Evening star., 1937-03-19

Workers Exhausted.
Workers wearied as they bored into
an almost impregnable mass of ruins.
Calls for replacementS echoed over the
vicinity from powerful public address
system Some fell exhausted, others,
stripped to the waist, stumbled out of
dust clouds for fresh air and plunged
back for more digging.
Supt. w. c. Shaw, who stood out
side on the grounds and barely escaped
death from debris that hurtled 800
yards in all directions, said it was
quite possible" unburned gas from
the nearby field had accumulated in
basement crannies, hollow tile and
walls and finally gave way to sponta-
neous combustion.
The odor of gas had been strong
for weeks, he commented, and several
survivors of the tragedy said gas fumes
had bothered them recently.
Forty-five minutes proved the diff
ference between life and death for the
students.
Escape Narrowly Averted.
Plans had been made originally to
dismiss the entire student body that
early for a track and field meet. Later,
it was decided to release only the par
tlcipants early. They were among the
few survivors.
j. Mahaffey of Selma City said, II
heard the rumble" of the blast while
he was u miles away.
''Whpn 7 bore mora than An
bodies had been laid to one side" he
related
One body had been blown through
the roof and was lodged on top of
the section of the building left stand
ing"
E. j. MCGEE of nearby CASTOR ar
rived in time to see about so or so
scared and bloody children running
to their homes"
Capt Bert (Sailor) ODonovan of
the Kilgore Fire Department person.
ally carried out more than so bodies.
A military investigation was insti-
tuted and another promised by the
State Railroad Commission, admin
lstrator of gas and oil laws.
0,uUU AT scene OF Blast.
Many Sobbing parents waited to
claim their dead in the throngs of
5000 ringing the smoking pile, where
only bare split wall was left standing
of the three winged main building.
Efforts were concentrated at the site
of the auditorium, where most of the
| TOO high school students were gath
! cred when the walls shook, the tile
| roof rose, then fell back with crushing
force upon the collapsins structure
Hundreds of grade students already
had been dismissed from nearby
| building.
No ordinary blast could have ever
wrecked completely the high school
building at New London" said T. Roy
AlnSWorth of Houston, architect of the
firm which designed it.
The building was one of the finest
school buildings architecturally -
anywhere in the United States
1t had steel framework and steel
truSses in the roof.
Dynamite Found in Wreckage.
American Legion officials at nearby
OVerton said several sticks Of dyna =
mite, used for blasting foot ball field
were found in the Wreckage, but had
no connection with the explosion. The
! sticks were in part of the school not
badly damaged
AS flames from gas pipes, leaping
80 feet into the air, lighted the scene
screaming cranes lifted huge chunks
| of concrete and acetylene torches bit
into twisted steel to release the crushed
victims
One recognizing mother frantically
snatched at hand with two rings
on it, found yards from the building.
She cried and turned away.
Mrs. w. H. Phillips 5-year- old son
had run ahead to meet his brother and
sister at school. He we killed with
them.
R. K. CARL, oil employe, was one
Of the first to reach the scene after
the explosion He pulled out the body
Of his daughter.
My brother said the place Just
blew up all of a sudden and scared
| them awfully," was the simple picture
| presented by little Martha Harris, who
saw the blast from the Home Eco
nomics Building, so yards away.
Had to Jump Somewhere"
ut took the breath away and all
he knew was he had to jump some
where, anywhere" He leaped to
safety.
1T was nearly seven minutes be-
fore time for dismissal" said L. z.
Barker, 16, who was in the study hall.
Suddenly the floor rose up. There
was terrible blast. 1t sounded like
dynamite. 1 was not badly hurt. I
was hit on the back Of the head by
something. I jumped out the second
floor window"
Widest disorder followed. As the
reports spread, roads became clogged
with screaming parents racing to the
school in automobiles.
Calls were sent out for all available
nurses and physicians. Some came by
plane from Wichita Falls.
BY last nightfall bodies were being
removed at the rate Of about one eyery
five minutes
One spectator thus described the
scene:
In the middle of a ring Of about
5000 persons lay the remnants of the
huge structure. The center portion
had only bare split wall at the rear
still standing. The brick and stones
were piled about is feet high in a
quarry-like effect. From the ponder
GUS Oil trucks to the mass of debris
covering the children were stretched
huge stout cables. Sweating oil field
roughnecks' turned Grants OF mercy