The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1894-04-13
CAST INTO THE EIhN
SUCH Is THE FATE OF A NUMBER
OF MILWAUKEE, FIREMEN.
During the Destruction of David
sons Theater the Roof Col!ap"es,
Throwing Several Fi:"nen Into the
Elumcs-Eight OF Them PERISH.

Milwaukee, April 1O.-The Davidson
hotel and the Davidson theatcr were de-
stroyed by fire. The lives of eight fire
men were lost and several other fire
men were injured. The property loss
will be S5OU,uOO. When the tire was
seemingly under control, the theater root,
ON which a score or more of the brave
hremen stood as they fought the flames,
went down and the brave men were car
ried with it to the floor OF the auditorium
below Some were cxtricated from the
furnace of the flames III which the Whole
interior was now enyeloped by Their more
fortunate comrades VINO rlsAed their
lives to drag out the prostlate forms OF
The dead and injured men. olX or e.Snt
men were soon brought out, and tnuse
who are able to speak said there must
be ten mole in the ruins where living
death awaited them. For these poor lei
lows there was no chance. The burning
roof had fallen on them and they We're
roasted to DEATH if they had not been
| killed in that terrible plunge from the
roof. The scene that followed is never
10 be forgotten by those who witnessed
It, For moment all was dark; then,
suddenly, a tremendous sheet OF tame
| shot up, and with it came the cries OF the
| tiremen who had fallen through the ROOF
Into the theater below. One man was
heard to cry: My God, help me. am
toasting to death.
! The men were buried under the blaz-
Inc roof and there seemed to be little hope
tthat any would come out alive, II IN
deed they had not been killed by the
terrible fall. One man, however, was
saved He was John Conley, No. Il,
but was so badly injured that he may
die.
Following is list of the men who
were buried under the smouldering ruins:
George jameson. Company No. =.
Assistant Chief August Janesen.
Archie Campbell, fire boat Cataract
| Thomas Morgan No. l.
Fred koschmider. Chemical No, :.
Frank McGurk.
James Freeman. No. A.
Ollie Ries, Company No. ;, fatally in
iured by a fall of a ladder; died on the
way 10 the hospital
The following were rescued and taken
to the Emergency hospital:
Lieut. Curran, Company No. /, central
tire station. probably fatally injured.
Fred Marsh, Company No. S, fool
crushed
Fred Schroeder.
John Ieo. pipeman Of No. !, badly
burned; back hurt
Capt Inellan, No. 1, probably fatally
Injured
The guests of the Davidson hotel, whicl
occupies Il part Of the floor, fled panic
stricken from Their recms when IN
lrlarm of fire ran through the corridors
They wee really in no danger and ha'
ample time to get out None were III
jured
The Iiliputians' loss is heavy. Isosen
Miners theater in that city, own tn
show 1t is one Of the most elaborated.
costumcd productions on the road an
its scenic property was generally consid
cred magnificent All this is gone. /
T. Rodriguez. of the Academy of Music
said:
THE loss to Manager Ludwig Roscn
field will be between $4,000 and SO
O0U"
The Davidson theater was opened /
September, 1892, by the EMmd JUG
cIcra company.
Manager Sherman Brown stated as h
stood watching the smoke curing Up I
the studded ard frescoed ceiling whcl
had been his pride;
The original cost to John and Alex
arc er Davidson was between S350,00'
and SI0O.00O The loss, of coarse. j
mainly on the interior. The walls vii
stand when all else is gone There j
no way to estimate the loss but it ma.
be about half the original investment. |
will be 4 year. of course, before we cal
reopen. | nave no doubt the theater vii
be rebuilt