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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1958)
8 MAIL TRIBUNE, Me J ford. Ore.. Wednesday, December 3, 1958 Public (Officials (Demand Tighter Fire Safetv Measures in Schools By Uniled Press International Public officials throughout the nation today demanded more stringent fire safety measures to prevent school fires similar to that which claimed 90 lives in Chicago Monday. Chicago's most tragic school fire, which killed 87 children between the ages of 9 and 15, and three Roman Catholic nuns, spurred Immediate in vestigations in most large cities. The Our Lady of the An zels trasedv also laid bare in many areas the recurring 4 w A3 V ' ' ''IPS! riA i&y Si Iff nyzjs &;ri ill 3;4 i rci , - ff f&J&S V )if8SSE25 OUT OF THE INFERNO A fireman carries the unconscious body of a boy from the Chicago parochial school where more than 80 children died when fire swept the 48-year-old building. The catastrophic fire burst out only half an hour before the students were to be sent home for the day. Virtuoso to make Medford Appearance RAFAEL MENDEZ, World's Leading TRUMPET VIRTUOSO, Will be featured os soloist with the Medford High School Band, Sunday, Dec. 14th, 2 P.M. at the High School Auditorium. The aggregation will include the one hundred piece band from Medford High School under the direction of Irv Mirick and choir of eighty voices led by Lynn Sjolund. The appearance of Rafael Mendez in Medford at the annual band benefit is being sponsored by the Purucker Music House. This presentation is to help the Medford High School Band to participate this year in the annual Shrine East-West football game pageantry at San Francisco . . . benefit for crippled children. Only the outstanding bands in the west coast area will have the privilege of performing at this .game and you may show your appreciation by attending this concert. Tickets are available at your music store or from any band member. , Mendez trumpet by F. E. Olds & Son "Without fear of contradiction, I can say that Rafael Mendez is the greatest trumpeter in the world today. He has no equal. He ranks in virtuosity with Jascha Heifetz, Fritz Kreisler, and other world famous artists ... Rafael Mendez is in a class entirely by himself. He excels in all particulars: his tone is all that can be desired, his technique is unsurpassable, and his style is that of the true artist. His breath control is truly a revelation. Mr. Mendez also possesses personality and magnetism. He is in every sense a great musician." Dr. Edwin Franko Goldman. crises in schools -lack of money to build new ones and the tendency to go soft on safety measures during fair weather. "It. takes a tragedy like this to wake people up," said Fire Chief Arnold W. Phil lips of Indianapolis, Ind., when he was ordered to make a thorough check of all pub lic, private and parochial Older Schools In most areas, the biggest problem was the condition of the older and obsolete school buildings, emphasized by the fact that Chicago's fire broke out in a 40-year-old building which had one fire escape. The example set by the Chi cago fire threatened the clos ing of at least one school. In Sioux City, Iowa, an in vestigation was made of the 68-year-old Cathedral Paro chial Grade School "with an eye to ordering the school closed as a fire hazard," ac cording to Capt. Philip Kem mish, head of the Fire Depart ment Prevention Bureau. In New York City, Fire Commissioner Edward F. Cav anagh Jr. ordered an imme diate basement-to-roof inspec tion of the city's 1,500 pub lic, private and parochial schools. New York Gov. Averell Harriman in Albany called for a complete review of re cently completed fire inspec tion reports covering all pri vate and parochial schools in the state. Order Fire Inspections - Immediate fire inspections of all schools also were or dered in Atlanta, Boston, Memphis and Nashville, Tenn.; Birmingham, Ala.;- In dianapolis, Ind.; El Paso, Tex.; Milwaukee, and throughout Georgia. In Boston, where one of the nation's most disastrous fires killed 493 persons at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub on Nov. 28, 1942, firemen were ordered to make particular checks of storage space for trash and inflammable mate rials. Percy Bugbee, general man ager of the National Fire Pro tective Association, also in Parents of Young Nun To Arrive Af Death Scene Chicago - (UPD - Nuns at the convent of Our Lady of the Angels today awaited the ar rival of the grieving parents of Sister Mary Clare Theresa, 27, youngest of the -three nuns who perished in the tragic school fire. "We can't give impressions of Sister Mary Clare Theresa because we are so sad and there were so many," one of the several nuns attending the wake of their three sisters said. "Let us just say she was a wonderful young lady.". Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Champagne of New Or leans, La., were expected to arrive at the grim death scene of their daughter and 89 other victims, two of them nuns and the rest children, some time early today. Tears Shed An estimated 1,500 persons from throughout the city filed past the three black caskets adorned with small silver cru cifixes in the convent Tues day night. Several unasham- Boston, said the Chicago fire "reemphasizes the folly of permitting combustible trash to accumlate in any building and the danger of combustible interior finish." Replace Older Schools Safety Director Louis Rosenberg of Pittsburgh and other safety officials from the Steel City were to travel to Chicago Thursday to learn more about the cause of the Our Lady of the Angels fire. Pittsburgh voters in 1953 rejected a referendum pro posal which would have fi nanced gradual replacement of obsolete buildings. Although hundreds of new schools have been erected across the nation in recent years, construction of many has also been turned down by voters in bond issue elec tions. The fire brought new de mands for replacement of old schools throughout the South and the Southwest, and the concern of parents, school and fire officials was expected to result in tightening of fire safety measures. HIS BOY DEAD Grief -stricken father Phil Comparetto cries uncontrollably after identifying the body of his 14-year-old son at the Cook County morgue in Chicago. Comparetto's boy was one of eighty-som children who perished when fire swept through a Roman Catholic parochial school, only half an hour before the students were to have been released. IF YOU HAVE A FIREPLACE- x Here is a bargain That will make you more comfortable "HEAT KING" FIREPLACE INSERT Made of cast iron, scientifically designed. Increases efficiency . . . Actually SAVES you money. Prevents fireplace damage. Provides both circulating and ra diant action of fireplace heat. Adjustable top fits any fireplace. Wonderful for new constructions . . Avoids costly repairs to older fireplaces. Helps prevent buckling of metal fireplaces, chipping and wear of firebrick. WRITE FOR FOLDER OR BETTER YET, USE THIS COUPON: -inches wide (be Our fireplace backwall is sure to give measure) Price $34.50 F.O.B. Grants Pass, Oregon. This coupon is worth $5.00 making price $29.50. This offer expires Dec. 20, 1 958. NAME u ' ADDRESS, : Mail to HEAT KING P. O. Box 83, Grants Pass, Oregon Bank references if you wish 'Blunder' of Leaving Doors Open Added To Fire Death Toll B o s t o n (UPI) The tragic death toll in the Chicago school fire was caused chief ly by the "simple blunder" of leaving doors open, the Na-. tional Fire Protection Asso ciation said Tuesday night. Two staff engineers of the association, which is the au thoritative source of fire safe ty standards and information, had been sent to Our Lady of Angels parochial school to in vestigate. Percy Bugbee, general man ager of the organization which has . its headquarters here, said the fire experts found that heavy doors on a second floor landing were left open, allowing fire and hot gasses to spread rapidly through the corridor serving six classrooms. Nearly all of the 90 victims, 87 of them children, were in edly shed tears as they gazed upon the caskets. Parents of several of the nuns were present. They joined with parishioners who knew the sisters, many news men and others who -were ap parently strangers just paying their respects. Sister Adrienne, who had baen delegated to direct the wake, quietly but pleasantly refused to. comment. There was significance, however, to her refusal. Her expression of grief, and, perhaps slight dis approval of publicity, were visible. South America has more than four billion coffee trees, many of which stem from a single plant smuggled across me Atlantic in 1723 by a French naval officer. these six classrooms. "The simple precaution of keeping these second floor landing- doors closed would have Jcept the intense fire and hot gasses out . . . for many precious minutes," Bugbee said. "In all likelihood every classroom could have been emptied in time." He said it was significant in the engineers' report that the fire did not enter the first floor because of a closed fire door. The fire started in a mass of combustible trash and building materials at the basement level, the report said, with the originating cause not yet determined. The flames spread up the stair well, were blocked at the first floor, and then flashed through the top level. Bugbee added that "the one bit of comfort you can take from the Chicago dis aster is this the incident will start a wave of school Inspec tions throughout the country and a tightening up of rules and regulations. So the long term result will be a saving of human lives that otherwise might have been lost in fires like this one." ORDER NOW! NAME IMPRINTED CHRISTMAS CARDS Largest Selection to Choose From On The Balcony at... f j B00KS GIFTS RECORD 1 1 OPEN TONIGHT TIL 9 P.M. Wattclhi Make Your Next IPranrcDnase from a WATTC IM AE IE Eft Roy R. Picard Certified Master Watchmaker WE GIVE A ONE-YEAR GUARANTEE ON REPAIRS PICARDS of MEDFORD Jewelers 129 S. 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