The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-01-01

the theaters than for stopping all rail-
way trains after a disastrous wreck.
There is no necessity of getting hys-
terical about this matter. although
this horrible disaster has taken place
in probably the safest theater in
Chicago"
The Mayor tonight in this connec-
ton sent a letter to all theatrical pro-
prietors in the city, calling their at
tention to failure of theaters to comply
fully with the building ordinances re-
lating to places of amusement, espec-
tally that provision requiring them to
employ a fireman. The Mayor directs
the chief of the fire department to as
sign regular firemen to each theater,
their wages to be paid by the theaters.
After dispatching this letter, the
Mayor said:
IF any one of the theatrical man
ayers refuse to pay the wages of these
men. as several Of them have refused
in the past, I will close the doors of
the theaters and keep them closed I'M
I'll they agree to act as they should"
Investigating the Cause.
Coroner Traeger tonight conducted
an informal inquiry into the cause of
the fire. His first witness was Will
| liam c. Sellers, the fireman employed
at the theater. Sellers did not know
| Just how the fire began, but said he
saw 1t shortly after it broke out. He
| threw extinguisEers on the blaze, but
without effect. He tried to pull down
the drop curtain or to tear loose that
portion of it which was blazing. but
without success. The fire then spread
with such great rapidity that he was
unable to do more.
Other witnesses were examined, and
after they had been heard Assistant
States Attorney A. A. Heer, who was
! present, said
1T seems agreed that the asbestos
curtain was dropped, but that it went
only to within ten or fifteen feet of
the stage floor. People on the stage
opened the door leading from the stage
into the street on the west side of the
theater, and this created a strong
draft. The draft blew the curtain out
| W Nv III lilE cOuiC4NG. 1 Ills lltlu tie
curtain so tightly that all attempts to
lower it further We're fruitless"
This evening the coroner's jury
which had spent the day in visiting the
various morgues. was taken by Coro-
ner Traeger to the theater. The jury
first went to the stage and Deputy
Coroner Buckley pointed out the spot
where the fire was discovered. The
seats in the first ten rows on the first
floor were burned, but back of that the
orchestra chairs were in good condi-
ton.
Found Precautions Inadequate.
! The members of the jury, while en-
gagged in inspecting the stage, FIRE
quently remarked that the protection
against fire seemed to them to hay
} been inadequate. The jury then climb
ed the stairway leading to- the frs
balcony. Here the plush covering o
: the seats was found to be burned OF
every seat from wall to wall and from
the front row of the balcony to tn
last. An inspection was made of tn,
exits leading to the fire escapes at thu
north end Of the building.
These doors are much too small
they should have been three times az
large" said Juror Finn.
The iron doors were closed and
locked, and it was then seen that the
inner doors were so close to the steel
shutters that they could not be open
ed with the shutters fastened. This
exit is not sufficiently high for an or
binary sized man to walk through
without STOPPING, and when the Jurors
learned this fact by personal expert
ence there was considerable comment
among them. The jury then ascended
to the top gallery, where the greatest
| loss of life occurred.
Found Gruesome Relics.
| Coroner Traeger pointed to the bal
cony rail, which was bent in several
places, and said that a number of
| spectators had jumped through these
| openings to the lower floor. An
| inspection was then made of the
exits leading to the fire es-
| capes, and the Jurors were told
that the bodies of the dead were piled
ten feet high in front of these doors
when the police reached the scene after
the fire.
"If those doors were locked somebody
was criminally negligent" said Juror
/ Finn. "The exits are too small any
way" said Foreman Meyer, as he
measured the doors leading to the
fire escapes.
In both balconies there were hun
dreds of gruesome relics of the catas-
trophe scattered between the seats
where they had been dropped by the
terrified victims. There were a score
or more Of rubber shoes, muffs, hand
kerchiefs, gloves, children's wooden
hoods and mittens. Under one seat
was found a tiny doll which had evil
IDENTIFY been taken to the theater by
little girl. The Jurors were deeply
affected by the sight as they sorted
over the relics of the disaster.
At the conclusion Of the inspection
of the theater, it was decided to con-
tinue the inquest until next Thursday
morning at 9 O'Clock.
Standing Room Blocked.
There have been numerous reports.
unauthenticated, however, that the
aisles and passageways in the rear
of the theater were blocked by a crowd