Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-01-30

Church Morgue and Aid Station
Recovered from the wreck and hor-
ror of the ruined theater, pitifnl
living, flowed all Saturday night and
Christian Science church a few hun
dred yards away At the first word
of the disaster. the place was thrown
open to those stricken folk and the
hundreds of others who came to search
for their dead or injured.
1t was merely first-aid station
for the injured, who were carried
there in stretchers. Doctors and
nurses and womea tenderly washed
from the suffering the gray dust of
crumpled concrete. the caked blood,
blackened sometimes by hours of wait
ing pinned under the debris. Band
ages were applied and then the in
jured were taken to hospitals or home.
But the dead lay long in the double
rows in which they stretched across
the floor. lay until a fearful rela<eve
or friend, a husband or wife or
father or mother, recognized the
crushed form.
Death Strikes into Families
Some of the seekers came with the
dirt and CRIME of the wreckage still
on them. Some had passed through
the theater crash only to leave dear
one dead in the tangled mass. They
had worked hours with the rescuers
to find that one, only to turn now and
then for hurried trip to the cham
Der of death.
Eleven times death struck down hus-
fo csI ~ CIR
But many other times it was only the
wife or the husband who perished.
The times when children were taken
were few, the storm having kept most
of them at home.
ITp the long path. trodden through
heavy snow. that ran from the i'm
promptu morgue to the knicker-
booker. struggled the stretcher squads.
Ministers held the doors of the church
and with gentleness and sympathy
sifted out those who sought their dead
from others drawn by curiosity.
There was quietness at the church IN
spite of the urgent and never-ceaslng
activity. The losers in the knicker-
booker disaster. neither the physically
h,1rr nor the bereayed, gave voice to
their sufferings.
Girl Dies During Rescue
Some of the dead were alive when
rescue work began. but died before
thew could be reached. One girl.
pinned unaer beam, died with both
hands in those of an army officer
directing her release. One man.
pinned beside his dead wife. was freed
from pain with hypodermic needle
and survived the long night to a safe
removal.
A moment after the crash. Father
John Floorsch priest, entered the
ruined theater. Knee deep In the
snow he gave general absolution and
the final rites of the church to the
diving, Then he plunged into the res
cue work.
Notable was the speed of the Red
Cross workers. who fought Yheir way
TO thc theater site. through the snow
Scores Of surgeons and nurses
answered the summons with instant
speed and their succor both saved lives
Of the victims and sustained the I'M
tagging zeal of the rescuers.
Mostly Washington Folks
OF the dead. 81 had been identified
at dark tonight. The large majority
of both killed and injured were local
residents, although many came from
other places.
The exact number in the thcater
when lie steel and concrete span OF
the roof buckled and fell under its
three-f foot load OF snow. probably
never will be known. The stories Of
perhaps a hundred who got out unin-
ured have been reported. These ac-
count for a few more than 800 in the
auditorium that was roaring with
laughter at D. film comedy when the
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