The age-herald., 1897-12-25
Caused By the Crossing of Two Elec-
 tric Wires.
THE ED1r1oE COVERED SEVEN ACRES
Midway Dancers Probably Burned to Death Number of Persons seriously Injured Almost Total oss-Insurance Small
 on Structure and Its Contents.

Chicago, Dec. A.-Fire tonight destroyed the coliseum building at Sixty-third street and Stoney Island avenue, where the dem- ocratic national convention was held last year. From the time when the fire was originated by the crossing of two trolley wires until the coliseum was pit of twisted iron and hot bricks, was not over twenty minutes. The building had been rented for an exhibition of a manufactur- CTS exposition and was filled from end to end with booths, all of which were de- stroyed with all their contents.
 It is supposed that number of people were lost in the flames, and although no bodies have been recovered, the following people are missing and have undoubtedly perished:
 Probably Perished
 Two women, dancers in the Midway ex- hbit seen just before it collapsed.
 Two men seen in the center of the pulld- ing during the fire by firemen.
 HOWARD GEYSER, Wilmington. Del, decorator.
 JOSEPH BYRNES, Hoboken, N. J., deco rator.
 Geyser and Byrnes were decorating one of the booths in the balcony when the fire broke out The manager of the exhibit ran to the booth and called to the men that the place was on fire and for them to save themselves. They were apparently in no hurry, and the last seen of them they were still at work. It is thought that they were both lost.
 Those Injured
 The injured are:
 PETER FoOTS, watchman, burned about face and hands
 HARRY PARKER, New York City, slightly burned.
 G. A LYONS severely burned.
 A. J. MORLEY, lacerated by explosion of Crooks tubes and burned about he"d WILLIAM ROBERTSON, face and hands burned.
 M. J. WHEELER, watchman, hands burned.
 JAMES MAYER, fireman, burned while cutting live wire with pair of shears. ROBERT HARLEY, fireman, severely bruised by debris during the collapse of a wall of the building
 MISS HELEN CONGER, shocked by live wire and seriously burned about right arm. GEORGE DEKEKO, proprietor of the Streets of Cairo exhibit, jumped from a window of the burning building and was severely bruised.
 LOUIS WEISS, janitor, burned about face and hands,
 FRANK MURPHY, St. Louis, severely burned.
 HARRY HAMILTON, burned about face. w. H. WRIGHT, burned about arms. WILLIAM ALLABY, fireman thrown from anpipa in collision with 9 Shore train at Cottage Grove avenue and Forty first street; he was bruised.
 ALBERT CHAMBERLAIN, burned about face and hands.
 EUGENE DUGGAN, burned about left side
 At the x-Rays Booth.
 The fire originated in a booth which was used for an exhibition of X-rays the booth being managed by M J. Morley and William Robertson. The two men were examining their Roentgen machine when they were startled by a sizzling noise be- hind them and on turning saw a part of their exhibit ablaze. Crossed electric light wires which were a part of the exhibit caused the flames They attempted to smother the flames but before they secured water and cloths the fire had spread throughout the entire booth. Morley, real izing that he and his partner would be unable to cope with the flames, then made an effort to save some of the most valuable of the X-ray paraphenalia. Running to the machine he grasped two Crookes tubes and then Robertson began fighting his way out of the building Before he reached an exit the tubes which he held in both hands exploded from the heat, severely lacerating his hands. His hair also caught fire and he was severely burned about the head Robertson was burned about the face.
 .r Few People Present
 About 300 people were in the building at the time of the fire and at the first alarm there was a rush for safety. Fortunately the aisles were wide and owing to the com paratively small number of people in the building there was little difficulty in reach ing the doors.
 The firemen were at hand sefore all the people were out and before they made any effort to fight the flames they devoted their attention to clearing the hall of the people. The fire spread with Such raDidity