The Detroit times., 1908-03-04
700 CHILDREN
TRAPPED IN
SCHOOL FIRE
,contlnued from Fir.t pass)

CContinued from First Page.) y
broke through the guards who were
stationed at the doors OF the impro-
yised morgues. In their frantic state
mothers sorted over bodies, one after
another. trying 10 find their missing
children. -.
In most instances identification VIII
he impossible, bodies were burned ana
trampled beyond recognition
Heroine Teacher Missing.
An instance Is related OF the great
heroism OF one OF the teachers on the
second floor, who. after succeeding In
getting her pupils safely outside o..
the burning building, re-entered ana
went TO the third floor TO assist In the
rescue OF the children there.
The, teacher has NOT been seen since
she ran toward the thiro floor.
! or the 80 bodies thus far laid in
rows in the improvised morgues. but
one was identified up 10 noon. this be
ing a child by the name OF Bravo.
Undertakers were rushed here fron
| Cleveland and are now preparing the
bodies for Identification. In the mean
time the parents or the children are
being restrained with the greatest diff
fculty. A number OF women tainted
and we're hurried into houses. only 10
break out after their resuscitation TO
Join In the maddened ciamor that con-
tinued In progress.
corpses Reduced to cInders-
Some OF the bodies may never be
recovered. as the fire burned as In n
blast furnace. without doubt many
corpses were reduced To cinders.
There were about $50 children in
the school when the blaze broke out.
but those on the lower two floors es-
capped. as did, also. some OF those On
the upper floors.
BY 1890 the firemen could penetrate
10 some parts Of the building and had
a great heap OF bodies piled inside
the door. None was brought out, the
local authorities awaiting the arrival
Of police from Cleveland. so that the
crowds could be held In check.
II soon became apparent that the
number OF dead would be far greater
than expected. The walls OF the build
ing. heated like the walls OF furnace.
will not be sufficiently cooled to admit
OF a thorough search of the ruins for
some time.
House to House Canvass.
Realizing this, the authorities have
started a house TO house canvass to
determine the number Of the missing.
All children found loitering around the
ruins are being sent home so that
they can be accounted for.
The brave woman who lost her life
In an effort to save the scholars was
Miss Catharine Wiler. When the
alarm was sounded. she marshaled her
pupils and soon had them marching In
straight line down the hallway.
When she reached the end OF the
hall door opened inward. A great
tongue of flame shot forth and the
panic began. Miss Wiler leaped among
the children, calling on them to keep
order. She was caught In the mad
rush, thrown to the floor and trampled
until she was unconscious. AS the
rush continued she was crushed TO
death.
Teacher Fatally Crushed.
Another teacher, Miss Grace Fisk.
who had charge OF third grade class.
also tried to stop the rush. She was
fatally crushed.
IT was at the doors that the ma
jority OF the children were crushed TO
death. Had they been sufficiently wide
many OF those now dead would have
gotten safely out OF the building.
Wallace Upton, who saved a little
girl. fell unconscious afterward. He
Is dying of his burns at his home.
The child he grasped and passed along
before falling was the eighteenth he
had saved from the building.
Just what caused the fire to spread
so rapidly cannot be explained. The
blaze broke out at 1890 and one hour
later only the walls we're standing.
Scarcity Of Ladders.
Had the ladders of the fire depart
psent been leng enough Ii il likely that
many OF the little ones would have
been saved When the terrified chill
dren saw the bodies piled up at the
front door and realized that exit from
that point was impossible. they again
ran upstairs and made fop the win
dows Some OF the smaller children
we're rescued. The others crowded at
the windows and cried out TO be
saved
IL was evident to spectators that
the children in the room were fighting
for the windows, for az fast as head
would appear the child gaining this
vantage point would be dragged away.
In this manner the children fell aud
were trampled To death, their bodies
blocking this avenue OF escape.
While at the windows the screams
OF the little ones were agonizing and
drove the rescuers to superhuman et.
forts and scores OF men pressed irto
the building until the fire. blisterfng
their bodies drove hem hack
The Cleveland fire department, as
soon as IL arrived. erected great lad
ders and took a number OF children 70
safety. The tragedy however. had
almost completed itself before help
from this quarter could arrive.
Children Laughed at Alarm.
The excitement Is so great that IL
Is impossible now TO secure coher-
ent description OF the outbreak OF tho
fire. One scholar. Herbert Echelberg-
er. IL years old. said that the chill
dren thought the alarm false one
and we're laughing as IL the whole
thing were frolic. Echelberger says
that when the pupils in his room
reached the door and saw those from