Evening star., 1908-01-18
GLOOM IN BOYERT0WN
Another Day of Funerals in the
Inflated City.
WAIT AT THE CEMETERIES
MANY Sad Features of the Last Trib-
utes to Victims.
CLEARING UP THE DEBRIS
Churches Abandon Services Tom or
row for Burial of the Dead.
25 Bodies Yet Unclaimed.

row for Burial of the Dead.
25 Bodies Yet Unclaimed.
| BOYERTOWN, Pa, January 1S.-Thls
was another day of funerals in Boyer
town. the scene of last Monday night s
theater fire. in which 173 persons lost their
lives. 1t was an extremely sad day, even
to the casual visitor who came to town
simply TO see the ruins Of the opera house
About sixty funerals took place, and so
great was the demand for undertakers
and hearses that additional assistance and
vehicles had to be impressed into service
from neighboring places.
There was no delay in the interments.
as on yesterday, when funeral parties
were compelled to wait at the cemeteries
while the grave-diggers completed the
preparation of the graves. The relief COM
mittee had delegation wait on the rela-
tives of those to be inferred and arranged
matters 80 that three burials could be
made at one time. A sufficient number of
men were thus on hand to look after the
interments. and enough ministers to con-
duct the funeral services. Many Of the
dead were taken to churches, where serv-
ices were held.
The churches were crowded and as soon
as one funeral cortege departed another
party of mournerS would enter the edi-
flee. The great feasts for which the Penn
Sylvania Germans are noted as giving on
funeral occasions were dispensed with in
every household which lost a member in
the fire. One of the saddest funerals OF
the day was that of the six Meyer girls,
three of tFem sisters and the other three
cousins. There were several double fu-
neralS of husband and wife, and among
others buried was DR.. Frank Brunner. a
former state senator, and one of the best
known men in Berks county.
Large Force Clearing Ruins.
The situation here is beginning to clear
up. Business houses that have been closed
since the disaster occurred opened today
and the relief committee has provided for
the needy.
A large force of men was put to work
today in the ruins to remove the ashes
and o,jler stuff
1t will be taken to Fairview cemetery
where it will be sifted for jewelry and
other articles of value. after which the
ashes will be buried in a trench along
side of that which will contain the un-
known dead.
All the churches have announced that
there will be no regular services tomor-
row. The entire day will be given over
to the funerals and the work of getting
together the broken congregations and
the shattered Sunday school classes
Two more bodies were identified today,
leaving twenty-five bodies unclaimed.
TWenty-six persons are missing. of whom
seventeen are women. The Unidentified
bodies will be. inferred tomorrow. Sixty
citizens will act as pa1lbearers and twelve
hearses will bear the bodies to the ceme-
terry.
Needy Appeals for Help.
Burgess kohler has appealed for aid for
the stricken of Boyertown. So acute has
become the situation that he has felt COM
PEELED to revise his opinion, formed the
day after the Rhoads Opera House horror,
that Boyertown was fully able to careef
its living and buryits dying. At that time
he declined a tender. which was teie-
graphed by the Pennsylvania Red Cross
from Philadelphia, offering money, nledi-
cines. clothing, nurses, doctors or any
! thing else needful. t-~.@
1--WE find we do need aid" the burgess
wrote last night in a letter to the Red
Cross. I'VE are up to a serious problem
and heavy expense. If you can give us
any aid We Will be very thankful for a
remittance to the relief committee
I'VE appreciate the Red Cross offer to
send us surgeons and nurses. but our need
now is Of different kind.
Il desire to express to the good people
VI IIiiiduciptild our lldHhS 1OF all ,lney
have done and for further help we will
need"
The Relief Fund.
At a meeting of the relief committee last
night additional subscriptions, all in small
sums. were reported, bringing the total up
| to $5,516. Irwin T. Ehst, the chairman.
said that about $4,000 will be needed to
complete the work of the committee.
Nnfioou mill he
tives to make another effort to identify
the bodies of the twenty nine dead lying
at the morgue.
All the bodies were removed from the
temporary morgues to the High School
There they were placed in one ROOM Then
the school building was thoroughly disin-
fected, as were the other morgues, in or
der to prevent disc ase. The disfnfectants
were forwarded to Boyertown In large
quantities by State Health Commissioners
Dixon.
The unidentified dead will be buried to-
morrow instead of today as at first
planned. In the hope that there will be
further Identification.
More Dead Identified.
Additional identifcations were made
during yesterday. The body of Ira Shober
was identified by initials worked in red
in his socks.
Worth railroad. who arrived last night
from Galveston in his private car. identi-
fed the body of his sister, Mrs Della f.
MAYER. who conducted the Scottish
Reformation performance for her sister
Mrs il. e. Monroe. Mr.. Earhart identi-
fled ring as his gift to Mrs MAYER.
After a conference.-the Coroner Strasser
it was decided tc <!fve the body burial in
Boyertown. Mr.. Earhart left Galveston
Tuesday night.
BY bits of jewelry. SCARS and fragments
of clothing fifteen other bodies were iden-
titled yesterday.
Lesher w. Francis one of the theater
victims. is dying. it is feared. He was
badly burned when he was rescued but
1t was thought that he would recover.
Funerals Clog Cemeteries.
Boyertown spent yesterday in burying
many of its dead. An endless procession
of funerals made it's way to Fairview
cemetery. More than eighty victims were
buried in Fairview and nearby ceme-
teries
So closely did one funeral follow an
other that the gates of the cemetery be-
came congested. Mourners were kept
waiting for half hour until the first
hearse. which had been stopped because
the grave was not finished. was permitted
to proceed into the buryins ground.
The task of preparing single graves
proved too big for the force. so the labor
ers were taken from the work of digging
the trenches for the unidentified and the
Simple services were conducted at the
VOC hy the Rev G. G. Greena Ia and