The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1904-01-05

Ny TIC rush Oh people LOT the QOOTS
and killed without hardly chance to
rise from their seats.
The theater has been constructed but
short time and all its equipment was
not yet in place. This was unfort IN
ately the case with a 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.
When the panic was at its height a
great number of women ran for these
fire escapes, only o fiEd as they
emerged from the doorway upon the
little iron platform that they were 80
to 80 feet from the ground, a fire be-
hind and no method of escape in front.
In a few moments the iron lodges
were damned with crowds Of women
who screamed, fought and tore at each
other like maniacs.
Although all the patrol wagons and
every ambulance owned by the city
were pressed into service. they were
utterly inadequate to carry away the
dead, and in short time there was a
line of corpses so feet long, piled two
and three high, on the sidewalk in
front of the theater. 1t was found
necessary in order to convey the bodies
rapidly to the mOrgue. and to the vari-
Gus undertaking establishments. to i'm
press trucks into service, and in these,
upon costly blankets furnished by the
dry goods stores in the vicinity, and
covered with the same material, the
dead were hauled away practically like
so much cord wood
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 assist by
Juggling at the wheels When the need
for trucks to remove the dead was more
pressing, q huge electric delivery
wagon owned by Montgomery Ward &
Co. was hailed by, the police.
While scores of men were busy car
rying 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 filling them with the property
of the dead. They were Immediately
placed under arrest and the theater
ushers and stage hands were given the
work of collecting all the valuables
on the floor of the theater. During the
evening the police arrested over "a
dozen men accused of being thieves
and piclzpockets.
Chicago, Jan. For the first time
since Chicago has possessed bells to
peal, whistles to shrek and horns to
blow, the old year was allowed to ST.
lentIy take its place in history and the
new year permitted to come with nc
evidence of JOY at its birth.
In an official proclamation issued
Thursday afternoon by Mayor Carter
H. Harrison he made the suggestion
that the usual New Years eve celebra-
ton be for this time omitted. The
idea found a ready response in the
hearts Of the people and the mayors
words in fact only gave utterance to
the uneXpressed thought that had fill
ed them all.
The appalling calamity of Wednes-
day in the IroQuois theater has cast
Chicago into the deepest grief and
gloom, and for the time being at least
seems to have chilled and deadened all
the ordinary ambitions Of life. Bust
ness Friday was performed with the
sole view to actual necessity and even
that much was carried out in a per-
functory manner
In addition to his proclamation IS
sued during the afternoon suggesting
that the usual New Years festivities
be abandoned, Mayor Harrison Thurs
day night made the announcement
that all departments of the city hall
will be closed On Saturday, January 2,
on account of the calamity at the Iro-
Quois theater He made the request
that all business houses throughout
the city also close on that day.
From early in the morning until late
at night crowds besieged the undertak-
ing rooms and hospitals looking for
the dead and injured. Policemen were
detailed at all places where the dead
and injured had been carried, to re-
strain the anxious men and women
who pressed in at the doorways and
inquired for their lost friends and rel
atives.
The scenes that were enacted
around the bodies Of the little chill
dren were pathos itself. There were
so many Of them and they had evident
ly been such beautiful children, and
were so handsomely dressed, that the
comparison between what they had
been and what they were caused men
and women alike to turn away weep
ing from the bodies of the little ones.
There has been no sadder feature con-
nected with the disaster than the kill
ing Of so many little children. 1t is
the one thing that seems to overpow-
er all visitors to the morgue beyond
anything else.
Six bushel baskets of valuables and
trinkets of various descriptions were
gathered by the police and flremen
and turned over 10 the coroner Among