The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1893-07-15
FIRE At THE WORLDS FAIR.
A Score of Lives and Half a Million Doll
lars in Property Given lJp.

/ q
lars in Property Given Up.
CHrNGu, H., July lO.-Thc fear that
has existed for months in he minds Of
nearly every citizen of Chicago, a fear
that none dared utter to his fellow but
that all felt, found realization to-day in
4 irightul holocaust at the Worlds
Fair that claimed nearly two score of
victims and for a time threatened the
destruction of the entire White CITY.
To-day : disaster was all the more dread
ful because of itr sudden Transformation
+ from an innocent flame into death
dealing catastrophe. Like IN animal
monster, It cnticcd its victims to- the
toplnoSt stage of high pinnacle and
then. encircliug the whole shaft in Il
sheet of flame. held them in a trap
until, one hN one, they fell 4 sac
ritict Oh the fiery altar beneath
them, while 3OOhO people stood help
lessly by. The structure that burned
to-day was, 10y comparison, one Of the
smallest buildings Of the fair 1t WIS
the cold storage warehouse and skating
rink, and was not the property of the
exposition 1t was 4 concession
and exhibit Of the Hercules Iron
machine manufacturers. In addition
to the skating rink ther" were three
l2u-toi. ice machines and thirty or forty
barrels of Iinsccd oil. The oil no
doubt greatly FASTENED the Contlagra-
ton, and that the fire was not com
municated to the other World's Fair
/ buildings WAS due To the favorable
winds
TWENTY-FIVE men are either known Ia
be dead or are missing. The numherof
injured is probably thirty.
At the first signal the fircmen rushed
up the huge shaft surrounding the
smokcstack, and at the summit began
preparations to fight the flames, which
had first appeared at this point. Be
fore the hose could be coupled a cry of
horror from tn" crowd below caused
the tiremcn to look down, AMI
the whole shaft below Was found
to be eucirclCd in flames. In
Stantly every man realized his
danger, but there were few To- find
an avenue of escape. one man sudden
" grasprd Il hos" and, half sliding, half
falling, reached the roof ninety feet he
/ low in bruised and burned condition
but still alive. Hy this time the crowd
below became wild with excitement, and
Weeping women and trcnzicd men
/ rushed hither and thithcr Wriugin@ thcir
hands in anguish over their inability to
render aid
The ircmcn appeared to realize the
awiUlness of their position and some of
them moved back and forth along the
edge of the balcony. aS If in search Of
some means of escape. Suddenly one
of the UnturtunatCS, either CraZed bN
heat or fear. or prCtcrrIng To he crushed
10y the fall tn Il death 10y fire, sprang
from the balcony and was crushed to-
death on the roof below. lie was fol-
lowed bv several of his companions.
Those who remained on tn" balcony had
only 4 few minutes respite, for the
flames which had cut OH their retreat
undermined their support, and before
the horror-atricken watchers realized
the situation the tower toppl"d aud fell.
Seeing that il was hopeless task Ia
attempt to save the building and a~ aii
" ho escaped alive had left tn" roof, the
tircmcn now directed their ctiuIts tu
keeping the fire from spreading. The
/ Nurld'S : Fair stables Just south of the
biz warehouse were burning and tn"
fire had spread to tn" roofs of several
hotels across stony Island Avenue, out
side the grounds. With a good deaf "t
effort the hotels were saved, but th"
stables Wcr" burned. In less than two
hours from the time the fire started the
big cold storage Warchuu~c was Icvclci
i'' ~ El'fbil'l- IL - 'l''hl1bltl ~ tIlN 81
the bodies Will ever bp recovered, So in
tense was the heat. TIA" huldlng being
Of wood, and added 10 this the barrels
nf oil, made the fire one IF the hottest
the department had ever had tO fight
\ complete and accurate list Of the
dead viii he difficult To- obtain, az many
Of til" bodies were entirely destroyed.
The cold storage warehouse was stu
atcl south ot the TRANSPORTATION build
ing annex. close To- the Stony Island
boundary and not far from the Sixty
fourth street entrance. 1t was report
ed to Toe unsafe u 'cW weeks a." hv Mar
shal Murphy and the insurance com
panics cancelled their risks. Th" loss
l. estimated at from tt1Oo,up t" 81 600,
p0. President IIiginbotham and
other members of the council of admin
istratiou said tonight they had never
been notified the building was danger
Gus.
Ibc heavy financial loss entaII"d by
the cold storage warehouse has caused
the Hercules Iron Company, owner of
the plant. to make an assignment in the
county court this morning. The Chicago
Title and Trust Company Is made AZ
signpe The Hercules Company WAS
incorporated in 1855 with capital stock
of S4oo,ton. 1t owns a plant at Aurora,
H., covering seven acres Its assets
are estimated al i4O0,O ,OOO against 5000
liabilities. Yesterdays fire caused a
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