Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1908-03-12
CHILDREN BURN
IN SCHOOL FIRE
Disaster at Suburb of Cleveland DeS-
OIateS Many Homes.
Nearly 200 Roasted or Crushed in
Panic-Doors Open inward or Are
Locked Against Escape - Little
Bodies Disfgured Beyond Recog-
nition-Manv Unidentfiad cd.

Cleveland, o., March 5.-Penned in
narrow Railways, jammed up against
doors that opened only inward, 10
children in the suburb of North Col
lingwood yesterday were killed by fire,
by smoke and beneath the grinding
heels Of their panic stricken playmates.
The awful tragedy occurred yester-
day morning in the public school of
North Collingwood, ten miles east of
this city. At 10 O'Clock last night 1866
corpses were in the morgue at Collng-
wood, six children were still unaccount-
ed for, and all the hospitals and houses
fer two miles around contained numbers
of children, some fatally and many lees
seriously injured. Two teachers also
lost their lives in an effort to save their
charges.
All Of the victims were between the
ages Of 6 and 15 years. The school
contained between 800 and 1926 pupils,
and of this entire number only about
80 are known to have left the building
unhurt. 1t will be several days before
the exact number Of killed is known,
as the ruins may still contain other
bodies and the list of fatalities may be
increased by number of deaths among
the children who are now lying in the
hospitals lowering between life and
death.
The school house was of brick, two
stories and an attic in height. The
number OF pupils was more than norm
ally large and the smaller children had
been placed in an attic of the building.
There was but one fire escape and that
was in the rear of the building. There
were two stairways, one leading to a
door in front and the other to door in
the rear. Both of these doors opened
inward, and it is said that the rear door
was locked as well.
When the flames were discovered the
teachers throughout seem to have acted
with courage and self possession and to
have struggled heroically for the safety
of their pupils and marshaled the little
ones into columns for the "fire drill,'
which they often practiced. Unfortun-
ately the line Of march in this exercise
had always led to the front door, and
the children had not been trained to
GEEK any other exit. The fire came
from furnace situated directly under
this part OF the building.
When the children reached the foot
Of the stairs they found the flames
close upon them and so swift rush
was made for the or that in an in
slant tightly packed mass of children
was piled against it.
After the fire had practically burned
itself out the work of rescuing the bod
es was begun by iremen and railroad
employees from the Lake Shore shops.
The railroad company turned over one
of its buildings near by to be used as
morgue, and thither the.
'harred and broken little bodies were.
'emoved as fast as they could be dug
rom the ruins. Within five hours
practically all had been removed. They
we're placed in rows in the Lake Shore
hops.
Identifications were made only by
means of clothing and trinkets. The
ire had swept away nearly all resem-
'lance to human features in the ma
ority OF instances. Distracted parents
oon began to gather and the work Of
Identification of the blackened and
nangled corIses began.
The grewsCme task of taking out the
lackened torsoes and bits Of human
emains was one Of horror. line of
pscuers was formed, backed by half a
Oxen ambulances. AS the bodies were
from the debris they were
assed along to the stretchers, thence
,nveyed to the ambulances, where
ley were mercifully covered with
Ian kets and then taken to the impro-