Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1904-01-07
HARVEST OF DEATH
IN THEATER FIRE
Awfulness of the Catastrophe In Chi
cago Playhouse Grows with
Every Passing Hour.
Death March Is Kept Up All Night Lon =
-Identification of Victims Is Diff
ficult-PeriOd of Mourning Pro-
claimed-Funerals of Many of the
Dead Are Held.


claimed-Funerals of Many of the
Dead Are Held.
Chicago, Jan. 2.-With every hour the
horror of the fire that swept over the
| lroquois theater at $3.50 p. m. Wednes-
| day increases. While no official list of
| the dead has been compiled as yet, and
the number of victims has not been as
| certained, it is considered certain that
the dead number 587. All but ten have
| been identified. OF the remainder the
majority are disfgured beyond recogni-
| ton and there is little doubt that many
| will never be Identified Of the number
| 80 per cent. are bodies of girls from nine
to II years of age. Pitiful sights fol-
lowed at all of the undertaking estab-
lishments, where friends are flocking to
seek their dead. The same is true of the
hospitals.
Death March All Night.
There was death march all night long
In Chicago. From morgue to mOrgue
distracted fathers, mothers, brothers
and sisters trudged, seeking their dead
House of merriment at 3:15; charnel-
house at $3.50! Perhaps never before in
the history of the continent has so much
of grief, agony and horror been pressed
into so short space of time.
Never before has Chicago been bowed
with such grief. Not even that other
fearful fire-the great fire Of 1871-left
such sorrow in it's wake.
Satiated with Horror.
Even the morbid crowds which al
ways collect near scenes of disaster were
satiated with horror AS wagon after
wagon came by and it's load of dead was
emptied, the bystanders shrank back.
The sight of charred hands or feet, dis
torted faces and mangled forms was too
much even for the stoutest.
All sorts Of vehicles we're pressed into
service in the removal of the dead. Drays
and delivery wagons carried s. scores.
Ambulances and cabs as tar as ohtainas
bic, were needed for the injured. Police
patrol wagons from all over the city
were used in the removal of the bodies,
and even heavy trucks and coal wagons
were pressed into service
l0entlncat1On D1mcult.
Some of the later identifications have
been based by loved ones on recognition
of bits of jewelry and shreds of cloth
hanging to the scared bodies. In a num-
ber of instances only the buttons of
burned clothing remained as clews to
lead the searchers to final recognition
of the dead >
Each Body Numbered.
In the morgues where the larger num-
ber of the dead were lying, each body
was numbered. All jewelry, money and
other marks of Identification were re-
placed in an envelope bearing similar
numeral, and carried by the police to the
city hall. In this way it was hoped to
facilitate the identification.
The heartrending scenes in and around
the morgues are beyond description
Frantic mothers, worn with sorrow and
fatigue, sunk down fainting on the icy
pavements
Cause of the Fire.
The cause of the tanning" sof the
asbestos curtain, considered the chief
origin of the disaster, was explained by
| an inspector for the underwriters, who
made tour of the house and found that
the wire on which the queen of the aerial
ballet flew out over the audience in the
second act held the asbestos curtain in
place and prevented it from being low
| cred. Itwas shown by the inspector that
the wire on which the most spectacular
feature of the show was made practically
caused the holocaust. -
Day of Mourning.
Chicago, Jan. 4.-By an official proc
lamation of Mayor Harrison Saturday
was set aside as day of mourning.
Business in the downtown district prac-
tically was suspended. The large de-
partment stores closed at one o'clock,
and the stock exchange, board of edu-
cation, the courts and the public offices
in the county building and the city hall
were closed throughout the day. Yes
terday over 200 funerals were held. 1
All Theaters Closed. ILL.,.
All theaters in Chicago, IS in number,
have been closed until further orders.
Mayor Harrison declares that all violate
the law and must stay closed until the
council takes action. Alterations must
be made and the ordinances complied
with. Theater managers, after con-
ference, agreed to make all changes de-
manded. Companies which were to
have appeared in many theaters are idle
as result of the mayors order, and
managers are unable to say when per-
formances will be resumed.
Held In Heavy Bail.
Will ]. Davis. Henry ]. Powers and
Building Commissioner George Will
liams, who were arrested on warrants
charging them with granddaughter in
connection with the Iroquois disaster,
were arraigned before Justice Under
wood, and were released under bonds of