Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1908-03-12
AWFUL SCHOOL HOLOCAUST
NEAR CLEVELAND KILLS ITO
Building Housing Elementary Pupils in
the Suburb Of CoIlr1wood. O.. Burns.
Bringing Death to ChiIdren--
Rescue Work Is On.

ately with the three men who held
him. Finally they threw him to the
ground and sat on him. forcing his
great form down. n the ankle-deep mud.
The building was completely de-
stroyed, only the outside brick walls
remaining standing. The floors and
roof fell into the interior early in the
fire, making the rescue OF intact bodies
absolutely hopeless.
Fire Drill is Forgotten.
The school building was supposed
to be practically modern, although
erected three or four years ago. The
school children had been given fire
drills. and were supposed TO be In
training for just such an emergency
When the crucial moment arrived the
drill was forgotten and not the slight
est effort 10 effect an orderly or
| prompt escape availed.
Victims Practically incinerated.
As soon as firemen and volunteers
! could get close enough, attempts We're
made to pluck bodies from the death
, heaps at the doors. 1t was found that
the flames had practically incinerated
! the bodies. Firemen with rakes, forks
| and shoyels turned up blackened
| bones, little blackened skulls and
! masses of charred flesh, but bodies
! recognizable as such were no longer
to be found. A fearful stencil added
! TO the horror of the scene.
Miss Anna Moran, the principal OF
| the school. who escaped, says that the
! children made mad rush for the door
| as soon as the alarm Of fire was
! sounded, but were driven back by the
| choking smoke. Later the flames
! prevented the escape of many of them
| from the burning building.
County Coroner Burke Immediately
| after the fire said
The construction of the school
house was an outrage. The Railways
were narrow and there was practically
| but one mode of exit. The children
were caught like Eats inca trap"
Bodies Are Taken Out.
The ire had swept away nearly all
| resemblance to human features In the
majority of instances. Distracted par
ents soon began TO gather and the
work OF Identification OF the blackened
and mangled corpses began. The
grewsome task of taking out the black
ened torses and bits of human re-
mains was one of horror A line of
rescuers was formed, backed by ha,f
dozen ambulances. AS the bodies
were untangled from the debris they
were passed along 10 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 a load was obtained il was driven
! away to the improvised morgue to be
succeeded by another within short
time. The sights OF the human char
rel house caused the men delving into
! the mass of burned flesh TO hesitate,
| but the work had 10 be done and done
quickly, so their feelings had to be
| smothered for the time being as they
tenderly handled all that was mortal
of the little tots.
Bodies Numbered at Morgue.
Fathers. mothers, brothers and sis
! ters passed up and down the lines
! formed OF 10 corpses. To facilitate
J Identification the bodies were num-
bered 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 accompanied
now and then by piercing shrek or
plaintive moan as a loved one was
recognized by clothing or token, such
as ring or necklace. About the burned
schoolhouse there are but few resi-
dences. In one of these Mrs. Clark
| Sprung lived. Her little boy. Alvon,
aged seven. was n pupil in the second
! grade. When the fire started the
mother ran over to the school and ar.
rived when the first floor was mass
of flames. At window on that floor
she saw the face of her boy. He recog.
nized her and pleaded for help. Rush.
| ing across the street Mrs. Sprung
secured stepladder and placed 1t
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 in special session at
the temporary morgue late Wednes-
day afternoon to discuss the calamity,
while the coroner prepared to hold an
inquest to determine the cause and
place the responsibility for the fire.