The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-12-31
HUNDREDS LOST IN THEATER FIRE An Awful Catastrophe 0ver' wheIms Chicago, Nearly 600 Periishlng in
 a Blaze at the
 Iroquois.
LIVES QUICKLY SNUFEEDO OUT
MANY BURNED TO DEATH IN
 THEIR SEATS.

MANY BURNED TO DEATH IN
 THEIR SEATS.
 Heartrending Rush for safety-Many TrampIed Beyond Recognition-An the Players Escaped-Fire Started tn the Flies During tho Second Act of .lIr. BIuebeard''-FIrst Play Pro. duoed in the House, tho Newest, Larg. est and Supposedly the safest in Chicago-The Niorgues Overcrowdsd- Many missing and Injured and Death List WiIi be Greater-Confl,cting Ac- counts as to the Cause.
 Chicago, Dec. So.-About $50 people were killed in ten minutes this after- noon, during fire in the Iroqouis thea ter, the newest. the largest, and as far as human power could make it, the safest theater in Chicago, situated on the north side of Randolph street., be- tween State and Dearborn streets.
 Estimates of the dead and injured vary The police account of the dead is 5S6. The estimate of the newspapers is 562. Besides there are fifty-fiye peo- pie missing at midnight, the majority of whom are probably among the dead in the morgue and various undertaking establishments. Eighty-six of the dead have been positively identified. Ninety two others are known to be injured.
 A few of these people were burned to death by fire, many were suffocated by gas and scores were trampled to death in the panic that followed the mad plunge of the frightened audience for the exits. There are bodies lying by, the dozens tonight in the undertaking rooms, in the police stations and in the hospitals from which nearly everything could reveal their identity to those who knew them best is gone. Their cloth ing is torn to rags or burned to cinders and their faces have been trampled in to an unrecognizable pulp by the crowd that trampled them down as they fled for safety The fire broke out during the second act of the production of Mir Bluebeard,' which was the first dra- matic production in the theater since it's erection. The company, which was very large, escaped in safety, nearly all of them, however, being compelled to flee into the snowy streets with no clothing but their stage costumes A few members of the company sustained minor injuries. but none were seriously hurt.
 Conflicting Accounts of Origin.
 The accounts of the origin of the fire are conflicting and none of them cer- tain, but the best reason given is that an electric wire near the lower part of la piece of drop scenery suddenly broke and was grounded The fire spread rapidly toward the front of the stage causing the members of the chorus who were then engaged in the performance to flee to the wings with screams of ter TOT. The fire in itself up to this time was not serious and possibly could have been checked had not the asbestos cur tain failed to work.
 shout of aFire, Firey. As soon as the fire was discovered Eddie Foy, the chief comedian of the company, shouted to lower the curtain and this was immediately done It de- scended about half way and then stuck. The fire was thus given practically a f1ue through which strong draft was setting, aided by the doors which had been thrown open in the front of the theater. With a roar and a bound the flames shot out through the opening over the heads of the people on the first floor, and, reaching clear up to those in the first balcony, caught them and burned them to death where they sat.
 Immediately following this rush of flames there came an explosion which lifted the entire roof of the theater from it's walls, shattering the great skylight into fragments. As soon as the flames first appeared beyond the
  shouted Fire! Fire!" and the entire audience rose as one person and made for the doors. It is believed that the explosion was caused by the flames coming in contact with the gas reser- voirs of the theater, causing them to burst. .s
 Burned Tn Their Seats.
 
 William J. Davis, manager of the the ater, said after the catastrophe that if the people had remained in their seats and had not been excited by the cry of fire not single life would have been lost. This, however, is contradicted by the statements of the firemen, who found numbers of persons sitting in 9their seats, their faces directed toward the stage as if the performances was still going on. It was the opinion of the firenen that these people had been suffocated at once by the flow of gas which came from behind the asbestos lAs~seiss