The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-01-02
You will find our advertisement of today on Page 2.
 Howe & Stetsoll.
FIRE IN KEITH'S THEATERl
NEW FORK PLAYHOUSE BADLxs
 BURNED EARLY THIS MORNING. N

Three Hundred Guests i'm tho Msrtexn
 House, Which Adjoins IL, Compeileds
 to Leave in Their Nightci 1hss V
 Excitement Among Them- Mine Tirss
 men Oyerco ome Troupe Of Seals save6g| l New York; Jan. 2--Fire was discov-2
 cred early this morning in the engine
 room of Keitt's Union Square theater.g
 The flames were first seen by the elS9
 gineer of the Morton house, which ada joins the theater He ran to the. hOteIs
 office and gave the alarm.
 1 There were three hundred guests ins l the hotel who were hurriedly notinedM and made their escape to the street rladg | in their night garments S4 The halls and corridors of the hotef| | were filled with smoke and the guests from the upper floors were compelled to
 grope their way to the street. So fan as known they all got out in safety.
 Keiths tlleater is six story building and the Morton house is five storie9 and both are practically in the same building S
 By o'clock the flames had spread with remarkable rapidity and 1t seeni- ed as if the fremen would not be abla to prevent their spread to every part o6 the building H
 2:25 a. m.-The flames were rapidly spreading through the entire theater but had not eaten their way into the hotel They spread to the eastward, destroying quickly two small etoreS and the prospects were that the fre would spread still further in that direc2 ton.
 It was learned that the fire started m < the storage room adjoining the engnA room of the theater. Within fwenfE minutes after it's discovery 1t had spread upstairs, eating its way to tha store adjoining on the east The Mor.8 ton house IS on the west.
 The clothing store of Benson x C0s# was soon destroyed as was the cik6x store of Manuel Diaz. At this tif16| Chief Croclxer sent in third alarlfls s
 The raDidity with which the flxtaaj 4 spread through the theater wan bSc VI Z iof the quantity suf 0il, rs1i iflk huge mass of scenery witch W lS al |8| the storage room. The fumes and sas&s from this inflamfnable stun lampAret1 the f1remen in their work, as they were driven from the basement tot the street
 The guests of the Morton house wera be cared for and many of the men had time to go back to their rooms to save their valuables.
 {A1~. 1.A Aknt added to by the f1remen dragging long lines of hose through the halls so that they could get the streams to play on the rear of the theater. There wer6 wild scenes fin the hotel as the guests, porters, walters and maids ran scream ing to the streets. Many of the women tainted and were carried out, but a < search of the hotel seemed to satisfy the police that all were able to reach places of safety.
 While the department was fighting K the blaze in the basement nine firemen were overcome, but were pulled out ct harms way by their comrades. Others ( went into the main portion of the the- ater from the stage and carried out thd 5 tanks containing the seventeen seals x Woodwards troupe.
 Meanwhile lines of hose were carried onto the stage and held in readinesa should the flames break through the 1oor from the basement. This base nent is called f1reproof. It was one mass of flame from end to end, and on he strength of it's fireproof qualities depended the safety of the theater sN At o'clock the flames had not brok~ n through.