The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-01-03
PLAYHOUSES
 IN DARKNESS Harrison Closes All Chi cage Theatres. MUST OBEY ORDINANCES All the Managers Had Viola
 ted City Laws.
MUST OBEY ORDINANCES
Windy City Bows it Head in orief' and Bells Toll as Funeral Fro sessions Make Their Way
 Through Streets.

Chicago. Jan. 2.-Tonight every theatre fin the city of Chicago Is dark ana "A doors are locked. With single excep- lion none of them will be open uo .n. public until their managers have compie' in the fullest manner with every section of the ordinances regulating piaynouses' The total number of dead was tonight definitely established at 5S7, or wnlch pu' 12 remain unidentified.
 The order compelling the theatres to close was issued this afternoon py NhsS0' Harrison after conference with Corpo' ration Counsel Holman, who assured the mayor that ample legal ground exis'eu for his action ,.,.-. seventeen theatres and museums "ere closed last night and the sweeping oroel of the mayor today shut the ooots V. sixteen more. Ihese iass Ne .ha citV theatres in the business section or the cilS and are the Bush Temple, Calumet Cleveland. Great Northern, Haymarket' peopies Institute, Hopkins Trocadero' Co- L,mbus. Studebaker, Grand opera tdouse, McViclers, La Salle, Garrick, limos anu Power. The last two are owned anu con trolled by Messrs. Powers and DaVis' tne managers of the ill-fated lroquois. The Carrick theatre closed today. Is not to S,a confounded with the Garrick closed yasterday. it being one of the largest playhouses in the city, while the one con- cerning which action was taken yester- dav is a much smaller affair in the Northwestern portion of the city,
 Violation of Ordinances.
 The seventeen places of amusement which were shut down last night were closed for the one reason that they were nof provided with an asbestos curtAIn' . The further action taken tooay IS in eon. seeuence of violations or. other ssctions7 of tho ordinance regulating theatres.
 There was a nasty rush of theetrical mana gers to the oiFice of Mayor Aarrf- son in the effort to secure the WitndraWa' or at least a postponefnent of the eraef, but their reception was or an exceeo- ingiy frosty nature. They we're lntotmeo by the mayor that the inspectors had re- ported in the case of every one Of them y,oiaffons of the law and he was deter mined that it should not be said hsre' after that the city had neglected any. thing which could prevent a repetition oi the horror of last Wednesday, afternoon The fact that the asbestos curtain in the Iroouois theatre was so badly Wreckeo by the fire that charred portions Of II had been carried away by the various
  Or to decide that asbestos curtains could not be relied upon to afford the most cnmnlete protection. It was announced that every theatre in the city must here- after comply with the following provis- ions before they will be allowed to open; Steel roll curtains, wide exits, no com bustibIes of any kind. in the house fur nishings, fireproofed scenery no caiclum ar ,sspot'' lights to be used on the stage, skylights above the stage provided with automatic lids to permit the egress or smoke. fire and gas, separate stairways each exit having its own stars leadlnG to the street.
 After issuing his sweeping order Mayor Harrison said:
 Can Take No Risks.
 q do not wish to assume responsibility for these theatres. The order was issued to make it certain that no precaution tc insure the safety of the. audiences has been neglected. It is quite probable thai the owners of theatres may sustain serl' ous financial loss, but in view of the con dition of the playhouses we cannot take any risk, and if the law had been fully compiled with in the first place, there would have been no question of closing them now. The Auditorium, which Is the only theatre left open in Chicago, has . steel roll curtain, and as this seems tC
 
 protection against fire, in view of the fac that the Iroquois curtain was destroyed have determined, as far as possible. t see that the other playhouses are simi larly provided"
 There is no engagement at the Audito rum at present, so it is dark like thu rest.
 will J. Davis and Harry Powers, pro prietors of the Iroquois Theatre, anC Dull ts.-a, der arrest charged with manslaughter They have been released on S1O,OOO bonds an dtheir hearing is set for January F The warrants for their arrest were sworl out by Arthur E. Hull, who lost his wifi and three children in the fire. Mir. Hull explained that his action was not inspired by any motive of vengeance, but simpl, to make 1t certain that the owners O the theatre should not escape any chanc of punishment rightfully theirs whil stage hands and electricians and othe employees were. compelled to suffer.
 Fire Inspector Monroe FuIkerson tu night announced that he had finally dis covered the secret of the fire. The AS bestos curtain. upon which the safety O the audience depended. was. according t MT Fulkerson, blocked in It's descent b steel reflector. careIessly left open b. 9 stage hand. While one end of the cur ldin Spt NieHiH i've rect or the stage. tn other was suspended twenty feet abov it. and beneath it swept the flood O flame that carried death to so many hun dreds
 Reflector Still Open.
 The first step toward a definite conclu sion as to the cause of the fire was mad when William McMullen, operator of tn spot" light placed the blame upon an other electric light nearby. The task wa completed when MT. Fulkerson followe up a clue furnished by John A. Mazzon a stage hand, and discovered the deadl reflector still open in the ruins of tn theatre.
 Tho wire used in the aerial ballet, men tioned as possible cause of the curtain failure 10 reach the stage. was proven t have been out of the way of the curtai as it descended.
 On each side of the arch at the theatr was a metallic reflector. concave in form twenty feet long and studded throughou its entire length with incandescent light. Normally these lights fitted into niche in the masonry. but when in uaa wsr