The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-12-31
AWFUL Catastrophe MARKS CLOSING YEAR

anything hair So sruesome as the sight
that met my eyes when with the aid
of a tiny lantern 7 was finally able 10
4 penetrate the iuky darkness OF that
( balcony. There was a pie Of bleeding
bodies ten feet high with hlackened
faces and remnants of charred clothing
Clinging O. them. Some were alive and
moaning in their agony. Others. and
Oh. far the greater number. were dead.
assisted I'm carrying many Of the In
jured down and ministered to them
the best 7 could
Slaughter of the Little Ones.
1t was. the presence Of the. children.
I hundreds Of whom were in the audi
ence. and che efforts of their frantic
mothers impelled b. their first thought
To seek the safety Of their young, that
caused much Of the pandemonium.
Alexander H. Revell. who had sent
his little daughter Margaret with
little friend, in charge of a maid. To
see the performance. five minutes after
the fire started heard of it in his store.
Hastily calling a carriage, he drove
madly 10 the burning building. By the
greatest good fortune one of the first
persons he encountered was the hys-
tcrical maid who informed him that
the two children had been saved with
out injury. Mr.. Beveu then fastened
( into the theatre and participated in the
( rescue.
II worked in the upper balconies.
/ said he. THE signl of those poor wO-
men and their little children, with
/ clenched fists raised as though trying
to beat their way TO safety. and srick-
! en- down in the very act, is too horrible
/ To attempt to describe. But I thought
/ OF now my own little one had been
saved and I forgot my horror and did
an I could to save those who were not
/ Sc fortunate. I assisted the police and
/ iremen in carrying down more than
/ twenty bodies"
Looking For Loved Ones.
/ Sheriff Barrett and score Of depu-
/ ties from his Office assisted in carrying
out the injured people and in keeping
l order among the mob of frantic rela-
/ tives who thronged the streets in
! front Of the burning building, vainly
/ seeking information that no one could
give them
Il have never before witnessed such
\ q scene in all my life" said Sheriff
I Barrett. Ion all sides were heaps of
mangled and charred humanity. We
/ carried out so mary injured and dead
1 that at last they grew so numerous
/ that we were unable 70 keep count of
! them. Such a dreadful sight I trust I
viii never be called to witness again.
/ Crazed men fought to get within the
/ Corridors. thinking 10 'hud their loved
/ ones among the pile of cOrpses that
4 filed every available foot Of space.
/ Strong men with .tear-blinded eyes
/ stood on the sidewalk and called loud
/ iy the names of their loved ones, as
4 though there were a chance of the dead
hearing We did all we could 10 lessen
! rsr
be forgotten i'm a lifetime"
Heroic Cook.
Walters and cooks from Thompson's
/ restaurant which adjoins the theatre
on the east, rescued fifteen people by
raising q ladder from the roof Of a
( shed TO a window in the rear Of the
! building around which window a mass
4 of screaming women and children were
c0ngregated. c.. Little the head cook.
I mounted to the top of the ladder and
told them TO jump into his arms. Fiji
| teen women and children did this and
were passed by Little down to the other
men on the ladder below them. One
woman attempted TO jump into his
arms before he was ready TO take hold
of her and she fell To the alley. frac-
turing her skull and dying instantly
Thrilling Escape.
one of the marvellous escapes that
was made by the members of theatre
party is given by Miss Charlotte Pla-
mondon of Chicago The party was
made uD of q number of society peO-
pie: Miss Elsie Gilmore Of Astoria, Ore.
! Miss Mary Peters of Columbus O., and
Miss Josephine Eddy OF Evanston, III.
| Miss PlaWondOn WAS the first of her
party 10 notice the fire, which craWled
N. M. r4rer~r =
l called the attention OF other members
Of her party to the blaze, and they
Z all watched it, Miss Plamondon said:
Il could see the little girls and boys
I'm the orchestra chairs pointing upward
[ 90 the slowly moving lines of flames
I one of tire stage hands wearing over
aIls appeared before the f0otlghte and
/ requested the audience 20 Keen their
I seats. as there was no danger. Eddie
Z Fov then hurried to the front Of the
stage and commanded the people 10 re-
main calm. saying that if they would
keep their seats the danger would be
aVerted The curtain. however. still
{ burned pieces OF the smOldering cloth
falling into the orchestra Dit. An ef-
( fort was made by the stage hands TO
arrange the curtain so that the blaz-
ing fragments would not drop into the
pin.
Watched the Curtain Burn.
II looked over the faces Of the au-
, dience." said Miss Pl1mOndOn. and re-
marked how many children We're pres
eat i could see their faces filed with
interest and trcir eyes wide open as
they watched the burning curtain Just
then the people in the balcony rose TO
their feet and crowded forward 10 oh
tain q better view Of tine fire. Eddie
, FCy rushed TO the center OF the stage
: and waved his arms in q gesture mean
I Ing for the people 70 be seated. At that
} instant "a woman jn the rear Of the
7 place screamed Fire. and the entire
audience Of women and children rose
20 their feet, filed with uncomfortable
/ terror. In another instant there was
a confused roar made by thousand
! ~ -