The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1908-03-13
DEADLY I1Oi O-AUST IN
SCHOOL HOUSE.
ENTRAPPED BY FLAMES
And Exits Locked, Close to
200 Panic Stricken Chill
dren are Mangled Into
Shapeless Forms.

up against doors that opened inward
between 100 and ITO children in the
town OF North co.linwood, a suburb
of Cleveland, Ohio, Wednesday, were
killed by fire, by smoke and beneath
the grinding heels Of panic-strick-
en- playmates The awful tragedy oc-
Cured at 10 o'clock "Wednesday in the
public school building, a three-story
brick structure. At 10 o'clock We'd
nesday night, one hundred and sixty.
five corpses were In the morgue at
Colllnwood, six children were still I'M
accounted for, and all hospitals and
houses for two miles around contained
a number OF children, some fatally and
many less seriously injured.
All of the victims we're between the
ages Of six and seventeen years. The
school contained between three hundred
and ten and three hundred and TWEEN
ty-five pupils, and Of this number only
about eighty are known to have left
the building unhurt. It Will be several
days before the exact number Of kill
ed Is known, as the ruins may still
contain other bodies, and the list OF
fatalities may be increased by num-
Der OF deaths among the children who
are now lying in the hospitals, hover
ing between life and death.
The number OF pupils was more than
normally large, and the smaller chill
dren had been placed In the upper part
OF the building. There was but one fire
escape, and that was in the rear OF
the building There were two stair
ways, one leading to door in front,
and the other to a door in the rear,
both of these doors opened inward,
and 1t is claimed the rear door was
locked as well.
When the flames were discovered,
the teachers. who throughout seem to
I suIsa. actNt with courage and self.pos-
the county. ind struggled herotcally
,fety Of their pupils, marshal
title ores into column for the
4. arill," which they had often prac-
iced.
Unfortunately. the line Of march in
This exercise had always led to the
front door, and the dazed children
had not been trained to seek any 9TH
er exit. The fire came from fur
mace situated directly under this part
OF the building When the children
reached the foot Of the stairs they
found the flames close upon them.
and so swift rush was made for
the door that in an instant tightly
packed mass of children was piled up
Against It,
From that second none Of those who
were upon any portion Of the first flight
OF stairs had chance for their lives
The children at the foot Of the stairs
attempted to fight their way back to
the floor above. while those who were
comlng down showed them mercilessly
back into the flames below In an in
slant there was frightful panic, with
two hundred pupils fighting for their
lives. Most Of those who were killed
died there. The greater portion OF
those who escaped managed to turn
back and reached tho fire escape and
the windows in the rear.
What happened at the foot OF that
first flight of stairs win never be
known. for all Of those who were
caught in the full fury OF the, panic
were killed.
One Of the scenes Of supreme nor
ror that attended the FIRE occurred
at the rear doorway OF the building
before the fremen arrived. This door,
like the one in front, opened inward,
and as 1t was locked, the children
were piled up high against it. and
when 1t finally was broken down by
their weight, and because OF the Arc
that had partly burned and weakened
It, the women who had gathered on the
outside, saw before them mass OF
white faces and struggling bodies. The
flames swept over the aisle while the
women stood helpless, unable to lift a
hand TO aid the children. Many Of
che women we're unable To Withstand
the sight, and dropped falnting to the
ground,