The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1903-12-31

.
vicinity. and covered with the same
INST, rial. the dead were hauled away
practically like so much cordwood.
Merchants Lend Aid.
The merchants in the vicinity of the
theater came to the emergency in
splendid fashion. Marshall Field &
Company, Mandel Bros, Schlessinger
& Mayer, Carson, Pieri, Scott & Com
panv and other large drygoods stores
s,nt wagonioad after wagonload of
blankets rolls of linen and packages of
cotton to be used in binding UP the
wounds of the injured and to cover the
dead. The drugstores furnished their
stock to anybody that asked for it in
the name of 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 doc
tors waited at the entrance 10 the
theater with stethescopes In hand. and
as soon as body which looked as
though 1t might possess life was car
ried out It was at once examined and.
n dead. placed on the pile lying on the
sidewalk. The others were at once
placed In ambulances and whirled away
to the hospitals or to the offices Of
physicians in the vicinity.
Origin of the Fire.
Accounts of the origin Of the fire are
conflicting, but the best reason given
Is that an electric wire on the lower
part Of piece of scenery broke and
grounded. The fire spread rapidly to-
ward the front Of the stage, causing the
,nerrbers of the chorus to flee to the
wings with screams of terror. The
IRE In itself UP to this time was not
serious, and possibly could have been
checked had not an asbestos curtain
Gecended about half way and then
stuck. The fire was thus given fiue
through which strong draught was
setting. aided by doors which had been
thrown open In the front of the theater.
with the rear flames shooting through
the opening over the heads Of the peo-
ple on the first floor. and reaching clear
up to those In the first balcony, the
Are caught them and burned them to
death where they sat.
Immediately following the rush OF
,,ames there came an explosion which
lifted the entire roof Of the theater
from its walls, shattering the great
s,sylight into fragments AS soon as
the flames appeared beyond the cur
tain q man In the rear Of the hall
shouted:
Fire! fire."
The entire audience rose as one per-
son and made for the doors. 1t is be-
lieyed the explosion was caused by the
flames coming In contact with gas res
ervoirs of the theater. causing them to
burst.
The building in which the calamity
stands midway between state
and Dearborn streets, on the north
side of Randolph street.
AS near as can be estimated, about
1900 people were in the theater. Three
hundred were on the first floor and
the remainder in the balconies and
hall ways.
All Ran Same Way
The audience, in the rush for the
outer air, seems to have chosen. for
the greater part. to flee to the left en-
trance and attempt to make its way
down the eastern stairway leading into
the lobby of the theater. The outside
people were burned and suffocated by
the gas. 1t was on these two door
ways on the first and second balconies
that the greatest loss of life occurred.
When the firemen entered the build
ing the bodies were found stretched In
an immense pile. This mass OF dead
bodies In the center of the doorway
reached to within two feet Of the top
Of the passage way. All the corpses
at this point were of women and child
rem. The fight for life which must
have taken place at these two points
Ia something simply beyond human
power to adequately describe, Only
q faint idea of Its horror could be de-