The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1923-05-18
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FIRE HORROR
STARTS ON PAGE L

turned over 10 relatives. The others
were mostly n mass OF burned flesh
and bones and Identification was i'm.
possible. All OF the bodies recovered
were taken from the narrow stair.
way OF the school house. where tho
men. women and children were
trapped In their frantic effort to
escape. according 20 WEIGH.
The stairway strained and then
buckled under tho heavy load OF so
many persons and preclpltated many
into the raging inferno. causing add.
tionai deaths OF those fighting like
mad to escape thru the entrance TO
the door.
Scores OF children were trampied.
some OF them Killed outright. Ia the
the Jam and rush, Others were
burned. their young bodies so
seorchcd by the flames that their
parents. searching franticaily among
the heaps OF chsrred remains. could
not identify them.
Tho whole countryside turned out
when tho glare told OF the disaster.
Help was rushed from Camden.
few miles distant. but there was
nothing to be done except aid those
who suffered injuries when they
leaped from the windows. Homes
- near by were turned into hospitals
and moFgres.
Doctors from Camden attended 10
those least seriously injured. while
sAA Nets-
ried 20 Camden hospitals
Within two hours after the
fire broke out. the schoolhouss
was nothing but smoking mass
OF redhot cinders.
Relatives and friends OF many OF
those who attended the entertain.
ment nocked TO the scene OF the
disaster. seeking their loved ones.
Many were driven almost out OF
their minds with grief and anxiety.
Few families In the surrounding
countryside escaped unscathed as
either immediate or near relatives
were among the dead or injured
1T WAS the most heart-rendIns
sight ever saw" scrgt silton told
the United Press. When 1 30,
there the schoolhouse was one mass
OF flames.
People were screaming and groan-
Ing. Those who had got out were
trying 20 get back In 70 release those
penned In the Railways.
we tried to get them out. but
the fire spread 20 fast that IL
was no use. The building burned
like finder. People who jumped
out OF the windows nearly all
= had borken bones. Some OF
them forgot NIL about their own
injuries when they remembered
children or other loved ones left
behind In the hall.
You couldn't get at the facts
about Il for n long time. tho sur.
vivor5 were no excited and grief.
stricken. Families. got separated in
the rush. This was country school
house. where they used Kerosene
lamps for lighting. One OF them got
loose or the hook pulled out from
the ceiling. II fell right in the midst
OF the crowd there and exploded.
"A lot OF people were burned then.
and everybody started screaming and
running for the doors and windows.
They all got damned on the stairway
and in the hall leading 10 the street.
and they didn't have chance after
they got in there.
Nobody could help them and the
.ss.4 lei
tighter they got jammed in. From
the look OF some OF the bodies we
took out they were trampled TO death
before the fire got them.
We could not get into the build.
ing to get the bodies out for a long
time. the fire was so hot. There was
nothing left OF the building at all.
j never INV anything so terrible in
my life"
The charred bodies OF the victims
were laid in rowg on the ground az
fast as they were taken out.
Hundreds Of people came hunting
their folks" said Silton. The scenes
were terrible. II was pitiful to see
half.crazed people hunting for ring
OF SOME tObtn tnhI Woulu lusuiiy
the bodies.
Everybody knew everybody else
st that entertainment. you see, and
Il was quite an affair for a small
country place.
THE folks who were in that hall
were small farmers and landholders,
mostly quiet folks. who we're proud
Of the work their children did at
school, and who went to see them
perform at the entertainment. A
few folks from Camden went over.
About seven or eight Camden peo.
pie were burned 70 dcith, but tire
most Of tn victims were country
people like ] described"
plsa d. Dill