davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-31
BISHOP FALLOWS SAYS
1T WAS TERRIBLE SCENE

CHICAGO, Dec. 3O.-Among the hundreds
of persons who rushed to the rescue when
the call of fire was heard on the streets
was Bishop Fallows, who happened to be
passing the theater. Without any fear or
hesitation he made his way through the
darkness that was intensified by the vol
ume OF smoke that filled the auditorium
to the top gallery and assisted in carry
ing out the victims.
God forbid that 1 ever again see such
a heartrendering sight" said the bishop
tonight. II nave been in wars and upon
the bloody field of battle, but in all my ex-
periences 1 have never seen anything half
so grewsome as the sight that met my
eyes when with the aid of tiny lantern.
L was finally able to penetrate the inky
darkness of that balcony. There was pile
of twisted and bleeding bodies ten feet
high with blackened faces and remnants of
charred clothing clinging to them Some
were alive and moaning in their agony.
Others, and on. by far the greater. number
were dead. L assisted in carrying many of
the injured down and miniStered To them
the best / could
1t was the presence of the children hum
dreds of whom were in the audience and
the efforts of their frantic mothers i'm
safety Of their young that caused much of
the pandemonium Alexander III. Revell.
who had sent his little daughter Margaret
with little friend, in charge of a maid
to see the performance, five minutes after
the fire started heard of il in his store and
hastily calling a carriage drove madIy to
the burning theater. By the greatest good
fortune one of the first persons he encoun-
tered the hysterical maid who in
formed him that the two children had been
saved without injury. Mr. Revell then
FASTENED into the theater and participa ted
in the rescue.
Il worked in the upper balconies" said
he. THE sight of those poor women and
their little children with clinched fists
raised as though trying to beat their way
to safety and stricken down in the very
act is too horrible TO attempt to describe
But | thought of how my own little one
had been saved and l forgot my horror and
did all L could TO save those who were not
SO fortunate. / assisted the police and
~ bodies
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-31
THREE LAPORTE WOMEN
BELIEVED TO BE DEAD

Special 10 the Indianapolis Journal.
CHICAGO. Dec. 3O.-It is feared that Mrs
Charles +. Lehman. Mrs. Ella Wachs and
Miss Mae Dickhut. Of Laporte. Ind, who
attended the matinee performance at the
Iroquois this afternoon. are dead. The three
women composed a theater party that
came here yesterday and as tickets had
been secured in advance for them by
Chicago friend. they are known TO have
been present. Persons on the scene en-
deavored 10 find them, but had been I'M
able TO do so up to IL o'clock tonight. nor
had any word been received from them.
Mrs Lehman is the wife OF Alderman c.
+. Lehman, prominent and wealthy busi-
ness man and Mexican gold mine owner.
Mrs Wachs is the daughter Of Chris
Flentye. a Lake Shore engineer and Miss
Dickhut is head trimmer in a millinery es-
Establishment there.
Fred Bennethum, a young business man
came 10 Chicago this morning 10 attend
the afternoon performance OF Mr. Blue
beard" 1t is feared that he. too. is dead.
as nothing has been heard from him and
efforts 10 locate him have failed.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-31
MANAGER ". 4. BRADY
SAYS 1T WAS AWFUL

CHICAGO, Dec. 30.-William A Brady,
the well-known New York theatrical man
ager, who was in the audience at the time
the fire started, said tonight:
Il had just got in from New York and
reached the theater not more than fifteen
minutes before the fire broke out. It was
one of the biggest audiences that l ever
saw, and | was unable TO secure seat.
was standing near the door, when, looking
up. that the calcium light apparatus
out of order. Some came on the
stage and assured the audience that there
was no danger and for them TO keep their
seats. Then a ballet dancer came on and
performed, but in another second the whole
balcony seemed to be I'm flames. Everyone
downstairs rushed for the doors, and. as far
as l know, no one in that part OF the house
was killed. II was upstairs where the
smoke. blown by the strong draught that
came in through the skylights, where death
was dealt out to hundreds before they re-
allied what had happened Such panic
followed the first cry of fire 1 have never
seen in all my life. The stairsways and
exits became damned with fighting human
ity in a moment and the shrieks and means
of the poor people cut off from all escape
was the most awful thing imaginable II
only be hkened to Dante's Inferno
With two companions, / tried 10 reach the
balcony but we were driven back by tha
cOmplish anything until the firemen had
eXtinguished the flames. Hundreds Of peo-
pie Joined the rescuers, and from one OF the
entrances TO the balcony we removed 80
bodies by actual count. They were jammed
and twisted together in all shapes Many
Of the women and children had been
stripped almost naked in their mad efforts
to escape from that living tomb. II the ar-
dience had not become panic-stricken,
I'm sure that there would not have been
such terrible loss of life, as all the bodies
those of persons who had been Killed in the
terrible lam"
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-31
Bodies Quickly Carried
Into a Restaurant

So rapidly were the bodies brought down
that for over an hour there were two
streams of men passing in and out of the
doorway. the one carrying bodies, the other
composed Of men returning to get more.
They were carried into Thompson's res
taurant, which adjoins the theater on the
east, where all the available space was
given by the proprietor The dead and
wounded were placed upon chairs, tables
and counters. one woman even being placed,
for lack of a better spot, top of a cigar
case. Because of the tremendous thrOng
which surrounded the block in which the
theater building stood il was not possible
for the police TO carry the dead and wound
ed any distance. and they were compelled
to await for ambulances at the theater.
Although all the patrol wagons and every
ambulance owned by the city was pressed
into service, they were utterly inadequate
10 carry away the dead, and in a short
time there was a line of cOrpses fifty feet
long piled two and three high on the side
walk in front of the theater. 1t was found
necessary in order to convey the bodies
rapidly to the mOrgue and TO the various
undertaking establishments to impress
trucks into the service, and in these, upon
the costly blankets 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 Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-31
PATHETIC INCIDENT;
WIFE AMONG DEAD

CHICAGO, Dec. 30.-One of the pathetic
incidents which occurred in the identifying
of the dead tonight was when Patrick
C'Donnen. a wealthy brewer of-this city,
found the body of his wife among the hun
dred or more corpses in an undertaking
establishment. Mr.. O'Donnell had started
down town as soon as he learned Of the fire,
knowing that his wife had attended the
theater. He was walking through the
aisles OF tables on which bodies were
stacked, when his attention was attracted
by a wOman's hand, which extended from
beneath a sheet which covered a pile OF
bodies. It's my wife, my poor wifei' he
moaned. and, without lifting the sheet he
fingers Of which he recognized a ring he
had given his wife as a Christmas present.
Il know the ring" he said between his
sobs: my wife is dead, and 1 prayed God
on the way down town that she might be
spared" The body of Mrs. O'Donnell was
removed from the pile of dead and taken TO
her home
One of the narrow escapes in the first rush
for the open air was that Of Winnie Gala
CHER, a girl eleven years of age. The child,
who was with her mother in the third row
from the stage, was separated in the mad
rush for safety. She climbed TO the top OF
the seat in which she had been sitting,
from one chair to another. finally reaching
the door. There she was nearly crushed in
the crowd, and all her clothing was stripped
from her. She was carried TO the police
station in an oVercoat. where she found her
mother, who had also escaped uninJured.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-31

else, to my mind. We're less excited than
he. There were at least 500 persons behind
the scenes when the fire started. 1 as
sisted many Of the chorus girls from the
theater and some of them were only
partially attired. Two OF the young
women in particular were naked from the
waist up. They had absolutely no time to
throw stitch of clothing over their shout
ders.'
About a score Of people in the second
balcony were saved by firemen, who took
them through the roof and carried them
down ladders in the rear Of the building.
Two bodies tightly locked in each other :
arms. young ladies, apparently about TWEEN
ty-flve years of age. were found in one end
of the orchestra pit. They must have
fallen there from the balcony above.
The body of a dark-haired girl, apparent
ly twelve years of age. was found impaled
on the iron railing of the first balcony.
She evidently was thrown over from the
second balcony above.
With all of its clothing torn from il but a
pair of baby shoes. the body OF a child
about one year old was found in far
corner of the second balcony. 1t had evil
IDENTIFY been knocked from its mother :
arms and was trampled beyond all recog-
milton.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-31
Stage Electrician One of
the Heroes of the Fire

John +. Farrell, the stage electrician, was
one of the heroes of the fire. He was the
first TO discover the blaze when it was a
little tongue of flame running up the cam
vas border of the curtain. He climbed a
ladder twenty feet above the stage and
sought to extinguish it with his hand He
beat helplessly until his hands were badly
burned and the fire had run up the canvas
border into the flies. Selling hand gren-
ade he dashed it at the fire and the falling
fluid nearly blinded him. With the cry of
save yourselves" he fell to the floor and
then running to the rear door of the
theater he threw it open, calling TO the
members of the company TO rush into the
alley. In the work of assisting the women
he was aided by Stage Manager Cummings.
AS the frightened actors and actresses
rushed in a body off the stage, some of
them attempted TO leap into the orchestra
pit, which would in all probability have
led to their death. Cummings ran in front
of them. iii kill the first one that tries
to pass me-" he shouted and the members
of the company shranlI back. With the
aid of Eddie FOy and Farrell the members
of the company were hustled from the rear
of the theater into the alley.
PeDned below the stage, running about,
craZed by the panic overhead, were fifty
supernumeraries and members of the bal
let. They were shut off from exit by the
crowds wedged in the stage stairway.
They were saved by James j. Hamilton. a
trunk handler, attached to the theater, who
led the way to a coal hole i'm the rear of
the building broke off the cover with his
bare fists and stood guard until all had
left the basement. Through this narrow
hole he lifted men and women clad in their
stage costumes, wearing helmets and
tights, and one "supe' who insisted upon
carrying his spear with him until Hamil-
ton threatened to brain him with it unless
he drOpped it
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-31
RESULT OF CORONER'S
HASTY INVESTIGATION

CHICAGO. Dec. SO.-Coroner Treager
made as complete an inspection Of the
theater as is possible in the condition In
which it is tonight. He said: IF the as
bestos curtain had been in working order
1 believe that the fire might have been pre-
vented from spreading into the audience
chamber. An iron railing which separate
ed each row Of seats from the adjoining
tier prevented think, many from reach
ing places of safety. This circumstance.
combined with the steep incline, made it
difficult for 50 large an audience TO escape
without great delay. Now this said the
coroner sis a modern fireproof theater.
furnished with all the appliances and
equipment that are supposed TO prevent just
such a catastrophe as has now occurred.
The plush on the seats of the first balcony
was charred, but still visible. This does
not look to me as though everybody would
have got out of the theater alive when
YOU take into account the speed with which
the flames had spread. My inspection
showed that the seats on the main floor
were burned but little The balconies had
evidently shielded 10 a large extent the
seats in the parquette The path of the
flames was evident. The stage and the
ceiling Of the theater was blistered ana
blackened There was practically no dam
age TO the furniture on the FIRST floor. The
boxes on the second tier were entirely de-
stroyed by fire, while those on the first
floor were burned only in spots. evidently
by burning fragments from above.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-31
CHORUS GIRLS AIDED
BY HERBERT CAWTHORN

CHICAGO, Dec. 30.-Herbert Cawthorn, a
member of the cast, assisted many of the
chorus girls from the stage exits in the
panic. After being driven from the building
he made two attempts to enter his dressing
room, but both times. was driven back by
the fremen, who feared he would be over
come by smoke. Mr.. Cawthorn said:
II was in a position to see the origin of
the fire, and ] feel positive that il was an
electric calcium light that started the blaze.
The calcium lights were being used to illu-
inmate the stage in the latter part of the
second act, when the song, In the Pale
Moonlight, was being sung. l was stand
ing behind a wing on the left side of the
stage, when my attention was attracted by
a peculiar sputtering of one Of the calciums.
Above the stage, perhaps twelve feet higher
than the top of the curtain exposed to the
audience, was swinging platform from
which twelve calciums were operated 1t
mad fared up and the sparks ignited the
lint on the curtain. Instantly / turned my
attention toward the stage, and saw that
the song was being carried out and that
many of the actors and actresses had not
yet discovered the blaze.
Just then the fireman who is kept be-
hind the scene rushed up with some kind
of a patent fire eXtinguisher Instead of
the stream from the apparatus striking the
flames il went almost in the opposite di-
rection Up TO this time the flames had not
been in sight OF the audience. While the
stage fireman was working in an endeavor
TO use the chemicals the flames suddenly
swOOped down and out. Eddie Roy shouted
something about the asbestos curtain and
stage hands ran TO his assistance. The
asbestos curtain refused TO work and then
the stage hands and players began To hur-
~ from the theater. In my opinion. the
stage fireman might have averted the
whole affair II he had not become so ex-
cited. The chorus girls and every body
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-31
VIRGINIA GIRL SAFE.
HER ESCORT MISSING

CHICAGO, Dec. 30.-One of the most
thrilling escapes was that of Miss Mile
Overlook, of Virginia, a young girl who
was visiting friends in the city. Miss Over
locks companion, Remington Thomas, made
a heroic effort to escape with her, but
after carrying her to the door, where he
placed her on her feet, the two became
separated, and Thomas is among the miss
ing
Shortly after the alarm of fire had been
turned in Miss Irene Humphrey, a member
of the Blue Beard company, escaped from
the theater in her stage costume. A cousin
of Miss Humphrey, Helen Wall, ran from
the theater by another direction at the
same time. Each of the women thought
that her cousin had been killed in the fire.
and frantically cried to be permitted to re-
turn to the theater. Before either could
learn of the others safety, both had become
temporarily deranged. They were taken TO
the Saratoga Hotel and although both are
still Frustrated, neither of them received Sc
rious injuries. The women are from New
York and had not been separated since the
company left that city.
TWO or the first persons that succeeded
in getting out of the tomb of fire and
death were little Joe Graham, twelve years
old, and Dorothy BOur, a companion of the
same age, from Woodlawn Park. Youthful
grit saved them. They were seated in the
parquet ten rows back from the stage
when Eddie Foy stepped to the front of
the stage and told us to keep still we de-
cided we would get out despite his assur-
ances that there was no danger" said the
boy tonight. -Four women tainted near
me and nearly all tie others seemed dazed
and just sat still We got up and kicked
one of the doors open. L think a lot of the
others in the theater could have come too
if they had not been so scared. When we
got out we waited until they brought a
dead man out and then we started for
home"
The fire separated two little girls who had
been playmates for life. One Of them es-
capped unhurt and ran TO her fathers office
nearby, where an hour later she accom-
panied him to the morgue where her little
playmate had been taken. The one who
was saved was the daughter of Harry
Parker. superintendent of the Plantation
Manufacturing Company, while her com
panion, who knocked down and tram
pied on and killed. was the daughter of
w. r. Davis, head foreman OF the same
company. The girls had been at the theater
together and when the cry of fire sounded
they began TO make their way toward the
exits on the main floor. Hand in hand they
struggled with the crowd until a man
whom the Parker girl describes as weigh
ing 200 pounds dashed between them. This
separated them and the Harris girl was
lost in the crowd and killed
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-31

ton. AS they reached the doorway the fire
man. whose vision was better trained in
such emergencies. seized his companion by
the arm, exclaimining:
Good God, man, don't walk on their
facesi'
The two men tried vainly TO get through
the door, which was damned with dead
women piled higher than either of their
heads. All the lights in the theater were
necessarily out and the only illumination
came through the cloud of smoke that
hung between the interior of the theater
and the street The two men Immediately
hurried TO the floor below and informed
Chief Musham, of the fire department, that
the dead bodies were piled high in the bal
cOny and prompt assistance must be rem
dered If any OF them were to be saved. The
chief at once called upon all his men in
the vicinity 10 abandon work on the fire
and come at once TO the rescue. The build
ing dark and the smoke so thick
that il was found impossible TO accomplish
anything until lights had been secured.
Word was at once sent TO the Orr * Lock
EFT Hardware Company. two doors east of
the theater. and that firm at once placed
it's entire stock of lanterns at the service
Of the department. over 200 lights were
quickly carried into the building and lie
work of rescue commenced.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-31

Thursday and Friday:
Indiana-Fair and warmer on Thursday.
Friday cloudy. probably rain or snow:
fresh y brisk south winds.
Ohio-Fair and warmer on Thursday, ex-
cept snow in northeast portion. Friday,
snow in north. rain OF snow in south por-
ton; fresh to brisk south winds.
kentucky-Fair and warmer on Thurs
day. Friday increasing cloGdiness, prob
ably followed by rain snow.
Lower Michigan-SnOW on Thursday and
probably on Friday; warmer on Thursday
In southeast portion; fresh TO brisk south
winds
Illinois-Fair on Thursday; warmer in
north and central portions. Friday snow or
rain. fresh to brisk south winds.
Oklahoma, Indian Territory and Arkan-
sas-Fair on Thursday and Friday.
WiscOnsin-Partly cloudy and warmer on
Thursday. Friday snow; variable winds.
Montana-Fair on Thursday; colder in
northeast portion. Friday probably fair
North DakOta-SnOw on Thursday;
warmer in south and east portions. Friday
fair and colder.
South Dakota-Fair on Thursday; warm
er; snow and colder at night.
MinnesOta-Increasing cloudiness and
warmer on Thursday; snow at night or
Friday; colder Friday in west portion;
winds becoming southeast
Thursday. Rain or snow at night or on
Friday.
Enthusiastically cloudy on Thursday:
at flight or on Friday, eX-
cept fafr in southwest portion; colder on
Friday.
Kansas-Fair or Thursday; rain or snow
at night or on Friday.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-31
Trampled by the Crowd,
but Escaped with Life

Mrs. William Mueller, of Chicago, was in
the theater with her two children, five and
seven years old. When the fire appeared she
left her seat on the first floor and, grasping
the two little girls by the hands, she started
for the door. She had just reached the en-
trance when the crowd rushed upon her,
bore her down and trampled her into un-
consciousness. She knew nothing more un-
til she was revived and in the Samaritan
Hospital. when she at once begged for her
children. While she was asking for them
one of them was brought to the hospital
seriously burned. The other escaped unin-
jured.
r. w. Wilson, who assisted in taking the
injured from the theater to the hospital,
SAID that many of the deaths were caused
by falling from the balcony steps In the
efforts of the crowd to reach the exit. The
first evidence of the fire." he said, was a
thin volume of smoke which f1oated from
the stage. This was followed by a sheet of
flame which mounted to the ceiling and en-
YelOped the hangings about the front of
the stage. The people in the parquette
started for the door in orderly manner.
The people on the stage, the ushers and a
number of spectators arose to their feet
and shouted for order and did everything
In their power to prevent az panic. Ihen
somebody screamed and everybody appar-
emily lost all control of themselves and ran
for the doors. l was knocked down twice
by men who seemed TO have lost their
minds. Men Sprang to the stairs apparent
ly regardless of the women and children
who were going down at the time. Many
women and children were knocked down in
this way who might have been saved had
they not been pushed to one side by men
who thought of nothing but themselves
ID. A. Stratton, OF Alpena, Mich, was in
the theater with his fifteen-year-old daugh-
ter Matte, and his niece, Louise Busshway,
of Chicago. In the rush for the door he
became separated from both girls and at
tempted to fight his way back TO find them,
but was buffeted aside by the rush of mad
dened people. He was knocked down,
trampled on and his head cut in a dozen
places. Not for an hour after being carried
out did he learn that the two children had
also escaped, both of them being burned
badly, his daughter having inhaled flame
and being unable to speak.