Los Angeles herald., 1910-10-10
CRAVE IS SEALED
OVER 4 VICTIMS
Of FIRE TRAGEDY
Rev. Robert Burdette Delivers an
Intensely Impressive Sermon
in Temple Auditorium
GRIEVING WOMEN UNNERVED
Five Thousand Persons Witness
Last Rites at Burial Place
In Hollywood
GRIEvING WOMEN UNNERvED


of the Times disaster. were buried yes
terday. While the bells of the chapel
at Hollywood cemetery were Ginning
the last chords of Nearer My God to
Thee" fourteen flower-laden caskets
were lowered into the graves. Five
thousand persons witnessed the last
rites for the dead.
Fathers, mothers, wives, sisters and
sweethearts of the victims wept Bit
terly and wrung their hands with grief
as the caskets bearing the charred re-
mains of their loved ones were car
ried tenderly to the grave. Little chill
dren, some made fatherless, others
brotherless by the catastrophe which
killed twenty-three men, clung to the
skirts of their grief-stricken mothers.
Thousands of sympathetic persons
mingled with the relatives, and with
bowed heads and tear-dimmed eyes
toined in the funeral services. Among
the vast throng that paid tribute to
the dead were bankers and business
men and laborers. Many of them were
union men.
THREE THOUSAND AT SERVICES
At 2 o'clock in the afternoon 5000
persons had filed into Temple au-
ditorlum and taken their seats. The
lower floor had been reserved for rela-
tives and friends OF the dead. Here and
there against background of sea
of faces were patches of mourning
black. White-robed nurses moved
lightly among the relatives. Long be-
fore the dark purple curtain, stretched
across the auditorium, had been lifted,
throwing into view the gray coffins
resting on the banks of flowers on
the stage, the sobs of many women
and children and the sighs of grief
stricken men were heard. The masses
of humanity packed in the balconies
Joined in the sorrow of the ones moro
closely related to the unfortunate en-
ployes.
outside the big building hundreds
of persons stood in the streets, unable
to obtain admittance. White-gloved
police stood like statues every few feet
along the line of the crowd, but there
appeared no work for them to do.
The crowd seemed like one man stand
ing in the presence OF death.
PATHETIC SCENES ON STAGE
Shortly after 2 o'clock the first
chords Of the funeral march throbbed
from the organ and reverberated
through the great auditorium. The
curtain was raised and fourteen collins
stretching in a semicircle from one
end of the stage to the other, with
large reproduction in flowers of the
Times building in the center, were
placed in view of the audience. A
groan of anguish went up from the
throng. Women shrieked, children
cried. men covered their faces with
their hands. The great organ ceased
its laundering and the eXpectant
crowd sat rigid and tense.
From the orchestra pit fifty men,
members of the Orpheus club, stood
and sang "The Lost Chord" and the
music of their voices again brought
sounds of grief from the lower floor.
Rev. Robert ]. Burdette, pastor
emeritus of Temple Baptist church.
appeared on the platform off the stage
and raised his hands in prayer. The
sound of his voice seemed to relieve
the pain of the fathers and mothers.
wives and children of the dead, but
before he had ceased they were once
more weeping.
Rev. Dana w. Bartlett read a pas
sage from the Scriptures. Following
another hymn from the Orpheus club,
Rev. DR.. Burdette stood before the
audience and delivered the funeral
address. which must live long in the
memories of those related to the VIC
tins of the DISASTER.
In a voice tense with feeling, DR..
Burdette described in minute detail
the night previous and the morning
following the explosion. He pictured
the newspaper room with the click of
the operators key and the typewriter
of the reporter sounding off the news
of the world from the four corners of
the globe. He described the excite
ment, yet perfect order in the midst of
seeming confusion. He took his aud
fence into the linotype and press rooms
where the rattle and din of the ma
chimes and labor of the men preceded
the birth of morning issue that was
being printed-all unconscious of i'm
pending DISASTER.
"And then" said DR.. Burdette, 81
o'clock and a pleasant morning. 'Alps
well,' calls the angel of the watch.
Duty walked down the busy line of
these sons of fidelity. She called the
roll of honor beside the cradle of the
new born day."
DRAMATIC ROLL CALL OF DEAD
Here followed the most dramatic
scene ever witnessed by many in that
throng by thousands One by one,
from assistant city editor to the men
down deep in the basement of the
Times building, laboring with the
presses, DIR. Burdette called their names
and answered Here" AS the names
of their loved ones echoed through the
room cries of hysterical grief and
anguish rent the air. Heavily yelled
women tore the wells from their faces
and rocked their bodies to and fro in
mute agony, and the children, not un-
derstanding it all, looked on in wide
eyed wonder.
High and clear, like herald trum-
peting the advent of the new day"
continued DR.. Burdette ''rang the
voices of the angels of the watch.
zone o'clock and ten minutes. A
pleasant morning. Alrs well.
"Crash and thunder of the forces of
destruction! Roaring of the powers of
red-handed anarchy! The purple night
is polluted with the lurid flames leap
lOonftuuad m PaRa ThFaA0