The Dickinson press., 1914-11-14

at the DAVIS school In the Fryburg
district, 16 miles southwest Of Bel
field, in which seven persons lost
their lives. . ' rr',
The dead are:
Miss Gladys HOLSTER, aged "a.
Ernest Geary, aged 8, son of C.
81. Geary., J 34,.t :. - ..
Irving :Menge, aged 10, son of
William Menge.f i
Alfred Menge, aged 8, son, of
William Menge. 1.. i
Rexie SMITH aged 8, son of Vern
Smith.
Francis Pike, aged z, son of w. A.
Pike
Ruth Olson, aged 1s, daughter of
Mrs. w. A. Pike. ..,
RAN PANIC-STRICKEN
It was a terribly windy day; a gale
sweeping over the country. at nearly
80 miles per hour. The fire was,
started by a threshing~ outfit about
q mile west Of the school house soon
after the noon hour. In an instant
almost, the flames were licking up the
heavy, growth of cured grass on the
prairie. -, On and on the furious
flames swept, cracking and rolling
up great clouds, of smoke and were
sweeping right down upon the school
house g and its II helpless inmates,
when they + discovered, it. Panic
stricken they fled from the building,
not realizing that the short grass
about. it made, it a place Of safety
from the flames.
NO ONE KNOWS
No one. will ever know just how it
happened. Had the teacher and chill
dren gone north they would have
reached a place of safety. A few
did this. Evidently the fire victims
were blinded T. and choked by the
smoke and drifted into the path of
the seething flames.
SEVEN SAVED
Seven children escaped. They said
when they saw the flames swooping
down they all ran, panic c-stricken.
The Parish girl, Gladys Davis, and
Johnnie Olson were caught on a.
tongue of land between the two fires,
but made dash through the flames
and escaped unharmed, save for
singed hair. Alfred, Walter and
Henry Schwartz and Dollie Smith
succeeded in reaching some. flax stub
BILE and were safe. 6
Horror and fear had so changed the
faces of all the survivors that their
parents scarcely recognized them.
-~~s DAVIS is HERO
Frank Davis is the hero. Director. of
the ill-fated school and living only a
half mile away, he was. the first to
arrive on the scene of the holocaust.
"Words cannot describe its horror, !"
he said. "The blackened and smok-
ing prairie-the little deserted school
house-the two groups of awestruck
children safely beyond the path OF
the fire, and scattered over the. burn
ing area the bodies of the victims.
Here a hand moved, there head
and again another was past move
ment. All seven were totally blinded
by the fire. Some were within 80
rods of the school house, one half
mile away, and all save one, were
lying on their backs, their limbs
drawn up"
Nearest the school he found the
teacher and little Rexie Smith, only
a portion of their shoes remained,
but both were alive.
Miss Hollister recognized Davis
her sister before she died. Davis
took off his outer shirt and put it
around her and wiped the ashes and
dirt from her mouth. -..
"That feels BETTER" she said.
She was taken to the school house,
where she died few hours later,
with her sister, Mrs. Gray, by her
side. Rexie died earlier, at his
home. Continuing the rescue work,
Davis tpickedsnp another victim, who
n aFms. With no coat and
md efshirt Frank Davis
took the. terribly burned,
but still living: children, wpped in
cotton, in hisscar and droEa bit
ing wind 16 miles to Belfe s(5.
,f.. A. HEROINE; :2sAssff:ss2 j.,
No less. heroic was the conduct OF
Ethel Smith, who, without a hat and
in a shirt waist, went with him and
held one of the boys in her arms.
w. "A. Pike found his little son sit
ting in the road. A, rag Of a cuff OF
his waist hung from his wrist and
part of his shoes remained. The
iitt little # fellow !! complained that it was
NERVES NUMBED
The, little fellow did not complain,
his nerves having been numbed when
the FIRE burned the skin of. It is
said that not one of the victims
made any outcry or special complaint
other than to say that it was $50
hot" or call for drink Of water.
Theirs nerves had been anumbed by the
NM Mr.. Davis J. said he ! was satisfied
that none Of the victims moved from
the places where they sank down:
In the case Of Miss Holister the steel
ribs 81 her corset had fallen on the
ground on either side Of her, as Mr..