The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1904-01-08

was in the first and second balconies.
These combined will seat about 900
persons. The sale Of seats had been
good, but was not up to the capacity,
and as far as / can estimate the bal
comics between them held between
$50 and 800 people. The top balcony,
where the cheapest seats were locat-
ed, was the most crowded, and 1t is
here that the crowd found most diff
Guilty in struggling toward the exits"
Story of Survivor.
It was declared by the management
Of the theater that the fire was not
caused by the grounding OF an cleo
trio wire or to any defect in the equip
claim, by the bursting of a calcium
light apparatus. The conclusion was
so great that it blew out the skylight
over the stage and auditorium. This
statement of the theater management
is c~oRtradicted by many people who
were in the theater and who declared
that before the explosion occurred,
they saw flames in a narrow streak,
creeping along the wall near the up
per part of the dress curtain. William
G. Sellers, the house fireman, who
was severely burned in trying to lower
the asbestos curtain, describes the
scene upon the stage and the cause
as follows:
II was standing in the wings when
I heard the explosion and then imme-
diately afterward a cry of fire from
the stage and all over the theater.
Looking up l Ia that the curtain was
ablaze and at once ran for the fire cur
tain. We got it half way down when
the wind, rushing in from the broker
skylight, bellied it out so that IL
caught and we could not bulge it.
With the stage hands, l climbed to
where it was suspended and together
we tried to push it down. Our efforts
were futile ant seeing that no human
power could move that fire curtain
and that the stage was q mass Of
flames, l turned my attention to warn
ing the actors and trying to save those
who were in trouble. The women
were frantic and the men not much
better. l stood at the stairway lead.
ing to the dressing rooms where the
chorus people were located and kept
some from going up to get their street
clothes. AS the others came Gown l
forced them to leave the building. +
do not know how they got those girls
and men out who came crowding down
the stairs, for the stage entrance was
blocked by a mass of fames.''
William A. Brady's Story.
William A. Brady, the well known
New York theatrical manager, who
was in the audience at the time the
fire started, said: "It was one OF the
biggest audiences that I ever saw
and I was unable to secure a seat. I
was standing near the door, when,
looking up, l saw the calcium light
apparatus was out Of order. Some
one came on the stage and assured
the audience that there was no dan
ger 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 in flames.
Everyone down stairs rushed for the
doors and as far as I know no one
In that part of the room was killed.
It was upstairs, where the smoke was
blown by the draft that came In
through the skylights, where death
was dealt out to hundreds. before they
realized what had happened. Such a
panic as followed the first cry Of fire
I have never seen in all my life. The
stairways and exits became jammed
with fighting humanity in a moment
and the shrieks and means of the poor
people cut off from all escape was the
most awful thing imaginable. It can
only be likened to Dante's Inferno.
With two companions, | tried to reach
the balcony, but we were driven back
by the suffocating smoke, and were
unable to accomplish anything until
the firemen had extinguished the
flames. Hundreds Joined the rescuers
and from n of the entrances to the
balcony we removed $50 bodies by act
ual count. They were jnmmed and
twisted together in all shapes. Many
of the I'M and children had been
stripped almost naked in their mad
efforts to escape from the LIVING tomb.
If the audience had not became panic
stricken l am sure not more than half
a hundred persons would have been
killed or injured, as all the bodies
helped to remove from the place were
those Of persons who had been killed
in the terrible JAM"
Penned below the stage, running
about crazed by the panic overhead,
were fifty supernumeraries and mem
bers of the ballet. They were shut off
from exit by the crowds wedged in
the stage stairway. They were saved
by James J. Hamilton, a trunk hand
Ter attached to the theater, who led
the way to a coal hole in the rear of
the building, broke off the cover with
his fists and stood guard until all had
left the basement. Through this mar
row hole he lifted men and women,
clad in their stage costumes, wearing
helmets and tights.
Mourners Besiege Morgues.
All night long stricken friends and
relatives Of missing persons besieged
the morgues where the dead had been
carried awaiting Identification. Hun
dreds of men and women waited il
1Ono 1inas for hnnrc RI Hpo1Jy lose