Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1904-01-09
CAUSE OF THE FIRE.
Bursting Of q Calcium Light Appa-
ratus, Says t9s Management OF
A. L-..SQ,

the House,
Chicago. Dec. 31.-While the poHeennen
and fremen were carrying out the reao
and injured, VIII j. Davis, one Of the pro-
pr!etors of the theater. lent his efforts
to alleviate suffering and TO assist 10
care for the dead. He said:
'.There was no need. 30 far as ! know,
of a single life being lost. There were
! more than forty exits to the theater'
The building is fire proof, and IL some
body had not cried IRE i thinA tnat All,
as far as those killed In the panic wors
concerned, would have reached the street
In safety, and of those who were su1o-
, Gated by the gas nearly all would have
been out by the time the explosion &C.
Cured II order had been preserved In go
ing out.
"As tar as We heve learned everybody
on the first floor exceF. three escaped,
although several sustained BRUISES and
minor injuries. The great loss Of life was
in the first and second balconies. ThesT
combined will seat about 800 persons. Tbs
sale OF seats had been good. but was not
up to the capacity, and as far as 1 can
the two balconies held between
$50 and 500 persons. The top balcony.
where the cheapest seats are situated,
was the more crowded, and u was here
that the crowd found most difficulty in
struggling towards the exits"
1t was declared by the management
OF the theater that the fire was not
caused by the grounding of an electric
wire or by any defect in the equipment
OF the theater. 1t started, they assert,
by the bursting of a calcium light APP
paratus. The conclusion was so great
that 1t blew out the skylight over the
stage and auditorium. This state
ment OF the theater management is
contradicted by man who were in the
theater, and who declare that before
the explosion occurred they saw flames
In a narrow streak creeping along the
wall near the upper part OF the drop
curtain.
Statement of the Coroner.
Coroner Traeger examined the thea
ter after the disaster and said:
IF the asbestos curtain had been in
working order l believe that the fire
might have been prevented from
spreading into the audience chamber.
An iron railing which separated each
row Of seats from the adjoining tier
prevented many. 1 think, from reach
ing places Of safety. This circum-
stance, combined with the steep in
cline. made it difficult for so large
an audience to escape without great
delay, n this is a modern, fireproof
theater, furnished with all the appli-
ances and equipment that are supposed
to prevent just such a catastrophe as
Ids oSNuilcu' IL pIuSIl vi llt oCdto
of the first balcony was charred, but
still visible. This does not look to me
as though everybody would have got
Of the theater alive If there had
been no panic, when you take into ac-
count the speed with which the flames
spread. My inspection showed that the
seats on the main floor were only
slightly burned. The balconies had ev-
identity shielded the seats in the AR
quette. The hea Of the flames was ev-
ident. The stage and the ceiling of
the theater were blistered and black
ened. There was almost no damage to
the furniture on the first floor. The
boxes on the second tier were destroyed
by fire, while those on the first floor
were burned only in spots, evidently by
burning fragments from above"
First Playhouse in Chicago.
The ~Iroquois theater was completed less
than two months ago at a cost Of $500 900,
and was the finest playhouse in Chicago
1t was opened to the public on the night
of November % with MIR. B~luebeard." 1t
had a seating capacity of LIZA.
The records of the city building depart
ment show that the theater was complete
in every detail, and that 1t was absolutely
freproof, all the requirements Of law
having been complied with.
w. A. Merriman, western manager of
the George A. Fuller company, the con
Germ which erected the lroquois theater,
when seen last night made the following
statement concerning the construction OF
the building:
."The Iroquois theater vas built with
safety as the first consideration. All the
building ordinances were adhered 10 in
every detail, and more than that, there
were additional safeguards thrown about,
until / do not hesitate TO say that there
was no theater building in the country
which was freer from danger. The ex-
it's were numerous, and all the work
the company performed was fire proof.
After making a careful examination OF
the building since the fire 1 find that the
structure as erected still stands intact"