The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1908-03-05

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cept that | saw the flames shooting
| all about and the little children run.
ming down through them screaming.
/ Some fell at the rear entrance and
I 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" Herter was badly burn
ed about the head
Miss Catherine Weller, one of the
nine teachers in the school, lost her
/ life in 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 fire alarm
sounded she marched her pupils out
into the hall, thinking it was only a
fire drill. There the truth dawned up
on both teacher and pupils and con-
troll 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 Weller for
merly lived in Detroit and was edu-
Gated in Toledo. Miss Fisk, another
teacher, was taken out alive, but she
cannot live.
Burning through the cross supports
of the first floor, the flames passed up
ward until all three floors crashed into
a smsldering pile into the basement.
After the fire had practically burned
itself out the work of recovering the
bodies was begun by tiremen aid rail
road employees from the Lake Shore
shops. The railroad company turned
over one of its buildings near by to be
used as temporary morgue, and
thither the charred and broken little
bodies were removed as fast as they
| could he dug from the ruins. Within
five hours practically all had been re-
covered.
They were placed In rows in the
Lake Shore shop ldentlfications were
made only by means of clothing or
trinkets. The fire had swept away
nearly all resemblance TO human fea'
lures in the majority of instances. Dis
tracted parents soon began 80 gather,
and the work of identifying the black.
ened and mangled corpses began.
| The grewsome task Of taking out
the blackened torsos and bits of hui
| man remains was one of horror. A
line of rescuers was formed. backed
by half dozen ambulances. AS the
bodies were untangled from the debris
| they were passed along to the stretch
| ers and thence loaded in the ambu-
lances. Mercifully covered with blan.
kets, the pitiful sights were yelled
from the crowd of curious that stretch
ed about the entrance to the structure.
AS fast as load was obtained it
was driven away to the improvised
morgue, to be succeeded by another
within short time.
The sights of the human charnel
house caused the men delving into the
mass of burned flesh to hesitate. but
the work had to 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.
At the temporary morgue In the Lake
Shore shop the scenes became four
| fold In the intensity OF human suffer
ing as fathers, mothers. brothers and
sisters passed up and down the lines
formed Of 100 corpses. The first identi'
fication 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 her children's feet. And so
the disheartening work went on, accen-
| tuated now and then by Il 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 residences. In one of these
Mrs. Clark Sprung lived. Her little
boy. Alvon, aged seven, was pupil in
the second grade. When the fire start,
ed. the mother ran over to the school
and arrived when the first floor was a
mass of flames. At the window on that
floor she saw the face of her boy. He
recognized her and pleaded for help.
i Rushing across the street, Mrs
Sprung secured a stepladder and placed
1t against the window. Climbing I'D
she reached for her boy. She caught
him by the hair. It burned off In heI
hands, and the lad fell back into the
flames.
A Mrs. Kelley ran to the rear. hop
Ing to effect an entrance there ant
save her children. She was joined by
man whose name Is not known. and
the two of them tngged and pulled
| frantically at the door. They were
unable to move it in the slightest, ant
there was nothing at hand by which
they could hope to break it down. II
, utter despair of saving any of the chill
dreu they turned their attention to the
. windows, and by smashing some Of
these they managed to save few Of
the pupils.
. ''They could have saved many more,
said Mr.. Kelley, ''if the door had no
been locked. Nobody knows how many
of the children might have made thei
way out before my wife reached ther,
If the door had not been locked. Il
, half dozen men had been there whei
my wife and her companion arrived a
, the schoolhouse, perhaps they nigh
: have broken down the door, but tn,
, : two could do nothing, and the fame
spread so rapidly that it was all owe
. in few minutes"
Miss Ethel Rose, teacher on tn