Omaha daily bee., 1908-03-05
Younger Children Were in Temporary,
Rooms in Attic.
ONE TEACHER BURNED TO DEATH
Body is Found Under Heap Of Those
Of Her Pupils.
FIRE DEPARTMENT INEFFICIENT
Engines Unable to stay Progress OF
Flames and structure is Soon
Gutted-Fire Escapes
Inadequate.

CLEVELAND. O.. March A-Death ia
one of it's most terrible forms claimed be-
tween 100 shhd 17O school children in Collin
wood school in the village of Collinwood.
an eastern suburb, today, when the school
building, catching fire from defective
furnace in the basement, was gutted in the
space of half an hour.
The building, being inadequately protected
by fire escapes. the children were unable
to make their way to the lower floors In
time to escape the flames as they shot
up from the basement and cut off egress.
Starting about $3.50 o'clock in the basement
from the overheated furnace, the fire
gained tremendous headway before its
presence was noted. The fire drill was in
augurated at once and those in the rooms
of the lower floors quickly moved out of
the building But when the panick-stricxen
little ones in the upper rooms attempted
to make their way to the stairway the jam
Of uncontrolled and fear-strlcken children
grew until but few were able to extrIcate
themselves and they perished almost within
reach OF safety.
Children Ronst to Death.
Various and unconfirmed statements are
made as to the cause of the fire, and also
that the doors of the building had been
locked at the front entrance, while bu.
one door of the rear entry was unfastened
The janitor, Fritz Herter himself bereaved
Of three children. says that the doors were
open according to custom, At any rate, the
congestion OF fleeing children In the hall
way below effectually barred the way, and
the little ones went to their death totally
unable to evade the flames.
Within three hours after the start OF the
fire Il had burned itself nut. and the work
of recovering the bodies proceeded. The
village fire departmentb had only two
engines. and neither upon arrival after the
alarm was given. was at all effective in
stemmlng the flames
The school was n two-story and attic
brick building. constructed about six years
ago. 1t was overcrowded with pupils and
It was found necessary to utilize the attic
for those of the ages between and years
Nearly all the children were killed in the
mass at the first floor door which finally
was opened by men from the Lake Shore
railway shops, who hurried to the scene A
wall of flame had formed across it and
most of the children already were dead by
the time the doors were swung open.
Approximately 300 children attended the
school, which had nine rooms.
Flames SPREAD Rapidly.
Janitor Herter could remember little of
what happened after the fire started. IT
was sweeping in the basement" he said
when looked up and saw q wisp OF smoke
curling out from beneath the front stair
way. I ran to the fire alarm and pulled
the gong that sounded throughout tho
building. Then 1 ran first to the front and
then to the rear doors. I cannot remember
what happened next. except that saw the
flames shooting all about and the little
children coming down through them
screaming. Some fell at the rear entrance
and 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 himself was badly burned about
the head.
Miss Catherine Weller, one of the nine
teachers in the school. lost her life in a
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 second floor and when the
fire alarm sounded she marched her pupils
out into the hall, thinking 1t was only a
fire drill There the truth dawned upon
both teacher and pupils and control was
lost. The children, IN their frenzy plunged
into the struggling mass ahead OF them.
Miss Weller attempted to stem the rush
but went down under II and her body
was found an hour later piled high with
those of her pupils. Miss Weller formerly
lived in Detroit and was educated in
Toledo. Miss Fisk, another teacher was
taken out alive, but she cannot live
Work of Recovering bodies.
Burning through the cross supports Of
the first floor the flames passed upward
until all three floors crashed into a smold-
ering pile in the basement. After the fire
had practically burned itself out. the work
Of rescuing the bodies was begun by fire
men and railroad employees from the Lake
Shore shops. The railroad company turned
over one of its buildings nearby 70 be
used as a temporary morgue and thither
the charred and broken little bodies were
removed fast as they could be dug
from the ruins Within five hours prac-
tcally all had been recovered. They were
placed in rows in the Lake Shore shop
Identifications were made only by means
Of clothing or trinkets. The fire had
swept away nearly all resemblance to
human features in the majority OF in
stances Distracted parents soon began
to gather and the work OF Identification OF
the blackened and mangied corpses began
The gruesome task OF taking out the
blackened torsoes and bits OF human re-
mains was one Of horror. A line Of rescuers
was formed, backed by half a dozen am
balances. AS the bodies were untankled
from the debris they were passed along to
the stretchers and thence loaded IN tho
ambuances. Mercifully covered with
blankets, the pitiful sights were veiled from
the crowd Of curious that stretched about
the entrance 10 the structure A iAst as