The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1908-05-22
THE FIRE AT HOWARD ACADEMY
(Contrihutedl

(CO1tributedD
horrible panic seized the large
crowd that had assembled in the al
ditOrium % Howard Academy Thur
day night The occasion for the gait
ering was the graduation exercise.
An audience, approximatng three o.
four hundred, sat attentively u3til a
large lamp, which had been UnfortE-
nately hung to the ceiling by a Irvine
string, dropped right down in the cen
ter Of the room. The oil ran over the
floor, the blaze and sitting oder, the
screaming women and children, eX-
cited and rapidly retreating men. cre-
ated a panic, the like OF which has
never occurred in Ocala before. WO-
men and children jumped from the
windows of the second floor 10 the
ground, and others piteOusly cried in
frenzy as they were crushed by the
surging crowd. At the tine of the ac-
cident only one 3-fOOt dOo- was open
TO the one stairway, which leads L.
the ground. The other door that OF
fers an exit to the same tsaiTway had
been locked. Ii was soon broken open
and the south half of the audience that
had not escaped in some other man
ner rushed through il to the stairs.
Because o. the packed house the aisles
could not be used. Over the tops o.
the wooden desks many almost flew
TO corners of safety. Two or three
women who were right at the fire
tried at first to knock it out with their
thin shawls, but the unequal tight was
wisely abandoned, and the blaze was
left to ilare up, lighting the house il
such manner as to cause all to think
that the building was doomed. The
benches were rapidly catching. and
In few seconds more the fire would
have been in control had not Prof.
Wiley, principal of the Fessenden
Academy, succeeded in throwing
desks out Of the path leading TO the
IRE, and then with the assistance Of
two or three others covered the main
part Of the blaze with a large wooden
art square that was on the stage.
Soon other rugs were thrown over the
desks that had caught, and other
desks were thrown back to make
room for the fire fighters.
Prof. Mccall. the principal of How
ard Academy, had introduced Prof.
Wiley, who was asked to make a
short address. He had scarcely fin
ished his first sentence when the
lamp fell However. Prof. Wiley was
like 'the boy on the burning deck
the panic Of others did ont move him.
One Of the Fessenden Academy stu
dents, who has been trained in the
fire drills at that place, remained also
and helped his teacher to smother the
flames.
II is miraculous that more were not
manned for life. As il was the soft
ground beneath saved many a broken
bone. If both doors leading down the
stairway at first had been open many
might have been crushed to death in
the hall below. Bad as it was, the
unfortunate affair seems to have been
handled very well. considering that
man is the most panicky of all ami
mails.
F. p. GadsOn's wife was hurt by the
falling lamp. She barely escaped be-
ing burned TO death.
Matilda Quarterman jumped from
the window and broke her leg.
Rosa Pinder was speeches. when.
removed last night. 1t was thought
last night that she was so seriously
hurt internally that her recovery
would be doubtful
Dozens Of little children took the
leap and were fortunate in sustaining
no injuries other than the heavy Jar
which a twenty-fOOt fall gives.
Fire escapes. new stairways, abuu-
dance Of fire extinguishers. wide
aisles, limited numbers in rooms, and
no more packed houses are some of
the lessons which such panics teach.
NOTABLE EVENTS