The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-12-31

The first to discover the awful panic.
They first heard the screams and then
saw the struggling mass OF humanity at
The windows
Already the flames had, begun to
breep up the outside of the wall beneath
the fire escapes. and the imprisoned
multitude was hopeless. A few women
were seen to jump 70 the ground fifty
feet below, where they were picked up
by fremen. who had begun to arrive.
Over Narrow Bridge.
The workmen in the university. with
mastery dexterity. showed ladders and
boards from their window to the sill of
the theater window across the alley.
Across this bridge, nifty feet above the
ground. women, children, and men
crawled 70 safety.
Some of them wriggled across the per-
ilous bridge with their clothes on fire.
The hremen stood at the windows with
blankets and buckets Of water and ex
tinguished the flames that enveloped the
suffering victims As this heroic ser
vice was being enacted by the workmen
In the upper room of the university
building, women with their children.
fathers with their families. persons If
every description were hurting them
selves from the fire escape to the alley
below. Some Of these were burning.
Mothers Parted From Children
When the iremen reached the scene
and hose carts engines. and painting
horses added to the confusion. the ca
tastrophe was at its climax From the
front door OF the theater in the wake
of the panic-stricken crowd that had es-
capped from the first balcony rushed
half-crazed mothers parted from their
children. They We're caught by brave
men, who wrapped their coats about them
and saved their lives Most OF the in
jured were carried into the Northwest
ern University Building. where doctors
were summoned from every quarter.
Women with their clothes burned from
their bodies and men who had beer,
dragged by the fremen from beneatA
The heap Of dead in the second balcony
were carried into the building.
A "Hell on Earth"
Northwestern University Hasl was a
hell on earln" during the hours that
followed the catastrophe. Writing on
the floor in their pain. men and women
died before they could have their agony
soothed
overhowing. After that. bodies were
sent 10 all undertaking rooms within
reach as far south as Eighteenth and
Twenty-second Streets and as far north
as Division Street and North Avenue.
The injured were sent largely to the Sa-
marian and to St Luke's Hospitals
Every kind of vehicle was used to trans
port the bodies of the dead The injured
generally were carried in ambulances or
IN patrol wagons.
In Operating Rooms
Thompson's restaurant. on Randolph
Street, next door TO the theater, became
an improvised hospital and morgue.
Dead and dying were taken there
promptly. The doctors summoned from
every downtown Office elected DR.. G.
Frank Lydston their chief. and under
him they worked with both speed and
system Three doctors were assigned to
a table, turned for the time being from
restaurant Cooperating use.
As fast as a victim was pronounced
dead the body was placed beneath the
table and a new patient laid on the
boards above. In spite of the mighty
efforts of the physicians however. many
Of the injured We're dead before they
couic be given help. and some were alive
VIM WIZ BeSoN0 " DIS btlI6 Ntdu.
From Morgue to Morgue.
The movement Of an arm or the twitch
OF a facial muscle was a signal several
times answered in haste by watchers,
who thought they stood above corpse.
In the evening all suspense centered
about the morgues. To these places of
identification the bodies were carried in
wagon loads. each wrapped in Its
blanket From morgue to morgue went
the searchers.
Today the main floor Of the theater
would make a fair skating rink. were
the seats removed. 1t is covered with
ice Icicles hang from the light fixtures
and balconies. The rear wall was
bulged several feet and has been prOpped
TO prevent its falling.
The Money Loss.
In taking out the building permit the
owners set an estimate of $4,000 as the
probable value Of the building. The
full value when completed is given by
men connected with the management al
$4,000
Neither balcony fell. The seats are
ruined. the stage a wreck and the fun
los. it is thought, may be s15o,oCo to
soc. 000