The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-01

CHICAGO, Dec. a--Some of the most re-
markable incidents of the Iroquois Theater
fire were unknown until to-day. F.. l.. Dom
aldson, a loop chief for the Western Union
Telegraph Company. handled a long tele-
graph story of the IRE and its harvest OF
death, unaware that his own wife was
among the missing. When he went home
he found she had gone to the theater. He
hurriedly returned and searched for her
through the morgues and in the hospitals,
but to-day had not found the least trace of
the missing woman.
Adobe Philipson, eight years of age, was
one of the children struck down and tram
pied to death. Her body was removed by
the firemen and taken to a drug store.
There the child was seen by her mother,
who had escaped uninjured. The mother
became hysterical. but was not permitted
to go near the child's body. B~ystanders
tried to make the woman believe the little
girl had escaped death. Mrs. Philipson was
led away and did not learn the truth for
two hours.
Foremost among the remarkable escapes
was that of Winnie Gallagher, twelve years
of age. The girl occupied a seat in the
IllTQ TOW OH the main IOOT, dnQ mat ShS
was able to make her way through the
struggling mass of stronger and older per-
sons is considered remarkable by the police.
Unassisted the girl made her way over the
heads of terr0r-stricken people and escaped.
When she reached the street her clothing
was torn almost into shreds.
Among the first persons to escape were
- .~I TNarofLx Dnrtr tvvO
children. They were in the parquet fifteen
rows from the stage. Il saw the scenery
catch fire on the lower left-hand side of
the stage said the boy. Eddie Foy came
to the front and told us to sit still. but we
decided we would get out, and right away.
Four women tainted near me and nearly all
the others seemed dazed and just sat still.
We got up and kicked the door open. I
think a lot of the others could have come,
too. if they had not been so scared. We
stood outside until they brought a dead
man out and then We went home.
One of the heroes of the fire was Peter
Quinn, chief special agent of the Atchison,
Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad system, who
assisted in saving the lives of 100 or more
of the performers from a fate as horrible
as the victims in the theater proper.
Wedged so tightly in a crowd at the door
of the stage entrance that they could not
move, the men, women and children COM
posing the company of performers were
standing helplessly and with agcnized looks
in their faces. TIL stage door was closed.
THE massive stage door of the Iroquois,'
said Mr.. Quinn to-day, lis like many 9TH
ers of it's kind. The two main swinging
doors are used when scenery is taken to or
from the theater and built in the swinging
structure itself is a small trap door used
by the players in leaving or entering the
stage. This trap door opened inwardly. AS
l passed it L heard a commotion and saw
the door was slightly open, and, peering
into the opening, / curiOusly asked what
was the trouble. Then for the first time 1
and others who had arrived outside about
the same time learned that the theater was
on fire. The players, men, women and
children. had rushed 10 this small trap
door for escape, got caught in a solid mass
and were so firmly wedged together that
they could not move. They were banked
solidly against the little door and ii could
not be opened. Nearly all of the players
were in their stage costumes, and the
the paint from their faces. The women
screamed and begged us to rescue them
and the cries of the children could be
heard above the hoarse shouts of the men.
We tried To force the door open, but the
crowd was banked up too tightly against it.
i'm the rear of the crowd we could see the
illumination from the flames. | had a num-
Der of small tools in my pocket and imme-
diately proceeded TO remove the metal at
m which held the door in place.
This was accomplished with some difficulty,
and then We managed to force the crowd
back probably an inch, but that was suf-
fcient. The door was then permitted to
drop from its place, and one b. one the
imprisoned players were assisted into the
alley. Even when the last player and
stage-hand had reached the alley we could
not realize the awfulness of what had hap
pened. l walked in upon the stage and
found it a seething furnace. The players
had been rescued just in time. A minute
later and the flames and smoke would have
reached the imperiled ones, and they would
have been suffocated or burned where they
stood"
Sorrow reigned in the residence of DR..
Frank w. Gunsaulus. the noted divine, who
lives at 261S Prairie avenue. William Nc
Laughlin, nineteen years of age, a nephew
of Mrs. Gunsaulus, was one of those severe
~ burned. He was taken TO the PreSbyter-
ian Hospital, where the attending physicians
entertained no hope for his recovery. Mr..
McLaughlin's home is in Buenos Ayres. He
is a member of the sophomore class of the
Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, o.,
and was spending his holiday vacation at
the GunsauluS home. He was to have wit
messed the marriage of Miss Martha Gun
saulus to Henry Hamilton Shueler, which
takes place at the Prairie-avenue residence
this evening. Owing to his condition all in
vitations to the ceremony have been recalled
and only the immediate relatives of the
bride and groom will be present.
All night long search was kept up for
Mary Dorothy CARTE, twelve years old, and
Barbara Gartz. four years old. who attended
the theater with their aunt, Mrs. Adelaide
Hoptfeldt. To-day their bodies had not been
found and there seems to be no doubt that
the children have persisted. They are the
daughters of A. +. Gartz and the nieces of
r. 4. Crane, the millionaire manufacturer
Of this city. Mrs. Hoptfeldt was taken from
the theater severely burned about the head
have been caught in the crush coming down
from the balcony and to have been trampled
to death on the staircase leading to the
main floor.
Graeme Stewart. Republican national
committeeman from Illinois, spent the entire
night hunting for Mrs. F. NJ. Fox, of Win
netka, H.. and her three children. Mrs.
Fox is the daughter of William Hoyt. who
was president of the William Hoyt Grocery
Company, one of the wealthiest concerns Of
the kind in the West. Mrs. Fox was taken
home, but none of her children was found.
Mr.. Stewart said the handkerchief of Hoyt
Fox. twelve yeers old, has been found in the
pocket of a suit upon the body of a boy at
Rolston's morgue. There is no doubt that il
is the boy, although the features cannot be
identified.
None Of the tales of horror connected with
the tragedy SURPRISES that of the Van Ingen
family. Mr.. and Mrs. Van Ingen and five
children were in the theater, having planned
to visit Mr. Blue Beard as a holiday treat.
They had seats well down in the parquette.
When the cry of fire was raised Mr.. Van