Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-12-22
BIG THEATRE BURNED.
Auditorium Building, Kansas City,
Destroyed-LOss, S45O,OOO.

KANSAS CITY, MO. December a.
The Auditorium, the largest and finest
playhouse west of Chicago. and the Au-
ditorium Hotel, one of the most fashion
able family hostelries i'm the city, stu
ated at Holmes and Ninth streets. were
Quilted by fire that started in the theatre
part shortly after / o'clock this morning.
The 100 guests escaped in safety, al
though many were compelled 10 leave the
building in their night clothes. The loss
on the entire property, which is owned
by Alexander Frazer, a local business
man, will aggregate $4,000. The agsre-
gate insurance amounts to but $4,000.
Owing to a high insurance rate, great
deal of the insurance had been allowed
to lapse.
The fire originated in an unoccupied
room on the sixth floor of the theatre,
and resulted from the crossing of electric
light wires. 1t was first noticed by Night
Clerk Haak, who turned in an alarm at
1:l2 A. NJ. Haak Immediately awoke the
guests They included many families
and children of all ages, and the great
est confusion ensued. For a time 1t
seemed that the flames would be confined
to a single floor, but after it had APP
parently been gotten under control It
burst forth again and defied all efforts
of the flremen. Many of the guests, as
sured after the first alarm that the fire
would not spread. returned 10 their rooms.
Delay in getting a continuous stream
on the fire. however, enabled it TO get be-
yond the firemens control. The flames
spread rapidly along the tier of the
rooms on the fifth and sixth floors and
soon communicated with the hotel
through the small apertures in the fire
wall, which separated 1t from the thea
tire. Once in the hotel, the flames were
beyond control
The excitement broke out among the
hotel guests afresh. and hurried scram-
bles to save their personal effects ensued.
Everything available was pressed into
service as receptacles for the valuables
and before the guests had been ordered
from the building "A second time the
bulk of their belongings had been carried
out. More timid ones, who had fed from
their rooms in their night clothes at the
start, were given quarters in another
neighboring hotel.
In the theatre, the Woodward Stock
Company, which has been the standing
attraction since the reopening OF the place
last October, managed to save the bulk
of its property.
Early after the second burst of flames
the firemen gave up hope of saving the
structure. Although the building in which
the fire started is an annex TO the main
auditorium building there were openings
in all the upper stories which made the
two buildings one and made them both
an easy prey for the flames once well
started Superintendent Pelletier, Of the
insurance patrol refused TO allow his
men TO enter the building to spread tar
paulins, and all efforts OF the firemen
were confined to the outside.
Luckily the structure stood alone. and
at no one time was surrounding property
threatened. The fremen worked heroi-
cally. but within a few hours both the
theatre and the hotel had been Quilted
the bigger part of the roof had fallen in.
and about one-third of the west wall Of
the hotel collapsed
The auditorium was built in 1886 by
Colonel George w. Warder, at a cost OF
$4,000. 1t was named the Warder Grand
Opera-House, and was opened by Booth
and Barrett. After a brief, but unsuc-
cessful, season. Warder traded the PIC
perty TO George w. Henry, of Chicago.
Henry reopened the theatre, but 1t again
failed to pay expenses. In 1896 the Ma
tional Bank of Commerce purchased the
property and installing John i. Slocum.
a well-known eastern theatrical manager.
the house was run for a season in the
most approved metropolitan style. After
another failure, the bank traded the pro-
perty last October TO Paxton & Burgess
Frazer expended $4,000 in improvements
and repairs on both hotel and the theatre.