The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-03
Mayor Harrison Finds That None of Them Have Con-
 piled With the Law
MANAGERS ASK FOR TIME
 BUT RECEPTION IS FROSTY
Sunday Will Be a Day of Funerals and 1t Is Els imated That Over 100 Bodies Will Be Inferred In
 the Various Cemeteries.

| Chicago, January 2.-Tonight every
 theatre in the city of Chicago is dark, and it's doors are locked. With a single
 exception, none of them will be open to
 the public until their managers have
 complied in the fullest manner with
 every section of the ordinances reguat-
 ing play houses.
 The total number of dead tonight was
 definitely established at 5s7, of which but
 twelve remain unidentified. | The order compelling the theatres to
 close was issued this afternoon by Mayor
 Harrison after conference with Cor
 poration Counsel Toulman. who assured
 the mayor that ample legal ground ex-
 sted for his action
 l Seventeen theatres and museums were
 closed last night and the sweeping order
 of the mayor today shut the doors of
 sixteen more. These last are leading l theatres in the business section of the
 city, and are the Bush Temple, Calumet,
 Cleveland, Great Northern. Haymarket,
 Peoples Institute, Hopkins Trocadero, | Columbus, Studebaker, Grand Opera House, McVickers, LaSalle, Garrick, Illi-
 nois and Powers.
 | The last two are owned and controlled | by Powers & Davis the managers of the
 ill-fated Iroquois.
 | The Garrick theatre closed today is not
 to be confounded with the Garrick
 closed yesterday it being one of the | lag st llay houses in the city, while the
 one concerning which action was taken
 yesterday, is a much smaller affair in the
 northwestern portion of the city.
 Have No Asbestos Curtains.
 The seventeen places of amusement I which were shut down last night, were
 closed for the one reason that they were
 not provided with an asbestos curtain.
 The further action taken today, is in con-
 sequence of violations of other sections
 of the ordinance regulating theatres.
 There was a nasty rush of theatrical
 managers to the office of Mayor Harri-
 son in the effort to secure the withdrawal or at least postponement of the order,
 but their reception was of an exceedingly frosty nature. They were informed by
 the mayor that the inspectors had re- ported in. the case of every one of them violations of the law and he was deter
 mined that it should not be said here
 after that the city had neglected any | thing which could prevent d repetition of the horror of last Wednesday after. | noon.
 The fact that the asbestos curtain in | the Iroquois theatre was 50 badly wreck | ed by the fire that charred portions of 1t | had been carried away by the various in- yestigating committees caused the mayor
 to decide that asbestos curtains could not | be relied upon to afford the most com plete protection.
 | Stringent Provisions. l It was announced that every theatre in the city must hereafter comply with the
 following provisions before they will be allowed to open:
 l Steel rod curtains.
 1 Wide exits.
 l No combustibes of any kind in the house furnishings.
 l Fire-prcofed scenery.
 No calcium or spot" lights to be used | on the stage.
 Skylights above the stage, provided with automatic lids to permit the egress
 of smoke, fire and gas.
 1 Separate stairways. each exit havilng it's own stairs leading to the street. | After issuing his sweeping order, Mayor l Harrison said:
 l No Precaution Neglected. l "I do not wish to assume responsibili- l ty for these theatres. The order was is- | sued to make 1t certain that no precau- | ton to insure the safety of the audiences | had been neglected. It is quite probable l that the owners of theatres may sustain serious financial loss. but in view of the l condition of the playhouses, we cannot | take any risk, and If the law had been full ly compiled with in the first place, there | would have been no question of closing l them now. The Auditorium which is the i only theatre left open in Chicago, has | steel roll curtain, and as this scenes to be | the only curtain that affords absolute l protection against fire in view of the fact l that the Iroquois curtain was destroyed, | I have determined as far as possible to see l that the other play houses are similarly | provided
 1 There Is no engagement at the Auditori- um at present, so 1t is dark like the rest. Owners of the Iroquos Arrested. | Will J. Davis and Harry Powers. pro- l prietors of the Iroquois theatre. and l Building Commissioner Williams. are un- l der arrest charged with manslaughter. They have been released on Slu'0W Donds, ] and their hearing is set for January 12. 1 The warrants for their arrest were sworn l out by Arthur E. Hull. who lost his wife and three children in the fire. MT. Hull | explained that his action was not in- | spired by any motive of vengeance, but l simply to make it certain that the owners l of the theatre should not escape any | chance of punishment that was rightfully | theirs while stagehands and electricians
 and other employees were compelled to suf- | fer.
 Fire Inspector Monroe Fulkerson to- night announced that he had finally dis l covered the secret of the fire. The asbes- tos curtain upon which the safety of the audience depended was. according to Mir. | Fulkerson, blocked in its descent by a steel reflector, carelessly left open by a stage hand While one end of the cur tain got within five feet of the stage, the other was suspended twenty feet above 1t,