The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1904-01-08

with not a vestage of clothing, fesn
or kone remaining above his waist
liza. The entire upper portion of his
body had been cut into mince meat
and carried away by the feet of those
who trampled on him.
Caught in a Trap.
The theGter had been constructed
but a short time and all US equipment
was not yet in place. This was unfor-
%tunately the case with a fire escape
in the rear OF the building. The small
iron balconies to which the iron lad
der was to be attached were up, but
the ladder had not yet been construct
ed. When the panic was at it's
height, a great 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 forty to fifty feet above the
of escape in front. Those who reached
the platform first endeavored to hold
their footing and to keep back the
crowd that pressed upon them from
the rear. The effort was utterly use
less, and in a few moments the iron
platform was damned 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
became so violent that many of them
were crowded off and fell to the
ground 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 H. Elliott,
secretary of the Ogden Gas company,
was in a building directly across the
alley from the theater and noticing
smoke, went down to ascertain it's
cause. When he reached the street
two men were already dropping into
the alley and Elliott 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 we're ale to devise
3D.. "No " ASN1J 1uoA ~ P1NtAiiho
gether and throw them across to the
frightened m on the platforms,
with instructions 10 place the end
firmly on the iron frame work. Be-
fore this could be done a fearful loss
of time enSued, the women were be-
ing pushed every instant into the al
ley and by the time the bridge was
constructed but few remained to take
advantage of it. However. about two
dozen, it is believed by Mr.. Elliott,
made their way across this narrow
bridge.
The members of the theatrical COM
pany, being on the first floor, had COM
paratively little difficulty in reaching
the street, although their situation
was for a moment highly critical, be-
cause of the flames, which swept
through the mass of scenery In the
flies and on the stage.
Work Of Rescue.
The building in which the calamity
occurred stands midway between
State and Dearborn streets, on the
north side Of Randolph street. The
building was so full of smoke when
the firemen first arrived that the full
extent Of the catastrophe was not i'm
mediately grasped until a fireman
and a newspaper man crawled up the
stairway leading to the balcony, hold
ing handkerchiefs over their mouths
to avoid s~uffocation. AS they reached
the doorway, the fireman, whose WIS.,
ion was better trained in such emer-
gencies, seized his companion by the
ARM, exclaiming, Good God man,
don't throw water on their faces"
The men tried vainly to get through
the door which was damned with dead
women piled higher than either of
their heads. All the lights in the the
alter were necessarily out and the only
illumination came through the cloud
of smoke that hung between the int
rior of the theater and the street. The
two men Immediately hurried to the
floor below and informed Chief Mus
ham of the fire department that the
dead bodies were piled high in the
balcony and prompt assistance must
be rendered if any of them were to be
saved. The chief at one called upon
all of his man in the vicinity to aban-
don work on the fire and come at
once to the rescue. So rapidly were
the bodies brought down that for v e
an hour there were two streams of
men passing in and out of the door
way, one carrying bodies, the other
composed of men returning to get
more.
One large truck, ordinarily used for
conveying freight to depots, was so
heavily loaded with dead in front of
the theater that the two large horses
attached to it were unable to start,
and the police were compelled to as
sist by Juggling at the wheels. When
the need for trucks to remove the
dead was more pressing, a huge cleo
trio delivery wagon, owned by Mont
gomery, Ward & Co., was hailed by
the police. The automobile headed for
the scene, but at State street encoun-
tered so great a press of people that
it could not get through. The chauf-
feur changed his gong repeatedly, but
the crowd refused to part and the u
tomobile was finally turned away.
While the police and firemen were
carrying out the dead and injured,
Will j. Davis, n Of the proprietors
of the theater, was indefatigable in