The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-03-06
esn ssonn LESSON.

t.
 To read the sickening horrors of that schooihouse burning In ohio is almost enough to make one wonder if matters are rightly ordered in this world. The spectacle of scores of innocent and helpless children. vainly struggling to escape from the fiery deathtrap. ana at last being consumed like fuel in a fur mace. seems cruelty wrong from hu- man and humane point of view. To claim that it was punishment and warning to those who failed to provide suitable means of escape does not help matters any. for if that is true 1t doesn't change the fact that the vic tims were not to blame for the wrong. i, if wrong there was.
 We read of great battles in which hundreds and thousands go down to their graves, and we can regret, con- demn and phiiosophize over mans in- humanity to man." but we pass it by with the reflection that the men are themselves largely to blame for it. We can read of great earthquakes. tidal waves volcanic sruptions and the like in which many are killed. but these are catastrophes of nature and man can do little or nothing to ameiiorate or prevent them. But to think of all these little ones caught like rats in a trap. burning to death in full view of gar ents and other loved ones who are powerless to aid them. Is a far differ- ent and more narrowing experience. The ways of Providence gre inscruta- bls and man cannot understand them. The decrees of Fate are mysterious and immutable and beyond human power .O set aside or escape.
 In the accounts of this latest horror there is something tangible to com ment on, and some one to nx the blame on. but alasi in this. as in various oth- CT occasions of like nature. the knowi- edge comes too late to prevent the har- vest of death. and the punishment. if any is ever awarded. will not atone for all the suffering and sorrow that has occurred.
 And yet. in this. as in many similar occurrences. we find when it Is too late. that human carelessness or indiffer- ence was responsible. We are told that means of escape from the building were totally inadequate and that the fire ap- paratus was ineffective. It Is the old story so often told. Was not some one to blame for the crowding of 800 chill drsn into a two-story house without providing ample means of escape in an emergency Was not some one to blame for the fact that there were not engines or water to extinguish the flames? Was not some one at fault for the defective furnace7 Surely we can- not lay the blame for ali these inefa- ciencies upon Providence or fate. If this narrowing catastrophe. after all. should or could be the means of preventing future occurrences of sin- liar nature there would be some con- solation In the thought that these in- nocent little ones were sacrificed to teach 6 needed and useful lesson. but we have little hope that it win have any lasting effect. School houses and other public buildings which are nttle better than death traps win continue | to be crowded with possible victims. | Defective furnaces will be permitted to remain in use until the natural result follows. Inadequate fire apparatus will remain in use and fan to save human life. People all over the country win read of this dreadful affair and then settle down into their usual apathy and indifference until there Is 6 repe- tition Of the horror. Then there will be an outcry. perhaps an investigation. and possibly some one may be punish- ed, but none of that will restore the | lost lives or alleviate the sorrows of the bereaved ones. Tn this. as in so many other affairs. prevention is far better than cure. It would be well if the sufferings of those helpless inno- cents would be a lesson that would be needed and acted upon, Aad that would as far as human skill and forethought can accomplish it, save humanity from future horrors like this latest one. Sometimes good comes out of evil and if it does 50 in this instance the deaths of the children will not have been altogether in vain.