New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-01-01
FIXING THE BLAME.
INVESTIGATION BEGUN
Many Defects IN the Tkeatrc-
Building Lazcs Ignored.


dence OF JOY at its birth.
few OF the questions to which the Jury win
endeavor to obtain satisfactory answers sr the
inquest are:
Were the steel doors leading to the fire ss
eapes on the first and second balconies ioekss
when the fire hroke ou,F
II they were locked were they opened a-or,,t
H by The attendants.
Why was it impossible to lower the asbestos
curtain?
Why did the management permit the as. -
arc lights in the flies, with no device to prevens
sparks from the carbons ignting the Border. OF
the scenery and curtains?
Why did the ushsrs shut all the doors and
urge the audience to remain seated after the
fire broke out, instead of doing everything pos
sibie to empty the house7
In an official proclamation this afternoer by
Mayor Carter H. Harrison. he suggested that
the usual New Years Eve celebration be for1his
time omitted The idea found ready Response
IN the hearts OF the people. and the Mayrr's
words. in fact. only gave utterance TO the u-ex-
pressed thoughts that had filed them ALL
The appalling calamity of yesterday in tie
1roquois Theatre has cast Chicago into the deep
est grief and gloom. and for the time havr-
at least. seems to have chilled and deadeI-ed al.
the ordinary ambitions Of life Business 20 Iav
was performed with the sole view to stlssi
necessity. and even that much was carried cut
In a perfunctory manner
For the second time IN her life Chicago mas
been stricken to the heart Not only have nam,
OF her sons and daughters met death in .
riety of horrible and torturing forms b rr ire
blow has fallen almost heavily on the an
gers within her gates. There is hardly a v5r.sse
or town within a radius of one hundred m 81. o.
chicago whose people are not directly 0,
directly interested in the piles OF dead III.
injured which fill the hospitals. OF in tn IL
OF those who are missing
NEARLY SIX HUNDRED DEAD.
The list OF dead continues as ~ v,as silva -
/ night in the neghborhood of 5CO 1t i esr-
orally accepted at this time that the mo &C.
| curate estimate is 56i
ms number will be increased somewhat "a
| there are people in the hospitals who canros
/ survive any length of time. 1t is believed how
| ever that the total number Of dead will rot I'm
/ any event. exceed 80. Including the missing f,
IS estimated that the total number OF cas- 4l,ie4
| Is approximately one thousand There ara
among the missing the names OF some VIII we're
not at the theatre at AL In the first exc e-.en-
/ following the calamity these people were e
! ported by their relatives as among the missing
+ Numbers OF them have since returned 10 their
homes and no report Of this fat has bse, - \.
to Police Headquarters. Their names no vever,
sSih swell the list Of the missing. When the
I names OF the dead who are still TO be IDENTIFIED
| have been subtracted from the list of the miss
/ tns it is probable that the extent Of the catss-
/ trophe will be fully revealed.
CONTRADICTORY STORIES OF FIRE
There was animated discussion TODAY anon.
nremen employees of the theatre and srchi-ast.
as to the cause of the fire Accounts 5if = -
oay as widely as they varied last night The
theatrical people are practically unit sa de-
claring that the fire started with an explosion.
but in this they fatty contradcted by scores
of people in the audience. who declare that they
saw the fire creeping along the edge of the cur
tain several minutes before the explosion took
place. These statements are substantiatsd by
the stories Of a number Of people who left their
seats after seeing the blaze. and were we'll on
their way TO the street when overtaken by ths
frightened rush Of those they had left behind.
them.
Miss Anna Woodward. who occupied seat IN
the second balcony. gave strong evidence to-day
this point. She said:
I was in the second balcony, and plainly say
the fire. am a large woman. Weighing close 20
one hundred and eighty pounds. and / me- de ur~
my mind that If there going to be a panic it.
would be wise for me to beat il 10 the street
J left my seat in the balcony. went down the
/ stairs TO the first balcony. and from there
started to pass out through the very door IN
\ which so many people we've killed a few minutes
| tier. The door was closed. and a man standing
On the outside refused to open it. so that could
| pass out. Whether he was an employ e tn.
| theatre not I do not know but he had evil
/ IDENTIFY determined that no one should leavs the
/ theatre, and in SO doing started panic. was
leaving quietly up to this time. but when he re-
/ fused 20 allow me TO pass out peaceably tie
/ termined to get out II / had to make al sorts OF
| noise l went along the balcony about tea, feer
! 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 I
I heard the roar of the crowd as it after me.
4 and / hurried with all the speed I had They
| overlook me, however. knocked me down. and
/ but for the fact that was close to the door
/ think my chance OF life would have beer almost
| nothing AS it was. I think I must have walked
the last ten feet of my passage to the exit tho
/ bodies of those who had fallen
The best evidence obtafnabIe is to the .fr.ct
| that the fire was caused by the sparks from an
arc light striking the edge of tho drop curtain.
but the actual fact. however. will not be known
until after the conclusion OF the coroner's m
quest There are many statements ar pr~x-
ent and they differ widely, that IL is frnpns-
sibIe to ascertain the exact truth.
LAX ENFORCEMENT OF ORDINANCES.
Although the Iroquois Theatre was ,Indoabr-
edIy the safest theatre in Chicago. - oscams
evident to-day that the city Building pepars-
ment had not strictly enforced one OF two sec
/ tions of the building ordinance.
William Curran. a building inspector. n
the theatre only few moments before the
catastrophe. and went away. saying that every
thing was in good condition. He reported this
fact this morning TO Deputy Commissioner Stan-
hope. Mr. Stanhope early this morning. in corr
pany with Inspectors Laughln, Lense and Dai-
ton, went to the theatre TO make an inspection.
On returning TO the City Hall he said
7bs .baa+ra and ifs uoanaser1enr we're stricrly