The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-01-01

beyond all power of Identification.
Bodies lay in the first and second
balconies in great numbers. In some
places they were piled up in the
aisles three and four deep where one
had fallen and others trfpped over
the PROSTATE forms. and all had died
where they lay, evidently suffocated
by the gas. others were bent over
backs Of seats where they had be-
thrown by the rush by people for the
doors and killed with hardly a chance
to rise from their seats. One man
was found with his back bent nearly
double, his spinal column having
been fractured as he was thrown
backward. A woman was found cut
nearly In half by the back Of the
seat. she having been forced over. it
face downward.
In the aisles nearest to the doors,
the scenes were narrowing in the ex-
treme. Bodies lay in every conceiv-
able attitude half naKed, the look on
their faces revealing some portion OF
the agony which must have preceded
their death. There were scores and
scores of people whose entire face
had been trampled completely of by
the heels of those who rushed over
them and in one aisle the body of
man was found with not a vestige of
clothing, flesh or bone remaining
above his waist line. The entire up
per portion of his body had been cut
into mince meat and carried away by
the feet of those of who trampled
him; a search was carefully made
with a hope of finding his head, but
at a late hour tonight it had not been
discovered.
The theatre had been constructed
but a short time and all it's equip
ment were not yet in place. This was
unfortunately the case with fire
escape in the rear of the building.
The small iron balconies to which
the iron ladder was to be attached
were up, but the ladder had not yet
been constructed.
Failure of Fire Escape.
When the panic was at its height.
a number of women ran for these
fire escapes only to find as they
emerged from the doorway upon the
little iron platform, that they were
thirty to fifty feet from the ground,
a fire behind and no method of escape
In front. Those who reached the
platform endeavored to hold their
footing and to keep back the crowd
that passed upon them from the rear.
The effort was utterly useless and
in a few moments the iron ledges
were jammed with crowds of women
who screamed, fought and tore at
each other like maniacs. This lasted
but a brief interval, and the rush
from the interior of the building be-
came so violent that many Of them
were crowded off and FELL to the
granite pavement below. Others
leaped from the platform, fracturing
legs and arms and two were picked
up at this point with fractured skulls,
having been killed instantly.
George Helliott, secretary of the
Consolidated Gas Company was in
building directly opposite the theatre
across the alley and noticing smoke
went down to ascertain its cause.
When he reached the street the wo-
men were already dropping into the
alley and he Immediately rushed for
a ladder, in the effort to save as many
as possible. No ladder was available
and the only method Of assistance
they were able to devise was to hur-
riedly lash some planks together and
throw them across to the affrighted
women Of the platforms with instruc-
ton to place the end firmly on the
iron frame work. Before this could
be done, a fearful loss of time en-
sued, the women were being pushed
over every instant to the alley and by
the tffae the bridge was constructed
. but few remained to take advantage
Of It. However about two dozen, 1t
Is believed made their way across
this narrow cauSway.
The members of the theatrical
company being on the first floor had
comparatively little difficulty in
reaching the street, although their
situation was for a moment highly
critical because of the speed with
which the flames swept through the
mass Of scenery In the flies and on
the stage.
Eddie Fow. principal comedian in
the play was one of the last to es-.
cape, by getting out through a rear
door after assisting the women men,
bers of the company to safety. He
went into the Sherman House in his
stage costume and with his face COW
cred with grease and paint, in order
to secure surgical attendance for
some burns he had sustained. In
describing the commencement of the
fire, Foy attributed the extent of the
catastrophe to the failures of the fire
proof curtain to work properly. Be
cause of this, he said, the flames
readily obtained access to the main
part of the theatre and were forced
we'll as fire, swept up to the two bal
comics where the loss of life was
greatest.
The fire began in the middle of
the second act" said Mr.. Foy. AN
electric wire broke, WIS grounded.
and from this the flames were started
N the rear OF the stage. The stage
Is unusually wide and there was so
great draft the flames spread rapid
ly- They soon had attacked all the
scenery in the rear of the house.
never believed 1t possible for fire to
spread so quickly. When 1t first
started ! went to the foot lights, and
to prevent alarming the audience said
that there was a slight blaze. and
that 1t would be better for all to leave
quietly. Then / stepped back and
called for the asbestos curtain to be
lowered. This. when about half way
down, refused to SO farther, and
thus an adAiffnno1 draFS ,raota,S