The Dallas Daily Herald

A Terrible Calamity—Sixteen Children Cremated.

Scene: The Norwegian village of Ellingso. The schoolmaster had called the children of the village together, with the object of examining them, using for this purpose the second floor of a large unfinished log house, to which access was gained through a window, by means of a ladder, the staircases not being finished. Twenty children had assembled, and the examination was nearly concluded, when suddenly the schoolmaster observed heavy volumes of smoke penetrating the room, directly followed by flames. Rushing to the window he observed, to his terror, that the ladder had disappeared, thus cutting off the only means of escape. Seizing a couple of the children, he threw them out of the window; but blinded, suffocating, and scorched, he was unable to get hold of any more, and jumped himself through the window, breaking one leg in the fall. All the men in the village were out fishing and the women away, thus no assistance was possible, and the poor children were left to their fate. Only four of the whole number escaped, all more or less burned and bruised, while sixteen perished, the floor giving suddenly away.