The Red Cloud chief., 1897-12-24
KANSAS CiTY'S BIG FIRE
Tho Auditorium Totally D~cstroyed-A
Fine Thcatcr In Ruins.

Fine Thcatcr In Ruins.
KANSAS CRY, Mo, Dec. eat }
o'clock this morning n man rushed
into the Auditorium hotel from the
street and told the night clerk that
the building vas aflre. lie had seen
1t from the street through one Of the
windows on the top floor. The night
clerk turned in the alarm to the fire
department, but the flames had gained
such Roadway and the fire service was
SO poor that little was done TO save
the building. When the sun came UP
this morning the Auditorium theater
and hotel, from root to cellar. was q
smoking pile Of ice and ashes and
crumbling walls. The fire destroyed
entirely the beautiful building, one OF
the most perfectly appointed theaters
In the United States.
In the southwest corner Of the
building, just under the cornice. were
the servants quarters, and IL was
here that the fire started. No one
knows Its origin, but II Is supposed
that two electric wires becnme crossed
and threw out little sparks which set
afiame the furniture OF one Of the un.
occupied rooms. The fire must have
begun before midnight Itsmouldered
for an hour, worming its way about
the unoccupied room, devouring quietly
tho woodwork, the bedding and the
furniture, gathering enough strength
for the onslaught
Through every corridor and hall Of
the big building the cry rang out,
Fire! Here! Get up and save your
goods!" A few guests were aroused
instantly. They put IN their clothes
and rushed out into the halls. They
did not lose their senses, but set about
rousing the guests. Women, children
and men scrambled out Of bed and
rushed to the door ut the knock and
the warning cry, but were told to
take their time about dressing, as tho
danger was not immediate.
In five minutes from the time the
alarm was turned in the hotel was
swarming like o bee hive with the
guests. Comparatively few Of the
guests were panic.stricloen, however.
The women wen down in the elevator
and the men took the baggage down
the stairs. For half IN hour the
guests sat in the parlor on the first
floor next to the obi ce and heard moth.
ing but the most rcassuring
reports. They had seen no fire and
smclt no smoke aud they began to
regard 1t all as a huge joke. They
stood around the Office and the parlor
and joked about IL and called 1t u r
prise party. IL they had known tho
real danger, II they could have learned
that the whole building was doomed,
they would have had plenty Of time
to save everything OF value in nll tho
rooms, including even the furniture.
But the real state Of things was not
known, or II known, was not told TO
them.
Firemcn came in the hotel office and
the parlor and told the guests that
they need have no fear, rs the build
ing would Don be saved. They did
not seem to realize the extent OF tho
FIRE. When they did realize 1t they
lost their scnses and rushed fran
tically about, without direction
or control They swarmed up
and down the stairs In the smoke
and tho darkness. shouting and
screaming orders that no one needed
or understood. They stamped and
raved like mad men Mt times, and
when guests who knew tho hotel told
them where the fire could be got at
best, they told them to mind their own
affairs and the fremen would take
care of the building.
The fire was forced by the play Of
the hose in the hands Of the fremen
through the open door of the fire.
proof wall into the hotel. As other
flames had run across the root and
eaten downward into the actors quar-
ters near the hotel kitchen on tho
lower floor, the doomed hotel lay be-
tween the two fires and could not DO
saved.
The theater was managed by Bur-
CESS & Paxton Of Omaha, and the
Woodward Stock company, at popular
prices, had been playing at the theater
since October s, to IN immense bust
ness.
The total loss, as nea ~ Alex
Fraser, the owner Of the building. con
now estimate, is 5000, 900. On this no
had SIS, 900 insurance, making his net
loss about Si20, 0po. The building
cost originally about $500. 600. 20
AT THE WHITE HOUSE