The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1904-01-08
YOL'i| ! s.
q q d c a. AIIIY,
Nearly Six Hundred Human Beings
Burnt in a Theatre Fire 3.s
WORST HORROR OF CENTURY.

WORST He eRRoR OF CENTURY.
y Began With g Panic Caused by a
Fire that started on the Stage. II
The Bodies Were piled
Twelve Deep.
The city OF Chica go was the scene OF
one Of the worst cal antilles of the cen.
( tury on ]astsW ednes dsty, waen over SIX
i hundred people were burnsd eSo death
y in the Iriqupis theatre, the newest,
( the largest, and rs fur as human
power could make it, the safest thea
anahicdgo. Estir3ates Of the
fatalities S.ry. The Police account
of the dead is 536. The estimate ot
the newspapers, is $50. Besides this
there are 55 people missing at mid.
night, the majority of whom are
probably among the dead in the
morgue and various undertaking es-
y Establishments. ~ S;
"a few of these people were burned
3 to death by fire, many were suffOcated
by gas, and scores were trampled tc
death In the panic that followed the
mad plunge OF the frig ghtened audience
for exits. 1t WIS many hours before
the number Of dead was known and
b will be many days before all Of them
S will be Identified. There are bodies
lying by the dozens in the undertak.
Ing yooms, in the police stations and
In tbe hospitals from which nearly
every ything that can reveal their iden-
! tity to those who knew them best is
gone. Their clothing Is torn to rags
or burned>tO cinders and their faces
! have been crushed into an unrecogniz-
I able pulp by the heels Of the crowd
that trampled them down as they fled
for safety.
BURNT IN THEIR SEATS.
- The fire broke cut during the sec
rsohu acti6 the play Mr.. Bluebear7, y
(which was the first dramatic produc-
tion placed in the theatre since Its
erection. The company, which was
very large, escaped to the streets In
safety, nearly all of them, however
4 streets with no clothing but theil
stage costumes. A few members O
The company sustained minor injurie
but none were seriously hurt.
The accounts Of the origin Of tht
fire are conflicting and none Of then
certain, but the best reason given Ii
that an electric wire near the lowe
partcofSa piece OF drop scenery sudden
ly broke and was grounded. The firt
( spread sra pidly toward the front Of tilt
stage, causing the members of tht
chorus, who were then engaged in tn,
performance, to lice with screams o
terror. sE he fire. in itself up to this
time was nj sert tous and poSsi bly, conlc
81 We been checked had not the ashes
~ Juos tlisf sfffi5u EJO yssJr &. :. : -=sSjSSf
as the ks,.s was discovered Eddie Foy
the chief comedian Of the company
shouted to lower the curtain, and thi
was Immediately done. 1t descended
about half way and then stuck. The
IRE thus was given practically flu
through which q strong draft was set
ting, aided by, the doors which hat
been thrown open in the front OF tn,
theatre. With a roar and bound
the flames shot through the opening
over the heads Of the people on the
first floor and reaching those in the
first balcony caught them and burned
u.
mediately following this 1ush OF
flames there came an explosion, which
lifted the entire roof of Jhe theatre
from its walls, shattering the great
skylight into fragments.
sUFFoCATED BY THE GAS.
AS soon as the flames first appeared
beyond the curtain Il man Ia the rear
or the hall shouted Fire, fire." and
the entire audience rose as one person
and made for the doors. It Is believed
that the explosion was caused by the
flames coming into contact with the
:, gas reservoirs Of the theatre, causing
Them to burst Will j. Divis, mana
ger Of the theatre, said after the ca.
tastrophe that if the people had re.
NAMED in their seats and lad not
been excited by the cry OF fire not a
single life wonld have been lost. This
Is, however, cOntradicted by the state
ment CT the tiremen, who found mum
berS of people sitting In their seats,
their faces directed towards the stage
as II the performance was still going
on. 1t was sthe opinion Of the fire
men that these people had been suf
fOcated at once by the flow Of gas
which came from behind the asbestos
curtain.
AS near as can be estimated at the
present time about 1900 people we're
in the theatre. Three hundred Of
these we're on the first floor, the bal
ance being in the two upper balconies
and back Of them. The theatre is
modled as..srr che Opera 'Cainique il
Paris and from the rear of each bal
cony there are three doors leading out
to passaes Ways toward the front Of
the theatre. Two of these doorway.
are at the end Of the balcony and one
in the centre. The audience in it.
rush for the outer air seems to have
for the greater part chosen 80 flee
to the left entrance and to attempt t(
make its way down the eastern stair.
way leading into the lobby of theatre
Outside of the people burned and suf
located by gas, it was In these door,
ways on the first and second balconies
that the greatest loss Of life occurred
When the firemen entered the build
Ing the dead were found stretched IN
a pile reaching from the head OF tho
stairway at least eight feet from the
door back to point about five feet iI
the rear of the door. This mass o
dead bodies IN the centre of the door
way reached to within two feet of the
top of the passage way.
1iANI WOMEN AND CHILDREN.