The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-04-11

IlySIeflOuSly started IN the fOOI OF the
building at ago o'clock this morning.
The loss on the building. scenery and
equipments Of the Lilliputian company
aggregates $500, 900, on which there is an
insurance of $SS.0OO. of which $4,000 is
carried by Resented Bros, owners of
the Lilliputians. Their loss will be $751;
600.
Twenty iremen were upon the roof of
the building working under the direction
OF the chief and it was thought that
the blaze was under control when the
roof seemed to bulge under their feet
and in a moment every man was pitched
into the auditorium of the theater, some
falling into the parquette and others
upon the balconies.
Leeds of heroism were numerous, as
usual, under such circumstances. Mi
chael Dunn, captain of one Of the fire
tugs, slid down a rope, made it fast to
several of the men who were not pin
toned down by the debris and then
climbed the rope, hand over hand, to
the roof of the Davidson hotel, which
escaped destruction. The fire took new
start among the debris, and amid the
groans and shouts of the imprisoned
firemen the work of rescue began and
was kept up until s o'clock tonight
when the eighth body was taken out
and the work abandoned until to-mor-
row. with only one corpse to remove that
of Third Assistant Chief Jansen, a
brother Of Chief of Police Jansen.
The Victims.
The following is a revised and cor
rected list of the dead:
Third Assistant Chief AUGUST JAMS
SEN, 265 Eighth-st
FRANK McGURK, lieutenant truck
company No. and acting captain No.
II. 397 Park-st.
FRED KROESCHMER, pipeman
chemical company No. p
Capt. ARCHIE CAMPBELL of the
hreboat Foley. Il Twenty-seventh-st.
ALLIE RIES, company No. 3, killed
by falling ladder
JAMES c. FREEMAN, lieutenant
FRANK WINNIE, chemical company
No. f. found in balcony Of theater
THOMAS MORGAN, engine company
No. l.
JOHN FARRELL. chemical No. ?.
The injured are:
No. ?, compound fracture of leg and
hand. severely bruised about the head,
thirty-twO years old.
John YeO, pipeman No. 4, badly bruised
about the head and arm, thirty-four
years OF age.
John Farrell. No. 4. found alive in
ruins and taken 10 his home
Frank Schroeder. No 8, back badly
sprained and head cut, twenty-seven
years of age.
back sprained. thirty-four years of age.
Patrick Linehan. captain No. 4, collar
bone fractured and internally injured.
Lieut.. Curran, No. ?. internally injured.
probably fatally.
John Crowley. No. IA. single. badly
The bodies Of Assistant Chief August
Jansen and Frank Finite of No. are
still in the ruins.
An Awful Catastrophe.
A cry of horror went up from the fire.
men who saw the awful catastrophe
The members of the insurance patrol
were covering up the seats in the par
quet of the theater. when suddenly a
light was seen through the roof above
The men in the theater ran back just i'm
time and in the next moment the roof
fell. Several of the men in the build
ing were caught by the falling timbers
The scene that followed is never TO be
forgotten by those who witnessed it. For
moment all was dark, then suddenly
a tremendous sheet of flame shot up and
with il came the cries of the firemen
who had fallen through the roof to the
theater below. one man was heard to
cry: MY God, help me. l am roasting
to death"
The men were buried under the blaz-
ing roof and there seemed to be little
hope that they would come out alive, if,
Indeed, they had not been killed by the
terrible fall. There was trouble in get
ting water OF the fire. which now
rapidly made Is way through the thea
ter and scenery. The wafer was finally
turned on and several of the firemen
of the lobby were dragged from the
burning debris and carried out more or
less injured. The men were removed TO
the saloon across the street and their
wounds dressed, while the firemen
bravely kept at work pouring a deluge
of water on the debris and trying to
rescue others of the unfortunates.
seething Mass of Flames.
But soon no more cries were heard,
and 1t was evident that all who had not
been brought out now must be past
hope. The interior of the auditorium
soon became a seething mass of flames
which the firemen Vainly endeavored to
subdue in order to save their doomed
comrades When the men we're at work
amidst the ruins on the floor OF the par
quet the gallery began to burn. and
while directing their attention TO this
blaze another portion of the roof fell,
making the escape impossible and ad-
ding more fuel TO the fire.
The first fatality of the fire happened
before the tragedy on the roof Ollie
Refs, a fireman, lost his life while tying
to reach the roof of the theater before
the roof fell in. He had put up a ladder
from the northern wing of the hotel
building, which is two stories lower than
the theater proper. when the ladder
swayed and he fell with it TO the roof
Assistant Chief Dever, who was among
those on the roof when the crash came,
said: The members of engine compan-
les 3, A. and IA were on the roof. where
the main norton of the fire was raging