Evening star., 1922-01-30

uay 10 express MS appreciation OF tne
fearless and tireless service rendered
by all branches of the military serv-
ice In combing the ruins for the dead
and injured.
Without the military service" said
Col. Keller. 'our task would have
been hopeless, for We could not
have hired labor to dig through the
mass Of concrete. steel and other
debris, as the soldiers, sailors and
marines did"
No civilian could peer into the four
roof1ess walls Of the structure last
night without feeling proud of those
husky, robust marines, who were in
there pulling and hauling with all
their strength to get to every cor
ner Of the building in search for
bodies.
With the gigantic task of rescue
now well along. Col. Keller and OFF,
cials of the building inspectors Of
flee now will turn their attention to
study of the plans of the wrecked
theater to see if they can find there
any possible light on the question of
why the roof caved in.
May Tear Wallis Down.
Col Keller stated this morning that
up to this time he had concerned
himself more with the problem of eX-
Treating wounded and dead than
with the question of the cause Of
the disaster.
"As soon as we are absolutely sure
there are no more bodies In the
wreckage we will relieve the troops
and rope off what remains of the
building" the colonel said.
at seems almost certain that the
Columbia road wall will have 10 be
taken down and we also probapiy
will order the owner to take down
the marquise over the lsth street
entrance"
No Inquest for Week.
Coroner Nevitt, before leaving the
temporary morgue in the church last
night, announced that he would swear
in a coroners jury over one OF the
bodies today. but that no attempt will
be made to hold the inquest Tor
about week The coroner, pre-.
sumably, will await the gathering OF
data that might give some clue as
to what caused the roof TO give way.
Frequently throughout the night, as
the marines were digging feverishly
into the wreckage. reports "oniu
gain circulation that another BODY
was in sight. Although all OF Ihese
rumors proved groundiess. they
served to spur the sea-dogs on 10
greater effort.
gold watch, with a diamond set in the
hack and the initials "E. NJ. G. They
also found ladys beaded hand bag
containing a handkerchief, win ..,, y
monogram which appeared 10 De b.
F." or "B. T." r.
and mems felt hats were aug IRON
the ruins. Only one hat had eligible
initials. They were *. C.
A number Of men from police mead
quarters, under Inspector Grant, nave
been working in the temporary
morgue since Saturday niSn. 49, :
fishing identificatiops. guldlng rsia
tiyes and friends, endeavoring 10 hilo
missing persons, and gathering val
uables from the bodies of the dead
which they placed in separate en- en-
yelopes to keep them safe lot Inc
families of the victims. pa c-oss
Scores of women of the Red oross
ond other volunteers remained at the
church and in the soda FOUNTAIN IN
the theater lobby and IN nea5pH
restaurants all Saturday and SUNDAY
nights. serving hot coffee ana saho-
wiches to the workmen-
Whole Families Killed.
One feature of the calamity Is ,he
nurober of families that died toeelner :;
one instance of father son ahu
Sanphter: another instance OF
fsther mother and two daughters
and repeated instances OF hushands
and wives dying together ana pelns
d,,o ont clasped in each others arms
Another and far happier feature was
the fact that there were so rev emu
dren in the theater when the rool
fell, and there have been oniS one
or two cases where reports were CIR
cr1ated that children had been buried
In their hours Of suffering and
offentimes with their dying breath
narents pinned beneath the fallen rooi
rasped out: Thank God. | left my
little girl at home"'-or ON, m SC
grateful my little boy is all right;
One mother on the operating iaoie
was moaning, "Oh. they say my httle
son'a leg is broken" Several gave
their lives that the work Of rescuine
others might be speeded. One such
hero was Albert Buehler, 121 the
Portner apartment. who drove the
rescuers away from himself ano
pleaded with them to help young
woman nearby. saying he was al rlsh'
and could hold out for days II neces-
aary. He was taken out alive, but
died while being given first-aid treat
ment for his injuries.
Pitiful Scenes in Church.
The First Church of Christ. Scien-
tist Columbia road and Euclid street
a magnificent marble structure, was
thrown open for use in any capacity
to help out in the terrible situation
There scores of nurses and dozen
doctors treated the victims as fas,
as they could be dug out and borne
away on stretchers. Three other
rooms were used as morgues. to which
the bodies were removed as fast as
the doctors pronounced life extinct
In a dozen ambulances, and even with
the stretchers laid on the snow
crushed pavement, scores of doctors
knelt in the snow feeling for even
the slightest spark OF life. and direct
ing the work of making those with
broken limbs or badly crushed as
comfortable as circumstances would
permit
There were heartrending scenes in
the basement Of the church as chill
dren recognized dead parents or as
wives learned that they had lost
the survivors bore their own be-
reavement with admirable fortitude
thinking only of doing all they could
for the victims, and having the bodies
they claimed removed as soon as pos
sible to make room for the others
being borne in.
Remarkable Rescue.
One of the most remarkable rescues
was that Of Scott Montgomery, who
was taken out at S:20 Sunday morn
ing, after having been pinned beneath
an iron girder for more than eleven
hours. He died four hours later at
Walter Reed Hospital, however He
was given morphine while under the
wreckage by q physician who had to
crawl quite a distance to him. Miss
Veronica Murphy Of Is California
street, whom Montgomery accom-
panied to the theater, also is among
the dead.
A five-year-old girl was found un-
hurt, seated between the bodies OF
two dead women. The child, appar-
emily undisturbed, was SO quickly
grabbed and carried away to be cared
for by one of the rescuers that her
name was not learned. Her life evil
IDENTIFY was saved by her falling be-
..,,no,, tho eoata and tho profactjor