Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1904-01-04

life, which must have taken place at
these two points, is simply beyond hui
man power to adequately describe.
Only a faint idea of its horror could
be derived from the sight OF the
bodies as they lay.
Saves Few, Kills Many.
The curtains failure to drop prob
ably saved the lives of the
company, although it caused such
horrible catastrophe in the front OF
the house.
Extent Not Grasped.
The building was so full of smoke
when the firemen first arrived that the
full extent of the catastrophe was not
Immediately grasped until fireman
and a newspaper man crawled up to
the balcony, holding handkerchiefs
over their mouth to avoid suffocation.
AS they reached the doorway, the fire
man, whose vision was the better
trained in such emergencies, seized
his companion by the arme and shout
ed. Good Cob man, don't. walk on
their faces. - =, - ! - Z z.sfsv
Door damned WIKI Dead.
They tried vainly to get through the
door, which was damned with dead
women piled higher than either of
their heads. The two Immediately
hurried to the door below and inform
ed Fire Chief Musham that dead
bodies were piled high in the balcony
and prompt assistance must be rem
dered If any were to be saved. The
work of fighting the fire was abandon
ed and the firemen went at once to
the rescue. The place was in entire
darkness, but soon 200 lanterns were
carried into the building and the
work of rescue commenced. -
Mad Fight for Life.
Some lay with their arms stretched
out in the direction toward which
lay life and safety, holding in their
hands fragments of garments not their
own. They were evidently torn from
the clothing of others 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 the dead in these doorways,
the sight became too much even for
the police and fremen, hardened as
they are to such scenes, to endure.
The bodies were in such an ineXtric-
able mass; and so tightly damned be-
tween the sides of the door and walls
that it was impossible to lift them
one by one and carry them out The
only possible thing to do was to seize
a body and pull it with main strength.
Awful Scene Of Rescue.
Men worked at the task with tears
running down their cheeks, and the
sobs of the rescuers could be heard
even in the hall below as this awful
scene was being enacted. A number
of men were compelled to abandon
and give over to others whose nerves
had not as yet been shaken by the
awful experience. AS one by one the
bodies were dragged out of the water
soaked blackened mass of corpses,
heartrendring scenes multiplied.
Women MangIed and Torn.
There were women whose clothing
was torn completely from their bodies
above the waist whose bosoms had
been trampled into pulp and whose
.aces were marred beyond all power
of Identification. In some places they
were piled up in the aisles three and
four deep, where one had fallen and
Others tripped over and all had died
where they lay, evidently suffocated
by the gas. Others were bent over
the backs of seats where they had
been thrown by the rush for the doors
and killed without hardly a chance to
rise from their seats. One man was
found with his neck bent nearly
double. A woman was found nearly
torn in half by the back of seat, she
having been forced over it face down
ward.
TrampIed to Pulp.
There were scores of people whose
entire face had been trampled by the
heels of those who rushed over them
and in one aisle the body of a man was
found with not a vestige of clothing,
flesh or bone remaining above his
waist line. The entire upper portion
of his body had been cut and carried
away by the feet of those who
trampled him. Search was carefully
made with the hope of finding his head,
but at late hour it had not been dis
covered and all that will ever tell his
friends who he was is the color and
appearance of the clothing on the
lower limbs and this is in such a con-
dition as to be hardly recognizable.
No Fire Escapes.
The theater was so recently con-