Mass Offered for 28 Small Victims of Fire |
CHICAGO, Dec. 5 - (AP) - Twenty-eight small coffins lay in the austere setting of a military armory Friday morning for last solemn tributes to the young victims of Monday's parochial grade school fire. |
It was a harsh setting - although black and purple draperies softened the atmosphere and a portable altar stood at the front of big Northwest Armory drill hall. But there was no church big enough. |
Four of the 87 children and three nuns who died when flames swept Our Lady of the Angels school were buried Thursday. Private services were being held in churches Friday for many of the other children. Other services will be held Saturday. |
Meanwhile, scores of medical authorities - including two Army doctors - worked to save the 70 of them on the critical list. |
A special detail of 50 fire department officers stepped up citywide inspection of schools. |
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The Most Rev. Albert Gregory Meyer, Roman Catholic archbishop of Chicago, offered the Solemn Requiem Mass for the 28 children. |
The Mass in the 6,100-seat armory was not opened to the public. Families of the 28 children were given 150 tickets each to distribute among parents, relatives and close friends. |
Students from all Catholic schools attended services in some 400 churches in the Chicago archdiocese while the funeral was held in the armory. |