Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-12-25
COLISEUM In RUINS.
CHICAGO'S GREAT CONVENTION
HALL DESTROYED BY FIRE.
SEVEN LIVES PROBABLY LOST.
A MANUFACTURERS' EXPOSITION
WAS IN PROGRESS.
Flames Did Remarkably Quick Work.
Destroying the Structure ia 70
Misunderstanding the One
in Which Bryan Was
Nominated.

The building had been rented Ior an eS-
hibition of a manufacturers exposition. and
was filled from end to end with booths. all
of which were destroyed. with all of their
contents.
1t Is supposed that number of people
were lost in the flames. Although no bodies
have been recovered, the following people
are missing and undoubtedly have perished:
Girl named Pauline, surname not known;
seen TO enter the burning building in search
of her mother. who she said was imprison-
ed by the flames. The girl and her mother
were employed in the Irish village, the
former as u dancer and the latter doing
chores.
Two women, dancers in the Midway eX-
hibit, seen entering the building just be-
fore it collapsed.
Two men. seen in the center of the build
ing during the fire by firemen.
Howard Geyser, Wilmington. Del, decor
ator.
Joseph Byrnes Hoboken, N. j.. decorator.
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. 1t is thought that they
were both lost.
Many Persons Injured.
The injured are: Peter Foots. watchman,
burned about face and hands; Harry Park
er. New York city. Slightly burned G. A.
Lyons. New York city. slightly burned;
Mrs. G. A. Lyons. slightly burned: NJ. ].
Morley. lacerated by explosion of Crookes
tubes and burned about head; William Rob-
ertson, face and hands burned; NJ. j.
Wheeler watchman, hands burned; James
fireman " 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
severely burned about right arm: George
Dekreke. proprietor Of Streets Of Cairo
exhibit, jumped from 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. II. Wright, burned about arms;
William Allaby. fireman, thrown from a
fire engine in collision with Lake Shore
train at Cottage Grove avenue and Forty
first street; Albert Chamberlain, burned
and cut on face and hands: Eugene Dug
gan. burned about left side.
The fire originated in a booth which was
used for an exhibition Of X-rays, the booth
being managed by NJ. ]. Morley and Will
lam Robertson. The two men were exam
ining their Roentgen machine when they
were startled by sizzling noise behind
them. and upon turning saw a part of
their exhibit ablaze. Crossed electric wires
which were over the exhibit are thought
to have caused the flames.
They at first tried to smother the flames,
but before they secured water and cloth
the fire had spread throughout the entire
booth. Morley. realizing that he and his
"a n
the flames. then made an endeavor to
save some Of the most valuable of the
X-ray paraphernalia. Running to the ma
chine, he graSped two Crookes tubes and,
with Robertson, began fighting his way out
of the building. Before he reached an exit
the tubes which he held in both his hands
exploded from the heat. severely lacerat-
ing his hands. His hair also caught fire.
and he was severely burned about the
head. Robertson was burned about the
face.
300 People in the Building.
About 800 people were in the building
at the time Of the fire. and at the first
alarm there was a rush for safety. For
tunately, the aisles were wide and, owing
to the comparatively small number of peo-
pie in the building. there was little diff
Guilty in reaching the doors. Most Of those
endeavorins to escape ran to a large door
on the west side of the building, which is
wide enough to admit a team of horses and
wagon. A crowd Of fully 200 people gather
ed before this door, which was found to be
locked. and the fire was roaring through
the building with great speed it seemed for
few minutes as though none of those
would be able to escape. ". j. Wheeler.
a watchman, saw the trouble and ran to
open the door, but the crowd was packed
in front of it SO closely that he had the
greatest difficulty in opening it.
Once it swung wide, however. the crowd
was in the open air in a few seconds. Dur
ing the jam at this point several people
were badly crushed but none was seriously
injured. The balance of the people made
their way through the other doors, and
several who were caught in the balcony
were compelled to jump to the ground from
the roof. The balcony is lined with win
dows that swing outward. and they had no
trouble in getting upon the roof and from
there the leap to the ground was not
great.
The firemen were at hand before all the
people were out, and before they made an
effort to fight the flames they devoted their
attention to clearing the hall of the peo-
pie. By the time they We're ready to pour
water on the fire. there was no use of
their doing anything. the fire spread
chance whatever of saving the building
after it had once got beyond the confines
of the booth in which it started
In Ruins in Twenty Minutes.
Within ten minutes after the fire began
tho roof was ablaZe. and in a very short
time after the fire had appeared on top of
the building, one of the large arches that
spanned the building gave way with tre-
mendous report. and then another, and an
other. each one going down with a sound
like the report of a cannon. The building
fell very quickly, as. after the first arch
went down, the weight was too great for
the arches next to it. and all collapsed. 1t
took not over twenty minutes to make a
complete ruin of the building.
Nothing Is known of those supposed to
be lost beyond what has been stated. Man
ager Austin, of the exposition, is confident
that the girl Pauline lost her life. as he
says he met her near one Of the entrances.
making her way into the building. He
pushed her out, telling her she would lose
her life if she entered the building. which
by this time was a roaring furnace. She
said that her mother was in there. penned
in by the flames, and that she must help
her. Before Austin could restrain her. she
ran into the building once more, going,
Austin says. right into n tangle Of live
electric light wires. Before he could do
anything more to save her. the building
collapsed.
The Coliseum cost se50 000 and was twice
as large as the Madison Square garden
building. of New York. 1t had floor