davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-01-01

lrF tZaI
Department of the Interior, United
States Land Office, Bozeman, Mon
tana, Dec. IS, 1903.-A SUFFICIENT CON
test affidavit having been fled in this
Office by Jesse N. Comstock, contest
ant, against Homestead entry No.
4183, made July 25,- 1901, at Bozeman,
Montana, for NWA section "a, town
ship 1 south, range "a east, M. p. NJ,
by George Watt, now deceased, whose
heirs, Mrs. Mary Apitz, w. D. Watt
and Frank N. Watt, r ~contestees,
in which it is alleged that said entry
man died at Yellowstone county, Mon
tana, on or about F@lS. 10Th, 1903;
that said heirs and none of them have
taken possession OF, cultivated, or
continued to improve said land at any
time since the death of said entry
man; and that such default has not
been due to said heirs or any of their
employment in the army, navy, or ma
rine corps of the United States in
time Of war; said parties are hereby
notified to appear, respond and offer
evidence touching said allegations at
10 O'clock a. m. son February 9Th, 1904,
before T. A. williams, clerk of dis
trict court, at Billings, Montana, and
that final hearing will be held at 10
o'clock a. m. on February 18th, 1904,
before the Register and Receiver at
the United States Land Office in Boze-
man, Montana.
The said contestant having, in a
proper affidavit, fled December 18th,
1903, set forth facts which show that
after due diligence personal service
of this notice can not be made, it is
hereby ordered and directed that such
notice be given by due and proper
publication.
NJ. R. WILSON, Register.
j. N. KELLY, Receiver.
The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-01-01
ABOUT THIRTEEN HUNDRED
PEOPLE IN THE PLAYHOUSE.

As near as can be estimated about
1900 people were in the theater. Three
hundred of these were on the first
floor, the balance being In the two Up
per balconies, and in the Railways
back OF them.
The theater is modelled after the
Opera Comique in Paris and from the
real OF each balcony are three doors
leading out to passageways toward
the front of the theater. Two of
these doorways are at the end of the
balcony and n being In the center.
The audience in its rush for the outer
air seems to have, for the greater
part. chosen to fee to the left en-
trance and to attempt to make its way
down the eastern stairway leading in
to the lobby of the theater.
Outside Of the people burned and
suffocated by gas, it was in these two
doorways on the first and second bal
comics that the greatest loss OF life
occurred. When the firemen entered
the building, the dead we're found
stretched in a pile reaching from the
head of the stairway at least eight
feet from the door back to a point
about five feet in rear Of the door.
This mass of dead bodies in the cen
ter Of the doorway reached to within
two feet of the top of the passageway.
All of the corpses at this point were
women and children.
The light for life which must have
taken place at these two points, is
something that is simply beyond hui
man power to adequately describe.
Only a faint idea of it's horrors could
be derived from the aspect of the
bodies as they Jay.
The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-01-01
SCORES OF PERSONS TRAMPLEn
TO DEATH in THE FRANTIC
RUSH FOR SAFETY.
OVER FIVE HUNDRED DEAD
DOZENS OF OTHERS ARE HURT
AND SEVERAL MORE ARE RE-
PORTED AS MISSING.

More than five hundred and fifty
dead, ninety-two injured and fifty-five
missing is, In brief, the result Of the
fire In the lroquois theater at Chicago
Wednesday afternoon. Scores Of peo.
pie were trampled into a shapeless,
unacceptable pulp and many others
were burned and charred beyond all
hope Of Identification. The city is one
vast house OF mourning, with thou.
sands Of people crowding around the
repositories Of the dead, seeking for
some missing friend or relative.
Chicago,-Dec. 31.-About $50 per.
son we're killed in ten minutes
Wednesday afternoon during q fire in
the Iroquois theater, the newest, the
largest and as far as human power
could make it, the safest theater in
Chicago. Estimates of the dead and
Injured vary. The police count Of
dead Is 536. The estimate Of the
newspapers is $50. Besides this there
are fifty-f1ve missing at midnight, the
majority of whom are probably among
the dead in the morgue and various
undertaking establishments. Eighty
six Of the dead have been positively
identified, and n%inety-two others are
known to be injured.
A few of these people were burned
to death by fire, many were suffocated
by gas, and cores were trampled to
death in the panic. that followed the
mad plunge Of the frightened audience
for he exits. It will be many hours
before the number of dead is accurate
~ known and many days before all
OF them will be identified. There are
bodies lying by the dozens in the un-
%dertaking rooms, in the police station;
and in the hospitals from which near
~ everything that could reveal their
identity to those who knew them best
Is gone. Their clothing is torn to
rags or burned to cinders and their
faces have been trampled into an un-
recognizable pulp by the heels of the
crowd that trampled them down as
they fed for safety.
The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-01-01
DRAFT SWEPT FIRE AND GAS
UP INTO THE BALCONIES.

In describing the commencement of
the FIRE Mr.. Foy attributed the extent
of the catastrophe to the failure of
the ireproof curtain to work properly.
Because of this, he said, the flames
readily obtained access to the main
part of the theater and were by the
draft carrying with it gas as well rs
fire. swept up to the two balconies
where the loss Of life was greatest.
"The fire began in the middle of the
second act" said Mr.. Foy. can cleo
trio wire broke, was grounded, and
from this the flames were started in
the real of the stage. The stage is
unusually wide and there was so great
a draft the flames spread rapidly.
They soon had attacked all the scenery
in the real Of the house. I never be-
lieved it possible for fire to spread SO
quickly. When it first started l went
to the footlight and to prevent alarm
ing the audience, said that there was
a slight blaze, and that it would be
better for all to leave quietly. Then
I stepped back and called for the as
bestos curtain to be lowered. This
when about half way down, refused to
go farther, and thus an additional
draft was created. This swept the
flames out into the auditorium and I
knew that the theater was doomed.
I hurried back to the stage and aided
in getting the women members of the
company into the alley.
The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-01-01
BODIES HAULED AWAY
IN DRAWS LIKE coRDWooD

&. a- --LA- En-.
Although all the patrol wagons and
was pressed into service, they were
utterly inadequate to carry away the
dead and in a short time there was a
line of corpses fifty feet long piled two
and three high on the sidewalk In
front of the theater. Il was found
necessary in order to convey the
bodies rapidly to the mprgue and to
the various undertaking establish
ments to impress trucks into service,
and in these, upon costly blankets fur
nished by the %drygoods stores in the
vicinity, and covered with the same
material. the dead were hauled away
practically like SO much cordwood.
One large freight truck was so
heavily loaded with dead in front OF
the theater that two large horses at
tached to it were unable to start 1t
and the police were compelled to as
sist by Juggling at the wheels.
The merchants in the avicinity Of the
theater rose to the emergency in
splendid fashion. Large dry goods
stores sent wagonload after wagon
load Of blankets. rolls of linen and
packages Of Gotten to be used in bind
ing up the wounds of the injured and
to cover the dead. The drug stores
furnished their stock to anybody that
asked for 1t in the name of people hurt
In the fire. Doctors and trained nurses
were on the ground by the score with
in half an hour after the extent OF the
calamity was known, and every
wounded person who. was carried from
the building received prompt medical
aid. ra, s4
The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-01-01
CONTEST NoTIcE.

Publication Dec. 25, 19O3.-4w]
The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-01-01
'iFTEEN PERSONS RESCUED
FROM A PERlLoUs POSITION,

Walters and cooks from Thompson's
restaurant rescued fifteen persons by
raising a ladder from the room Of a
shed to a window in the rear OF tn
building around which a mass OF
screaming women and children were
co~ngregated. c. Little, the head cook,
mounted to the top Of the ladder and
told them to jump into his arms.
Fifteen women and children did this
and were passed by Little down to
other men on the ladder below them.
One woman attempted to jump into
his arms before he was ready to take
hold Of her and she fell to the alley,
fracturing her skull. dying instantly.
It is estimated that the property
damage to the theater will amount to
$3.50, 900. This loss is sustained almost
entirely upon the interior decorations
and the destruction of glass and seats
made by the crowd in their rush for
the doors. What decorations were not
burned were ruined by smoke and
water.
The ghastly work ofe preparing the
dead for view by the thousands of
anxious friends and relatives who
haunt the morgues and other places
where the bodies Of the victims are ly-
ing is progressing slowly, and only
one-ifth Of the bodies had been identi-
fed at 2 o'clock. Dreadful and dis
tressing scenes are being enacted
everywhere, and the city is a house
Of mourning, the streets crowded with
frenzied seekers for missing dear ones.
FlREMEN SAVE SOME PEOPLE
IN ONE OF THE BALCONIES.
About a score Of persons in the Sec
ond balcony were saved by firemen
who took them through the roof and
carried them down ladders in the e
Of the building.
While many men wereA busy carry
ing out the dead and injured, others,
fortunately few in number. searched
the aisles and seats for valuables.
Two men, were found who had pro-
vided themselves with baskets and
were filing them with property of the
dead.
One liveryman says he went to the
union headquarters, where the drivers
who are now on strike were congre-
gated and told them he had donated
the carriages and asked If they would
| drive to the IroQuios theater to help
remove the wounded. They fatty re-
fused to do so.
The %Iroquois theater disaster was
| vastly more destructive to human life
than any other theater fire in this
country. The next most fatal fire was
In Conway's Brooklyn theater, Dec. 5,
1875. where 295 persons persisted. In
the great Chicago fire of 1871, but 200
lives were lost SO far as known.
The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-01-01

calamity Of Wednesday. It IL, next
to the Chicago fire, the greatest catas-
trOphe that has ever occurred here,
and the speed with which 1t came and
went seemed for a brief period to ap-
pal the business section Of the city.
The Jews spread with great rapidity
and in a short time hundreds of men,
women and children were rushing to-
wards the theater.
The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-01-01
ARE AsPHYxIATED
WHILE CRAWLING ON DEAD

Women on top of these masses of
dead had been overtaken by death as
they were crawling on their hands and
knees over the bodies Of those who
had died before. Others lay with
arms stretched out in the direction to-
ward which lay life and safety, hold
ing in their hands fragments of gar
menrs not their own. They were evil
IDENTIFY torn from the clothing of 9th
ers whom they had endeavored to pull
down and trample under foot as they
fought for their own lives.
AS the police removed layer after
layer of dead in these doorways, the
sight became too much even for po-
lice and firefnen, hardened as they are
to such scenes, to endure.
The bodies were in such an mex
tricable mass, and so tightly were they
damned between the sides of the door
and the walls that it was impossible
to lift them one by one and carry
they out. The only possible thing to
do was to seize a limb or some other
portion of the body and pull with main
strength. Men worked at the task
with tears streaming down their
cheeks and the sobs of the rescuer
could be heard even in the hall below
where this awful scene was being
enacted. A number of the men were
compelled to abandon their task and
give it over to others whose erv
had not as yet been shaken by the aw-
full experience.
BODIES ARE CRUSHED INTO
shAPELEss PULP Of FLEsR.
AS one by one the bodies we're
dragged out of the waterssoaked.
blackened mass of corpses, the spec
tacle became more and more heart
rending. There were women whose
clothing was torn completely from
their bodies above the waist, whose
bosoms had been trampled into a pulp
md whose faces were marred beyond
I'll 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 trpped over the
PROSTATE forms, and all had died
where they lay. evidently s~uffocated
by the gas. Others were bent over
backs of seats where they had been
thrown by the rush of people for the
doors and killed without hardly a
chance to rise from their seats. One
man was found with his back bent
nearly double, his spinal column hav.
The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-01-01
NoRTHwEsTERNERs AMONG
THE IDENTIFIED VICTIMS

%T ah.ln 49, IHHF.E ~
The following are the known dead
from Northwestern states:
Mrs. T. G. Peterson, Fargo, N. D.:
Mrs. M. Stark. Des Moines, Ia; Mrs.
o. ]. Tuthill, Des Moines; G. A. Wins
low, Three Rivers, Mimi; w. w. Hop
per, Kenosha, Wis; five children of
Fl. S. Van Ingen of Kenosha. Wis.
probable father became separated
from them and is among injured.
Mrs. c. Kranz, Racine, Wis, and B..
B. Stevenson, Madison, Wis, are
among the badly injured.
The fire broke out during the second
act of the play, "Mr. Bluebeard,"'
which was the first dramatic produc-
ton produced in the theater since it's
erection. The company. which was
very large. escaped safely to the
street in their stage costumes, a few
members of these sustaining minor
injuries.
The accounts of the origin of the
Ore are conflicting and none of them
The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-01-01
ASBESTOS CURTAIN STUCK
WHEN hALF WAY DOWN.

WHEN hALF WAY DOWN.
AS soon as the fire was discovered
Eddie Foy, the chief comedian of the
company, shouted to lower the curtain,
and this was Immediately done. 1t
descended about half way and stuck.
The fire thus vas given practically a
fue through which a strong draft was
setting. aided by the doors which had
been thre wn open in the front Of The
theater.
With a roar and q bound, the flames
shot through the opening owe the
heads of people on the first floor and
reaching clear up to those in the first
balcony, caught them and burned
them to death where they sat.
Immediately following this rush of
flames there came an explosion which
lifted the entire roof of the theater
from It's walls, shattering the great
skylight into Fragments As soon as
the flames first appeared beyond the
curtain a man in the rear Of the hall
shouted Fire, fret" 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 in con-
tact with the gas reservoirs Of the
theater, causing them to burst.
Will J. Davis, manager of the thea
ter, said after the catastrophe that ii
the people had remained in their seats
and had not been excited by the cry
of fire, not a single life would have
been lost. This is, however, contra
dicted by the statements Of the fire.
men, who found numbers of people
sitting in their seats, their faces d.
rected toward the stage Is II the per-
Torrance were still going on. It was
the opinion of the firemen that these
people had been suffocated at once by
the flow of gas which came from be-
hind the asbestos curtain.
The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-01-01
PARTIAL LIST OF THOSE
KILLED IN THE DISASTER.

Among the known dead are:
Mortimer Eldridge, Helen Boyer
soth, Rev. Henry L. Richardson, Louis
Kisner and wife, Thomas j. Flanagan,
Mrs. G. A. Henry, Rose X. Rogers, H.
H. Moore, G. l.. Cooper, May Curran,
boy named Martin" E. Moses, H. w.
Williams, B. Regenberg, Ella Linden,
Bernice Bailey, A. Mandel, Donald
Wells, Burr Scott, Fornetta Peterson,
Harvey Keller, Thomas Courtell,
Emily Hall, Henning, a boy; Walter
B. Eisler, - Nueir, Mrs. Emma
Bricnckley, Hoyt Fox, Richard and
Allen Hoist. Harold Martin, John Hol-
land, Lulu Shabbard, w. N. Prang,
Charles H. Kohl, Mrs. Dawson, Will
lam Bull, Robert Martin, Walter Bes-
singer, Margaret Buerman, Mrs. Leo
Wolff, Alice Kaufman. Helen Howard,
Helen Cooper, B. l.. Gould, Mrs. F. A.
Morrill,, Mrs. A. Sullivan, Miss Edith
Horton, Mrs. Harbaugh, Irene Lang,
Hortense Lang, E. A. Wilson, Mrs. W.
T. Marsh, Mrs. Donnelly, three stage
Otto Wattman, ". H. Coults, Miss
Howard, Miss Ross, Walter b. Zeisler,
G. Sidney Fox. Mrs. c. D. Bartlett,
Mrs. John A. Daneck, Gertrude Falken-
stein, Mrs. w. 7. Boise, Mrs. William
Dawson, William Beurtel, Mary D.
Gartz, Louise Buschwah, Leigh Hol-
land, j.. Graham, Will McGary, Lean.
der Deffendorf, Paul Windes, Mrs.
Morton Fox, Annie Moak, Walter
Phacker. James Mcclellan. Pauline
Geary, and se%venty-fve unidentified
dead at Randolph morgue.
The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-01-01
FRANTIC sEARcHERs EvADE
THE POLICEMEN ON DUTY

The building in which the calamity
occurred stands midway between
State and Dearborn streets on the
north side of Randolph street. Al
though every available policeman with
in call of the department was imme-
diately hurried to the spot and the
block allowing nobody to enter Ran
dolph street from either Dearborn or
State, 1t was found for a time almost
impossible to hold back the frenzied
crowd that pressed forward, many Of
them having friends or relatives in
the theater, succeeded in Grading
through the police III as and entering
the theater. and in many cases q
deroic work in rescuingss4the injured
and carrying out the dead.
A fireman and newspaper man
crawled up the dark stairway leading
to the balcony and found. the door
damned with bodies higher than their
heads. They at once notified Fire
Chief Mushane, who called all his
men to the rescue. ;
The gruesome work vas at once be-
gun. under the light Of 200 sdickering
lanterns.
So rapidly were the bodies brought
down that for over an hour there were
two streams Of men passing in and
out of the doorway, the one carrying
bodies, the other composed OF men re-
turning to get more. They were car
ried into Thompson's restaurant adj
joining the theater on the east. The
dead and wounded were placed upon
chairs. tables and counters, n wo-
man even being placed for lack Of a
better spot, on top Of a cigarcase.
The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-01-01
THE BILLINGS GAZETTE.

Ing 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 1t face
downward.
In the aisles nearest the doors the
scenes were narrowing In the extreme.
Bodies lay In every conceivable atti-
tude half naked, the look on their
faces revealing some portion Of the
agony which must have preceded their
death.
The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1904-10-20
q little box Ned with faded ribbon, and

little box lied with faded ribbon, and
In this were a locket and chain, two
rings and scrap Of paper. The writ
ing on the paper, once hastily scrawled
by despairing mothers hand, had al
most faded, and inside the locket were
two faces, one a mans with strongly
marked TEXTURES, the other girlish with
Dig eyes and hair in curS
These were all the heritage Of this
waif Of the sea who now, fair girl
with eyes and face like the woman's
picture, was leaning on the shoulder
OF her foster father, and they told a
pathetic tale of life and death: of ro-
nance and mystery not yet unwoven.
How many times that orphan girl
mad imagined what that tale might be:
now often before she had examined
every one OF those mute tokens; how
many times Cazed with mute eyes at
the faces in the locket; and how, as
the years bearing her onward toward
maturity passed. had she hoped and
waited, hoping ever that some word.
some whisper from that faroff land of
her birth might reach her!
And as she looked at those mute rel
les Which told so little and yet so much
OF her history, while the old man who
had been all that kind father could
be to her took them out one by one,
she realized more than ever what
debt of gratitude she owed to him.
When he had looked them over and
put them back in the exact order in
Which they had been packed, he closed
the box and, taking the little hand that
had been caressing his face in his own
WEinkled and bony one, held it for a
moment. When he released it the girl
stopped and, pressing her lips to his
weather Drowned cheek, arose and re-
sumed her seat.
WAL, We better put the box away
now" said Uncle Terry at last. "I'n
jest go out an take a look off'n the
pint, and then it'll be time to turn i'm
The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1904-10-20
! Uncle Terry
CHARLES CLARK MUM

the shores in ones own floating house,
as it were. has fascination for me-"
This expression of taste was so much
in line with Franks and the idea Of
having this charming girl for yacht
ing companion so tempting that his
face glowed.
Nothing would give me greater
pleasure" he responded, than to have
you for guest on my boat, Miss Page.
I think it could be managed if could
only coax my mother and sisters to go,
us. We would visit the Maine coast re-
sorts and have no end Of good time"
Its delightful outing you sug-
gest," she answered, land thank you
very much, but + wouldn't think of
coming if your family had to be coaxed
to go, and then it's not likely that Bert
could find the time"
ooh, I didn't mean it that way" he
said, looking serious, "only mother and
the girls are afraid of the water, that
is ALL
When conversation Jagged Frank
begged that she would sing for him
and suggested selections from Moody
and Sankey, and despite her brothers
sarcastic remark that it wasn't a re-
vival meeting they were holding she
not only played and sang all those
time worn melodies, but lot of others
from older collections When retiring
time came Frank asked that she con-
clude with "Ben Bolt"
II shall not need to recall that song
to remind me of you," he said in a
low voice as he spread it on the music
rack in front Of her, "but 1 shall al
ways feel it's mood when I think of
you"
docs that mean that you will think
of me as sleeping in corner obscure
and alone in some churchyard? she
responded archly.
by no MEANS" he said, ''only I may
perhaps have little of the same mood
at times that Ben Bolt had when he
heard of the fate of his sweet Alice"
It was pretty speech, and Frank
imagined she threw a little more than
usual pathos into the song after it,
but then no doubt his imagination was
biased by his feelings.
When they stood on the platform the
next morning awaiting the train he
said quietly:
MAY 1 send you a few books and
some new songs when get home, Miss
Page? I want to show you how much
I have enjoyed this VISIT
1T is very nice of you to say so,''
she replied, land shall be glad to be
remembered and hope you will visit US
again"
When the train came in he rather
hurriedly offered his hand and with a
Permit me to thank you again" as he
raised his hat turned away to gather
up the satchels SO as not to be witness
to her leave taking from her brother.