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Death and Destruction
Henderson Times
March 18, 1937Death & destruction struck its most horrible
blow to Rusk Co. Thurs. afternoon, when an
explosion wrecked the main building of one of
the finest schools in East Texas, at New London.
The explosion was said to have occurred shortly
after 3 o'clock, almost completely demolishing
the building, killing & trapping children &
teachers.
There is no possible way to know just how many
have lost their lives in this tragedy, but
several hundred attend school in this one
building, however some were out for recess
according to our report. The distress call was
sent out to all surrounding towns in this
section, Henderson responding with 3 ambulances
& 3 fire trucks. Fire trucks were not needed for
fire, however, as luckily no fire followed the
explosion, but the trucks were utilized for
removing dead bodies. All doctors & nurses in
East Texas were asked to come to the scene of
the disaster, and drug stores were asked to send
bandages & medicines.
A temporary hospital was set up at a church in
Overton, the nearest town to the school, after
the Overton, Kilgore & Henderson hospitals were
filled with the injured & dying people. Many
bodies were mangled & torn so badly
identification is difficult or impossible. One
mother sobbed, "that is our son," but her
husband said, "No, he has on tennis shoes." The
mother explained, however, he had taken his
shoes off during lunch period. As crumbling
brick walls & tile roofing settled in on the
victims following the explosion, rescue work is
difficult, and it will likely be several days
before a definite check can be made on the
number of killed & injured, but it is reported
to be between 400 & 500. The first name coming
to us as a victim was that of Miss Jacobs,
daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Claude Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs
being Commissioner of Precinct No. 1.
Superintendent W. C. Shaw, who was absent from
the building when the explosion occurred is
alive.
F. B. Doles, oil field worker, was one of the
many witnesses of the crumbling of London high
school building last Thurs. afternoon, following
the gas explosion in its basement. He said there
was a brief flame that showed above the building
as the roof rose in the air & sank down with the
toppling walls in ruins. Many corpses of children
were seen on the outside of the wrecked
building, some having been blown through the
doors & windows. In fact some of the few
surviving children said they were literally
blown through the doors or windows. The
gathering up of the dead on the outside of the
ruins was followed at once by the taking of
corpses from the wrecked schoolhouse. Some
parents were quickly at the scene, searching for
their dead children, while ambulances from all
towns nearby took the injured to homes &
hospitals. The moans of the bereaved never
ceased as the hours of search went by and the
crowd grew into thousands & greatly impeded the
relief work.
Paula Echols, who gave her name, and age as 15,
to a news gatherer Thurs. night after treatment
in a Kilgore hospital, said she was sitting in
her English class in the London high school
building when the great explosion came. Her
teacher was crushed, she said, under a falling
section of the roof; a boy at the desk near her
was screaming for help & all the teachers &
pupils nearest to the building's front were
buried under debris. Those furtherest from the
front however were in better case, though about
all more or less hurt. A boy pulled her from
where she had been wedged between desks & got
her through a window. Other witnesses miles away
near Kilgore, said they saw clouds of dust or
smoke that rose as a result of the explosion;
that the rumble that followed was like thunder.
Others still claimed to have felt earth tremors
as a quake. That the fire was so quickly
extinguished in the ruins is doubtless due to
the fact that the high school building was as
near fireproof as it could be made. A student
witness from another building said she saw her
schoolmates blown to bits, mangled, hanging at
the roof of the crumbling high school building &
falling into the ruins. The first intimation of
the disaster was a terrible roar; then she saw
children blown through the roof. Probably 1/3 of
the pupils were not in the main building when
the explosion occurred. Some had been taken out
by a teacher for a purpose of instruction. Still
others were fortunately near windows & doors &
the blast threw them out to safety in some
instances. Overton, Henderson & other nearby
communities organized early for relief work.
Sincere apologies to the newspaper and the
journalists for any inaccuracies. In many cases
fragments of newspapers or written copy was
received. Often there was overlapping of
information and sometimes the actual dates were
missing. I have tried to present the articles
here with the spelling and syntax exactly as I
received them. |
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Harrison Daily Times
September 22, 2003
Buried 300 Bodies on Last Saturday
Henderson Times
March 25, 1937
"Six miles from London on last Saturday the town
of Overton was burying some 300 of the children
who died in the explosion of the London high
school building 2 days before. Some of the
bodies were unidentified, and most were badly
torn & bruised. It was estimated that some 50
would not be recovered at all intact, as they
were blown to fragments.
It was described as the largest mass funeral
ever held in peace time. Adults constituted
almost the total of the people in attendance at
the cemetery, as those children who had not died
in the disaster were nearly all too badly
injured to attend the funeral of the others. |
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One Rescue Story Was Vividly Told
Henderson Times
March 25, 1937
Paula Echols, who gave her name, and age as 15,
to a news gatherer Thurs. night after treatment
in a Kilgore hospital, said she was sitting in
her English class in the London high school
building when the great explosion came. Her
teacher was crushed, she said, under a falling
section of the roof; a bou at the desk near her
was screaming for help & all the teachers &
pupils nearest to the building's front were
buried under debris. Those furtherest from the
front however were in better case, though about
all more or less hurt. A boy pulled her from
where she had been wedged between desks & got
her through a window.
Other witnesses miles away near Kilgore, said
they saw clouds of dust or smoke that rose as a
result of the explosion; that the rumble that
followed was like thunder. Others still claimed
to have felt earth tremors as a quake. |
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American Legion Sets Up Rehabilitation Committee
Henderson Times
March 25, 1937
"American Legion New London Rehabilitation
Committee,"...members are: W. C. (Bill) Goens of
Gladewater; Tom Main of Tyler, & Garland R.
Farmer of Henderson, as publicity director.
The post commanders of the following towns are
also ex-officio members of this rehabilitation
committee: Mt. Enterprise, Jack Woodward;
Carthage, Gordon Darnell; Overton, S. D. Lloyd;
Longview, Ray Jackson; Tyler, Dr. G. L. Taylor;
Kilgore, Neal D. Armstrong; Gladewater, K. J.
Preston, and Arp, R. L. Morrison.... Each local
post is to set up their own committees to work
in conjunction with this plan, and have already
the following have been appt. to head their
local set-ups: J. T. Gray, Henderson; R. W.
Arnold, Longview; Tom Arnold, Mt. Enterprise;
Ernest Goens, Tyler; W. F. Myatt, Kilgore, and
Mark Day, Gladewater.
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London Faculty Hard Hit in the Explosion
Henderson Times
March 25, 1937
The faculty of the London high school was struck
a terrific blow, along with hundreds of families
in the explosion that claimed about 445 lives
last Thurs. at the London school.
The teachers that lost their lives are:
J. H. Propes, 49, born & reared in Rusk Co., and
had been teaching some 20 or 25 years. Is
survived by 3 children & his wife, who was
formerly Miss Worley.
Mrs. Lena Hunt, 38, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. J. J.
Jacobs. Graduated from Stephen F. Austin College
in summer of 1936. Survived by husband, one son
& other relatives.
Miss Katie Mae Watson, 36, daughter of Mrs. J.
W. Watson of this city. Educated here at Austin
College. Survived by her mother, one sister,
Miss Lillian Watson; 3 brothers, Orian of
Overton, Ralph & Stroud of Henderson, & other
relatives.
Willie Tate, 30, son of Mr. & Mrs. W. M. Tate of
Henderson. Math & Science teacher, held degree
from Austin College. Had wife & 1 child.
Mrs. J. D. Nelson, 30, of Henderson, who was to
have received her college degree this summer.
Miss Mary Ethel Neal, Overton, educated in Rusk
Co. & at Nacogdoches. Age 27.
Miss Masel Hanna, 28, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. W.
H. Hanna, Nacogdoches, educated in that city.
Miss Lizzie Ella Thompson, daughter of Mr. &
Mrs. A. Thompson, Oak Ridge, Nacogdoches county.
Miss Laura Beall, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. J. C.
Beall of ---son. Educated there & at
Nacogdoches. Taught art & reading.
Miss Nellie Barnes, 24, daughter of Mrs. R. L.
Barnes of Minden. Educated there & graduated at
Nacogdoches in 1934. Also did some work at
University of Texas.
Miss Laura Arnold, 28, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. J.
D. Arnold of Arp, educated in Arp & graduated
from Stephen F. Austin college in 1932.
Louis Waller, assistant coach who came from
Commerce, and was teaching his first year at
London.
R. L. Butler of Commerce, Manuel training
instructor. Held M. A. degree from A & M
college. Married, and his wife is a teacher in
the primary school of London. His brother Clyde,
is manus training instructor at Carlisle, and
his brother Ligon holds the same position with a
Fort Worth school.
Miss Mary Patterson, who was the first efficient
secretary to the superintendent & principal. |
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Many Observers of the Gas Explosion
Henderson Times
March 25, 1937
F. B. Doles, oil field worker, was one of the
many witnesses of the crumbling of London high
school building last Thurs. afternoon, following
the gas explosion in its basement. He said there
was a brief flame that showed above the building
as the roof rose in the air & sank down with the
toppling walls in ruins.
Many corpses of children were seen on the
outside of the wrecked building, some having
been blown through the doors & windows. In fact
some of the few surviving children said they
were literally blown through the doors or
windows.
The gathering up of the dead on the outside of
the ruins was followed at once by the taking of
corpses from the wrecked schoolhouse. Some
parents were quickly at the scene, searching for
their dead children, while ambulances from all
towns nearby took the injured to homes &
hospitals.
The moans of the bereaved never ceased as the
hours of search went by and the crowd grew into
thousands & greatly impeded the relief work.
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Lifts Martial Law
Guards Withdraw from London Area
Henderson Times
March 25, 1937
Capt. W. J. Elliott had with him at London
during the early days of this week only a dozen
highway patrolmen from the Tyler district, the
Dallas, Houston & Austin patrols had left Sunday
& early Monday. Military rule ended with the
week of calamity at London school. Some 40
patrolmen had done splendid work from the
evening of the day of the explosion till all was
cleared away. They were the first organized
authority on the ground. |
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Move Started for Memorial to London Dead
Henderson Times
March 25, 1937
Announcement was made today by Gov. James V.
Allred of the formation of the New London School
Memorial Committee composed of Mrs. M. A. Taylor
of Bonham, President of the Texas Congress of
Parents & Teachers; Drury M. Phillips of
Huntsville, Commander of the American Legion on
Tex.; George Clarke of Austin, to represent to
Governor; Mrs. Fay Beidleman, President, New
London PTA; and Mrs. H. R. Whittington, Pres.,
Rusk Co. Council PTA. |
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Rainwater Daughters Buried
Henderson Times
March 25, 1937
Daughters of Mr. & Mrs. Ira Rainwater Buried
Saturday
A touching funeral service was held last Sat.
afternoon at the First Presbyterian Church of
Henderson when the 3 little daughters of Mr. &
Mrs. Ira Rainwater were the subjects of last
rites conducted by Rev. Bedford M. Smith.
Aubra B. Rainwater, Margaret Elyne Rainwater, &
Helen Jo Rainwater were among the victims of
last Thursday's explosion in the London High
School building. |
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