davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-01

were we'll on their way to the street when
OVertaken by the frightened rush of those
they had left behind them.
Miss Anna Woodward, a woman who Oc-
cupied a seat in the second balcony, gave
strong evidence to-day on this point. She
said: Il was in the second balcony and
plainly saw the fire. l am a large woman,
weighing close TO $50 pounds, and made
up my mind that If there was going to
be "A panic it would be wise for me TO beat
II TO the street. / left my seat i'm the bal
cony, went down the stairs 10 the first bal
cOny and from there started to pass out
through the very door in which so many
people were killed a few minutes later.
The door was closed and a man standing
on the outside refused TO open il so that
l could pass out. Whether he was an en-
plOye of the theater or not L do not know,
but he had evidently determined that no
one should leave the theater, and in so
doing started a panic. / was leaving
quietly up to this time, but when he re-
fused to allow me to pass out peaceably, I
determined 10 get out if / had TO make all
sorts Of noise. ] went along the balcony
about ten feet to a glass partition and
smashed it with the point Of my umbrella,
] went out and down the stairs. When 1
was about half way down heard the
roar of the crowd as il came after me and
l hurried with all the speed I had. They
overlook me however, knocked me down,
and but for the fact that l was close to
the door, l think my chance of life would
have been almost nothing. AS il was, l
think l must nave walked the last ten
feet of my passage TO the exit on the bodies
Of those who had fallen"
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-01
Criminally Negligent
if the Doors Were Locked

Coroner Traeger pointed to the balcony
rail, which was bent in in several places,
and said that a number of spectators had
jumped through these openings to the
lower floor. All inspection was then made
of the exits leading to the fire escapes and
the jurors were told that the bodies of the
dead were piled ten feet high in front of
these doors when the police reached the
scene after the fire. IF those doors were
locked somebody was criminally negligent, "
said Juror Finn.
The exits are too small anyway" said
Foreman Meyer, as he measured the doors
leading TO the fire escapes.
In both balconies there were hundreds of
grewsome relics of the catastrophe scat
tered between the seats, where they had
been dropped by the terrified victims. There
were a score or more of rubber shoes,
muffs, handkerchiefs, gloves, children's
wooden hoods and mittenS. A g~0ld-trimmed
comb was found with the inscription, From
Jack to Little, Christmas, 1908. Under
one seat was found a tiny doll, which had
evidently been taken to the theater by a
little girl. The jurors were deeply affected
by the sight as they sorted over the relics
of the disaster.
At the conclusion of the inspection of the
theater it was decided to continue the in
quest until Friday morning at 9 o'clock:
"A lew OF the questions O WHO II jury
will endeavor to obtain satisfactory answers
at the inquest are:
Were the steel doors leading to the fire
escapes on the first and second balconies
locked when the fire broke out?
IF they were locked, were they opened
promptly by the attendants?
Why was it impossible to lower the
asbestos curtain?
"Why did the management permit the
use of arc lights in the lilies with no device
TO prevent sparks from the carbOns igniting
the borders of the scenery and curtain?
why did the ushers shut all the doors
and urge the audience 10 remain seated
after the fire broke out, instead of doing
everything possible to empty the house?
Coroner Traeger n his assistants did
all in their power to-day to supply in
formation concerning the dead and wound
ed, but five times the number of available
men in his office could not have accom-
plished the task. Crowds of people be-
sieged the office throughout the day and
begged that arrangements might be made
so that they could view the bodies with
out delay. The applicants were promptly
furnished with permits, which they showed
to the police and which admitted them to
any hospital or morgue.
Six bushel baskets of v~aluables and
trinkets Of various descriptions were gath
cred by the police and firemen and turned
over to the coroner. Among these were
fully a dozen watches, and in every case
the watch had stopped at $50 o'clock. the
time when the fire broke out.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-01

day and Saturday:
~ldiana-Fair on Friday; colder in north
tion and at night in south portion. Sat-
lay fair; fresh southwest to northwest
Ids.
linois-Fair and colder on Friday. Sat
ay fair; fresh southwest to northwest
DIS.
Ohio-Fair on Friday and Saturday, ex-
kpt snow in northeast pOrtions; colder on
&turday in south portion; fresh southwest
nds.
kentucky-Fair on Friday. Saturday
r and colder.
lower Michigan-CIoudy on Friday:
DIV and colder in north and west portions.
turday generally fair; fresh to brisk
lest TO northwest winds.
North Dakota-Fair on Friday and Sat
day.
south Dakota n Nebraska-Partlv
udy and much colder on Friday. Sat
lay fair.
k~ansas-Fair and much colder on Friday
n Saturday.
f~innesota-Fair on Friday; colder in east
ton. Saturday fair fresh north winds.
bwa-Fair and much colder on Friday.
urday fair.
ennessee-Fair on Friday: colder in ex-
me west portion. Saturday fair: colder
central and east portions.
Fisconsin-Fair and colder on Friday.
kurday fair; fresh 10 brick northwest
n6S-
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-01

Burdette Spindler. ten years old. and Leon
Frady, ten years old. Frady's mOther-in-
law died at st. Luke's an hour after reach
ing the hospital. Mrs. William Rise, a sis
ter of Frady's, is still missing.
One Of the most peculiar of the identif-
cations to-day was that of the headless
body of Boyer Alexander. eight years old.
The lads father, DR.. w. u. Alexander,
AIS Washington boulevard, had ~sleepless-
ly sought his son all night long. and to-
day, in examining the headless corpse of
a child the physician identified his own
by a watch, a birthday present from the
father, found upon the remains.
A pitiful scene attended the identification
of Marjorie Edwards, fourteen years old, Of
Clinton, Ia Her father, William r. Ed
wards, who has been in Chicago on a visit.
identified the daughters terribly burned
body from a sample of the clothes of her
skirt, which he carried i'm his pocket.
Mr.. Harry Wunderlich, representing a
piano house Of his city, and residing at
Wilson avenue and Clark street, recovered
the body of his young daughter Helen, aged
seven years, at the county morgue. The
most pathetic side of this case is that the
mother OF the little girl, Mrs. Pearl Wun-
derlich, t~hirty-fve years Of age, and her
father are still missing, as they were sep
arated from their child in the terrible
crush during the panic.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-01
CRITICISE
PLANS OF THE THEATER

CHICAGO, Dec. 31.-Twelve members of
the City Council to-day inspected the the
alter and after doing so returned to the City
Hall and called on the building depart
ment. They asked to see the plans Of the
theater. Mr.. S~tanhope produced them.
How about s%prinklers?" demanded Alder
eating committee.
"The way the theater is built they can be
left out" Mr.. Stanhope replied. "And,
anyhow, the flames spread so rapidly that
no sprinkler system would nave availed
anything
Alderman Jones then remarked that the
ordinance requires all exits to be marked.
THAT will be looked into" Mr.. ~Stanhope
said. Remember, however, that the lights
were out and that many of the people were
killed in their seats"
Pointing to the diagram of the theater,
Alderman Herman said: Here is a pas
sageway on the south side of the first bal
cony which looks as though it led to a stair
way. But in the darkness the people scram-
bling through it were caught like rats in
the trap. They could not get either way.
The confusion of exits was such that no
one could find his way in the dark. If those
things are considered exits L don't know
what constitutes an exit that would be of
any use"
Mr.. Stanhope told the alderman that he
mad MADE an Inspection OF the building ana
that, structurally, it was good.
"You cannot convince me-" declared AL
derman Herman, IF you talk for a hundred
years that people could get out of that
place. l do not care what they call the
exits; they did not work. There were not
enough of them open, and the people could
not get out. These plans show aisles at the
end of the first floor, but we were over
there and saw the seats run bank-up
against the railing, leaving no aisle at all.
Now, what / want to know is, did these
people, in building this theater, live up to
the plans they submitted to the city build
ing department? Here there seemed to be
ample exits on paper, but a number of
friends Of mine got badly scorched, just the
same"
ION the first floor they got out" said Mr..
Stanhope.
my friends were on the first floor, but
they got burns on their backs just the
same" Alderman Hermann rejoined.
Alderman Friestedt declared that in the
second gallery there is not sufficient room
when the seats are down to allow any one to
walk between them. Alderman Scully and
Alderman Conrey took from the floor OF the
stage bits of stage curtain, none of which
was larger than the palm of a hand, for
examination TO the store Of an asbestos COM
pany. The bits We're shown to be of ashes
tos, although the examiner pronounced it of
a low grade.
"They wanted a cheap curtain and they
got it" an ~incautious clerk remarked. He
was instantly hushed up by one Of the men,
bers of the company, who added they did
not wish to discuss the matter. inasmuch as
they had bid upon supplying the curtain 10
the theater and their bid had been rejected
for q lower one.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-01
HELD BY QUEENS WIRE;
CURTAIN WAS JAMlED

CHICAGO, Dec. 31.-The cause of the
"jamming" of the asbestos curtain. con-
sidered the cause of the Iroquois Theater
disaster, was explained to-day by an in
spector for the underwriters. who made a
tour OF the house and found that the wire,
on which the queen of the aerial ballet
flew out over the audience in the second
act held the asbestos curtain i'm the place
and prevented 1t from being lowered. 1t
was shown by the Inspector that the wire
on which the most spectacular feature of
the show was made practically caused the
holocaust.
Messrs Davis and Powers, managers of
the Iroquois. have called a meeting at the
Illinois Theater of all members of the Mr..
Bluebeard' company and a fun statement
will be made after a careful Investigation.
As 10 the report that there was a fire in the
Iroquois three weeks ago and that the
asbestos curtain refused to work on ac-
count of being controlled by ropes instead
OF wires, Messrs Davis and Powers en-
phatically deny IL. They state. also, that
the curtain was controlled By the strong
est wires that IL was possible 10 use. The
facts are, according TO them, that the cur
tain swayed the moment the ten or twelve
exits were thrown open. owing TO the rush
OF air.
Employees of the ~Iroquois Theater place
the terrible loss of life 10 the tanning
OF the asbestos curtain. Had IL worked
properly they say the fire would nave been
confined TO the stage alone. At every per-
Torrance of the show the asbestos curtain
has been raised and lowered. II has al
ways run smoothly, according to the en-
plOyes. Ii was so ranged that should
one ~ the cables holding IL break the cur
tain would descend by its own weight. The
asbestos curtain was held by four steel
abIes IL slid up and down on. and was
guided by. two others, one OF each side.
These four cables extended above the grid
iron. The gridiron is the framework whfa/
the taekle by MhielAns
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-01

9tanding room. The actual seating ca
ity Of the theater is: First floor, 700;
1frst balcony. 40: second balcony. $50; third
balcony. 465. total. 1.6l5.
.Win J. Davis. one Of the proprietors of
|the theater. was questioned tonight as to
|the number of tickets sold and asked if
IL was true that 500 people were standing in
bisles and in rows back Of the seats on each
floor. Mr.. Davis was plainly unstrung. and
begged TO be excused from talking Of the
Imatter. which, ne said, was too mOnstrous
% dispose Of in a few ordinary words" Mr..
pDaxis said ne had not seen Mr.. Newman,
lwho alone of the theater employees knew the
Lnumber of persons admitted. Il do not
kcredit the statement" said Mr.. Davis,
ascribed 10 one Of the ushers. that as
Iany as 500 people were standing in the
ar Of the seats. On Wednesday afternoon
er the fire. however. several of the ush-
declared that at least 1900 people were
the theatcr. which seats but 1.615."
1t was practically decided tonight that
public memorial meeting for the victims
the theater disaster will be held next
elk. in order to afford expression of the
rrOw Of the city over the great disaster
pd to perform the last rites for those
hose bodies cannot be identified. The
Ivement for the meeting IS still somewhat
lefnite, but there is little doubt but that
viii be held.
be newspapers tonight were deluged by
ouncements from ladies and from the
Fetaries OF dozens Of social OrganiZa-
s announcing the recalling OF invita-
for all festival gatherings which had
planned for Tomorrow. It is almost
in that throughout the length and
9TH of the city, during the remainder
his week. not a single private rgrGDtf0n
official function of any kind will be
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-01
NEW YEAR USHERED IN
WITHOUT USUAL NOISE

CHICAGO, Dec. 31.-Foliowing is the text
of a proclamation issued by Mayor Harri-
son:
ION each recurring New Years eve
annoyance has been caused to the sick and
infrm by the indulgence of thoughtleSs
persons in noisy celebrations of the pas
sage of the old year. The city authorities
have at all times discouraged this prac-
tice, but now, when Chicago lies in the
shadow of the greatest disaster in her
history for a generation, n~oise-making,
whether by bells, whistles, cannon, horns
or any other means, is particularly objec-
tionable.
"As mayor of Chicago 1 would, therefore,
request all persons to refrain from this
Indulgence and | would particularly ask
all railway officials and all persons in con-
troll of factories, boats and mills to direct
their employees not TO blow whistles be-
tween the hours of II and 1 o'clock to-
night"
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-01

CAGO, Dec. 31.-There was animated
sion to-day among hremen. employees
theater and architects as to the cause
Ufroquois Theater fire. Accounts differ
y as widely as they varied last night.
theatrical people are practically a unit
declaring that the fire started with an
Explosion, and in this they are fatty con-
nee. who declare that they saw the fire
Keeping along the edge Of the curtain for
bveral minutes before the explosion took
,lace- These statements are substantiated
u the stories of a number of people who
UT their seats after seeing the blaze, and
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-01
CHARMED HOUSE PUT
UNDER POLICE GUARD

CHICAGO, Dec. Shy order of Coroner
Traeger the theater charnel house was to-
day placed under a tight police guard. No
person could enter without a written order
from Chief of Police O'Neill, who was noti-
fed that he would be held responsible for
keeping the theater building in the exact
condition in which it was left by the sweep
of the flames.
Thirty partoImen were stationed across
the front of the building, and twenty men
guarded the rear. Within were thirty more
officers, the whole interior, including the
stairways and fire-bitten balconies, being
zealOusly guarded.
As soon as possible to-day an.additional
detail of policemen went through the
burned building from top to basement.
There were fears hat In the basement in
the muddy water would be found more vic
Tins of the smoke and flames. Big fire en-
gines that before had deluged the place
were to-day being utilized to draw forth
dozens OF streams of thick, murky water
from the basement, while a dozen firemen
In hip boots made a thorough search of the
basement for bodies. No bodies, however,
were found in the basement.
Thousands of the curious to-day tried
vainly TO reach the scene OF the fire. The
police permitted no lettering on either side
of the street near by. If they did, the on
lockers would ave seen nothing out of the
ordinary. for the exterior of the building
was the same as before the fire. The giant
stone head of an IrOquois Indian over the
grand entrance. fitting symbol of the
cruelty of the deserted structure, stood
forth from a front unstained by smoke or
water. Though serene without, the
interior of the theater marked II
as a true whited sepulcher. Upon the
marble staircases at the left and
right within were the mess and confusion OF
the grim march of the bearers of the dead.
Among the thousands OF bits OF brilliantly
colored glasA shattered in tie fight against
the flames N many scorched bits of cloth
ing and occv ional fragments of charred
>haaies~ From the upper galleries the view
reminder of a burned out
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-01
MAYOR HARRISON WAS
AWAY ON HUNTING TRIP

CHICAGO, Dec. 31.-Mayor Harrison was
on his way to the South for a hunting trip
when the fire broke out yesterday. and
Controller Mccain was acting mayor. Id
happened that the finance committee of the
City Council was in session when the ex-
tent of the disaster became known at the
City Hall Mr.. Mccain at once walked into
the committee room and was told by Chair
man Mavor, of the committee, TO direct the
fire marshal, the chief of police and the
in the emergency without any restriction
of any kind as to expense. He was told TO
do everything needful, spend all the money
necessary, and look TO the Council for his
warrant. I'VE will be your authority for
everything you do" said Alderman Mavor.
A telegram was at once sent TO Mayor Har-
rison, informing him of the fire, and he re-
turned from Kansas City on the first train.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-01
Descriptions of the Dead
Read to the Eager Crowd

Chief of Police WE'LL to-day supervised
the work of helping friends and relatives to
recover their dead. Hundreds Of persons.
grief and anxiety written I'm their faces.
thronged about Chief O'NeilTs office seek
ing information. The pressure grew so
strong that Secretary Markham, mounting
a chair, read off descriptions TO the multi
tude, who listened with straining ears. Ere
quently persons In the crowd recognized the
descriptions read by the secretary and
named as the word fell from the secretary's
means of inspecting the bodies was evident.
TO pass before the bodies and places in the
line Of admission were as eaLerly sought
and fought for as means of escape were
when the theater was burning.
While the crowd Of anxious seekers for
news besieged the different morgues, the
telegraph and long-distance telephone Of
fees were almost with the flood
of inquiring messages. 1t is probable that
nearly every person in Chicago with rela-
tives living in other parts of the country
received one or more messages during the
asking IL they were safe.
Messenger boys from the telegraph Of
fees OF the Postal and Western Union. car
rying great bundles of messages, and to-
night the terrific rush of business was still
on. Private wires Of stock exchange and
board OF trade houses were likewise loaded
down with inquiries and
Chicago's telephone service has never been
put 10 such. 49, as from 4 o'clock ~
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-01
CROWDS At MORGUES;
PATHETIC INCIDENTS.

CHICAGO, Dec. S1.-On every train which
arrived in Chicago during the morning came
the relatives of persons who were thought
to have been killed or injured in the fire.
The Hobbies of the downtown hotels were
the scenes of many happy meetings as well
as anxious inquiries on the parts of fathers,
mothers and more distant relatives of people
Of whom no trace could be found. Many of
these people returned to the hotels late in
the evening after either a ~fruitless search
for their loved ones or after finding in a
charred and disfigured body lying in the
morgue all that remained of the relative or
friend for whom they had searched.
Postmaster T. a. Freer, of Galesburg, Ill,
arrived early in the morning i'm response
10 a telegram received from friends here
saying that his wife and daughter were
among the missing. Mrs. Freer and Miss
F'reer came TO Chicago Wednesday morn
ing expressly to attend the play at the
Iroquois Theater. Since their arrival in
the city Mr.. Freer has had no news OF
them. To-day ne mad inquiries of the
police and spent the entire day examining
bodies in the morgue. Many of the corpses
ter, and many more were clothed in dresses
similar to those for which he was looking,
but after investigating every clew and ex-
aiming every body in the morgue he re-
turned to his hotel to-nlgnt neartbroken
and in despair OF finding his family.
From early in tAi1K until late 81
and ini0x
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-01
Electricians Blamed for
Careless Placing of Light

C~O1
Among many of the theatrical men en-
ployed in the other Chicago theaters the
responsibility for the fire was ascribed to-
day TO the careless placing Of electric arc
light apparatus too close to one of the
hanging borders of the scenery. The cleo
trician of a leading Chicago theater ex-
pressed great surprise on hearing that this
was considered a possible cause of the fire.
There never would nave been any fire"
he said, 'if proper care had been exercised
in handling the lights. The electric plant
of the theater was installed, as L happen
to know from personal observation, in ac-
cordance with every modern requirement
for safety. The plant was not to blame.
If the facts L have been given are correct
the whole blame rests on the person who
placed or was operating a light SO closely
to the curtain"
The failure of the expected fire protection
IS attributed by insurance men TO trouble
with the asbestos curtain. The stage al
ways is recognized as the danger point in
a theater, and the desire is to have it cut
off from the auditorium as thoroughly as
the curtain at the I~rOquois never had
worked perfectly. and that the mechanism
had not been repaired.
h. X. Wetmore, of the insurance firm
which placed the insurance on the Iroquois
Tbeater, declared to-day that the loss would
not exceed $4,000. He also asserted that the
spread of the flames to the auditorium was
due to the failure of the asbestos curtain to
work properly.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-01

Miss Nj. CARTRIDGE gives sorsr
helpful advice to young girls.
Her letter is but one of thou
sands which prove that nothing
is so helpful to young girls who
are just arriving at the period OF
womanhOod as Lydia E. Pink
hams Vegetable Compound.
"DEAR MRS. PINKHAM:-I cannot
praise Lydia T.. Pinkham's Vege-
table Compound too highly, for it
is the only medicine / ever tried which
cured me. / suffered much from my
first menstrual period, / felt SO weak
and dizzy at times | could not pursue
my studies with the usual interest.
Ny thoughts became sluggish, / hac
headaches, backaches and sinking
spells, also pains in the back and lower
limbs. In fact, l was sick all over.
Finally, after many other remedies
had been tried, we were advised TO get
Lydia H. Pinkham's Vegetable
Compound, and / am pleased to say
that after taking IL only two weeks, a
wonderful change for the better took
place, and in a short time / was in
perfect health / felt buoyant. full of
life, and found all work a pastime. 1
am indeed glad 10 tell my experience
with Lydia f.. Pinkham's Vege-
table Compound, for it made : diff
ferent girl of me. Yours very truly,
Miss NJ. CARTRIDGE, $40 Whitehall So,
Atlanta, Ga."-s5o0o forfeit If ORIGINAL o.
6bOue letter pFOufnT NrrF - mnnnFHrN