The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-01-13

Sueel VI plo-
tected her child from the flames, but
the little one was dead in the arms Of
its mother AS the work of rescue pro-
sressed dozens Of blankets were
brought, and the bodies were carried
down in these.
The scene, Immediately after the fire
was got under control and the work of
rescue began, was appalling. All the
gilt and tinsel of the theatre, all the
silks and plushes. all the rich hang
ings, all the frescoes, had been wiped
out. The flames from the stage had
swept the entire theatre and left their
blight everywhere. The upholstery OH
many Of the seats was still intact,
though. But for the failure of some
one to act, when action meant life for
hundreds. only a few might have per-
ished. The thin sheet of asbestos that
could have saved all failed.
In a remarkably short time men
whose wives and children had gone to
see "Mr. Bluebeard" reached the scene.
It was O hopeless task to try to find
their loved ones. Through the tiers Of
dead and dying in the buildings all
about men and women searched with
frenzied faces. Now and again a
searcher would find one for whom he
looked. When the dead was found the
searcher knelt in prayer.
One man pushed his way into the
lobby of the theatre. His eyes were
blinded with fear and he did not see
the firemen pass out with unconscious
forms. Before group of men he
stood for a moment Then he asked
il any one had been injured in the fire.
"My wife and boy were there" he
murmured. did every one get out:"
Tears came to the eyes Of the men in
the little group. At that instant five
firemen staggered down the stairs. each
bearing a human form. One of the
men pointed to them. and the husband
and father fell to the floor.
Amid even such sad scenes the pick.
pockets were busy. The police kept
watch as best they could, but the
ghouls snatched many purses from the
dead and dying, and wrenched rings
from the fingers that could no longer
offer resistance. Several of these men
were caught in their work. They re.
ceived at the moment punishment all
too light for their crime. Only few
were arrested and taken to the police
station, where they will be held to
await the course Of the law.
The chorus was compelled to dress
in the cellar. Many Of the women were
in the dressing room when the fire
started. Exit from the cellar was cut
off by heavily barred doors. The men
were forced to break them open. Dur
ing this delay many Of the girls re-
ceived painful burns. The girls were
forced into the street wearing tights.
They took refuge in the Union Hotel
and the Sherman House.
Viola Macdonald one Of the most
beautiful chorus girls on the stage, was
in tights when the cry of fire" rang
through the theatre. She turned to the
girl next to her and said:
"I'll not 60 out on the street in these
tights if am burned to DEATH"
She then ran down stairs to dress
ing room to put on her skirt. She got
into the skirt and then heard a crash
overhead. She found her egress barred
by falling and burning timbers. She
was the last person to leave the stage
part of the theatre without injury. She
was hauled through q coal hole by
three brawny firemen.
Father Mcdonald of the Holy Name
Cathedral, in company with S. F. Car
roll, came along Dearborn street, when
the shrieks of the chorus girls who tried
to get out of the theatre reached them.
Father Mcdonald and Mr.. Carroll
rushed into the alley and saw four
girls trying to get out through coal
hole back Of the stage of the theatre.
The priest and his friend rescued the
four women. who were taken to their
homes. Their names are Violet Young,
Dora Selfe Alice NJ. Bartlett and Dodie
Y. Goodman.
In the basement of the theatre when
the fire started, Maggie Levine was in
charge Of twelve girls who were pre-
pairing to appear in the scene entitled
1.-THE Hunters" When Miss Levine
heard the cries of fire and the sounds
of the commotion following over her
head, she shouted, "N1y God, girls what
can be the matter?'
A moment later panic stricken
crowd of fifty or more chorus girls
were struggling for their lives. Smoke
rolled down through the trap doors in
suffocating clouds and almost oblit-
Grated the dim lights from the incan-
descents. Doxie Marlowe. Dot Down.
ing, Zaza Belasco and Marie Janette
were knocked down and trampled by
their sister chorus girls and the few
men in the chorus. D0Xie Marl0we
was so much overcome by the smoke
that she was unconscious for the time
being and had to be carried out.
James Gallagher, a member of the
mems chorus. took command Of the
frightened and half -suffocated girls and
instructed them to take hold of one an
others hands. He took the lead and
grasping the foremost of the girls by
the hand led the way through the base
ment from the stage to the front Of the
theatre building, where he reached the
coal cellar under the sidewalk in Ran
dolph street
With a stick he forced the coal hole
covers off and this sufficed to signal
the fremen that help was wanted.
Ladders were lowered and each Of the
fifty girls and their male companions
were drawn out Of the basement.
Some had sisters and all had friends
in the blazing building. The bitter cold
pierced them through and through, for
they were clad only in their thin stage
gowns. with necks and arms exposed.
Nevertheless, they had to be dragged
from their station in the alley and into
neighboring stores.
LAWYERS Burned to Death.