Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-06


father and throwing her arms about his
neck while he was prodding among tho
ruins of the Lake View school for her body
Instead of going to school yesterday she
played truant and visited an aunt In the
country.
CLEVELAND. o., March 5.-Twenty-
four hours after the disaster which
caused the death of approximately one
third of the school children of North
Collinwood, the death roll numbered 1874.
OF these, 1877 had been identified at
the Lake Shore morgue, while twenty.
seven bodies remain there in condition
Of mutilation, probably forever beyond
recognition. The work of digging in
the ruins of the I.akeview schoolhouse
in further search for bodies of children
still missing began with the break of
day.
Seek Bodies of Their Dead
Dawn found mothers and fathers
waiting about the ruined building after
having spent the night in an effort to
find their childrens remains in the ex-
temporized morgue. Little was brought
forth during the day that would satisfy
their longings, and ii is believed to-
night that all the bodies that can be
removed from the ruins have been
taken out.
Burial of the dead is the task now
confronting those in authority in the
little village. Arrangements for the
funerals of the victims were distusscd
tonight at a meeting attended by the
mayor of Collinwood, members of the
al1
dertakers. The idea of having pub
lie funeral of all the dead has been
abandoned, though it Is probable that,
where it can be done, bodies will be
grouped in one church.
Tonight the work of removing the
identified bodies to their former homes
was completed, and the undertakers set
to work to prepare for the interments
or. the morrow.
Should any parent desire to under
take the interment of one of the un-
recognizable bundles of human flesh
and bones, believing 1t may be his
cl Id, he win be permitted so to do.
The remainder of the bodies will be
laid side by side in the cemetery.
Coroner Holding Inquest
The coroner's inquest was begun this
morning, when a number of witnesses
were examined, without, however, de-
veloping any testimony that was be-
yond mere opinion.
An investigation conducted by the
Collinwood school board, which lasted
far into the night and at which a num-
ber of survivors of the horror told their
stories, brought forth these facts:
That one of the inner doors at the
west entrance of the school was closed
and fastened while children were piling
up against 1t in the passage; wing par
titions in the Vestibule narrowed the
exit by at least three feet; the flames
came first from a closet below the
stairway at the east entrance; the
closet contained lime and sawdust;
three little girls had been found hiding
In play in the closet earlier in the
morning; there was but one fire escape
and it's use was never taught as a part
of the fire drill.
Survivors among the teachers esti-
mate that only two or three minutes
passed between the time of the alarm
until all escape was cut off. The build
inC was a fair sample of the kind Of
school construction in small towns. The
Railways and stairs were closed be-
tween interior brick walls, forming a
huge fiue through which the flames
shot UP with great rapidity.
On the question, much discussed,
whether the doors opened inward or
outward, Fire Marshals Brockett and
Fiegenbaum examined the doorways to-
day and stated later that they were
convinced that they opened outward.
Whether they were locked they have
not been able to determine. they nave
testimony on both sides.
Janitor Herter still insists that the
doors were open.