The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-06
Death Roll h Co|IinWood Dis- aster Numbers One Hun-
 dred and Sixy-four
MANY BODIES WILL
 NEVER BE IDENTIFIED
Burial of the Dead Is Now the Prob- lem Confronting the Authorities of the Village, and Under
 takers Are Rushed.

Cleveland, O., March 5.-Twenty-four
 hours after the destruction which swept
 into eternity approximately one-third of
 the school children of North Collinwood,
 the death roll numbered 164 Of these .S7
 had been identified at the Lake Shore
 morgue, while 27 bodies remain there in
 condition of mutilaton, probably for
 ever beyond the chance of being recog- nized. The work of digging in the ruins
 of the Lakeview school house in further
 search for remnants of children still miss
 ing began with the break of day. Dawn
 found mothers and fathers waiting about the fire-ruined building after having spent
 the night in an effort to find their chill
 dren's remains at the temporary morgue.
 But little was brought forth during, the
 day that would satisfy their longings
 and it is believed tonight that all the
 bodies that can be removed from the ruins have been taken out.
 Burial of the dead is the burden now confronting those In authority in the lit
 tie village. Arrangements for the funerals
 of the victims were discussed tonight at
 a meeting attended by the Mayor of l Cleveland, members of the Board of Edu- cation, the clergy and undertakers.
 The burial day was fixed for Monday. i The interments will be individual, and not l concerted, except the unidentified. and
 those too poor to pay the expenses of I funerals.
 Tonight the work of removing the den-
 tified bodies to their former homes was
 completed. and the undertakers set to
 work to prepare for the interments on
 the morrow. In the homes of the afflicted
 citizens of the villages the weeping pa- rents were sustained by the presence of visiting nurses and women who volun- teered to lend such comfort as lay with
 in their power.
 Relief conamlttee.sir--s Il The appointment of a relief committee
 by the Collinwood Board of Trade and
 Town Council today is also designed to
 care for the bodies of the unidentified
 dead as we'll as assisting the bereayed
 parents. Should any parent desire to un- dertake the interment of one of the un-
 recognized bundles of human flesh and
 bones, believing 1t may be his or her child, they will be permitted so to do. The remainder of the bodies will be laid side by side in the cemetery. In an effort to fix the cause of the holocaust, various in- yestgations were set uncer way today. Coroner Burke issued s,'bpoenas for the seven surviving teacher f the Lakeview school. The inquest v egun this morn- ing, when number itnesses were eX- amined, without, R = CT, developing any testimony that was beyond mere opinion. An investigation conducted by the Col lJinwood school board, which lasted far Into the night, at which a number or survivors of the horror told their stories, I brought forth these facts:
 Facts Developed.
 ..That one of the inner doors at the N west entrance of the school was closed \ and fastened while children were piling up against it in the passage; wing part,- lItions in the vestibule narrowed the exit 3lby at least three feet. The flames came T lfrst. from a closet below the stairway, I at the east entrance; the closet contained | lime and sawdust; three little girls had \ been found hiding in play in the closet lac r1ier in the morning. That there was hut one fire escape, and that its use never ! was taught as part of the fire drill. 1 Survivors among the teachers estimate that only two or three minutes passed be- tween the time of the alarm until all H escape was cut off. The building was a fair sample of the kind of school construc- \ tion in use in small towns The halls and st tairWays were enclosed between interior l brick walls, forming huge fue through I which the flames shot up with great i kapidity.
  II the doors opened inward or outward, Fire { Marshals Brocket and Feigenbaum exam El ined the doorways today and stated later A that they were convinced that they opened H outward Whether they were locked they Y have not been able to determine. I They have testimony on both sides. Janitor Herter still insists that the doors were open.
 Cleveland Schools Closed. The Board of Education of the city of \ Cleveland tonight ordered all city schools Il closed tomorrow and that flags be half II nasted on all buildings.
 While thoroughly sympathizing with the II misfortune of the village of Collinwood II in her time of trial the board desires to Il have corrected an impression that 1t in tlhny way is connected with a responsbil- /lIty for the school management of Collin wood. Neither has the city government Xlbny authority. Collinwood, while recent XIly voting annexation to Cleveland, is a T municipal entity, having its own govern Xlhental functions of all kinds.
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