Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-05
TOTS PERISH
IN RED PYRE
SCORES BURNED AND CRUSHED
IN AWFUL HOLOCAUST
HEARTRENpINe SCENES ADD TO
HORROR OF PANIC
One Hundred and Seventy Chlidren
Meet Death In Roaring He'll of
Flames as Parents Fight
to Save Lives
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as a load was obtained it was driven
away to the improvised morgue.
At the temporary morgue in the Lake
Shore shops the scenes became four
fold horrible in the intensity of human
suffering, as fathers, mothers, brothers
and sisters passed up and down the
lines formed of over 100 coipses.
To facilitate Identification the bodies
were numbered as they were received
at the morgue. The first identlf1catlon
was made by the mother of Nels ana
Tommy Thompson, aged and years
respectively. The heads and arms had
been burned from both bodies, but the
mother recognized the shoes on thelr
feet.
And SO the dsheartening work went
on accentuated now and then by
piercing shrek or plaintive moan as
a loved one was recognized by clothes'
or token, such as ring or necklace
About the burned school house there
are but few residences. In one OF
these Mrs. Clark Sprung lived. Her
little boy, Alvon, aged 7, was a pupll
in the second grade.
Horror Piled on Horror
When the fire started the mother ran
over TO IHe SElOOi cAilN 49,
the first floor was mass of flames. AT
window on that floor she saw the
face of her boy. He recognized her
and pleaded for help.
Rushing across the street Mrs.
Sprung secured a step-ladder and
placed it against the window.
Climbing up, she reached for her boy:
She caught him by the hair. 1t burned
off in her hands and the lad fell back
into the flames.
Desolation unspeakable hangs over
the vicinity of the school and the whole
village of Collinwood. The school
board met i'm special session at the
temporary morgue late this afternoon
to discuss the calamity, while the cor
oner prepared to hold an inquest 10
determine the cause and place the re-
sponsibility for the fire
The statement that the back door of
the building was locked is made by
Walter c. Kelley. editor of the sport
ihg department of the Cleveland Lead
er. two of whose children were killed.
AS soon as the alarm was given Mrs.
Kelley ran from her home. not far
from the school, to the burning build
ing.
The front portion of the structure
was a mass of flames, and frenzled by
the screams of the frightened and dy-
ing Cnlldren WHICH ISdtlbu lici ce0 -
from the death trap at the foot of the
first fight of stairs and behind the
closed door, Mrs. Kelley ran to the
rear, hoping to effect an entrance there
and save her children.
Two Fail to Open Door
She was joined by q mal whose name
is not known and the two of them
tugged and pulled frantically at the
door.
They were unable TO move it in the
slightest and there was nothing at
hand by which they could hope to
break it down.
In utter despair of saving any of
the children, they turned their atten-
ton to the windows and by smashing
some of these thcy managed to save a
few of the pupils.
"They could have saved many more,
said Mr. Kelley tonight 'if the door
had not been locked. Nobody knows
how many of the children might have
made their way out before my wife
reached there if the door had not been
locked. If half q dozen men had been
there when my wife and her COM
panion arrived at the school house, per-
haps they might have broken down
the door, hut the two could. do moth
ing and the flames spread SO rapidly
that il was all over in a few minutes"
The suburb of Collinwood contains
about 5000 people. and within half an
hour after the outbreak of the fire
nearly every one of them was gath
cred around the blazing ruins of the
school house, hundreds of parents
fighting frantically with the police
men and flremen who were busily en-
gagged in saving the lives of the chill
dren caught i'm the burning building
and doing their hest TO extinguish the
fire.
Unable TO Handle Crowd
The police were utterly unable
through lack of numbers to keep away
tho crowd that pressed upon them, and
the situation soon became so serious
that a number of the more cool-headed
men in the throng took II upon them
selves to aid in fighting back the
crowd, while tho others helped the
fIremen and the police
Among the latter was Walter Upton.
who reached the building shortly after
the front door had caved in and dis
closed to the horror stricken crowd the
scenes that had been enacted there.
Just in front of Upton's eyes was his
only 1O-year-old daughter. helpless in
the crowd, badly burned and trampled
upon, but still alive
The fire was close upon her. and if
she could not be saved at once she
could not be saved at all.
Upton Sprang to help her, and with
all his strength sought to tear her
from the weight that was pressing her
down and from the flames which were
creeping close.
Although he worked with the desper-
alton of despair. his strength was un-
equal to the task. He fought on until
his clothing was partly burned from
him and the skin of his face and hands
was scorched black. Other men at
tempted to induce him to move. but