The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1908-01-17
10 DEAD At BOYERTONN
cNE.FiFTEENTH OF POPULATION
WIPED OUT BY HOLOCAUST.
BODIES DIFFICULT TO IDENTIFY
In Many instances They Are Burned
to Crisp In Upper Portion-Publle
School Used as Morsue-ReIatives
In Sad Search for Loved Ones.

ooheo' Oseo as Mor9ue-Helativeo
In Sad Search for Loved Ones.
Boyertown, Pa, Jan. 16.-Bearing
up bravely under the awful blow
which 1t received In the destruction
Of the Rhoades Opera House by fire
on Monday, this thriving little borough
has come to a full realization of the
fact that one-fifteenth Of It's popula.
ton was wiped out OF existence by
the holocaust. The figures compiled
by Coroner Strasser show that there
are ITO dead as q result of the fire.
The list Of dead includes one fireman,
who lost his life fighting the fire, and
one man, Jacob Johnson, who died
from injuries received in the blazing
playhouse. Three more charred bodies
were recovered from the ruins of the
building and Of the 1853 bodies, or re.
mains, that lie in the improvised
morgues. 115 have been officially or
partially identified by sorrowlng rela-
tives or friends. The private morgues
In the town were not OF sufficient size
to receive the bodies OF those taken
from the fire ruins and the public
school was also used as a charnel
house. Here, where a number of the
victims went daily to their studies.
the bodies were laid out In rows.
Jewelry and fragments OF clothing
picked up In the blackened ruins was
tagged, as were the charred and black.
sned bodies, or such portion of them
as remained, and all in search OF miss.
Ing loved ones were permitted to pass
through the gruesome rows to make
identification. Some Of the bodies
could not be recognized by the feat
ures alone, as in most cases tng upper
portion of the corpses was scared or
burned to crisp.
The scenes at the morgue were
heartrending. Children of tender
years were In some cases called upon
to assist in making the Identification
OF parents who went to an untimely
death In the fire and panic. and again
feeble men and women were racked
with anguish as they came upon some
distorted body In which they recog-
nized the form Of a lost son or daugh-
ter.
Few Bodies Have Heads.
There were fifty-five undertakers or
their representatives in the town and
there was plenty for them to do, as
all were called upon to assist In pre-.
pairing the remains for inspection and
identification. Coroner Strasser SAYS
that not more than twenty-five of the
entire number Of bodies removed from
the Are have heads. There are sew.
eral trunks that will probably never
be identified. as there were several
strangers in the audience that wit
messed the play.
Building Inspector Hickman of
Reading, who made an inspection of
the opera house which was DESTROYED
said. "In 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 themselves. A man told me
that he reached in the doorway to as.
sist woman from the building and
that he was nearly overcome by gas.
He was not in the hall when the fire
started"
A committee has been appointed to
make canvass of the borough and
arrange for the proper Burial OF the
dead. A call has also been issued for
volunteers to help dig the graves nee
essQry to bury the victims