The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1904-01-06
AN AWFUL CALAMITY.
Nearly Six Hundred Human Beings
Burnt in Theatre Fire.
WORST HORROR OF CENTURY.

oSS0A w ltll q L %hIS N-t0SCNA ~ -
Fire that Started on the Stage.
The Bodies Were Piled
Twelve Deep,
The city Of Chicago was the scene Of
one Of the worst calamitieS OF the cen
tury on last Wednesday, when over sls
hundred people were burned to death
in the IrQuois theatre. the newest,
the largest. and as far as human
power could make it. the safest thea
tire in Chicago. Estimates Of the
fatalities vary. The police account
Of the dead is $50. The estimate Of
the newspapers is $50. Besides this
there are 55 people missing at Daid-
night. the majority Of whom are
probably among the dead in the
morgue and various undertaking es-
tabliShnentS.
A few of these people were burned
to death by FIRE. many were Sutfocated
by gas, and scores were trampled to
death in the panic that followed the
mad plungeof the frightened audience
for exits. 1t was many hours before
the number of dead was known and
will be many days before all Of them
will be identified. There are bodies
lying by the dozens in tie undertak-
ing rooms. in the police stations and
in the hospitals from which nearly
everything that can revea. their iden-
tity to those who knew them best is
gone. Their clothing is torn to rags
or burned to cinders and their faces
have been crushed into an unrecogniz-
able pulp by the heels Of the crowd
that trampled them down as they fled
for safety.
BURNT IN THEIR SEATS.
The fire broke out during the Sec
ond act of the play Mr.. Bluebeard," )"
which was the first dramatic proouc-
tion placed in the theatre since its
erection. The company, which was
very large, escaped to the streets in
safety, nearly all of them, however,
being compelled to dee into the snowy
streets with no clothing but their
stage costumes. A few members Of
the company sustained minor Injuries
but none were seriously hurt.
The accounts of the origin Of the
fire are conflicting and hone OF them
certain, but the best reason given IS
that an electric wire near the lower
part of a piece of drop scenery sudden
ly broke and was grounded. The IRE
spread rapidly toward the front Of the
stage, causing the members OF the
chorus, who were then engaged IN the
performance, to flee with screams OF
terror. The FIRE in itself up to this
time was not serious and possibly could
have been checked had not the ashes
toS curtain failed to work. AS SOON
as the FIRE was discovered Eddie Foy,
the chief comedian Of the company,
shouted to lower the curtain, and this
was Immediately done. II descended
about half way and then stuck. The
fire thus was given practically a fue
through which strong draft was set
ting, aided by the doors which had
been thrown open in the front OF the
theatre With q roar and a bound
the flames shot through the opening
over the heads Of the people on the
first floor and reaching those ia the
first balcony caught them and burned
them to death where they sat. I'M
rnediately following this rush OF
flames there came an explosion, which
lifted the entire roof OF the theatre
from its walls, Shattering the great
skylight into fragments.
SUFFOCATED BY THE GAS.
As soon as the flames first appeared
beyond the curtain man in the rear
Of the hall shouted Fire, fire." and
the entire audience rose as one person
and made for the doors. 1t is believed
that the explosion was caused by the
flames coming into contact with the
gas reservoirs Of the theatre, causing
them to burst Will J. Davis, mama
ger of the theatre, said after the ca
tastrophe that if the people had re-
NAMED in their seats ard had not
been excited by the cry Of fire not
single life would have been lost. This
is, however, contradicted by the state
ment Of the fremen, who found num-
bers Of people sitting in their seats,
their faces directed toWaroS the stage
as if the performance was still going
on. It was sthe opinion Of the IRE
men that these people had been SUI
located at once by the flow OF gas
which came from behind the asbestos
curtain.
AS near as can be estimated at the
present time about 1900 people were
in tx. theatre. Three hundred of
these we're on the first floor, the bal
ance being in the two upper balconies
and back Of them. The theatre is
nodded after the Opera ConiQue in
Paris and from the rear Of each bal
cony there are three doors leading out
to passage ways toward the front OF
the theatre. Two of these doorways
are at the end Of the balcony and one
in the centre. The audience in its
rush for the outer air seems to have
for the greater part chosen to flee
to the left entrance and to attempt to
make it's way down the eastern stair
way leading into the lobby Of theatre.
Outside of the people burned and suf-
located by gas, it was in these door
WAYS on the first aud second balconies
that the greatest loss Of life occurred.
When the fremen entered the build
ing the dead were found stretched in
pile reaching from the head Of the
stairway at least eight feet from the
door back to a point about five feet in
the rear of the door. This mass Of
dead bodies IN the centre OF the door
way reached TO within two feet OF the
TOP of the passage way.