The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1908-03-06
A HUNDRED AND SXTYHVE CHILDREN
CRENATED IN BURNING SCHOOL HOUSE


ksrned by the fire. and trampled into
things of horror told the tale as well
as anybody need to- know It.
Jantor Herter's story.
Various and unconfrmed statements
are made as to the cause of the fire
and also that the doors of the building
had been locked at the front entrance,
while but one door OF the rear entry
was unfastened. The janitor, Fritz
Herter. himself bereaved of three chill.
dren, says that the doors were open,
according to custom. At any rate the
| congestion OF fleeing children In the
| hallway below effectually barred the
| way, and the little ones went to their
| death totally unable to evade the
| flames. Nearly all the children were
| killed in the mass at the first floor
door, which finally was opened by men
| from the Lake Shore railway shops.
| who hurried to the scene. A wall OF
tame had formed across 1t and most
of the children already were dead by
tho time the doors were swung open.
Janitor Herter could remember little
OF what happened after the Are start.
ed. IL was sweeping In the basement"
he said, when l looked up and saw q
wisp OF smoke curling out from be.
meath the front stairway. l ran to
the Are alarm and pulled the gong
that sounde, throughout the building.
Then ran first to the front and then
to the rear doors. cannot remem-
Der what happened next, except that
saw the flames shooting all about and
the little children running through
them screaming. Some fell at the rear
entrance and others stumbled over
them. saw my little Helen among
them. tried to pull her out, but the
flames drove me back. had to leave
my little child to die"
Teacher Loses Hor Life.
Miss Catherine Weller, one of the
nine teachers in the school, lost her
life in a vain effort to marshal the
pupils of her class and lead them to
safety. She died in the crush at the
rear door. Her room was on the sec.
ond floor and when the Are alarm
sounded, she marched her pupils out
into the hall, thinking 1t was only
fire drill. There the truth dawned
upon both teacher and pupils, and
control was lost. The children. In their
frenzy. plunged into the struggling
mass ahead of them. Miss Weller at
tempted to stem the rush, but went
down under it, and her body was
found an hour later piled high with
those of her pupils. Miss Fisk, an,
other teacher, was taken out alive.
but she cannot live.
Burn!ls through .hc cross SuppoTtc
Of the first floor, the flames passed
upward until all three floors crashed
into a smoldering pile in the base.
ment. at
Work of Rescue Begun.
After the fire had practically burned
Itself out, the work of rescuing the
bodies was begun by nremen and rail.
road employees from the Lake Shore
shops. The railroad company turned
over one Of its buildings nearby to
be used as temporary morgue and
thither the charred and broken little
bodies were removed as fast as they
could be dug from the ruins. Within
five hours practically all had been
recovered. They were placed in rows
In the Lake Shore shop. Identified.
lions were made only by means Of
clothing or trinkets. The fire had
swept away nearly all resemblance to
human features in the majority of In.
stances.
The grewsome task of taking out the
blackened corpses and bits of human
| inc e A linz %
rescuevs was formed, backed by half
dozen ambuances. AS the bodies
were untangled from the debris they
were passed along to the stretchers
and thence loaded in the ambulances.
Mercifully covered with blankets, the
pitiful sights were yelled from the
crowd Of curious that stretched about
the entrance to the structure. AS fast
as load was obtained it was driven
away to the improvised morgue.
Work of Identification.
At the temporary morgue in the
Lake Shore shop the scenes became
fourfold in the intensity OF human suf.
fering as fathers, mothers, brothers
and sisters passed up and down the
lines formed OF 1863 corpses. To faCil-
itate identification the bodies were
numbered as they were received at
the morgue. The first Identification
was made by the mother of Nels and
Tommy Thompson, aged six and nine
years respectively. The heads and
arms had been burned from both
bodies, but the mother recognized the
shoes on their feet. And so the dis.
heartening work went on, accumulated
now and then by a piercing shrek or
plaintiye moan as a loved one was
recognized by clothing or token, such
as ring or necklace.
List of Known Dead.
Miss Catherine Weller, Henry
Shultz, John Rochinsky, William NJ.
Kanowsky, Henry Lodge. Dorothy
Hart Clayton Bell, Wilfred Cook.
Irene Davis, Gretchen Dorm, Nels
| ThpmnSOn ThOmac ThoponSOn pnbart