Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 33, Number 19, 5 March 1908 — Page 1

RICHMOND FA.1L1LABIUM AIMD SUN-TELEGRAM, VOL. XXXIII. XO. VX KICII3IOXD, IXD., THURSDAY EVEXIXG, MARCH 5. 1908. SINGLE COPV, CENTS.

THE

OHIO AUTHORITIES ARE MAKING INVESTIGATION SOME DOUBT EXISTS AS TO WHETHER OR NOT. THE COLLINWOOD SCHOOL WAS BUILT IN CONFORMITY TO STATE LAWS, AND OFFICIALS GO TO THE SCENE V OF THE TRAGEDY.

iAIEST REPORT . "SAYS TWOHUNDRED CHILDREN DIED Gross Carelessness, It Is Claimed, Is Responsible for The Terrible Tragedy, as Doors Were Locked. ACTION IN SPREADING ALARM WAS DELAYED. iFire Had Gained Great Head- . way Before the Alarm Was Sounded, and Harter, the Janitor, Is Questioned. IDENTIFICATION NOW ON. A STREAM OF HEART BROKEN WOMEN PASSING THROUGH THE MORGUE TODAY LOOKING AT CHARRED BODIES. IT IS A SCENE OF HORROR. Causes Men Delving Into the Mass Of Human, Flesh to Hesitate Pitiful Scenes Surround Charnel House Entire Town in Sorrow. BULLETIN. Cleveland,' O., March 5-Up to two o'clock, 171 Wodies had been recovered. Of this number fifty-four are unidentified. The Coroner's inquest was started at ten o'clock and wilt continue throughout the day. Fire marshals are looking for three girls who discovered fire in the basement and told janitor Herter. The story that the fire was of incendiary origin is given tittle credence. Mrs. Bertha Robinson, who lost her two little girls in the fire attempted suicide today. She will recover. Other bereaved parents ars on the verge of losing their minds. A i public funeral may be held Friday. i Columbus, O., March 5. For the purpose of conducting an investigation to ascertain whether or not the North Collinwood school was built in conformity to the state laws governing the construction of such buildings. Chief Inspector of Workshops and Factories Morgan started for Cleveland this morning with several deputies. Governor Harris has his legal advisers searching for a statute under which the Ohio authorities may take action. It Is reported that te Collinwood school was built for "artistic effect," rather than safety. There were only twc entrances to the building, one of which with the windows was kept locked. RESCUE PROGRESSING. Over Two Hundred Little Killed in Fire. Children Cleveland. O., March 5. Several nore charred bodies of school children Were brought out of the ruins of the Collinwood school building this morning. It is now certain that the dead will exceed two hundred. The search 'for corpses will be continued this afternoon. A stream of heart broken women went through the morgue today, looking at charred bodies and passing on. Over sixty bodies remain unidentified. The majority of the boys and girls who met death wore trinkets by which they could be identified. A conference is being held between Deputy Fire Marshall Brockman, James Bauder, President of the board of education. Coroner Burke and Fred Herter, the janitor. ,No Information has been given out. Herter was the man who discovered the fire and turned in the alarm, but it is not clear t the investigating officials, why the

fire gained such headway. Herter said he was on his way to the basement, where he was told of the fire by three girls. Herter is dazed over the loss of his own children. Taking Out the Bodies. ... .The grewsomo task of taking out the blackened corpses and bits of human remains was one of horror. A line of rescuers is formed, backed by half a dozen ambulances. As the

bodies are untangled from the debris '. they are passed along to the ' stretchers and thence loaded in the ambulances. Mercifully covered with; blankets, the pitiful sights are veiled from the crowd of curious that stret-j ches about the entrance to the struc-;

tn re. As fast as a load ts obtained it is driven away to the improvised ; morgue, to be succeeded by another ' Baltimore, Mil., March o Cardinal within a short time. j (libbous. when asked concerning the The sights of the human charnel ' attack made on him by prohibition house causes the men delving into the j leaders, said: mass of burned flesh to hesitate, but j '"1 do not intend to voice the recent work has to be done and done quickly ' incident in which I was criticised, and their feelingshave to be smothered j "I w ill make public no more interfor the lime being as they tenderly j iws on the question of local option, handle all that was mortal of the lit-1 1 lmvo said all I intend to say, and tie tots. ! attacks on me will not break my siSad Scene at Morgue. : lence. At the temporary morgue in the i

Lake Shore shop, the scenes became four-fold in the intensity of human suffering as fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters passed up and down the lines formed of 160 corpses. To facilitate identification, the bodies were numbered as they were received at the morgue. The first identification was made by the mother of Nels and Tommy Thompson, aged six and nine years respectively. The heads and arms had 'been burned from bot h bodies, but. the mother recognized the shoes on their feet, and so the disheartening work went on. accentuated now and then by a piercing shriek or! plaintive moan as a loved one was recognized by clothing or token, such as ring or necklace. Alother Reached Child. About the burned school house t'rero are but few residences. In one of those Mrs. Clark Sprung lived. 'When the fire started, the mother ran over to the school and arrived when the first floor was a mass of flames. At. a window on that floor she saw the face of her boy. lie recognized her and pleaded for help. Hushing across the street Mrs. Sprung secured a stepladder and placed it against the win-! dow. Climbing up she reached for j her boy. She caught him by the hair, j It burned off in her hands and the i lad fell back into the flames. Desolation unspeakable hangs over r," ' r i? school board met in special session at ' the temporary morgue late yesterday : afternoon to discuss the calmnifv.

while the coroner prepared to hold an is a burden and they are willing to! inquest, to determine the cause and,, ... I

place the responsibility for the fire Back Door Was Locked. The statement that the back door of! the building was locked is made by j Walter C. Kelley, the editor of the j sporting department of the Cleveland I

7I)ed " wuw llmu,pn were; township asumes control of the llaR-i ' As soon as the alarm was given Mrs. ei,slown scho1' the twnsniP trustee j Kelley ran from her home, which is apportion tlie tax rate for its : not far from the school-house, to the maintenance equally among the taxburning building. The front portion or! payers of the township and the cor-

nif aLiuciure was a mass of flames and frenzied by the screams of the lighting and dying children which reached them from the death rap at the foot of the first flight of stairs and behind that closed door, Mrs. Kelley ran to the roar, hoping to effect an entrance there and save her children. She was joined by a man whose name is not known, and the two of them lugged and pulled frantically at the door. They were unable to move it in the slightest and there was nothing at hand by which they could hope to break it down. In utter despair of saving any of the children they turned their attention to the windows and bv smashing some of these they managed to save a few of the pupils. 'They could have saved nianv more." suit Mr. Kelley last night, "if the door had not been locked. Nobody knows how many of the children might, have made their way out before my wife had reached there if th door had not been locked. If half a dozen men had been there when my wife and her companion arrived at the sehonl tlilli.-n . 1 . . , " ""e"- lave broken down the door, but the two could do nothing

spread so rapidlv that it was all ovp ! the ne agreed upon as the most sati3" ! in a few minutes" factory when the school board and the i . ' ''' , tmstee get together this afternoon.! As to Collinwood. j T1)e)e is no douln blU fhat.lhe s.hoo, The suburb of Collinwood contains : hoard would approve of the project a i about 8,000 people and within a half! the voters are demanding that ilieyan hour after the outbreak of the fire i be relieved of a little of the school tax ; nearly every one of them was gather-! burden. ed around the blazing ruins of th 1

school house, hundreds of parents fighting frantically with the policemen and firmn n-ri, n-r. v lu.v engaged, in saving tne lives of the children caught in the burning building, and doing their best to extinguish the fire. Fought to Rescue His Child. . Among these latter was Wallace T-n. ton. who reached the building shortly j i (.Continued ou rge Eight.)

INTEREST ON COUNTY FUNDS WILL GROW

Taxes Now Beginning to Flow Into Treasurer's Hands. County Treasurer Li. D. Myriek, Jr., stales that the county receipted us interest on funds deposited in the various county depositories during the month of February, the sum o $19j.o4. The interest on county funds will from this time on. steadily grow. Taxes are now beginning to How into the hands of the county treasurer so it would b: no surprise if the total interest this month would double the interest for the past month. GIBBONS ATTACKED Cardinal, However, Will Make No Answer to Prohibition Leaders. HE HAS HAD HIS SAY. IS OF HIGH TAX RATE Maintenance of Town School With High School Becomes A Burden to the Residents Of That Little City. TWO PLANS PROPOSED FOR GENERAL RELIEF. Some Want'Joint Town and Township School and Some Want the Township to Assume Full Control. HaSerSwn people are of the opinion that the m"escnt ax rate for ,,1C maintenance of the town school, which includes a. commissioned lileh school. the school over to the jurisdiction of Jefferson township. This plan has boen adolHed by nearly all of the small incorporated towns in the country and bas proven satisfactory. If Jefferson poration. This plan would mean quite a respectable cut in the taxes. This afternoon the school hoard ofj Hagerstown is meeting with the township trustee and is discussing the ways and means for pffo'ctintr th rirnnouod ' change. One of two plana will be adopted at this meeting. It has been proposed 1o make the Hagerstown school a joint township and corporation school, which plan the town, of Centerville and Center township adopted, or it will be decided to have the corporation of Hagerstown abandon tbe school and permit the township to assume control of it. This action was taken some time ago in New Garden township, that township assuming; control of the Fountain City school. The town of Boston and Boston township enjoys a similar arrangement. If the first plan is adopted it can be put into effect by the action of the Hagerstown school board and the township trustee. In case the second plan is decided on it will be necessary ! to secure the sanction of the town I Koard It"' It is probable that this plan will be ASSISTS IN MEETINGS. Rev. Ij0on P tftnM nf ih Pirh Universalist church, is assisting Rev. J. A. Stonec in a protracted meeting in New Madison, 0.r this week, after which he will return to conduct week night meetings in Richmond at Rhoda Temple. Friday at 7 p. ni.. Rev. Mrs. Jones will conduct Bible Studv at .Rhoda Temple.

HAGERSTOWN

COMPLAINING

Lived to Accompaniment of Pistol Shots and Indecent Literature

MRS. CORNELIA BAXT She Is Now Suing Her Husband, A. Hart McKee of Pittsburg, on Charges of Infidelity and Cruelty. Taris, March 3 "She lived to an accompaniment of pistol shots, indecent, literature and pajamas." Thus Maltre Barboux described the married life of his client, Mrs. Cornelia Baxter-Tevis-McKee, yesterday, in the opening of the divorce suit against her husband, A. Hart McKee, of Pittsburg, on charges of infidelity, cruelty and extravagance. After deploring the facility with which marriages may be made in the .. Illicit u t (it r .1 iiuuttb uic Liiinrni ri parents Maitre Barboux described Cornelia Baxter-Tevis as the widow of Hugh Tevis, with one child, being swept off her feet by the audacious lovemaking of Hart .McKee, who promised her $25,000 yearly for dresses, claiming to have a personal claim on the fortune of his fathers, Sellers Mc CAMBRIDGE CITY LOSES HONORED CITIZEN Andrew Drischcl Died This Morning. Cambridge City, March o. Andrew Drischel, aged 74 years and one of the pioneer residents of this place, died this morning at one o'clock at his home. Mr. Drischel was one of the most prominent men in western Wayne county and was well known in Richmond. He was born in Badeii-Ba-den. Germany and came to t!iis country in 1S51, locating in Cambridge City at that time. For years he was prominent in Masonic circles and his funeral services will be conducted br the local Masonic lod;e. The time the funeral will be hr-Id li:s i:ut yet been dv -Tided upon. Mr. Drischel was the father of Mrs. .1. K. Wright' and .Mrs. V. D. Fislier. SPECIAL JUDGE NAMED. Attorney R. K. Shiveley has asked for a change of venue in judge to hear the case of Harsh against Canfield. Judge Fox appointed T. J. Study as special judge to hear this case. SERIOUSLY ILL. Mrs. Agatha Snyder is seriously ill at the home of her daughter. Mrs. I. V. Cause, of North Thirteenth atreeC

t - -

ER - TEVIS - McKEE Kee. Mrs. McKee had an income of $20,000 yearly from the Tevis estate, and. according to Maitre Barboux, McKee's project was to get his hands on this fortune. With this end in view he embroiled his wife with her father, Governor Baxter, and also with her mother. While on the honeymoon in Monte Carlo, it. is said, Mrs. McKee learned that her husband, instead of being the wealthy man he had represented himself, had only a small income, and when she refused him money, he threatened her with a revolver. Having read the records of McKee's former divorce. Court adjourned until next Wednesday, when Maitre Iabori will argue for McKee. McKee has entered counter charges against his wife. It is said that grooms, butlers I and chauffeurs will be called to support these charges. McKee introi dueed 260 documents pertaining to the suit. Mrs. McKee and her children are with her parents now in Nice, owing to the illness of the little son of Hart McKee, who has been sickly from birth. FREAK DISCOVERED Bidders on Contract Have to Be Advertised for in a Strange Manner. THE CLAUSE IS A JOKER. Another "freak" in the state road law, which went into effect last fall, has been discovered by Wayne county officers. It is a provision which makes it necessary to advertise for bidders on a contract to make a new road, three times in a local county weekly paper and once in one of the In-dian.-spolis eaily papers. This joker'' is the handiwork of the state capital pres-s. In accordance with the law County Auditor Coe wiM advertise for bids oa th contract for building the new road in Washinctou township, which was el ironed for. T''ars and specifications for this road will be on exhibit at the auditor's office on and after Monday next. Bids on the contract will be opened by the county commissioners, April C. THE WEATHER PROPHET. INDIANA & OHIO Continued showers tonight; colder Friday.

FEEDING PRISONERS pnoTo nniuiTV miipii

iuoio luuhii muuni Meredith Files Claim to Large Amount Today. Sheriff Meredith toria handed in a claim to County Auditor Cie for SUV", the cost of hoarding prisoners at the; county jail fur the quarter ending! March 1. I Hiring this time the prisoners confined at the jail have served a total of .4.V. days. It mists the county annually about Sl.oi-o to feed prisoners. VINCENT TO BE HERE Founder of Great Chautauqua Movement to Speak at Grace Church. A VERY PROMINENT MAN. Bishop John II. Vincent. S. T. I).. LI I.,., will preach tn Grace M. K. church next Sunday ntorninig at K:.'io o'clock. lie was one of the founders of the great chautauqua movement in this country. From to 10" 4 he was resident bishop in Kurope in charge of all the work of the Methodist Episcopal church. GOVERKMEHT WILL NOT ACT AGAINST Frank Neff and a Woman Arrested in Cincinnati for Operating a Supposed Matrimonial Bureau. BUSHELS OF KISSES AND A BIG LONG HUG. All of This Incorporated in The "Lovey-dovey" Letters Found on the Operators of Affinity Bargain Counter. Frank Neff. a former resident of Richmond, residing at South Thirteenth and E streets, who. with Mrs. I Annie Denny of Indianapolis, was arrested Monday last in Cincinnati for alleged matrimonial bureau operations will not be prosecuted by the United States government. I'ostoffice Inspector Holmes has thoroughly investigated the case and has found that Neff and his accomplice did not defraud anyone by their operations. "if A..r..,..ir.,i r .,...,,1,1 prosecute them for using the mails for illegal purposes, but from th letters in the possession of Neff and the Denny woman, it appears that nobody who answered their letters was dffrauded," states Col. Holmes. Neff and Annie Denny were taken into custody Monday evening by two Cincinnati detectives. Some three hundred or more letters, together with photographs, which had been exchanged with male and female correspondents were, turned over to the federal authorities. After their arrest, the couple denied that they had secured money from their correspondents or that they had ever worked a "badger" game on a victim. These statements made by Neff and the Denny woman appear to be substantiated by the investigation made by Inspector Ho'mes. From the tone of some of the letters the couple had in their possession, men seemed to be perfectly willing to furnish money to the female affinities Neff and the Denny woman had discovered for them. A younf man at Waynesburg. O.. in a letter to "Mrs. Effie Neff." sends a "bushel of kisses" and says he will send her money when she needs it. In another letter seized by the Cincinnati authorities a young woman writes that she is auxious to see Neff and winds up the epistle with "from your sweetheart. Ftella. Many kisses and a big. ! long hug. that will last two hours." The other letters Neff and the Denny woman hed in their possession are of ; the s-anie chare c-ter. Neff claims that : Mrs. Beniiv only net three or four men b;it s-ays that she never got any rnuii-y from them. The couple only had a small anionnt of money when arrertrd. Lit fie is known of Neff in this city. ; While he lived here he apparently d!d but liule work, but was never in trouble. The local police say that he has ; no police record. DESERTION CHARGED. Mary A. Owf-ns has filed suit for! divorce from V"r, If or riunne in ,r,r !

RICHMOND

MAN

complaint she charges that her hus-man Chas. B. Landia wa renominated band deserted her in January. 190-. Jin the Ninth Indiana ditrict repnbliFince then be has failed to support? can convention today. It is his setriier. entb nomination.

COMPARATIVELY

oirr Anr 11 1 OHIL MI1L HLL SCHOOL BUILDINGS Superintendent Mott Thinks a Few Changes Could Be Made in the Construction of Local Buildings. SENT A MESSAGE OF " SYMPATHY TO WHITNEY. It Expressed the Sorrow of The Local School Authorities Over Awful Collinwood Holocaust. Superintendent T. A. Mott of th Richmond public school today snt a letter to Frank B. Whitney, superintendent of th Collinwood public, school, extending the ryntpalhy of the local school authorities and the people of Richmond, on Recount of th terrible tragedy yesterday at the North Collinwood school, where two hundred children were burned to deatb. "The thought of that iragedy has made me sick all day." stated Mr. Mott this afternoon. 1 cannot dispell th sight of those children fighting for tueir lives in that burning building." Mr. Mott states that there it alwa a danger of fire in the local schools, but adds that they are comparatively safe. "None of the buildings are firs proof, but all of them should be. However the public schools in thia city have been built with & great deal of care and I do not think that, there will ever be any such a tragedy enacted! here as there was in Collinwood yesterday." the local superintendent said. "All of the local school building have wide hallways and stairways, except one building, and all of them have three or more exits with the exception of the Fiudlay school, which has only two exits. The doors in every school opens outward, and all the buildings are two stories in haigbt. with the exception of the high school, which is a three-story building. The third floor of the high achool. however, is only used for recitation purposes. Of course, there Is a danger when the chapel of the high school is filled with students, but this only occurs once a week. "There is no danger of the high school ever catching afire from the heating plant, as it is located in a separate building. This is true, at the Hibberd school. At the of her schools, where new heating plants have been installed, they are located within the school buildings. At a recent meeting ul niw scniHji wjiiru ii ss ufiiuru ma i. in the future no more heating plants would be placed Inside school buildings. They will be installed under the system adopted for the high school and Hibberd school. "I will use niy influence to have the new addition to the Garfield school i i i i j i . i i .j . i . I made fireproof. It costs more than J the ordinary school building, but it is wise to have our school buildings made perfectly safe. For Rome time the fire drill in th various schools has not been practiced, but now I in tend to have all the school children practice this drill." TWO NEGROES L Murdered Aged Warren Hart And Wife. Hawkinsville, (ia.. March 3. Two ne-grof-6. suspected as being the murderers of the aged Warren Hart and wife were lynched here. Two others att held on suspicion. Highway robbery was the motive of the murder. ELDERS AND TRUSTEES THE ELECTED Second Presbyterian to Have Congregational Meeting, The annual congregational meeting cf tne Second Presbyterian church will be. held Thursday. March 12, at 7:13 p. m. for the election of one elder and two trustees. A. A. Mumbower ia clerk of the session. SEVEN TIMES UNO IS LANDSJHE PLUM Renominated for Congress in The Ninth. Frankfort. Ind March 7. rrnr.