South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-01-30
CHURCH, AS MORGUE,
HOUSES The VICTIMS

Continued from page one)
ble rows i'm which they stretched
across the floor. lay until "a fearful
relative or friend "A husband on a
wife Of father or mother recognized
the crushed form an last.
Up and down these aislcs Of the
dead walked those whose fears had
drawn them here because of some
one missing i'm the family circle.
Women already weeping i'm GER
tainty or what they must find sooner
or later beneath the kindly blankets
that shielded the slecpers made the
journey Of sorrow many times be-
fore they found what they sought
Men with working faces leaned TO
draw back the coverings and then
gasp with short-livcd relief as they
moved on to the next huddlcd form.
Some Of these seekers came with
the dirt and CRIME of the wreckage
upon them still Some had passed
through the crash of roof and bal
cony only to leave n dear one dead
I'm the tangled mass They had
worked hours with the rescuers to
find that one. only 10 turn now and
then for "a hurried trip 20 the cham
bcr of death
Eleven times death struck down
husband and wife side by side.
They died as they had sat to see
the swift picturins of the film. But
many other times 10 was only the
wife or the husband who persisted
and the survivor must make the ter
rible pilgrimage OF recognition in
the grim chamber of tho dead.
Few Children Victims.
The times when children were
taken we're sparingly few Usually
the big theater has been i'm its
earlier hours of Saturday night
the gathering place Of a host Of
Youngsters come with their parents
for the weeks amusement. But the
storm that wrecked the Knicker-
booker kept most of the little folks
at home that night.
Cp-the lons path. troddeu through
heavy snow that ran from the inn
promptu morgue 10 the Knicker-
hooker, struggled the stretcher
squads, army and navy men mostly.
Commissioned officers Of the mill
tary services held the doors of tho
church entrance. and with exquisite
genuVess and sympathy sifted out
those who sought their dead from
others drawn 10y morbid curiosity.
Bear Grief Braycly
Above an there was ouictness ar
the church in spite of the urgent
I and never-ceasinE activity The
/ losers i'm the Knickcrbockcr disas-
/ ter. neither the physically hurt non
/ the bereaved gave voice 20 their sur
! feriEg And it was the testimony
OF The first who reached the theater
that the cutlery there jn the ruin
was little and soon stilled.
some Of tSe dead were alive when
rescue work began. but died before
the saving hands could reach them.
| one girl child. pinned under beam.
died with both hands i'm those Of an
army officer who was directing her
release. one man. pinned beside hiz
dead wife. was freed from pain with
! hypodermic needle ana survived the
ANINh NA-ANA 90 ~ EhAE removal.
Priest Gives Absolution.
a moment after the crash I,r
John FI0eTsCh priest OF a nearby
church. entered the ruined theater
/ Knee deep I'm the snow that coverei
all for the benefit OF the DYING
around HIM. he gave general abso.u-
ticn and the final rites Of the church
o. the oying Then he plunged into
tho rescue work.
+ Notable was the speed Of the Red
Cross organization, whose iocaI
chapters forced Their way TO Lhe
I IN .ater site across city whose
normal transportation lines had been
paralyzed iu She snow. and set up
I canteens Cor the workers hospital
/ facilities FOR The wounded. and am
balances for tho dead and the in