Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1908-03-13
1855 PUPILS PER|SHED
Terrible Result Of the COIling
wood Public School Fire.
YANY REPORTED MISSING
l@odies Recovered from the Ruins of
the Building Were So Blackened and
charr~d that Identification in Many
Instances Was Impossible.

II
dred and sixty-ive lives, all but two
of them children between the ages
Of six and fifteen years, are known to
have been lost in the fire which, on
Wednesday, destroyed the public
sehool*in north Collingwood, 10 miles
cast of this city,
Several others still are missing and
their bodies may possibly be In the
/ ruins.
It probably will be several days be-
fore the exact number of dead Is ac'
curstely determined.
| OF the 165 bidies recovered, 108 have
been positively identified and 81 stin
are unknown.
Bodies BIackened and Charred.
The bodies are so blackened by fire
and smoke; so battered and bruised
by trampling feet, that there is no
human chance OF their identity being
established from anything which they
resembled in their life time
II is only by means of some article
of wearing apparel that their names
can be ascertained.
The cause of the fire, which, aided
by a panic, narrow hallway and doors
which it is claimed by many were
made to open toward the inside. all
is . mystery.
1t was first supposed that it came
from an overheated furnace or an ex'
plodipg boiler In the basement Of tho
school house. 1t has been establish.
ed that there was no explosion, and
| the janitor of the school, Fred Her
| ter, three of whose children died with
In arms length of their father, de-
cIares that it could not have come
from the furnace. :
Believes Fire of Ircendlary Origin.
L.%R. Gardner, member of the
school board, is positive in his asser,
ton the fire was of incendiary origin.
IN that portion of the building where
1t was. discovered, there are no eiee
trio wires, there was no direct means
OF creating heat. =.
There was in the building at the
time the fire was discovered between
$50 and S75 pupils. They were under
the control of nine teachers. Two Of
these are among the dead. ...,-
The school was .oyer-crowded and
quarters had been provided for the
younger children in the attic Strange
as it may. seem, more of the pupils
escaped from this part of the sehoot
building than from any other The
children were under good discipline ;.
they had been practiced frequently In
the fire drill. their teachers without
exception retained their self-posses-
sion, showing great courage in the
face Of imminent death, and yet more
than half of these little ones died
horribly because of faulty building ar
rangements. .,,
The school house was two stories
and a half in height; the walls being
of brick and concrete. Inside it was
a shell which burned with almost in
conceivable rapidity. =.
Scene Had Few Parallels.
For supreme horror the scenes that
were enacted around the rear door OF
this Inflated school have had few
| Parallels in this or any other eoun-
|, try. Little children were piled upon
each other six and eight deep, while
| strong men and frantic mothers strug-
|. gled With desperation to release them.
| yet failed and were compelled to stand
!, back andsseet the little ones die before
their eyesnt '9f;,79
One woman found her own daughter
in, this>fpress and ,stroked her hair
and made an effort to keep the flames
/ away. She failed and the child was
|: burned to death while her mother.
|. helpless, looked on.
Il From the upper floors of the build
| ing two stairways offered exit. One
OF these led to the front door. the
other to the door in the rear. 1t was
in this last place that the lives of the
little ones were lost while would-be
reseuers stood helpless.
The scenes that were enacted in the
! front hall will never be known. Tae
door at this side of the building was
never fully opened. But dense pile
of little bodies that lay in the black
| eHed wreckage beneath. this point. the
feet, the hands, the limbs. and the
skulls that were scattered about form.
| ed a complete index to the horrors
that had taken place.
- Formed Fire Drill. .a.~
When the teachers were informed
of the existence of the fire tney
promptly formed the pupils in columns
of march, according to the fire drill /,
and started them. for the door. When
.tre head of the column was nearing
the front door rush of flames met
It.. Some of the children dasfeds at
Il fhe door in the effort to open it while
others turned and. fled wildly up the
stairs. The door was a double one,
and one side was held by a. spring
The column above, knowing nothing
!. OF the fire on the stairs below, kept
pressing down and within few sec
onds there was a. jam, panic and 'strug-
gle on the stairway and behind the
half closed front door. that. nothing
wise TO carry ON negoJl9tsiccsssss Win the
/ general managers of the r:iilg9ads at
this time. The original proposition was
to strike and attempt to tie up the
! sixty-fiye railroads should the demands
/ be refused is'.,-.- ~. t.,sass... .sn..ss.
9'UnempI6yed consest NesvsYorss. : =
fii!with 155, ,d0O PERSONS out of employ
ment in New York city, the Central
Federated. union has directed. its ex-
ecutIye. committee ia, formulate q plan
for governmental relief 9The bread
!. lines at the various Institutions where
food is given out ARE said to be double
their ustial length and In some cases
the longest on record.
kk-s n .s-s fas.ss.
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