Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-01-05
NEAR SIX HUNDRED
Total Number of Those Whose
Death Will Result from
Iroquois Fire.
SIX WOUNDED FATALLY HURT
Evidence in Investigation Shows
Gross Criminal Negligence of
Management.

Chicago. Jan. 5.-The Iruquui> thea
tre fire claimed a fresh victim today.
making the total number of deaths
59l. Miss Josephine Spence, severely
burned during the fire. died today.
Chicago, Jan. 5.-Evidence showing
groSser criminal negligence than any
thing previously developed was given
under oath today in the fire depart
ment investigation of the Iroquois
horror.
Joseph DauehertN. who had charge
of the curtain. swore that two weeks
ago during a matinee performance
there was fire ON the stage. and. that
when he attempted To lower the as
be>tos curtain il was stopped by the
same obstruction that prevented its
operation last Wednesday.
Protest Unheeded.
He declares he protested at that
time. but no attention was paid to his
warning. In his opinion. if the cur
tain had been run down Wednesday.
the lives of many. if not all the vic
tins of the disaster might have been
saved. 1t was only by the merest
chance a panic was averted a. re-
suit of the first fire. The skylight at
that time. he said. was securely closed.
Under Oath.
DaughcTtN'S statement was made |
under oath. Speaking of the skylight
on the day of the first fire, Daughcr-
ty declared the skylightS above the
stage were closed. a. were the ventila-
tors between the skNlights. The lat
ter were designed to create AN upward !
drau9ht in case of fire. The Vcutila-
tors were operated by lever. but
DaUghcrty declared no attempt was
made to open them last Wednesday. !
The yentilator> were in perfect coudi- |
ti0u. he said. and had been operated |
Il number of times lately.
Attorney FulkeTSon said the rumor
of a previous fire at the theatre had |
been current several days ago. but a. |
it had been denied by most authori- |
ties. including VIII j. Davis. he had |
been compelled to believe the report |
had net proper basis.
Darkness Explained.
City building Commissioned Viii
liams was given information today by |
Architect Marshall which may place /,
he blame for the Iroquois theatre be /
inc thrown into darkness during the (
panic. The architect showed the com I
missioner there was an emergency |
switch near the entrance of the house |
to be used in emergencies There was /
a separate system of wires. and had |
any empioye had the presence cf mind |
to turn the switch the entrance and |
Railways would have been Illuminated. !
Mandel hall. at the University of |
Chicago. WAS closed today. The spe-
rific cause i the lack Of an asbestos |
curtain.
Chicago. Jan. 5.-The total OF the /
dead 10y the Iroquois fire to this writ
ing : $50: the identified. 80: unidcnti-
fed. J. Those identified since last re-
port are: Mrs. Anna Dixon. 43 years.
100 FIOurnoy street. identified 10y her
husband. A. Il. Dixon. and by dentist.
Dr. ElwcH. and Mrs. Mary Forbes. 24
years old. 244 Oakwood boulevard,
identified 10y sister. Rita Forbes.
Probable Total Death Roll.
With the death Of Miss Wild.
teacher and Leroy Reinhold. little
hoy. the roll aggregates so, There
are six injured whose death * con
-idered pretty certain. These will make
the grand total Of lives lost so.
Dispute for Fur Boa
For the possession Of n gray fox
boa. valued at 50. three persons lis
puted for nearly an hour at - Dear
born street. where all the articles lost
by persons ia the fire are stored On
2 little blue thread the decision was
made. Mrs. F. Allen. who was in the
fire, declared that the piece Of wear
ing apparel belonged 70 her. while Al
fred Johnson alleged that the fur gar
ment belonged to a relative Of his,
and brought a west side furrier to