Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-04-13
FOOD FOR FLAMES.
Seven Buildings at Chicago Re.
duced 10 Debris.
BOTH SIDES OF A sTRBBTINPLAMBs


One Fatal Casualty Kohl & Middle
tons Dime Museum and smythe's Fur
niture Emporium Licked Up-The Hay
market Theatre Damaged-Panics in
the Museum-Nerve and Grit Displayed
in the Theatre-Ineidents of the Dis
aster-A Million Dollars Worth of
Property Destroyed.
CHICAGO, April Bone of the fiercest
and most disastrous fires the Chicago de-
partment has fought in many years swept
through West Madison street yesterday
afternoon. The big Smythe building,
that extends from Union half way to
Halstead street, was destroyed, and with
it the contents of John NJ. Smythe & Co 3
furniture house, the largest retail estab-
lishment in the world All that is left of
Kohl & Middleton's west side dime
museum is heap of bricks and charred
timbers. On the north side of Madison
street. from Union street to the Haymar-
ket theatre block. five buildings were de-
stroyed. Three of them tumbled down
before the maelstrom OF fire, and at one
time the roof and portion OF the front of
the theatre building was burning so
fercely that every body thought it would
share the fate of its neighbors
Loss of About 81. 100000
The firemen managed to save the struc-
ture in a seriously damaged condition
The total loss is estimated at something
less than 100000 John NJ. Smythe
and Co. alone will lose nearly $3.50, 900.
an extraordinary feature of the confiagra-
ton. was the lack of fatalities One man,
Alexander Grant, had his legs. broken
and his skull fractured. A fireman was
injured by flying piece of mortar, and
two or three spectators, who got inside
the danger line, were hurt, but none of
them so seriously that they were unable to
go home unaided. The fire originated In
the wagon shed of John NJ. Smythe s. Co,
directly in the rear OF the museum.
Panic at the Dime Museum.
Five hundred persons were in the lower
hall of the museum when the flames
burst out in the rear of the stage. Some
one IN tie audience saw the smoke creep
ing out drought the scenes and the alarm
was given. Arush was made for the doors
and those who sat nearest the stage were
panic stricken. Half of the audience was
composed OF women and children and they
occupied the seats in front. The flames
caught hold of the light, inflammable
scenery, and soon made short work of it.
Smoke filled the hall while the people
were struggling to get out, and tongues
Of flame leaped from one side Of the mar.
row stage to the oeher.
The Hall Emptied in Sixty Seconds.
Many OF the women tainted or were
overcome by the smoke, and had to be
carried out. William Alexander. the
doorkeeper, was standing at the entrance
when those who were in the rear of the
house came rushing out. The doors were
torn from their hinges by the crowds that
surged against them. The doorkeeper
sprang inside the entrance and kept the
people from tramping on each other in
their eagerness to escape. Ia less than
sixty seconds the hall was emptied, but
the audience cot oat none too soon, for
the flames had already taken hold of the
chairs in front.
The Fire Leaps Across the street.
BY this time Smythe u Co : big build
ing clear down to Union street was
ablaze. The flames ran through the in
fammable stock like whirlwind. burst
ing through the roof and front windows,
and leaping clear across the street until
they touched the buildings there. The
northwest corner of Madison aud Union
SNANINoy tNNNpAIh - <AAAACu CdAS as Il
wall paper house, was the next to catch
fire, Tue three story structure next door,
the lower floor of which was occupied by
Barr Bros. as hat store, was slowly
crumbling under the influence of the heat.
The other buildings, including the com
paratively new one of six stories, which
was known as La Barge's Recess, clear ID
the east line of the Haymarket, were on
fire. Men and women were tumbliug
through their open doors aud running for
their lives. Some of them barely escaped
Didn't Wait for the Last Act.
Nearly 1000 persons were assembled in
the Haymarket theatre waiting for the
last act of the performance, but they were
dismissed at once through the alley way
leading to Union street, in good order and
without the slightest evidence OF panic.
All the streets approaching the fire were
filled with people, and so dense did the
crowds get that they became nearly I'm
manageable, and it required a third of
the entire police force to keep those who
were nearest the building from rushing
headlong into places where their lives
would not have been worth a moments
purchase. Every engine that could be
placed within 900 feet of the fire was
called out and put at work. Pipemen
were distributed all over the neighbor.
uOOu III LH6 anu sbFctbY On HOuSc
tops, and even in threatened buildings,
where they were held in readiness to fight
the fire the moment it appeared.
Firemen Withdrawn just in Time
Fresh relays of men were sent down the
fiery gauntlet in Madison street. where,
despite the heat and the wavering walls,
which rocked and tottered above their
heads, they poured water into the burning
buildings in torrents They stayed there
until Inspector Snay ordered them to re-
treat, and a. they slowly retired, t,
masetm front went down with a terrihD
roar, when the interior OF the buildin
collapsed. This was but the beginning of
the disintegration. The entire front of
Smythe's town market tottered and finally
toppled over into the street, landing in
an immense heap upon the very spot from
which the firemen had so recently
retreated The wall paper house of