The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-01-05
ALL CHICAGO HALLS CLOSED
FURTHER DRASTIC MEASURES
 TO PREVENT FIRE DISASTERS.

Churches and Lodge Rooms Now Only
 Open for PubIic Gatherings-siayor
 Harrison and Aiderma1io Committee
 Have Conferencs w.sh GhsassF Efsna-
 gers Refuse Even to Allow Lower
 Floor to be Used Untii All Require
 ments of Law Are Met.
 Chicago, Jan. As result of the Iroquois theater fire and panic in which 59o persons lost their lives Building Commissioner Williams tonight issued an order closing all the public halls, dance halls and all similar places of public assemblage until an inspection has shown that they are complying with all provisions of the building ordinance. All the theaters have already been clos ed. This leaves Chicago churches and lodge rooms alone open for public gath erings. As there are upwards of 400 halls in Chicago, ranging in size from those that will accommodate fifty per. sons to those with seating capacity Of 50o this order will affect probably as many persons as the theater closing order. Protests were numerous, but the building commissioner was inflexible. He said:
 Many Of these halls are worse than any theater in Chicago. Some of them are put up with no restrictions such as govern theaters, and many of them are fire traps of the worse kind.''
 MT. Williams was advised tonight of the election of Joseph Downey, a con- tractor and trustee of the board of ed- ucation and formerly building com missioner, as chairman of joint com mittee selected at Mayor Harrison's re- quest by the various architects and builders associations to inspect all theaters.
 Deputy Building Commissioner Stan hope made another inspection of the Iroquois ruins to-day to prepare for the questions which will be asked by the coroner and jurors when the inquest begins. It was pointed out to the build ing commissioners to-day as indicating that the Iroquois theater was opened prematurely, that the $10.0O0 bonds filed with the street department by the Full CT Construction company on April 20, to secure use of the street and to insure the city against damage by the frontage excavation had not yet been redeemed. At the office of the street department it was declared to be the invariable cus- tom of contractors to redeem bonds as soon as work was finished.
 Mayor Harrison and seven aldermen, the city council to control legislation in regard to theaters. met this afternoon with theater managers, every playhouse excepting the Great Northern being represented.
 The managers asked if they could | not open their houses and sell seats on the lower floor only, but the mayor and aldermen refused this request It was declared that all the places must re- main closed until the ordinance re- qirements had been fully met
 This afternoon attorneys for the fire
 department secured from five witnesses corroboration of the charges that a wrecking crew of the Fuller Construc- tion company had destroyed the stage skylights on the day after the disaster. Fire Inspector Fulkerson said:
 Tt was the intention that these sky lights should open automatically to al- low the escape of heat and smoke and create a draft which would draw them upwards instead of allowing them to pass over the audience But from the linformtaion I have I am positive that the opening of the skylights was inpos- sihle because beneath each section of the lights had been placed pieces of scantling which remained there until removed by employees of the Fuller
 Construction company"
 Witnesses who appeared before Fire Inspector Fulkerson to-day testified that the skylights over the stage were fastened down from the roof and were opened the day after the holocaust,
 when the property was in the hands of the coroner. Fulkerson made a per- sonal inspection of the roof vents and upon resuming the investigation de-
 clared that all he had seen on the roof of the playhouse confirmed the state ments os the witnesses.
 Among the most important testimony submitted was that of Architect H. B. Wheelr, the windows of whose office i overlook the roof of the theater build ing. He stated that during the fire the skylights, which are intended to ven-
 tilate the stage and form a fiue for
 flames in such an emergency as that of last Wednesday, remained securely fas- tened down.