The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-01-02
.THEAIER VICTIMS
DIED PAINLESSLY
DEATH WAS INSTANTANEOUS
DEAD, NOT LIVING, TRAMPLED.
DR.. j. G. Cross of Minneapolis AS
sisted in Caring for Injured at Mar
shall Field Hospital-says Evil
dences of suffocation Were Marked
Other Reasons for Sudden Death
Theory.

Victims of the Iroquois theater hor-
ror died painlessly.
sThis is the belief of DR.. J. G.. Cross
Of Minneapolis, who was in Chicago
Wednesday and was called for service
IN the Marshall Field emergency hos
pital, where he attended scores of the
injured. He believes that death was
generally instantaneous and that the
dead We're trampled, not the living.
The quick and hot fire in an Enclosure
like. the theater probably at once ex-
hausted the oxygen in the atmos-
phere, producing suffocation. The sud
Den, not lame also would naturally
nave the effect of closing the pas
sages of the throat, producing death
from suffocation.
This view is supported by physicians
In the city who have conducted au-
t to on bodies which have passed
thru similar maelstroms of flame. It
IS borne out also by the fact that,
underneath and protected by the
bodies of those taken by sudden death
while rushing thru the aisles, per-
sons were found alive and practically
unhurt. This indicates that many of
the victims must have been dead be-
lore they were trampled.
DR.. Cross had been in the Reliance
building, block away, and was at
tracted to the theater by the fire
alarm. standing across the street
from Thompson's he was unable to see
any appearance of other than an or
binary small fire. Suddenly someone
appeared carrying a body, the first
intimation of the horror within. Again
others came out carrying more bodies
until the awful truth began to dawn
on the crowd.
The doctor moved on and entering
the Marshall Field building was inn
pressed by the elevator man and put
into service at once in the i'm promptu
hospital.
Sufferers Were Brave.
Three circumstances were noted by
DR.. Cross; the extreme hospitality Of
the Marshall Field management; the
sudden appearance Of physicians and
trained nurses, and the remarkab BILE
bravery and unselfishness of the suf-
ferers.
To this hospital were brought only
those able to walk, but who, neverthe-
less, were the great sufferers because
they still retained consciousness The
posed parts and results of the inhala-
ton of hot air. The chief work of the
physicians was bandaging burns and
softening pain with hypodermics. The
sufferers had little to say other than
frequently to request the doctors and
IluISeS W nell OLneTS. injured worse
than themselves, and to bemoan the
fate Of the poor people in the theater.
One woman had lost her mother,
whom she was unable to pull from the
pile of dead; another had lost two
children; a third was severely burned,
losing hair and suffering from a
parched throat but with 1t all there
was a refreshing thoughtfulness for
other sufferers.
No "Heaps of Bodies" Outside.
Altho appalled, by the sight he wit
messed, DR.. Cross noted the discipline
of the police and firemen. The dead
were treated with great tenderness,
being carefully borne, ont of the the
alter by two bearers each and placed
in long rows on the Sidewalks not
in heaps as reported.
Chicago seems stunned. Business
men are overwhelmed with a pail of
sadness, and business is at a stand
still in the city.
Ridgeway's Former Partner Killed.
Secretary A. j.. Ridgeway of the
park board was Informed to-day that
a former business associate, Willis
Cooper, lost his life in the Chicago
fire horror. Messrs. Ridgeway and
Cooper were associated in a large
knitting plant in st. Joseph some years
ago. The latter and a younger BROTH
err were among the victims.