Omaha daily bee., 1908-01-16
Relatives at Boyertown in Sad Search
for Their Friends.
BODIES DIFFICULT TO IDENTIFY
In Many Instances They Are Burned
to Crisp in Upper Portion
Coroner VIII Make Thor
ouEh Investigation.

men and boys So badly were the bodies
burned that the sex could not be deter
mined and II is probable these will all be
inferred in one place in Union cemetery.
Up to 1 .. m. thirty bodies had been
identified. Not one OF them were identified
by the features. but were claimed by sor-
rowing relatives by means of jewelry or
clothing found on the corpse.
The scenes in the morgues today were
extremely sad Fond parents walked from
one morgue to another closely inspecting
the charred remains and never flinching
in their tasks by the horrible sight of the
mutllated bodies. In most cases the search
ers were unable to find their own
Two Of the injured died today, bringing
the dead close to 40.
Nearly Every Family Affected.
with the opening of the imptovised
morgues today in which lay the
victims OF Monday nights theater
horror, the Inhabitants of this bor-
ough began to realize the awful extent
of the tragedy. The hand of sorrow has
touched probably every family in the
town and many in neighboring villages.
! Where families were not directly affected
by the terrible panic and fire, through loss
| of relatives they were mourning for lost
| friends or acquaintances The scenes fol-
lowing the disaster bring shudder to the
stoutest heart and many of the thousands
who have come as curiosity seekers have
gone away declaring they never want to
witness another sight like it.
The four buildings used as morgues, con-
| tain 162 bodies. The three undertaking es-
Establishments of the borough were too
small to accommodate the victims so the
borough officials decided to use the high
school, Undertakers from surrounding
towns were pressed into service TO care
for the bodies as they arrived from the
scene. To each body was attached a tag
containing the number and with the corpse
was laid articles Of jewerly or clothing
that might have been in possession OF the
victim
The coroner who has been on the scene
since midnight had been expected to open
the morgues for the Identification OF the
bodies. but the number Of dead grew so
large that the undertakers with augmented
force from other towns were unable
properly to arrange the bodies Most OF
the bodies were in such condition that few
of them will be recognized by their fes-
lures alone. In nearly every case the upper
portions OF the bodies were burned. some
Of them to a crisp.
MOrEues Closed Until To-day.
Because of the difficulty of Identification
and the attendant confusion the coroner
decided to keep the morgues closed until
today and during the morning the doors
of the building were thrown open Hun
J dreds or people were waiting at each place
to get a look at the bodies in the hope of
finding the remains of loved ones Perfect
order was maintained at each of the
morgues, a squad Of police being on duty
to keep the crowds moving. Jacob johnson,
who was badly hurt in the mad rush for
exit from the burning building, died this
morning. Coroner Strasser is making an
investigation preliminary to the official
inquiry.
1T was the saddest picture I ever looked
upon." he said.
mo living soul can depict the scene. 1t
was simply indescribable. / shall make a
thorough investigation leading up to what
consider the most horrible affair that
ever occurred in eastern Pennsylvania"
The coroner's attention was called to the
fact that oil lamps were used for foot
lights in the opera house instead of a
stationary illumination. He said he would
make an inquiry
Henry w. Fischer of Carlisle, Pa. the
operator of the calcium light, which was
, the original cause of the terrible disaster.
made his escape from the burning building
though not without first receiving severe
burns.
: Explanation by Light Operator.
Mr.. Fischer said
The accident was caused by cap on
one Of the tanks blowing out. This caused
a sharp report and startled the people.
stuck to my apparatus and finally got the
! IRnE Inst I had ha
calmed. the foolish action of some thor
oughly frightened person on the stage
caused the overseeing of an oil lamp and
the consequent spread OF the flames, which
nothing could avert. Not until then did
desert my post and seek my own safety in
! flight"
That the victims were not confined tc
residents OF Boyertown, was shown by
the number of unclaimed teams at the
hotels. Fully forty teams remained un-
called for in the stables yesterday, and
the hostlers said they belonged to people
residing within a radius of five or six
miles of Boyertown, who drove to this
place on Monday with their families n
witness the production of the Scottish
Reformation" There is no clue to the
Identity OF the owners OF a number of the
teams.
Author of Play I'm Grief.
Mrs p. M. Monroe of Washington, D. c.
: author Of the Scottish Reformation" who
t was in Wilkesbarre, Pa. when the disaster
, happened. has arrived here In her room
! at the Union today she was found plunged
In grief over the loss OF her sister, Mrs
Della Mayors the lecturer. the ruin of hei
; property and the calamity that has befaller
the town.
Il am nearly 70 years old" she said 81
have been IN the entertainment business fol
quarter Of century This terrible affair
has blasted my life. My poor sister was
lovely woman and an accomplished lee
turer. In Monday nights fire she Iost
5000 worth OF stereoptieon pictures ac
1 cumulated during years OF travel abroad
and 5000 worth Of costumes.
, mrs. Mayors. 1 am told, was killed
: while trying TO avoid the disaster. She hac
, stepped on the stage and was lifting tw,
} OF the oil lamps to carry them out wher
some one pushed her from behind. sh,
; pitched forward and was lost We hav,
found no trace OF her body She has 4
/ husband. ]. ]. Mayors, at her home a
Quarry, Colo. have telegraphed him
but he will not come on. There Is no neeC
j OF Il. There Is nothing left Of his poo
wife to take back home"