Evening star., 1925-03-19
JSCHOOLHOUSE FIRE
\ TRAPS CHILDREN
Eyewitness Describes De
Soto as Mass of Bodies
H.. and Debris.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press
CENTRALIA, Ill. March 19--A
graphic eyewitness account of the
destruction of the De Soto Public
School and the widespread damage
there was told by Max Burton, a tele-
graph operator for the Illinois Cen
trail Railroad at Tamaroa. about ~
miles from the scene of the disaster
Burton hastened to the little town
Immediately after receiving WORD oil
the disaster.
Rescue workers were piling bodies
of little children on mattresses and
blankets on the playground outside OF
the schoolhouse," Burton said. III
seemed that there was no one there
to claim themx Their parents were
being taken to hospitals on special
trains and ambulances.
The Railways of the schoolhouse
had been blown in and the passage
way was covered with bricks. The
few people engaged in rescuing them
could not get in to them. l saw about
20 bodies, and while l was there they
carried away some; meanwhile others
were brought out of the wrecked
building
Clothing Torn From Bodies.
lie" EdFOS Denlnu the SCnoOihOuSe
iR'a field near the city limits 1 saw
fhe bodies of two little babies about
6 or months old Both were dead
and their clothes torn off,
THE principal of the school was or
hand and he was trying to identify
the bodies Of the pupils, also worry
ing over the whereabouts and safety
OF two girl teachers who were un'
accounted for. The principal wa:
~ y =
barely escaped with his life.
by this time the school building
was a mass of smoldering ruins, fire
having destroyed what the storm die
not. The hallway of the school house
had caved in. and what few rescuers
were on hand were trying to uncover
the bodies of pupils. and locate the
two missing teachers.
II walked out beyond the schoo
grounds. Every tree left standing
and every fence had garments, bed
clothes and household goods blowr
against them. 1t looked 10 me like
the storm began in the west and
travelled eastward I saw furniture
and automobile tops and clothing
scattered everywhere. and saw people
fleeing from the town with hardly any
garments.
The business section was practi-
caily destroyed by fire and wind, and
nearly every home was fiat saw
about 40 automobiles piled up in one
big pile. and thought this was g
garage that had been struck.
Fire Department Helpless.
81 offered what help l could and
they told me the bodies were first
taken south to Carbondale, but tha,
the hospital was filled. later
learned they were taking the in
jured TO the Duqoin Hospital north
of De Soto. Automobiles were
stretched along the hard roads north
and south for nearly three miles a
short time after the tornado The
fire departments of DuQoin and Car
bondale were sent to De Soto but
they were unable to do anything and
the firemen pitched in to do the
rescue work. l could see them dig
ging the bodies out Of the school
house and other buildings.
Il met two girls on the hard road
on my way back TO Tamaroa. Their
faces were bleeding and their clothes
were torn.
They were wandering up the road
and seemed not to know where they
were going"
Burton added that the town was a
mass of bodies, debris and burning
buildings.
1T seemed to me there was not
an entire house in the town. he
said. People were going out on the
hard road. north and south, with a
few belongings clutched in their
arms, more for protection against
the storm than anything else"