Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1897-12-30
a BIG BUILDING BURNS.
Famous Coliseum Bulldog at chi
cago Is Destroyed

One Life Lost and Eishteen Persons
Injured During : Rash to Es-
capc-I.o L Esti.aated..
as MT Y47S, OsjU.
Chicago, Dec. as The Coliseum
building. at Sixty-third street and
Stony Island avenue, in which the DEM
ocratic. national convention was held
last year, was totally destroyed by fire
Friday night. The fire was one of the
quickest ever seen in Chicago. From
the timei it originated, by the crossing of
two electric wires, until the Coliseum
was pile of twisted iron and hot
bricks, not over 90 minutes elapsed.
The building had been rented for a
manufacturers exposition, and was
tilled froHs'end to end with booths, all
Of which we're destroyed. with all con-
tents was Mt first supposed that
a number OF people were lost in the
flames, but all those reported missing
were afterwards found. Only one life
was lost, that Of N. n. johnson, an EN-
p1oye, whose charred remains were
found this morning. Eighteen persons
were injured during the rush to escape
from the burning building. ~
About 800 people were in the building
at the time and at the first alarm they
rushed for safety. Fortunately the
aisles were wide and owing to the COM
parativeiy small number fof people in
the buildingsthere was little difficulty
in reaching thed doors. Most of those en-
deavoring to escape ran to a large door
on the east side of the building which
was wide enough to admit team of
! horses and wagon. A crowd of fully 200
gathered before this door which was
found 10 be locked. and as the fire was
roaring. through the building with
great speed, it seemed for few min
utes as though none of these would be
able to escape. w. ], Wheeler, watch
man, saw the trouble and ran TO open
the door. but the crowd packed in front
of it so close that he had the. greatest
difficulty IN opening it. q Once it swung
wide, however, the crowd was in the
open ,airsi a few, seconds. During the
jam at this. point. several people were
injured.
The balance of the people made their
way through other doors, and several
who were caught in the balcony were
compelled to jump to the ground from
the roof. Che balcony was lined with
windows that swing outward and they
had no trouble in getting upon the roof,
and from there the. leap to the ground
was not great. Firemen were at hand
before all the people were out, and be-
fore they made any effort to fight the
! flames they devoted their attention to
clearing the hall ofTpeople. By the time
they were ready to pour water on the
exhibit theresMas no use of their doing
anything. as the fire spread withsuch
rapidity that there was no chance what
ever of saving the building after It
once got beyond the confines of the
boot, in which it started.
Within ten minutes after the IRE be
gan the roof was ablaze. and in very
I short time after the fire appeared on
the. top Of the building one OF the large
arches that span the building gave way
with a tremendous report. and then an
other, and another, each one going
down with sound like the report of a
cannoR. The building fell very quick.
", as after the first arch went down the
weight was too great for the arches
next to il. and all collapsed. It took
not over 90 minutes to make complete
ruin Of the building.
The Coliseum cost $3.50, 900 and was
twice as large as the Madison Square
Garden building, New York. It had floor
space of seven acres, including the
ground floor and galleries, and was TIC
feet long by 800 feet wide. On August
q, 1906, the first Coliseum, then in
course of construction, was wrecked,
cntaihng loss Of $3.50 The cause
Of the collapse was never known, but
il was thought the last arch was not
placed in position correctly. Six hun,
dred men had been working on the
building up TO half an hour beforesthe
collapse: After the collapse Of the first
building plans were drawn fora new
building. and it was constructed and
opened to the public June /, 1896. 1t.
arena was only equaled in extent BY
that Of the Roman Coliseum.
The total loss by the fire is estimated
at about $478,OoO. OF this $35o, 200 i
placed as the loss on the building and
S128,0oo on the exhibits contained there
in. Insurance on the building, $120, 600,
WAS MISS HER5ERT's FRIEND.
Miss Annie Virxtnia Wells Takes Her
Own Life BY shootinx.
Washington, Dec. 27.-The recent
tragic death of Miss Leila Herbert. the