The Rhoads Opera House Tragedy 1908 by Tori N.

The aftermath of the deadly fire - This was a nation-wide
tragedy that had deep repucussions and changed fire safety
laws throughout the country.  Survivors have many stories that
are chilling.  (Photo Courtesy of the Boyertown Histocial Society)
  Be sure to check the YouTube Story for more info by clicking here.
For more written information check out the book by clicking here. 

The Rhoads Opera House Fire is interesting to me. In Boyertown, PA there was an opera house called Rhoads Opera House. On January 13, 1908, the opera house was presenting “The Scottish Reformation”sponsored by St.John’s Lutheran Church. For the intermission they wanted to show slides, so they used a kerosene lamp. Then someone knocked it over. The lamp caught on fire and engulfed the building in flames.

A boy ran many blocks to the fire station and said “The opera house is on fire!” When the fire department heard the news they were in a rush trying to get to the opera house. They had no time to attach the horses to the fire cart, so they decided to pull it. John Graver, who at the fire station remembered that his sister was at the play, and decided to grab a cart and go. The street was recently covered with stones and sent John crashing into a tree! He was killed when he crashed into that tree.

People from all over the town came to help, while the fire department was coming. Some even risked their own lives to save others lives. The fire department was eventually able to make it but not in time to save everyone. Doctors and policemen came from Reading to help Boyertown authorities.

The News - 16 January 1908
A close up view of this story is
available at the bottom of this
post.

The authorities went into the remains of the opera house to gather up any clothes, wallets, or jewelry to identify victims of the fire. President Theodore Rosevelt gave his sympathy to the families who lost people in the fire, after he heard the news. While frantic families were looking to claim their loved ones, they found a strange thing.

They found a woman dressed in men's clothes, and they said she was also wearing a ring with a R on it. Many theories were spreading about this mystery woman, like that she was a robber hiding out in Boyertown. Jewelry on other people’s bodies started to disappear. The authorities decided to keep the mystery woman in a different room under surveillance. The mystery was soon solved when a family in Philadelphia remembered their 14 year old daughter was wearing a ring with a R on it. Men’s close were accidentally placed by her.

171 people perished in the fire. They soon started digging graves for the 171 victims, they even dug graves for the unidentified. The digging took 4 days to complete. St. John’s minister was injured in the fire and was stuck in bed, so minister’s from other towns came in to help. St. John’s minister couldn’t even come to his own daughter’s funeral.

Soon Boyertown authorities would start looking for who was to blame. After a trial was held the blame was put on 2 people. Harriet Monroe was one person to blame because she hired an inexperienced projectionist, and Harry Bechtel for not giving the building the proper safety measures.

Each one of these people had unfullfilled promise.  It was supposed to be a wonderful community night.  People were excited to act in the play, people were excited to see their family and friends, instead it ended in an unepected horror.
They said it was as if the air itself was on fire, no doubt the vapor of the gasoline.  There were many survivors who told many stories.  Certainly learning from their stories would be an interesting pursuit.  Maybe someone could write more about the lives of the people, who they were and what their dreams were.

WELL DONE TORI!  I never heard of this story before...You have taught me something!  Mr. Rabenold

Student Poetry, A (Boring) Rabenold Story ~Closure Day #6

Students are really doing well on their poetry.  Many good observances and word play...KEEP GOING!

Here are two to get started - By Cassidy L. and Tori N.:

My ears, my ears,
They rang in the distance.
My deaf ears listened loudly to that quiet sound,
My blind eyes could see it too.
My mute mouth screamed and ran around.
I don't have any pets,
But I watched my child run rampantly, 

What a crazed hound!
I don't have any children either,
But my son and my pet like to play,
In the morning after a long day.
I think its bedtime.
Good morning, 

I'll see you tonight.
~Cassidy L.

Nick is sick. 

When Nick sneezed he sneezed on me! 

I asked him to please sneeze by a tree, 

but instead he sneezed on me. 

There is a fire, 

Caused by a liar. 

For when I hear a scream,

 I look away from a meme.

 I see the liar

Who caused the fire

Drinking beer, 

There is nothing more to fear!

"The world is quiet here.''

~Victoria N.

There was a home in the middle of the night.
To some it was a fright.

Then someone turned on a light,

and everything was alright.

~Victoria N.

There is a bee
The bee is in a tree
No one cared about that bee
Not even the tree

There are no leaves on the trees
There is no grass that is green
There are no flowers that are out
Where is it all
Will it ever be about

~Kira H.

The Mistake I Made

Hi I am Bella
Happy as can be
But one day something happened
Something terrible to me

It had started out with fears
And it had drowned me in tears
And I did not know what to do

I fell to my knees
I tried to be happy
But I could not be happy
After not being happy
I was sad indeed

My family came
And then I was happy
As I heard them calling my name
And after falling into the trunk of a tree
I knew I was brave enough to be me

~Bella M. 

Rabenold Story Time (Day #6 of our school closure) - 

My dad had a good friend in the Marine Corps.  His name was Jack Yamaguchi.  See a picture of him here.  I never got to meet Jack, but I find my life inspired by him.  Here's why:

When he was a young boy, living in California, his entire family was taken into custody because their ancestors came here from Japan.  

Tadashi "Jack" Yamaguchi gets his shoes shined near Masan Korea where he was serving with my father.  Though he and his family were forced into the Poston Center during WWII, Jack held no malice toward his country or the Marines.

World War II broke out and America was fearful of our enemy Japan.  And so the invisible seeds of distrust germinated and our government sent them to "internment camps."  Basically prison camps to keep Japanese-Americans isolated from society.  We are all feeling isolated right now.  We are united in a common cause and we are doing so for the greater good of the health of everyone.  

But poor Jack's family and friends felt betrayed.  For most of them, America was the only country they ever knew.  Through it all, Jack stayed POSITIVE.  American recruiters would come to the camp to enlist young men and some women into the armed services (they needed men to fight as well as people to do clerical work and serve as interpreters.)

By enlisting, they no longer had to spend a boring life in the camps.  Plus they could earn money to send back to the camps.  Jack was old enough near the end of the war to join but he refused.  Not for love of country, but for the love of his family.  He did not want to leave them in the camp, he wanted to share and support them in that trying time.

But as soon as the war was over, and once everyone was released, what was one of the first things Jack did?   He enlisted in the Marine Corps.  He could have been bitter toward the country that didn't trust him during the war.  He turned his pain into something to gain.

And do you know what one of his favorite expressions was?  "Keep the Faith."  Now anyone can say that for a number of reasons.  But when I think about how Jack always said, "Keep the Faith," for a man who experienced life in the way that he did, and he inspired others to stay positive with such a positive message leads me back to where this story began.  My life has been blessed by a man I never met, but somehow, feel like he's there for me, to keep me going.

In these trying weeks ahead, let's keep our faith in many things.  Let's especially keep the faith in each other.  We are stronger together.

If you follow this link it will take you to a longer story of my dad and how he fought in the Korean War.  If you read it for more info on Jack, you will find a tricky little trick he played when he and another friend Jesse Sunderland were stationed in Japan after the Korean War. - Jack Yamaguchi, My Dad Randy Rabenold - And the Bulldogs who went to War

My favorite picture of Jack, in front of an American Flag - One man I never met but who has inspired me.  Here I am giving a speech at Memorial Day Services at the LAMS in 2013.  His message of faith and hope inspired my lesson that year.  I delivered that at a speech at the Ss Peter and Paul Cemetery in Lehighton May 2013 as well.

~~~~
For a look at the history of Pandemics in our area, click here. Posted today on Mr. R's history blog.

Here are historical articles about the Influenza outbreak of 1918: 

2 November 1918 - Allentown

5 Oct 1918 - York, PA

15 Nov 1918

28 Sept 1918 - On the very day Philadelphia held a parade with an
estimated 200,000 people in attendance, stories filled the Philadelphia
area of stories of people sick and dying from this virulent illness that
was sweeping the world.  Consquently, Philadelphia say a large spike
in the number of cases and deaths from it in the next 2-14 days
after the parade as evidence from articles.

28 September 1918 - This story announcing
the parade was on the same page
as above discussing the flu fatalities.

19 Oct 1918 - Bethlehem

22 Oct 1918 - Bethlehem

11 Oct 1918 - Raymond Walbert dies while serving in the
army during WWI.  This is how the virus came to America
from Europe and elsewhere, when our soldiers started
returning home from war.  The flu ripped through camps
and tight quarters where the men were stationed, here and
overseas.

5 Nov 1918 - Lifebuoy Soap Ad - Advice so good today 100 years later!

People who worked closesly together like coal-miners,
nurses, crews of navy ships, were catching
this flu more often than other people.
31 Oct 1918

Top piece of an article from Hazleton
31 Oct 1918 listing many who were
sick and who had died of the flu.

Piece of an article from Hazleton
31 Oct 1918 listing many who were
sick and who had died of the flu.

Days after the parade in Philadelphia, many cases
began filling the papers - Early Oct  1918

19 Oct 1918

Reading, PA - 19 Oct 1918

25 Nov 1918 - Wilkes-Barre - Many sick and dying from the influenza.

25 November 1918 - Wilkes-Barre

30 September 1918

Philadelphia 7 Oct 1918

8 Oct 1918 - Philadelphia

8 Oct 1918

8 Oct 1918