Evening star., 1908-01-16
BoyertoWn Fire Victims May
Number 200.
BURIAL WITHOUT SERVICES
Dead Carried on Boards Through
the Streets.
IDENTIF1cAT1oNs DIFFICULT
Corpses of Twenty-Five Children
Found in Ruins-Work of Ex-
cavating Is Begun.

BOYERTOWN. Pa. January 18.-This
| little borough. which lost one-hiteenth
of its population in the opera house
| horror Monday night. today turned to
the task of burying it's dead. Because
of the condition of most of the bodies
the borough authorities have asked the
bereaved relatives to bury tie dead
within three days. All night scores Of
men worked in the morgues preparing
the identified bodies for removal to the
homes of their kinsfolk or to The cem-
etery. AS early as o'clock a long line
of death wagons moved about the town
| distributing the corpses. and before
nightfall most of the dead will be
ready for burial.
There was slight HITCH in The work
of removing bodies from the morsues
through the action of Coroner Strasser
forbidding the removal of any bodies
during his absence. This was due to
mix up in the Identification Of the body
of boy.
There were three claimants for the body,
fcA
permission to remove It, Each was posi-
tive that the body was the one they were
looking for Therefore. in order to pre-
vent mistakes. the coroner issued the
order. Burgess kohler learned of this
and Immediately communicated with the
coroner at Reading. where he had gone
on business. When ii was explained that
people who had positively identified their
Loo tod fIo inr nd h0 hnAia
in dispute would be hello the coroner re-
scinded his order. Since then the relief
committee, working In conjunction with
relatives. has removed more than fifty
bodies from the morgues. 1t is common
sight TO see men carrying through the
streets charred bodies on boards covered
with blanket or quilt.
Burials Without Services.
More than sixty death certificates were
issued IN to 10 am, and most OF these
bodies will be buried during the day, most
of them without any funeral ceremonies.
There is not clergyman in town able to
conduct services. There will be no services
in the Lutheran Church Sunday. The Rev.
Adam Weber. who lost q daughter is still
Frustrated. The body Of his child was re-
moved to his home last night. 1t will be
buried at Bernville, Pa. this afternoon.
1t ra!ned slightly this morning and
there was a little fall of snow, but this did
not deter the work OF digging graves. A
force OF men started to dig graves in Fair
view and Union cemeteries this morning
and they will be relieved at intervals
The borough has decided to buy eight
lots for the burial of the unidentified dead.
In the center OF the plot sufficient space
will be left for the erection of a monu-
ment.
The scenes about the morgue today are
much the same as yesterday Daylight
found crowds around the entrances clam
oring for admittance. At Z o'clock the
Of Identifying the dead was again taken
up. 1t is believed that more than fifty
bodies will never be identified.
Death List Grows. =.
The death list continues to grow, and
tins will reach 1S0 and possibly higher
Today Mrs. James Fryer, who was in
jured by leaping from the BURNING build
ing. died, making the total number Of
dead IT,
There are twenty-five bodies of children
included in the list of males and females.
The coroner stated that this list Is by
no means complete. 1t will take another
day to complete the house to- house can
vass in the surrounding villages. The
borough Of Boyertown has lost 10 of
Its people. The remainder of the victims
came from about ten different hamlets
within a radius OF five miles.
II have every reason to believe" said
the coroner. after making another ex-
animation of the ruins today, that the
number of dead may reach nearly two
hundred. A number of bodies, how many
we will never be able to tell, were burned
to crisp. Nothing remains OF them
but scattered ashes.
In order TO get to the cellar Of the
building as quickly as possible gang
of men was set to work this afternoon to
clear away the tons of bricks and mortar.
Little headway was made today in iden-
tifying the remainder of the unknown
dead. So far 1i5 bodies have been
claimed
Building Inspectors Statement.
From what l could learn the building
came up to the requirements Of the law
The law provides that the main exit be
Is inches wide for every 100 persons
The main exit of the opera house was
six feet wide. sufficient for the 400 per-
sons in the building to get out.
IL talked with several men who were In
the building who declare that escaping
gas or fumes from the moving picture
tanks hau such an effect on the audience
that many We're unable to get out Of the
place. They seemed lightheaded and
couldn't move.
A man told me that when he ran up to
the door to rescue some women he was
nearly overcome by the fumes and was
obliged to get out of the building for fresh
air. Others told me the same thing. ! be-
lieve that the ma jority, of the people were
overcome with the strong fumes"
Owner of Iu-Fated Theater Talks.
In an interview with a reporter yester-
day afternoon DR.. J. 7. b. Rhoads for the
first time expressed himself for publica-
ton in regard to the fearful disaster in
the opera house of which he is the owner
lie declared that he did not consider him
self in any way to blame for 1t. Then he
added;
Il shall never again be the owner of a
theater or hall Of entertainment ] shall
reconstruct the building. but not 3s an
opera house. ! am not responsible for the
loss OF life. but of course. 1t is a Poign-
ant rejection tnat IL has all taken place
in building belonging to me. expect
to divide tine upper stories into offices.
There were five ways by which an au-
dience could have made lis exit from
the auditorium, and there were no less
than twenty one windows in the second
story. The main stairway was sufficiently
wide for a hall of that size, and there
were three fire-escapes. two on one side
OF the building and one on the other.
Besides the front windows OF the Of
fees on the second floor opened upon the
roof of the permanent street awning. and
the doors OF those ohices, connecting
with the seccnd-fcor landing, | under
stand, were not locked.
Why Gas Was Not Used.
Why" he was asked. was not gas
used in the footlights instead Of oil:"
Gas was not introduced in this town