The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-12-31

i went to the footligllts, and to prevent
alarming the audience, said that there
was Il slight Blaze, nnd that II would he
Letter for all to leave quietly
FAILED ,rO WORK. Y.
3"Thct ! steprnd hack unt1 called TOY
2tht asbestos curtain to belowered This,
when about linlf-wnS down. refused to
to farther. aid thus Nh additional draft
wits created This swept the FLAMES out
Into the auditorium, and 1 knew that the
theatre was doomed: hurried back TO
the stage and aided III getting the women
members Of the company into the alley,
Seine Of them were III their dressing
rooms, anu were almost overcome BY
smoke before they could gel down to the
stage and to the door, IS 54
B The simple fact that the curtain did
not descend entirely was What saved The
lives Of the company, although 1t caused
such li0rrlble ca tnstrnpho N The front
OF tho house. After the curtain had re-
fused to descend there catno tho expo.
sion Of the gas tanks, and Will, the cur
talhyp down all the fire anu gas would
lave been confined between the roar vail
of5the theatre and the filc-proof &clirtn IN
lii front. Under these circumstances y
would not have been possible FOR ~ SIN
gle member Of the company to escape
alive unless he Of she had been standing
immediately in front Of tho door leading
into the alley. AS It was the drauglt
carried all the gas and fire out beneath
the curtain, and the company was saved,
although their salvation WIS tile death
OF so many poor people N front
e WHOLE CITY STIRRED.
Rarely III the history Of Chicago has
Its people been SO stirred Jus by the ca
tlainity Of to-day. Is. next to tho Chi
cago fire, the greatest catastrophe that
has ever occurred here, and the speed
with which II came and went scop1ed
ror5n, brief period to appall the business
section of the city.
2The news spread with great rapidity,
and in short time hundreds Of men,,
women and children were rushing toward
the theatre The building III which the
calamity occurred stands midway between
State and Dearborn Streets. on the north
sdo OF Randolph Street. Although every
available policeman within call ct The &c de-
partnent was Immediately hurried to tie
spot und tho men placed In lines nt the
end Of the block, allowing nobody to en-
ter Randolph Street from either Dearborn
or state Streets, 1t was found for Il
time almost impossible toihold back the
frenzied crowd that pressed forward,
many Of them having friends or relatives
in the theatre and being anxious " to
learn something OF them. 5$
MANY. GET THROUGH.
The conduct of the police was beyond
all praise. The officers held their 81 ound
firmly and gently pushed back all those
who sought to gain AN entrance TO the
theatre, although In some instances iran
tic men, anxious TO look for their loved
ones. actually. beat the officers with Their
fists in their4rage at being prevented.
As IN spite ofR%the, efforts OF the police,
however, a large number of people sue
coded In breaking through their Ines
and entering the theatre, and IN many
cases did heroic work In resculng the M
~ Ia IN
these was former Alderman lillian II.
Thompson, who, ll,lnlded, carried TO the
street the bodies of eight women. The
first newspaper men upon the ground
also carried .out many OF the dead and
injured. J ,r II,
The building was so fullyo slnokessWhen
the fircmen firstEarrived tilat INC tluli
extent Of the catastrophe va. Is llot INNS,
diately grasped until a fireman ana
newspaper man tcrawled up the stairway
leading to the balcony, holding handker-}
chiefs over their mouths TO avoid sutto-5
cation, AS they reached the doorway
the fireman, whose Vision was better
trained In such emergencies, seized his
companion by the arm, exclaiming, Good
God, man; don't walk on their faces.
The two men tried vainly toiget through
the door, which was jasnmed with dead
women, piled higher than either of their
heads.
WORK. OF RESCUE.
All tho lights in the theatre were neces-
sarily, out, and thu only illumination
came through tho cloud of smoke that
hung between tho Interior of the theatre
and the street. The two men imlne-.
dlately hurried to tia floor below and IN
formed Chief NIusham, Of the fire depart
ment, that dead bodies were piled high
in the balcony. and prompt assistance
I.o n nP those not
already dead were to be saved. The chief.
at once called lponaall oflhls men In the
Vicinity to abandon work OH the fire and
como at once to the rescue.
Tho building was 50 dark aud the
smoke so thick that itwas found. irpos',
s;bL. to Notwithstanding auutlls lights
had been secured Word1s was Mt once
sent to the, Orr and 'Dockett5 Hardware
Company, two doors east Of the theatre,
and that firm Mt once placed its entire
stock Of lanterns at tho service Of the
department Over two hundred lights
were quickly carried into the building
and the work OF rescue commenced. So
rapidly We're tho bodies brought down
that for over an hour there were two
streams OF men passing In and out OF the
door way, the ono carrying bodies. tho
other composed of men returning to
get more. - si, ,.ts
STORE FILLED WITH BODIES.
The bodies were carried into Thomp.
sons restaurant, which joins the theatre
on tho east, where all the available space
was given by the propretors. The dead
and wounded We're placed upon chairs,
tables and counters, one woman being
placed. for lack OF q better spot. on top
Of cigar case. Because Of the tremen-
dous throng which surrounded the block
In which the theatre building stood, It
was not possible for the police to carry
the dead and wounded any distance, and
they were compelled 10 wait for ambu-
.lances at the theatre 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 Il short time
there was line of corpscs ntty feet long
piled two and three high on the side
walk in front of tho theatre.
II was found necessary In order'to con-
vey tho bodies rapidly to the morgue
and TO the various undertaking establish
ments, to impress trucks into service
ana in these, upon costly blankets FUR
nshed by tho dry goods stores in the
vicinity, and covered with the same. ma
terial, tho dead were hauled away brac-
tically like SO much cord wood,
ALL. READY no HELP 5I