Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1904-01-07
PLAYHOUSE
HOLOCAUST
Chicago Visited by the Worst Known to
History
Six Hundred Lives Sacrificed by
Suffocation
Awful Tragedy at Matinee Performance
Awful Tragedy at Matinee Performance

chief comedian of the company, shout
ed to lower the curtain. and this was
Immediately done. 1t descended about
half way and stuck. The fire thus
was given practically a tlue through
which strong draft was setting, aid
ed by the doors which had been
thrown open in the front of the the
alter.
FLAMES LEAP TO AUDIENCE.
With roar and bound, the flames
shot through the opening over the
heads of the people of the first floor
and reaching clear up to those in the
first balcony, caught them and uurn-
ed them to death where they. sat.
FOOL YELLED FIRE!
Immediately following this rush of
the flames there came an explosion
which lifted the entire roof of the
theater from the walls, SCATTERING the
great Sky light into fragments. AS
soon as the flames first appeared be.
You'd the curtain man in the rear OF
the hall shouted fire! fire" and the
entire audience rose as one person and
made for the doors. 1t is believed
flames coming in contact with the gas
reservoirs of the theater, causing
them to burst
ALL MIGHT HAVE ESCAPED.
Will j. Davis, manager of the the
alter, said after the catastrophe, that
if the people had remained in their
seats and had not been excited by the
cry of fire, not single life would
have been lost.
DIE IN THEIR SEATS.
This, however is contradicted by
the statements of fremon, who found
numbers of people sitting in then
seats, their faces directed toward The
stage as if the performance was still
going on. 1t was the opinion of the
firemen that these people were suffo
Gated at once by the flow of gas which
came from behind the asbestos cur
tain.
BALCONIES PACKED.
1t is estimated that 1900 people were
in the theater. Only about 500 were
on the first floor, the others being il
the balconies and Railways back O
them. From the rear of each balcony
are three doors leading to passageway!
toward the front of the theater. TIVE
of these doorways are at the end o
the balcony and one in the center.
ALL CHOOSE ONE DOOR.
The audience in it's flight seems t.
tempted TO make its way down tn,
eastern staircase into the lobby. Out
side of the people burned and suffocat
ed by gas, it was in these two door
ways on the first and second balconies
that the greatest loss of life occurred
GREAT PILE OF DEAD.
When the firemen entered the build
ing, the dead were stretched in a pill
reaching from the head of the stairwa.
at least eight feet from the door bacl
to a point about five feet in the rea
of the door.
This mass of dead bodies in the cen
ter of the doorway reached to within
two feet of the top of the passageway
All the corpses at this point were o
women and children. The fight 70
life, which must have taken place a
these two points, is simply beyond hu
man power to adequately describe
Only a faint idea of its horror could b.
derived from the sight of the bodie
as they lay.
HEROIC COMEDIAN.
The members of the theatrical com
pany, being on the first floor, had com
paratively little difficulty in reachinl
the street. Eddie Foy was the last L
escape, having waited to assist thu
women members of the company L
safety. He said the flames readil!
obtained access to the main part 0
the theater, and were, by the draft car
rying with it gas as well as fire, swep
up to the balconies, where the loss 0
life was the greatest.
n SAVES FEW, KILLS MANY.
The curtains failure to drop prob
Fily, he said, saved the lives Of tbs
esnpany, although it caused such {
hEible catastrophe in the front o
thshouse
NHoRRoR IN GREAT CITY.
, Rely in the history of Chicago, hal
Z its Dople been so stirred as by tht
! calartty Of yesterday. 1t is next Z
; the Gcago fire, the greatest catas
trophahat ever occurred here, anf
the sped with which it came and wen
seemedpr brief period To appall tht
5 businesssection OF the city. Crowds
Q rushed 1.-THE scene and the heavy de
) tails OF lice massed there found Il
S for a tim almost impossible to hole
!, back the hnzied people. many q