The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-01-08
CHICAGO THEATER HORROR;
Death LIST REACHES 564

eastern stairway leading into the lob
by. Outside OF the people burned and
suffocated by gas. 1t was in these two
doorways on the first and second ball
comics that the greatest loss of life oc-
CURED. When the flremen entered the
building the dead were 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 the rear Of the door.
This mass of bodies at the center
doorway reached within two feet of the
top of the hall. All the corpses at this
point We're women and children. Here
a fight for life took place that dis
mantled many persons in death. This
Is shown by the aspect Of the bodies
as they lay when found.
Women on top of these masses Of dead
had been overtaken by death as they
crawled on hands and knees over the
bodies of those who had died before. 9th
ers lay with arms stretched out in the di-
rection Of life and safety, holding in their
hands fragments Of garments not their
own They had evidently been torn from
the bodies of others whom they had en-
deavored to pull down and trample under
foot as they fought for life.
Scenes Of Horror.
of dead in these doorways the sight be-
came so sickening that policemen and fire.
men, hardened as they are to horrible
scenes. turned away in horror. The bodies
were in such an inextricable mass, and
SO tightly were they jammed between the
sides of the door and the walls that 1t was
impossible to lift them one by one and
carry them out. The only possible thing
to do was to seize les or arm or piece
of clothing and pull with main strength,
dragging several entWined bodies away
together
Policemen and firemen worked at the
task with tears running down their cheeks
and the sobs of other rescuers could be
heard IN the street.
A number of men were compelled to
abandon the work and seek the open air,
while others whose nerves had not as yet
been shaken, proceeded with the untan-
Cling
A Whited SepuIcher.
There were fears that in the base
ment, beneath ten feet of muddy wa
ter, would be found more victims Of
the smoke and flames. The big fire en-
gines that had deluged the place were
now being utilized to draw forth dozens
of streams of thick. murky water from
the basement, while a dozen f1remen in
hip boots made a thorough search of
the basement for bodies.
The exterior Of the theater presents
almost the same appearance as before.
but Its interior marked it as a true
whited sepulcher. Among the thou-
sands Of bits of brilliantly colored glass
shattered in the fight against the
flames lay many scorched bits of cloth
Ing ard occasional fragments Of
charred bodies.
From the upper galleries the view
was a reminder of burned out VOL
cano crater. In saloon near the the
alter was guarded a huge pile of gar
ments and furs gathered up in the the
alter after the fire.
Five bushel baskets We're filled with
the purses, gloves and handkerchiefs
OF the fleeing mob Of terror-stricken
women.
Two barrels were needed to hold the
overshoes, and shoes were found. The
great center Of excitement was Rol-
ston's morgue, to which the majority
morgues We're surrounded, but about
Rolston's We're massed hundreds Of
men, and surrounding them, like huge
fan, spread hundreds of weeping wom-
en- and children.
The Morgues Besesed.
The numerous police stationed there
could not begin to handle the crowds
and extra details We're hurried to the
besieged morgue. On a lesser scale the
Sdlue 1GdElul siege was QrOSTeSS at
the various other 1norgueS.
E. c. Frady. president of the Stroh-
ber Piano company, today after un-
ceasing search found five dead of a
theater party of six headed by his
wife. Each one was found at a differ
ent morgue. One is still missing Those
identified were Mrs. Lillian M. Frady,
Mrs. ]. H. srindler, Frady's sister.
Burdette Splndler, aged 10, Leon Frady,
np M,,S e,;c ~,f
Frady, is still missing.
One of the most peculiar identifica-
tions today was that of the headless
body Of Boyer Alexander, aged 8. The
lads father, DR.. w. ID. Alexander, had
sleeplessly sought his son all night
long, and today in examining the head
less corpse Of child the physician
identified his own watch, birthday
present from the father, found upon
the remains.
"A pitiful scene attended the identi-
fication of Marjorie Edwards, Ia years
old, of Clinton, Ia. Her father, w. NJ.
Edwards, who had been in Chicago on
visit, identified his daughters ter
ribly burned body from sample of the
his pocket.
Search for the Dead.
Chief of Police O'Neiil supervised the
recover their dead. Hundreds of per-
sons, with grief and anxiety written on
their faces, thronged about the chiefs
Office, seeking information. The pres
sure grew SO strong that Secretary
Markham, mounting chair, read off
the descriptions to the multitude, who
listened with straining ears. FIRE.
quently persons In the crowd recog-
nized the descriptions and started in
horror for the particular morgue named
as the words fell from the secretarys
lips.
At the morgues the inadequacy of
means of inspecting the bodies was evil
dent Only few persons at time
were allowed to pass before the bodies,
and places in the line of admission were
as eagerly sought and fought for as
means Of escape We're when the theater
was burning.
crnpu nc TUE Enppnp