A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 11 March 1908, Page 30

A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY.

CHILDREN BUBtfED TO DEATH DISTJJEisSLSG LOSS OF LIFE. 178 VICTIMS. NEW YORK, March 5. The Lake View Common School at Cleveland, in Ohio, attended by 360 children ranging from five to 14 years, has been burned. The fire commenced in the basement of a six-storey building during the morning school. The smoke quickly filled the building, creating a panic. All the classes were dismissed simultaneously, and the children on the upper floors rushed pell-mell downstairs, only to find the lower corridors already choked by children from the lower class-rooms, all pushing and struggling for their lives. Miss Morran, the principal of the girls' school, who escaped, says that the children made a mad rush for the doors and windows, and it was impossible to keep them in check, though they had been taught how to act in the event of fire. There were only two exits at the back, and one of them, was blocked. The other doorway was soon blocked with falling children, who were trampled on by those behind. Most of the dead came from the first and second floors. A number on the third floor escaped when the floors collapsed. The firemen say that the children were writhing in heaps in the basement until the roof fell. The fire raged for two hours. When the ruins were explored many charred bodies were discovered, the limbs and skulls of which became detached at the slightest touch. Many of the bodies were identified only by pocket trinkets. Smoke asphyxiated most of the victims. The school was old, and was badly constructed. When the front exit became blocked the children were hopelessly entrapped. One hundred and fifty-two bodies have been recovered, and it is feared that many more children have perished. An overheated furnace caused tbe fire. The firemen's ladders only reached the third storey. When the fire alarm was sounded the children laughed, thinking that it was a false alarm. The teachers directed them to sit quietly, but directly the smoke appeared the children stampeded. They found the stairs leading to the hall packed like sardines, the children lying on top of each other. A few escaped by running over them. A merchant named Upton saved 18 children. The children in trying to retrace their steps encountered the flames, which destroyed the class-rooms. A few minutes later the lower floor collapsed, precipitating scores of children to the basement. The teachers struggled bravely, but weTe helpless. Nine of them were hurt. Hundreds of frantic parents assembled, and the workmen from the factories came to assist. A man was trying to drag his daughter from a pile of children who were wedged in a doorway, but he pulled her arms out at the sockets. Several children jumped from the third storey, and were instantly killed. Others Were caught in the arms of spectators, though they were badly hurt. A number were rescued through windows at the back of the building. The fire escapes enabled some at the upper windows to be rescued, but the flames, sweeping up the staircase, soon enveloped the building beyond control. The firemen played the hose on the children who weTe piled up at the front doorway, at the same time trying to extricate a few. Even this was soon impossible. There was a fearful stench from the cliil-clrezi's burning fl«sla. The police used force to keep the distracted parents back. One hundred and seventy-eight children perished in the fire in the school at Cleveland.