New-York tribune., 1908-01-15
BOYERTOWN DEAD, 167.
ENTIRE TOWN STRICKEN.
Work of Recovering Bodies of pic-
tins Practically Finished.

CtWC fOCttONtsJ
Boyertown Penn, Jan. 14.-When nightfan
put a stop to the work of recovering the deao
from the ruins of the Rhoades Opera House
tbe official roll of victims. numbered 167. 1t Is
believed that all of the dead have been re-
moved and that the total list of victims will not
60 above 10 The ratio of women and girls TO
men and boys is about to l. The work
of identification will not be begun until to-mor-
row as most of the bodies are still lying IN
heap at the four improvised morgues-
The inhabitants of the little borough in the
Berks County hills tonight sunk in grief
The calamity terrible when it is realized that
the place has a population of only twenty-five
hundred has paralyzed the town and the people
are going about dazed. They scarcely realize
what has happened. and cannot believe that
loved ones. friends acquaintances were lost
in the awful panic and fire. 1t is safe to say
that everybody in the town either lost one or
more relatives or was Intimately acquainted with
nearly all those who died in the fire. In sew
eraI cases whole families wiped out If ever
a community was truly In mourning IL Is the
town of Boyertown tonight
It was almost daylight this morning before
the flames were ezting1lished and rescuers were
able to enter the ruins TO remove the dead The
morning was bitter cold, and by the time the
benumbed fremen began disentangling the de-
bris the entire ruins were coated with ice ana
there was danger of the walls falling The
work was slow at first and it was o'clock be-
fore the first body was removed Coroner
Strasser of Reading. who reached the scene
shortly after midnight last night had detail
of men ready to tag the bodies and keep rec
ord of the description of every one removed
The bodies were so badly burned, however that
there was little to identify them by. and it is
hat hal the victims will ever
be identified The second victim was taken from
the ruins about half an hour after the first, and
then the work of recovery moved more rapidly
Ry noon the rescuers became thoroughly ex-
bausted from the cold and hard work and for
time the work almost stopped. Fortunately the
Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company sent
w H Keffer, superintendent of the Reading dl-
vision to see what the company could DO ana
Mr. Keffer offered the compdnys assistance 10
Coroner Strasser, Chief Burgess Kohler was
unable to furnish men to help. and Coroner
Strasser availed himself of the railroads prof
fer.
Within an hour the company had two carloads
of Iaborers and carpenters on the ground. and
the work moved so rapidly that victims were
being taken from the ruins at the rate OF two
every five minutes.
So far as can be learned. when the fire broke
f5z,e nersons hacked in the theatre, most of them
adults The number of children present was
comparatively small There were about sixty
five persons, all from Boyertown. on the stage.
who were giving the performance The enter
tainment was nearly over. the audience wait
ing for the curtain to go up on the last part
when something went wrong with the calcium
light apparatus on small platform near the
front entrance of the building and at the back
he HcrbT
II W Fischer of Carlisle. Penn. and he says
y ruhber tube slipped from one OF the tanks
At any rate there loud kissing sound
which caused many in the audience TO turn
their heads to see what it was There was
absolutely no panic up to this time, and moth
;- nrobabIv would have happened if one or
more of the performers behind the curtain had
not been curious to learn what was causing the
noise and raised the curtain from the floor In
front of the curtain and serving as footishts
was a tin tank perhaps eight feet long, three
ircbae wide and three inches high 1t contained
coal oiI and had about ten ightc In raising
the curtain the performer accidentally turned
this tank over. and it fell TO the floor wltnln
feuy inches of the persons in the front row The
Rev. Adam A Weber. pastor of St johns
lutheran Church. for the benent of whose sun
dav school the entertainment was being given
tried to pick up the tank, with the assistance
of others. but before they could do so the OH
flowed out and caught fire
Then came the cry of fire. Every eyewitness
savs that he audience rose en- masse and the
ono impulse was to reach the front door While
The frenzied people yere fighting 20 get down
tba front steps the calcium light tank exploded
ord fro was spread over the entire mass OF
people
While the fames were being checked some
If the hremen made frc Ient trips to nearby
saloons with the result that toward morning
some of the men became unruly. There were
frenuent fights and at time it looked as II
tho Pottstown and Boyertown companies would
become involved in a free fight. 1t was due to
tho GOOD work of the state police. who had been
summoned from their barracks at Reading 10
assist the town in it's aff1iction, that more
serious affray did not occur.
The condition became so serious that Burgess
KohIer at 3 o'clock in the morning issued an
srder TO all saIoonkeepers within the borough 70
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