others watching with
terror-stricken eyes the fate of their
companions, knowing that moment
or two would bring to them similar
suffering and then DEATH"
Many of the victims were parish.
toner's of st. Margarets Roman Cath.
olic church and with tear stained and
haggard faces women and children
besieged the rectory during the day,
pleading with the priests for informa-
tion about husband, father, sister or
brother, who failed to return home.
Little comfort could be given to these
people,.
At the Campello police station sim.
liar scenes were enacted. Early In
the day Mayor Keith, foreseeing the
confusion which would ensue, posted
notices in conspicuous places, request
ing all employees who had escaped to
go at once to the police station and
give their names These names were
imposted and around this list OF
names lowered throng of women
many hysterical with grief because the
list did not include a relative. Back
and forth from the ruins to the sta
tion house and from the station house
to the ruins, these griefstricken wo-
men filed in a never-ceasing process
sion, looking at the fragments of
flesh and bone as they were placed in
pine boxes and hurried away to the
morgue. Only in extremely rare
cases was there the slightest chance
OF Identification.
Many persons rushed into the ruins
and pulled out the injured at the i'm
minent danger of their own lives.
Fire Consumed Imprisoned Victims.
Members of the fire department
with ladders aided greatly in the work
of rescue, but their time for work was
short, for within brief interval fire
closed over the wreckage, and the
cries of the imprisoned were hushed.
In the meantime the fire was spread.
ing from the Grover factory. II
leaped across Calmar street to the 8.
story brick block at the corner of
Main street occupied as a hardware
store and storehouse, and then to
2-story wooden lodging house, a dwell.
ing house on Calmar street and small
all of which were destroyed.
The house to the north of the fac.
tory through which the exploded boiler
crashed was owned and occupied by
David W. Rockwell, the engineer in
charge of the boiler, who was among
the killed. Mrs. Rockwell, who wa,
sitting at the kitchen stove, had
escape from death, re-
ceiving many cuts from flying bits OF
timber
Crawling through the mass, Mrs.
Rockwell snatched UP her two chill
1ren, who were uninjufed, and started
Tor the home Of the nearest neighbor,
Mrs. Eta Hood She found that this
cottage had been rent asunder by the.
boiler, the head of which was buried
in the middle Of the structure. Miss
Ella Pratt, rs years old, who was
he only one in the house. was
down and stunned but re-
covered.
Not until afternoon was 1t possible
o begin search of the factory ruins.
Several charred and headless bodies
md the bones of others were recov-
,red near the boiler pit and were placed
n pine boxes and removed to a tenn
)orary morgue.
Mayor L ward II. Keith personally
the search and Medical
examiner A. Il. Paine viewed each !
Iody as 1t was takne out.