Evening World-Herald (Omaha, Nebr.), November 26, 1918, p. 2, col. 1 & 2
THREE CHILDREN DIE IN NORTH SIDE FIRE
Steve, Helen and Joe Berish Burned to Death While Mother Away.
Fire Believed to Have Been Cause by Explosion of Kerosene.
Three young children of Mr. and Mrs. Pressie Berish, 5424 North Sixteenth street, were burned to death in their home yesterday afternoon when the eldest of the three, 12-year-old boy, used kerosene in lighting or replenishing the fire in the absence of the mother. The dead are:
STEVE BERISH, aged 12.
HELEN BERISH, aged 3.
JOSEPH BERISH, aged 18 months.
All three died within a few minutes after the fire was discovered by neighbors just as the mother was returning home from a shopping trip. The clothing was burned from the bodies of all three, and all were badly charred. The house was little damaged.
Besides the parents, five other children survive. The father is a machinist at the Union Pacific shops.
Mother Distracted.
Grief and desolation reign in the poor little four-room home in North Omaha, where for hours after the tragedy yesterday the mother sat and rocked back and forth, wailing aloud in her broken Hungarian tongue:
"Oh Stevey, Stevey, I told you not to touch the kerosene.
"Oh my God, what shall I do? Where are my babies? Where have they taken them?"
The parish priest, Father Nosbisch from St. Michael's church, a visiting nurse, kind neighbors and friends – all came and tried to comfort the grief-stricken mother, who was beside herself and who threatened to take her life when she realized the full extent of the catastrophe that had reduced her family of children from eight to five at one cruel blow.
Other Children Arrive.
Andy, aged 6, and Charlie, aged 8, came in from school to be confronted with the frightful news that their two brothers and little sister had been burned to death. The two little fellows stood around helplessly, sobbing as if their little hearts would break, almost overlooked by the neighbors who were devoting all their attention to quieting the mother.
Within an hour after the accident the two older sisters, Theresa, 16 and Mary, 15, employed at the Iten Biscuit factory, rushed into the poor little home and added their pitiful cries and moans to those of the stricken mother.
The three women, locked in one another's arms, sobbed and cried as only those who can sob and cry who have little on this earth save the beloved members of their family, whom death has taken away.
Tragedy Comes Swiftly.
At intervals the mother would stand in front of a photograph of herself and her husband when they were bride and groom, and would murmur a prayer and then break afresh into weeping, while she awaited the return of her husband, who had been summoned from his work as a mechanic in the Union Pacific shops.
The tragedy that wiped out three young lives was over so quickly, and so little trace of it remained, that is was difficult to realize that a triple death scene had been enacted there but a short time before.
Mrs. Berish, the mother, had gone to the city about noon, taking with her Margaret, 4 years old, and leaving behind Steve, 12; Helen, 3, and Joseph, 18 months old. The mother had cautioned Steve not to make a fire in the room where the younger children had evidently fallen asleep on the bed.
It is assumed that Steve had thought his little brother and sister were cold, so he attempted to build a fire in the small heater in the bed room adjoining the kitchen.
The little fellow had either just kindled the fire, or finding a small spark in the stove had attempted to revive it by throwing some kerosene into the stove.
The accident occurred about 3 o'clock. Robert Krumwied, a 10-year-old boy, returning from the Sherman school, which Steve also attended, noticed flames issuing from the bed room of the Berish home. The boy rushed across the street to neighbors, who turned in the fire alarm. A minute later Robert saw little Steve rush from the kitchen, aflame.
Unable to render aid to his friend, Robert saw Steve run around the yard, helplessly, for a turn or two, and then tumble in a little charred heap – dead, all the clothes burned from his body.
Almost simultaneously with the arrival of the Krumwied boy at the scene of the tragedy, Andy Hogan, a neighbor, and Mrs. Berish, the mother, also reached the spot, having come out of the city on the same street car.
Hogan, hearing the outcries of the Krumwied boy, rushed ahead of the mother. Arriving in the yard of the Berish home he saw the tortured little figure of Steve, writhing about in the yard. Before he could reach him, Steve dropped – dead. Mr. Hogan then picked up a tub of water that stood at hand, rushed in through the smoke and dashed the water into the bed room.
The little body of Helen, the 3-year-old, smoke and fire-stained, lay on the floor between the two beds, all the clothing burned off, and life extinct. Fast on the heels of Mr. Hogan the mother herself rushed into the burning room, snatched her baby, Joseph, 18 months old, from the bed and ran with him into the yard.
Outside she sat on a stump and rocked the baby in her arms, crying and calling out to God, while life ebbed from the little body. The baby was dead within ten minutes after he had been carried by the mother from the burning house.
Then the coroner came and took away the three little bodies, and the crazed mother continued to cry aloud for her children and would not be comforted.
```````````````
Morning World-Herald, November 27, 1918, p. 14, col. 1
Funeral Today for Three Tots Burned to Death
Funeral services for the three children of Mr. and Mrs. Pressie Berish, who burned to death in their home, 5424 North Sixteenth street, Monday afternoon, will be at the residence to St. Michael's church at 9:30 o'clock Wednesday morning. Burial will be in Holy Sepulcher cemetery.
Mr. Berish, Tuesday, went to the Taggart undertaking parlors and viewed the remains of his children. Mrs. Berish came for the same purpose, but went home without seeing the little bodies.
THREE CHILDREN DIE IN NORTH SIDE FIRE
Steve, Helen and Joe Berish Burned to Death While Mother Away.
Fire Believed to Have Been Cause by Explosion of Kerosene.
Three young children of Mr. and Mrs. Pressie Berish, 5424 North Sixteenth street, were burned to death in their home yesterday afternoon when the eldest of the three, 12-year-old boy, used kerosene in lighting or replenishing the fire in the absence of the mother. The dead are:
STEVE BERISH, aged 12.
HELEN BERISH, aged 3.
JOSEPH BERISH, aged 18 months.
All three died within a few minutes after the fire was discovered by neighbors just as the mother was returning home from a shopping trip. The clothing was burned from the bodies of all three, and all were badly charred. The house was little damaged.
Besides the parents, five other children survive. The father is a machinist at the Union Pacific shops.
Mother Distracted.
Grief and desolation reign in the poor little four-room home in North Omaha, where for hours after the tragedy yesterday the mother sat and rocked back and forth, wailing aloud in her broken Hungarian tongue:
"Oh Stevey, Stevey, I told you not to touch the kerosene.
"Oh my God, what shall I do? Where are my babies? Where have they taken them?"
The parish priest, Father Nosbisch from St. Michael's church, a visiting nurse, kind neighbors and friends – all came and tried to comfort the grief-stricken mother, who was beside herself and who threatened to take her life when she realized the full extent of the catastrophe that had reduced her family of children from eight to five at one cruel blow.
Other Children Arrive.
Andy, aged 6, and Charlie, aged 8, came in from school to be confronted with the frightful news that their two brothers and little sister had been burned to death. The two little fellows stood around helplessly, sobbing as if their little hearts would break, almost overlooked by the neighbors who were devoting all their attention to quieting the mother.
Within an hour after the accident the two older sisters, Theresa, 16 and Mary, 15, employed at the Iten Biscuit factory, rushed into the poor little home and added their pitiful cries and moans to those of the stricken mother.
The three women, locked in one another's arms, sobbed and cried as only those who can sob and cry who have little on this earth save the beloved members of their family, whom death has taken away.
Tragedy Comes Swiftly.
At intervals the mother would stand in front of a photograph of herself and her husband when they were bride and groom, and would murmur a prayer and then break afresh into weeping, while she awaited the return of her husband, who had been summoned from his work as a mechanic in the Union Pacific shops.
The tragedy that wiped out three young lives was over so quickly, and so little trace of it remained, that is was difficult to realize that a triple death scene had been enacted there but a short time before.
Mrs. Berish, the mother, had gone to the city about noon, taking with her Margaret, 4 years old, and leaving behind Steve, 12; Helen, 3, and Joseph, 18 months old. The mother had cautioned Steve not to make a fire in the room where the younger children had evidently fallen asleep on the bed.
It is assumed that Steve had thought his little brother and sister were cold, so he attempted to build a fire in the small heater in the bed room adjoining the kitchen.
The little fellow had either just kindled the fire, or finding a small spark in the stove had attempted to revive it by throwing some kerosene into the stove.
The accident occurred about 3 o'clock. Robert Krumwied, a 10-year-old boy, returning from the Sherman school, which Steve also attended, noticed flames issuing from the bed room of the Berish home. The boy rushed across the street to neighbors, who turned in the fire alarm. A minute later Robert saw little Steve rush from the kitchen, aflame.
Unable to render aid to his friend, Robert saw Steve run around the yard, helplessly, for a turn or two, and then tumble in a little charred heap – dead, all the clothes burned from his body.
Almost simultaneously with the arrival of the Krumwied boy at the scene of the tragedy, Andy Hogan, a neighbor, and Mrs. Berish, the mother, also reached the spot, having come out of the city on the same street car.
Hogan, hearing the outcries of the Krumwied boy, rushed ahead of the mother. Arriving in the yard of the Berish home he saw the tortured little figure of Steve, writhing about in the yard. Before he could reach him, Steve dropped – dead. Mr. Hogan then picked up a tub of water that stood at hand, rushed in through the smoke and dashed the water into the bed room.
The little body of Helen, the 3-year-old, smoke and fire-stained, lay on the floor between the two beds, all the clothing burned off, and life extinct. Fast on the heels of Mr. Hogan the mother herself rushed into the burning room, snatched her baby, Joseph, 18 months old, from the bed and ran with him into the yard.
Outside she sat on a stump and rocked the baby in her arms, crying and calling out to God, while life ebbed from the little body. The baby was dead within ten minutes after he had been carried by the mother from the burning house.
Then the coroner came and took away the three little bodies, and the crazed mother continued to cry aloud for her children and would not be comforted.
```````````````
Morning World-Herald, November 27, 1918, p. 14, col. 1
Funeral Today for Three Tots Burned to Death
Funeral services for the three children of Mr. and Mrs. Pressie Berish, who burned to death in their home, 5424 North Sixteenth street, Monday afternoon, will be at the residence to St. Michael's church at 9:30 o'clock Wednesday morning. Burial will be in Holy Sepulcher cemetery.
Mr. Berish, Tuesday, went to the Taggart undertaking parlors and viewed the remains of his children. Mrs. Berish came for the same purpose, but went home without seeing the little bodies.
Evening World-Herald (Omaha, Nebr.), November 26, 1918, p. 2, col. 1 & 2
THREE CHILDREN DIE IN NORTH SIDE FIRE
Steve, Helen and Joe Berish Burned to Death While Mother Away.
Fire Believed to Have Been Cause by Explosion of Kerosene.
Three young children of Mr. and Mrs. Pressie Berish, 5424 North Sixteenth street, were burned to death in their home yesterday afternoon when the eldest of the three, 12-year-old boy, used kerosene in lighting or replenishing the fire in the absence of the mother. The dead are:
STEVE BERISH, aged 12.
HELEN BERISH, aged 3.
JOSEPH BERISH, aged 18 months.
All three died within a few minutes after the fire was discovered by neighbors just as the mother was returning home from a shopping trip. The clothing was burned from the bodies of all three, and all were badly charred. The house was little damaged.
Besides the parents, five other children survive. The father is a machinist at the Union Pacific shops.
Mother Distracted.
Grief and desolation reign in the poor little four-room home in North Omaha, where for hours after the tragedy yesterday the mother sat and rocked back and forth, wailing aloud in her broken Hungarian tongue:
"Oh Stevey, Stevey, I told you not to touch the kerosene.
"Oh my God, what shall I do? Where are my babies? Where have they taken them?"
The parish priest, Father Nosbisch from St. Michael's church, a visiting nurse, kind neighbors and friends – all came and tried to comfort the grief-stricken mother, who was beside herself and who threatened to take her life when she realized the full extent of the catastrophe that had reduced her family of children from eight to five at one cruel blow.
Other Children Arrive.
Andy, aged 6, and Charlie, aged 8, came in from school to be confronted with the frightful news that their two brothers and little sister had been burned to death. The two little fellows stood around helplessly, sobbing as if their little hearts would break, almost overlooked by the neighbors who were devoting all their attention to quieting the mother.
Within an hour after the accident the two older sisters, Theresa, 16 and Mary, 15, employed at the Iten Biscuit factory, rushed into the poor little home and added their pitiful cries and moans to those of the stricken mother.
The three women, locked in one another's arms, sobbed and cried as only those who can sob and cry who have little on this earth save the beloved members of their family, whom death has taken away.
Tragedy Comes Swiftly.
At intervals the mother would stand in front of a photograph of herself and her husband when they were bride and groom, and would murmur a prayer and then break afresh into weeping, while she awaited the return of her husband, who had been summoned from his work as a mechanic in the Union Pacific shops.
The tragedy that wiped out three young lives was over so quickly, and so little trace of it remained, that is was difficult to realize that a triple death scene had been enacted there but a short time before.
Mrs. Berish, the mother, had gone to the city about noon, taking with her Margaret, 4 years old, and leaving behind Steve, 12; Helen, 3, and Joseph, 18 months old. The mother had cautioned Steve not to make a fire in the room where the younger children had evidently fallen asleep on the bed.
It is assumed that Steve had thought his little brother and sister were cold, so he attempted to build a fire in the small heater in the bed room adjoining the kitchen.
The little fellow had either just kindled the fire, or finding a small spark in the stove had attempted to revive it by throwing some kerosene into the stove.
The accident occurred about 3 o'clock. Robert Krumwied, a 10-year-old boy, returning from the Sherman school, which Steve also attended, noticed flames issuing from the bed room of the Berish home. The boy rushed across the street to neighbors, who turned in the fire alarm. A minute later Robert saw little Steve rush from the kitchen, aflame.
Unable to render aid to his friend, Robert saw Steve run around the yard, helplessly, for a turn or two, and then tumble in a little charred heap – dead, all the clothes burned from his body.
Almost simultaneously with the arrival of the Krumwied boy at the scene of the tragedy, Andy Hogan, a neighbor, and Mrs. Berish, the mother, also reached the spot, having come out of the city on the same street car.
Hogan, hearing the outcries of the Krumwied boy, rushed ahead of the mother. Arriving in the yard of the Berish home he saw the tortured little figure of Steve, writhing about in the yard. Before he could reach him, Steve dropped – dead. Mr. Hogan then picked up a tub of water that stood at hand, rushed in through the smoke and dashed the water into the bed room.
The little body of Helen, the 3-year-old, smoke and fire-stained, lay on the floor between the two beds, all the clothing burned off, and life extinct. Fast on the heels of Mr. Hogan the mother herself rushed into the burning room, snatched her baby, Joseph, 18 months old, from the bed and ran with him into the yard.
Outside she sat on a stump and rocked the baby in her arms, crying and calling out to God, while life ebbed from the little body. The baby was dead within ten minutes after he had been carried by the mother from the burning house.
Then the coroner came and took away the three little bodies, and the crazed mother continued to cry aloud for her children and would not be comforted.
```````````````
Morning World-Herald, November 27, 1918, p. 14, col. 1
Funeral Today for Three Tots Burned to Death
Funeral services for the three children of Mr. and Mrs. Pressie Berish, who burned to death in their home, 5424 North Sixteenth street, Monday afternoon, will be at the residence to St. Michael's church at 9:30 o'clock Wednesday morning. Burial will be in Holy Sepulcher cemetery.
Mr. Berish, Tuesday, went to the Taggart undertaking parlors and viewed the remains of his children. Mrs. Berish came for the same purpose, but went home without seeing the little bodies.
THREE CHILDREN DIE IN NORTH SIDE FIRE
Steve, Helen and Joe Berish Burned to Death While Mother Away.
Fire Believed to Have Been Cause by Explosion of Kerosene.
Three young children of Mr. and Mrs. Pressie Berish, 5424 North Sixteenth street, were burned to death in their home yesterday afternoon when the eldest of the three, 12-year-old boy, used kerosene in lighting or replenishing the fire in the absence of the mother. The dead are:
STEVE BERISH, aged 12.
HELEN BERISH, aged 3.
JOSEPH BERISH, aged 18 months.
All three died within a few minutes after the fire was discovered by neighbors just as the mother was returning home from a shopping trip. The clothing was burned from the bodies of all three, and all were badly charred. The house was little damaged.
Besides the parents, five other children survive. The father is a machinist at the Union Pacific shops.
Mother Distracted.
Grief and desolation reign in the poor little four-room home in North Omaha, where for hours after the tragedy yesterday the mother sat and rocked back and forth, wailing aloud in her broken Hungarian tongue:
"Oh Stevey, Stevey, I told you not to touch the kerosene.
"Oh my God, what shall I do? Where are my babies? Where have they taken them?"
The parish priest, Father Nosbisch from St. Michael's church, a visiting nurse, kind neighbors and friends – all came and tried to comfort the grief-stricken mother, who was beside herself and who threatened to take her life when she realized the full extent of the catastrophe that had reduced her family of children from eight to five at one cruel blow.
Other Children Arrive.
Andy, aged 6, and Charlie, aged 8, came in from school to be confronted with the frightful news that their two brothers and little sister had been burned to death. The two little fellows stood around helplessly, sobbing as if their little hearts would break, almost overlooked by the neighbors who were devoting all their attention to quieting the mother.
Within an hour after the accident the two older sisters, Theresa, 16 and Mary, 15, employed at the Iten Biscuit factory, rushed into the poor little home and added their pitiful cries and moans to those of the stricken mother.
The three women, locked in one another's arms, sobbed and cried as only those who can sob and cry who have little on this earth save the beloved members of their family, whom death has taken away.
Tragedy Comes Swiftly.
At intervals the mother would stand in front of a photograph of herself and her husband when they were bride and groom, and would murmur a prayer and then break afresh into weeping, while she awaited the return of her husband, who had been summoned from his work as a mechanic in the Union Pacific shops.
The tragedy that wiped out three young lives was over so quickly, and so little trace of it remained, that is was difficult to realize that a triple death scene had been enacted there but a short time before.
Mrs. Berish, the mother, had gone to the city about noon, taking with her Margaret, 4 years old, and leaving behind Steve, 12; Helen, 3, and Joseph, 18 months old. The mother had cautioned Steve not to make a fire in the room where the younger children had evidently fallen asleep on the bed.
It is assumed that Steve had thought his little brother and sister were cold, so he attempted to build a fire in the small heater in the bed room adjoining the kitchen.
The little fellow had either just kindled the fire, or finding a small spark in the stove had attempted to revive it by throwing some kerosene into the stove.
The accident occurred about 3 o'clock. Robert Krumwied, a 10-year-old boy, returning from the Sherman school, which Steve also attended, noticed flames issuing from the bed room of the Berish home. The boy rushed across the street to neighbors, who turned in the fire alarm. A minute later Robert saw little Steve rush from the kitchen, aflame.
Unable to render aid to his friend, Robert saw Steve run around the yard, helplessly, for a turn or two, and then tumble in a little charred heap – dead, all the clothes burned from his body.
Almost simultaneously with the arrival of the Krumwied boy at the scene of the tragedy, Andy Hogan, a neighbor, and Mrs. Berish, the mother, also reached the spot, having come out of the city on the same street car.
Hogan, hearing the outcries of the Krumwied boy, rushed ahead of the mother. Arriving in the yard of the Berish home he saw the tortured little figure of Steve, writhing about in the yard. Before he could reach him, Steve dropped – dead. Mr. Hogan then picked up a tub of water that stood at hand, rushed in through the smoke and dashed the water into the bed room.
The little body of Helen, the 3-year-old, smoke and fire-stained, lay on the floor between the two beds, all the clothing burned off, and life extinct. Fast on the heels of Mr. Hogan the mother herself rushed into the burning room, snatched her baby, Joseph, 18 months old, from the bed and ran with him into the yard.
Outside she sat on a stump and rocked the baby in her arms, crying and calling out to God, while life ebbed from the little body. The baby was dead within ten minutes after he had been carried by the mother from the burning house.
Then the coroner came and took away the three little bodies, and the crazed mother continued to cry aloud for her children and would not be comforted.
```````````````
Morning World-Herald, November 27, 1918, p. 14, col. 1
Funeral Today for Three Tots Burned to Death
Funeral services for the three children of Mr. and Mrs. Pressie Berish, who burned to death in their home, 5424 North Sixteenth street, Monday afternoon, will be at the residence to St. Michael's church at 9:30 o'clock Wednesday morning. Burial will be in Holy Sepulcher cemetery.
Mr. Berish, Tuesday, went to the Taggart undertaking parlors and viewed the remains of his children. Mrs. Berish came for the same purpose, but went home without seeing the little bodies.
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