Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-01-16
BODIES OF 1862 IN FOUR TEMPO
RARY MoRGuEs ARE 50 CHAR.
RED AND DISTORTED AS To
MAKE THEM UNREcoeNIzABLE
CALCIUM OPERATOR
EXPLAINS FLIGHT
SAYS HE HAD REPAIRED DAMAGE
TO MACHINE WHEN lRREsPoN.
sIBLE PARTY ON STAGE UPSET
LAMP. CAUSING FIRE.

Boyertown, Pa, Jan. 15.-M
2:30 o'clock this afternoon 1t was
announced that 1875 bodies had
been taken from the ruins, that
one fireman had been killed and
two persons had died of injuries.
This makes a total Of 1853 dead.
Boyertown, Pa, jan, 15.--Four
temporary morgues containing 162
bodies of victims of Monday nights
theatre holocaust, were opened to the
public today and hundreds passed
quietly through the rows Of charred
ana distorted corpses In the hope oi
Identifying the remains of loved ones
The indentification will be very dif.
ficult owing to the unrecognizable
condition of the bodies. Undertakers
from neighboring towns are assisting
those OF this borough in preparing the
bodies for intermsnt.
Calcium Operator Explains Flight.
Henry w. Fisher, the operator of the
calcium light wnich was the original
cause Of the, terrible rasaster, made
his escape from stleraasa ing building
! though not withoy n :. it reaeiying
scxsIe puIlls!s 4 \ 4; - fday said 3& y
he accident u, amused by ona
This caused 5lson5 report ami
startled the people. stuck to my ap-
partus and finally got the leak repair.
ed. Just as had the people calmed,
the foolish action of some thoroughly
frightened persons on the stage caused
the oversetting of an oil lamp and the
consequent spread of the flames which
nothing could avert. Not until then did
desert my post and seek safety in
flight.
Play Was Near Close.
The entertainment was nearly over,
the audience waiting for the curtain
to go up for the last part. when some.
thing went wrong with the calcium
light apparatus that was perched on
a small platform near the front en-.
trance of the building, and at the
back of the audience.
The light was in charge Of II. w.
Fischer of Carlisle, Pa, and he says
a rubber tube slipped from one OF
the tanks. At any rate there was a.
loud, kissing sound, which caused
many in the audience to turn their
heads in curiosity to see what it was.
Curiosity Cause Of Holocaust.
There was absolutely no panic up
to this time and probably nothing
would have happened if one or more
of the performers behind the curtain
had not been curious to learn what
was causing the noise Who he or
they were probably never will be
known.
| Hearing the kissing sound and the
slight commotion in the audience. one
of the performers raised the curtain
from the floor. In front of the curtain
and serving as footlights, was a tin
tank eight feet long, three inches
wide, and three inches high 1t con-
tanned coal oil and ten lights.
In raising the curtain the perform
er accidentally turned this tank over
and it fell to the floor within a few
inches of the persons in the front
row.
The Rev. Adam A. Weber pastor OF
st. Johns Lutheran church, for the
benefit of whose Sunday school the
entertainment was being given, tried
to pick up the tank with the assis-
tance of others. but before they could
do SO the oil flowed out and caught
/ fire.
Then came the inevitable cry OF
fire" and what followed has been
impossible to accurately tell. Eye wit
nesses say that the audience rose en-
masse and the. one impulse was to
reach the front door.
4 All attempted it, but few got out.
4 The seats in the center of the hall
were of the usual folding variety.
while those along the side of the hall
were loose chairs. In the scremble to
get out many persons fell over the
chairs. and were never again able to
regain their feet.
Those who did reach the front en-
trance found it jammed One OF the
double doors had been bolted snu. so
4 as to better enable the ticket taker
\ to take up tickets
II Not more than two persons could
pass this door at one time, and af4er
the first half dozen got through ih,,
marrow passage it became clogged
i with the struggling mass of humanity.
Il Men. women, boys, girls and chairs
were tangled up in one solid mass
4 that no one on the outside was able
ito disentangle.