Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1903-12-31

building and the work OF rescue COM
| menced
So rapidly were the bodies brought
down that in an hour there were two
streams OF men In and out Of the door.
the one carrying bodies the other conn
posed of men returning to get more.
The bodies We're carried into the
| Thompson restaurant. which adjoins the
theater on the east, where all the avail
able space was given By the proprietor
DEAD AND WOUNDED
The dead and wounded were placed on
chairs. tables and counters, one woman
even being placed for lack OF a better
| spot, on top OF a cigar case. Because OF
| the tremendous throng which surround
| ed the block In which the theater build
Ing stood II was not possible for the po-
lice to carry the dead and wounded any
| distance, and they were compelled to
await for ambulances az the theater.
| Although all the patrol wagons and
| every ambulance owned by the city was
| pressed into service, they were utterly
inadequate to carry away the dead, and
| In short time there was a line of
corpses nifty feet long piled two aud
three high on the sidewalk In front OF
the theater.
| BODIES TAKEN TO MORGUE.
It was found necessary In order to
convey the bodies rapidly to the
| morgue and TO the various undertake
| ing establishments TO press trucks into
service, and in these, upon costly blan-
| kets furnished by the dry goods stores
| In the vicinity, and covered with the
same material, the dead were hauled
away, practically like so much cord
wood.
The merchants in the vicinity of the
| theater came 10 the emergency In
| splendid fashion Marshall, Field 4 CO.,
| Mande Bros, Schlessinger e. Mayer
| Carson Pierle Scott n Co. and other
| large dry goods stores sent on-load
| after wagon-load OF blankets, rolls of
| linen and packages Of cotton to be used
| In binding up wounds Of the injured
and cover the dead.
DOCTORS ON THE GROUND.
The drug stores furnished their stock
| TO anybody that asked for II In the
| name of the people hurt In the fire.
Doctors and trained nurses were on the
ground by the score within half an
hour after the calamity was known,
and every wounded person who was
carried from the building received
prompt medical aid.
A number of doctors waited at the
entrance to the theater with stetho-
scopes In hand, and as soon as bdy
which looked as though II might pos
| sess life was carried out II was at once
| examined, and IL dead was placed on
the pile lying on the sidewalk The
| others were AT once placed In ambu-
| larces and whirled away TO the hos
| pitfalls or to the offices OF physicians in
the immediate neighborhood
TRUCK LOADS OF DEAD.
one large truck ordinarily used for
| conveying freight to the depots was so
| heavily loaded with dead In front OF the
theater that the two large horses at
| tachod to it were unable to start, and
| the police We're compelled to assist by
| tugging at the wheels. When the need
| for trucks to remove the dead was more
! pressing huge electric delivery
wagon owned by Montgomery Ward &
| Co. was hailed by the police.
| The automobile headed for the scene,
| but at state street encountered so great
| a press OF people that II could not get
| through. The chauffeur changed his
| gong repeatedly, but the crowd refused
to part, and the auto was finally turned
away.
| While the police and fremen We're
carrying out the dead and injured, VIII
| j. Davis. one OF the proprletors OF the
theater. was indefat!gable In his efforts
| to alleviate the sufferings and to assist
| In caring for the dead. lie said'
| CRY THAT CAUSED PANIC,
~rhere was no need, as far as know.
OF single ifeFbeing icst. There were
| over 10 exits to the theater fne
building is flreproof, and y somebody
| had not screamed 'ilre, think that all,
| as far as those killed in the panic are
| concerned, could have reached the
| street in safety. And OF those who
| were suffooated by the gas, nearly all
| would have been taken out by the time
| the explosion occurred II order had been
| preserved In making their exits.
"As far as we have learned, every
body on the first floor except three es-
capped, although some sustained bruises
and other minor injuries. The great
loss OF life was In the first and second
balconies. These combined viii seat
about 300 persons.
1.-THE sale OF seats had been good, but
not up to the capacity, and as far as
can estimate the balconies between
them held between 100 and 500 people.
The top balcony, where the cheapest
seats were located was the most
crowded, and II is here that the crowd
found most difficulty in struggling to-
| Nufu tne eXlts.
CAUSE OF FIRE.
1t was declared tonight by the man
agement of the theater that the fire
was not caused by the grounding of an
electric light wire or to any defect in
the equipment of the theater, 1t was
started, they claim, by the bursting Of
u calcium light apparatus.
The conclusion was so great that II
blew out the skylight over the stage
and auditorium. This statement OF the
theater management Is contradcted by
| many people who were In the theater,
and who declared that when the explo-
sion occurred the flames in narrow
streak crossed the wall near the upper
part Of the drop curtain,
| a FIREMAN's DESCRIPTION,
| w. A. c. Sellers, the house fireman,
who was severely burned in trying to
lower the asbestos curtain, describes
the scene upon the stage and the cause
as follows: II was standing In the
wings when heard the explosion, and
then Immediately went forward cry
OF fire from the stage and all over the
theater Looking up l saw that the
curtain was ablaze, so | rang for the
fire curtain. We got II halfway down
when the wind, rushing In from the
broken skylights, bellied II out so that
II caught, and we could not bulge II.
with the stage hands / climbed to
where II was suspended, and together
We tried to push II down. Our efforts
We're futile. and seeing that no human
power could move the fire curtain and
that the stage was a mass OF flames, |
turned my attention toward warning
the actors and trying to save those
who were In trouble, / stood at the
stairway leading to the dressngrooms
where the chorus people were located
and kept some from going up to get
their street clothes,
| AS the others came down forced