The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-01-16
Little Chadtsn Look h Vain 1 for Parents In the Mass
 of BIackened Forms
ASSURANCE COMPANIES
 PAYING UP PROMPTLY e3
Eoroner Is Investigating the Fire and Will Hold Inquest At Future Date. Many Bodies Will Be Buried
 Without Identification.

Boyertown Pa, January 15.-Bearing up Rbrayely under the awful blow which it received in the destruction of Rhoades opera house by fire on Monday, this thriv- Ang borough today came to a full reali- zation of the fact that one-fifteenth Of its population was wiped out of existence by the holocaust. The figures compiled by Coroner strasser at nightfan show that there are TO dead as a result or the fire The list of dead include one fireman who lost his life fighting the fire and one man, Jacob Johnson, who died today from injuries received In the blazing playhouse.
 Three charred bodies were recovered from the ruins of the building today and one of the 16S bodies, or remains that lie in the improvised morgue, 115 have been officially or partially identified by sorrowing relatives or friends The pri- vate morgues in the town were not of sufficient size to receive the bodies or those taken from the fire ruins and the public school was also used as a charnel house.
 Each piece of jewerly or fragment ot clothing picked up in the blackened ruins was tagged were the charreu and blackened bodies, or such portions oi them as remain and all in search oi missing loved ones were permitted tc pass through the gruesome rows to make identifications.
 Burned to a Crisp.
 Few of the bodies could be recognized by the faces alone as in most cases th' upper portions of the corpses were sever ed or burned to crisp. A detail of stat police held the anxious crowds in eheci around the improvised morgue and thos' seeking missing relatives and friends wer' compelled to pass in to view the podie in order.
 The scenes at the morgue were heart iending Children of tender years wer in some eases called upon to assist II making the Identification of parents Wh' went to an untimely death in the fire ant panic and again, feeble men and womei were racked with anguish as they cam' upon some distorted body in which the! recognized the form of lost son O daughter. Before any of the bodies wer removed from the morgue, Coroner Stras ser empaneled jury to view the re mains and the scene of the fire and D sit at the inquest. The jpy h. rad inspection of the rninsanuj went tn the morguss. NO date has been for the inquest.
 Insurance Being Paid.
 Coroner Strasser opened an office night in the Mansion house and estt lshed a bureau of information whe he granted death certificates and signe insurance papers In this connection u representatives of scores of insuranc companies are in Boyertown, paying of' claims as fast as they are presented. There were 55 undertakers or their rep 1esentatives in the town today and there was plenty for them to do, as all were called on to assist in preparing the re- mains for inspection and Identification. Coroner Strasser says that not more than 25 of the entire number of bodies re- moved from the fire have heads. There are several trunks that will probably never be identified as there were several strangers in the audience.
 Building Inspector Hickman of Read ing who made an inspection of the opera house which was destroyed said tonight: Tn my opinion the people in the hall were overcome by the fumes from the tank used in connection with the tableau lights and simply could not help them selves man told me that he reached in the doorway to assist a woman from the building and that he was nearly overcome by gas. He was not in the hall when the fire started"
 John Rhoades and his grandson, who were supposed to have been killed in the fire and Mrs. John Dyer, another supposed victim, turned up today
 committee has been appointed to arrange for the proper burial of the dead