The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1903-12-31

sitions in which their bodies were found
they were evidently instantly killed by
the first fierce blast that followed the
catching of the fire. These bodies were
found ON the second floor. Bodies wns
found seated with their faces toward the
stage. The eyes were burned out and
the faces blackened and burned.
1t was during the second act of MIR.
Bluebeard" that the fire started. 1t was
the first dramatic production in the house,
which had been recently completed. In
fact, the house had not been fully com
pleted. The iron balconies for the fire
escapes We're up, but the ladders had not
yet been constructed This proved to be
far worse than if there had been no part
of the fire escapes up. Frantic men and
women climbed out on these platforms,
hoping to make their escape down the
ladders. Crowds rushed behind the first
that sought this means of escape. When
they reached the balconies they found that
the ladders had not been put in place
and they were helpless. A struggling mob
was behind them and thin air in front.
Many We're thrown off the balconies and
were either killed or MANNED by falling
into the alleys and streets below.
The fire is thought to have been started
by a grounded electric wire. The flames
III ~ lShllSu Glle gas IdHhS uSSu III Jue
calcium light apparatus on the stage and
explosions resulted Hardy had the fire
started than loud explosion was heard.
sheet Of flame shot out over the heads
of the auditors on the first floor and struck
those in the balcony full in the faces.
1t was there that the dead were found in
their seats as they had sat during the
play a few minutes before.
After the fire started, Eddie Foy. the
chief comedian with the company, shout
ed to lower the asbestos curtain. The
stage hands started to do tins, buI when
it was halfway down it stuck and before
it could be started again the flames had
driven them from the stage.
Wiil j. Davis manager of the theater,
has made the statement that had the cur
tain been dropped soon enough no one
would have been killed. While it is be-
lieved that the fact that the curtain was
up had considerable to do with the loss
of life, it was not wholly responsible.
One of the first to discover that the
blaze had started was man whose first
thought was to cry Fire" as loud as his
lungs would permit.
The people on the lower floor where he
was rose as one and started for the exit.
1t was after they had reached their feet
that the sheet of flame shot over their
heads and dld its deadly work on the
second floor. The maddened people rushed
over each other and many were left dead
underfoot in the rush.
After the alarm reached the outside the
first to enter the building was newspaper
man and fireman. 1t was but ten min
utes after the fire started that they made
their entrance into the building, but dur
ing those brief minutes nearly 800 people
had lost their lives.
The fireman and the newspaper man
crawled up stairway leading to bal
cony. They held wet handkerchiefs over
their faces to prevent suffocation. As the
two reached the door of the balcony the
fireman gasped for breath and in horror
remarked to his companion, For Gods
sake, man, don't walk on their faces"
The thick smoke had blinded them and
without knowing it they were walking on
the faces of the dead. Thousands of fren-
zied men and women had walked over the
bodies before and some of them were
trampled into bloody heaps of shapeless
matter.
The door they wanted to enter, leading
from the stairway to the balcony, was
blocked so that they could not force it.
They returned and reported to Chief
Musham of the fire department the awful
find they had made. The chief at once
stopped work on the lower floor and sent
all available men to the second floor. The
door that had resisted the efforts of the
fireman and the newspaper man to enter
was blocked on the inner side by stacks
of dead bodies packed as high as the
top of the door. A stream of men carried
the dead out of the building and to the
| Thomson restaurant, which is next door
The manager of the cafe put all available
| space at the service of the firemen and
| ponce. The restaurant was transformed
into morgue in less than ten minutes.
| All Of the city ambulances, patrol wag
ons and other conveyances were Inadequate
to carry off the injured and take the dead
to the morgues. The big merchants in
the neighborhood of the theater sent wag
on-loads of linen. cotton and blankets fol-
the injured and lent every assistance pos
sible.s
Physicians stood at the entrance of the
theater and when body that appeared to
have the least sign of life ws5 taken out
it was examined by them If dead it was
| placed in a pile at the side of the entrance
and if alive it was whirled away to- a
hospital or physicians office in the neigh
borhood.
Every manner of conveyance carried
away the dead from the scene of horror
One large Truck was so heaVlly loaded Will
dead bodies that the horses could not start
until the police had helped start the
wheels.
"There was no need of any loss Of life >
said viii j. Davis, manager of the the
ater. ''There were 40 exits and the build
ing was freproof. Someone in the audi
ence yelled fire and in the wild stampede
occurred the ~reat loss of life. Had order
been kept those who suffocated would have
been taken out before they could have
perished.. There were about 1900 people
in the theater."
1t was through the quick work and cool