The Oskaloosa herald., 1917-01-25
SCHOOL BURNED
At ROSE HILL
TEACHERS AND PUPILS ESCAPE
WITHOUT INJURY.
ROOF FELL AS LAST ONE LEFT
Intense Excitement Followed the
Alarm OFF Fire and Scene is Be-
sieged by Frantic Parents
Rooms Empted Quickly.


about nine o'clock this morning soon
after the taking up of the morning
session, completely destroyed our
public school building, together with
all school property therein con-
tanned.
Every pupil and teacher was in the
building when the alarm came, and
,, it is to the credit of those in charge
/ of the children that. not a single in
jury occurred.
Intense excitement followed the
alram of fire and before the pupils
were all safely out the building was
I bcsieged by frantic parents with lit
tic ones in the building. Far less
concern was exhibited by the chill
dren than by the parents outside.
Rooms were emptied as quickly as
possible and while some of the
, children exhibited fear, the pupils
for the greater part deported them
selves in an orderly and quiet man.
ner There was nothing approach
ing a stampede in the halls or in
leaving the rooms, and all went out
orderly fashion though somewhat
hurried The building and rooms
were filed with hot smoke in an in
. credibly short time and the cracking
| of the fire could be plainly heard.
/ The flames were soon beyond con-
| troll.
I Some of the children did not stop
! for wraps or books, but the greater
number came away with both gar
ments and school property.
| The building burned rapidly, and
within few moments, apparently,
| the whole structure was involved.
The roof fell with crash just as the
last persons were getting out. 1t
is fortunate that no injuries occur
red. Following the fall of the roof
the chimneys and the walls tottered
and fell and the building is COM
plete ruin.
Fire caught in the basement and
must have been burning some time
when discovered. The janitor was
/ not in the building at the time, and
THE fire was first discovered by the
! school children themselves when
sE,chc began pouring out from the
hot air registers. Before the chill
dren could be dismissed from the
rooms, flames We're through the
floors. '
Railways and rooms quickly filled
with thick smoke andt he inmates Of
the building were out none to quick.
= ly.
! Those who were early on the
scene believe that the fire caught in
the furnace room. When the fire
fighters attempted to enter the base
I ment the fuel room was a mass of
flames. r. Off,
Including a new piano, an organ
recently installed in the school, new
reference library, principals library
and manual training department,
/ the loss to the district will be some
where between five and six thousand
dollars. Insurance to the extent of
three thousand dollars was carried.
Few of the pupils waited to obtain
their books and the personal loss is
considerable.
The Rose Hill school was two
story frame structure over base
cent Four large school rooms We're
accommodated in the building be-
sides Railways, recitation rooms and
closets or smaller rooms.
From the lower part OF the build
ing the fire spread through the stair
ways and communicating halls to all
parts of the building which was soon
burning from cellar to roof and that
no one was caught or injured was a
piece of rare good fortune.
Adjoining property was in danger
threatened and considerable damage
in the way of broken window glass
and blistered paint resulted.
When the fire broke out between
sixty and one hundred pupils and five
teachers were in the building. The
building was all we'll afre before all
were out
Miss Wayne Jones, teacher of the
intermediate department on the first
floor of the building, was probably
the first to see the fire and to appre-
ciate the fact that the building was
burning. The entire floor beneath
her room was burning.
Miss Jones as quickly as possible
communicated the warning to Miss
Mayme Slocum, the first room teach
err, who Immediately rang the fire
alarm bell, warning all in the build.
ing to get out.
Miss Jones returned to her room
ana went into the cloak room to OBJ
tain her coat and the wraps of the
children. This she was unable to
do as she was driven out by the
smoke and as she returned to her
returned to her room she was al
most blinded.
Assembly had not been sounded
when the alarm was heard and not
al the children had taken their
places in the rooms. II all had been
in the building, Miss Jones believes
some one must surely have persisted