The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1908-01-16

Were Tangled Up In a Solid Mass
at Narrow Door - Rescuers Were
Unable to Disentansie Them-Many
Bodies So 6s6Iy Burned They May
Never BE dentihe6-Nssrly Every
body In 6oyertown Lest One or
More Relatives
Boyertown. Pa. Jan. 15.-The OIL
cial roll Of dead taken from the ruins
OF the Rhoads Opera House. where
Monday nights holocaust occurred.
number 167
The following is a list OF the known
dead:
Miss Edith Rhoads. Charles Hart
man. Newton Lichtel. Mrs. Emma Lich-
tel. Mr.. and Mrs. Shollenberger. Frank
Shollenberger. Harry Schaeffer and
wife. Clarence Miller. Reading: Miss
Hartman. daughter OF William Hart
man: Miss Hartman. daughter OF Frank
Hartman: Miss Leidy Leach. Daniel
Krauss. Mr.. and Mrs. Charles Nuss and
son. Harry Foreman and wife and two
daughters. Miss Foreman. sister of
Harry Foreman: Mr.. and Mrs. Daniel
Gable, Mrs. Johnson. Mr.. and Mrs
George Parsin. Florence Ettinger. Mrs
Henry Meyer. Mr.. and Mrs Herbert
Gottschall. wife of DR.. l. X. Francis
and Miss Francis. Mrs. Addison
Schwoyer. Amos Hartman. Miss
Grimm. daughter OF Gearge Grimm:
Ellen Gottschall. Rose Diamond. Laura
Rhoads. Blanche and Mable Rachel
!
Edna and Florence Meyer Nora
! Herbst. Hannah Haring. Anna Deem.
Mrs. Clouser. Lottie Bowman. LII.
lie P Fegely. Stella Meyer Fran.
els Meyer Miss Weber. daughter
OF Rev Weber: Mr.. and Mrs. James
Anderson. Mr.. and Mrs. Morris Ander-
son. Keely and Edna Boyer. Mrs. Har-
vey I,einbach. Maggie Lefevre. a sister
OF Mrs. Leinbach: Charles Mayer. Hi
ram Leidy. Irwin Klemrer. Mrs. George
p. Romig. Mrs, Henry Shaner and two
sons. Paul and Harry: Miss Sailie
Hartman. Mrs. Lillian Romig and son.
Miss Alice Gable. Warren Reed. AbrsS
ham Gable. MIR. and Mrs. Henry Wei
ser. Florence and Carrie Weand. Dr.
Frank r. Drummer. OF Eshbach: Laura
Cleaver, May Gever. Horace Leidy
wife and son. John Fritz. John Fritz
and daughter. Mrs. George Schaniey.
Charles Maurer. Stella Kulp Mrs
George Moore. William Rhoads and
daughter. Mrs. John Bicker and two
daughters: Robert Taggert. wife and
faughter; jeremiah Rhoads. OF swamp:
Fthree daughters OF DR.. Knipe: Ley
man Ziegler. Lottie Remick. Amos
Thomas. wife and child. Austin
Mensch. Mrs. Wallace Hoffman and
daughter: Annie Ritter. Elmer X.
Emrick. Mrs. Della Mayer. who had
charge OF the performance.
Whether any more bodies are buried
beneath the ruins cannot be positive
ly stated. but il is the belief OF those
who had charge Of the gruesome work
that all OF the dead have been re.
moved and that the total list OF the
victims will not go above 10. The
ratio Of women and girls 10 men and
boys Is about nine TO one.
Town Bowed Win Grief.
The inhabitants OF the little borough
in the Berks county hills are stepped
in grief The. calamity, terrible when
II is realized that the place has a pop
ulatiOn OF but $500. has paralyzed the
town and the people are going about
dazed. They scarcely realize what has
happened. and cannot believe that
loved ones friends or acQuaintances
were lost In the awful panic and fire
II is safe 70 say that everybody In the
place either lost one or more rela-
lives. or was intimately acquainted
I xugfh 90 n he T.
several cases whole families were
wiped out II ever a community was
truly in mourning II is the substantial
town of Boyertown.
II was almost daylight before the
flames were extingulshed and rescuers
were able 70 enter the ruins to remove
the dead. The morning was bitter
cold. and by the time the benumbed
and exhausted iremen began the task
OF disentangiing the mass of burned
beams and twisted iron the entire
ruins we're coated with ice and there
was danger Of the walls falling Cor
oner Strasser. Of Reading. had a de
tail of men ready to tag the bodies
and keep a record OF the description
of every corpse removed. The bodies
were so badly burned. however. that
there was little to describe them by.
= and Il is safe to say that not half the
victims will ever be Identified By
+ noon Tuesday the rescuers became
thoroughly exhausted from the cold
and hard work. and for a time the
q work came almost TO a standstill. For
> tunately the Philadelphia & Readinp
: Railway company sent w II. Keffer
! superintendent of the Reading divi
SION. to the scene to see what the
company could do, and Mr.. Keffer of
u fered the company's assistance t.
Coroner Strasser. Chick Burgess Koh
e Ter was unable to furnish men to help
and Coroner Strasser immediatel,
availed himself OF the railroad com
D pany's prefer.
Within an hour the company ha,
o two carloads of laborers and carper