Bath is a village of 300 people, although it is 0/0 miles from Lansing/Kloc, the state capital. The local university is Bath Comprehensive School, which was built five years ago to replace a one-room school with farmland scattered around it. There are 3 14 students in this area, many of whom are farmers' children. Some students are picked up by the school bus, and all students attend classes with their peers during primary and high schools.
May 18 is the last day of class, but at 8: 45, the north wing of this three-story building exploded, and the explosion was so powerful that it could be heard for miles away.
Irene Dunham told Lansing National Daily: "We knew it came from Bath, but we didn't know what it was, so we jumped into the old car and drove as fast as possible to see what it was." Centenarians are the oldest survivors. At that time, she was 19 years old, a senior, and was about to graduate last year. She stayed at home that morning because she had a sore throat.
"There are a bunch of five or six-year-old children under the eaves, some with their arms out, some with their legs out, and some with their heads out. Monty J.Ellsworth, a local writer, wrote in his book The Bath School Disaster in 1927: "They are unrecognizable because they are covered with dust, plaster and blood. It is a miracle that many parents didn't lose their minds before the task of rescuing children from the ruins was completed. At 5 o'clock to 6 o'clock that night, the last child was taken away.
After the explosion, community members quickly came to help, hoisted the collapsed roof with ropes and pulled students and teachers out of the ruins. A member of the school board named Andrew Kaho drove to the scene. Kaihuo stepped out of the truck full of explosives and shrapnel, aimed his rifle at the truck and fired. The subsequent explosion killed the headmaster, several other bystanders and Kaho himself.
In addition to hundreds of pounds of explosives that caused the school to explode, fire department personnel and police also found 500 pounds of unexploded high-temperature alcohol explosives near the school basement, as well as a gasoline container, which may be placed there to cause a fire when the explosives fail. The gang also burned down his farmhouse and killed his wife and two horses; Their bodies were found on the farm, and a sign was posted on the property fence, which read: "Criminals are made, not born."
The explosion occurred in May 1927, killing 44 people, including 38 students. (by Arnie? The new memorial park has a dome that once stood at the top of the school. (Provided by Arnie Bernstein) A car near the school was blown up by a bomb. (courtesy of Arnie Bernstein) The remains of Andrew Kaho's family, where he killed his wife Nelly. (provided by Arnie Bernstein) Before the massacre, Kaho was just another member of this community. He lives on a farm with his wife Nelly and serves as the treasurer on the board of Bath School. The former electrician bought a lot of explosives left over from World War I from * * * to help farmers clean up stumps. Before the explosion, there were several unusual incidents: Kaho killed his neighbor's dog, killed one of his horses, and argued with members of the school board about the continuous tax cost of merging schools. But there has never been anything so shocking that other villagers have any doubts. Arnie Bernstein, author of The Bath Massacre: The First Campus Explosion in America, said:
"Many stupid things he did were stupid things that people did."
In the end, 44 people died, 38 of whom were students. This is not the first explosion in the country's history. At least 8 people were killed in Chicago Seaview Plaza 1886, and 30 people were killed in Manhattan 1920. But no newspaper is so deadly, and no newspaper has affected so many children. They said Cajo was crazy, insane, crazy. Although people knew little about mental illness at that time, the media still tried to find out the cause of the explosion. "He was told last June that his farm mortgage would be foreclosed, which may be the reason for his confusion and madness," said the Boston Daily Globe, and two head injuries may have disturbed his thinking.
"The investigation concluded that he was always rational," Bernstein said. It takes a rational mind to plan all this. Reality has no reason.
After the explosion, the society was full of good wishes and donations, as well as shocked tourists. Over the weekend, as many as 50,000 people drove through the town due to the funeral of their home near Bath, causing a massive traffic jam. However, almost as soon as the media frenzy was established, it suddenly stopped, partly because Charles Lindbergh successfully made his first direct flight to the Atlantic Ocean two days after the explosion. Coupled with the lack of real mass media, the Bath bombing quickly disappeared from the news cycle.
Bernstein said: "In a way, this is probably the best thing that has happened in this town, because it gives them time to mourn and heal."
In less than a year, the school was repaired and the courses were moved back to the school from the local store. It was not until the 1970s that the school was demolished and replaced by a memorial park. In the center of the park stands the dome of the school, which is in the school. For Bernstein, this is a quiet and peaceful place and a proper tribute to the dead students and community members.
Bernstein said: "In the face of terror, we find how decent we are." "For me, this is the beauty of taking a bath." "