Bisbee daily review., 1905-12-31
ANNIVERSARY Of
 THEATRE HoREER
IrOquOiS Fire, Fdtal To 600 Occurred Two Years Ago
 Yesterday

Chicago, Dec. 3O.-Two years ago today the Iroquois Thester was de- stroyed by fire and nearly six hundred ] lives, mostly women a-d children. were lest in the holocaust. The day is observed here generally and flags are at half mast everywhere. Many | of the churches held special memorial i services this morning and some of | the Protestant churches will hold l spec.a. cervices this evening.
 The graves of the hundreds of vic | tins of the disaster in the various ] cemeteries wers decorated with i
 -s and other aoral offerings. Ire gr1Ses of the ulide1'.fed victims were also decorated. The fire al the 4ro4uC.. .-r was the most appalling disaster that ever visited this city, Sa1 will long be | remembered by hundreds Of families who lost one or more of tEcir members | in inc catastrophe. -ty fire Criginat- ed on the sage of the tlcc.er durir | the matinee performance Of December %. 1903, at a time when every part of the house was crowded with the usual holiday crowds of women and
 childrcn .. The theater was practi-
 cany new, having been opened only
 few weeks previous to the fire.
 | The attraction was "Bluebeard,'
 which had been running there since
 the opening night It is believed that sparks from one of the spot lights | stationed on the sides of the stage ignited some of the fiimsy pieces of scenery in the wings and in few moments the blaze spread upwards toward the flies. Some of the actors
 and employees tried to beat out the
 flames, but did not succeed, and the
 signal was given to drop the fireproOf
 curtain. Owing to the fact that a rope
 with which the aerial ballet was man
 ipulated had been so fastened that
 it obstructed the movement of the curtain, the latter could not be low lefao for some time, When it was
 fnaily released the fire had made such tprogress on the stage that the em- ployes became panic stricken and opened the large double door in the
 rear of the stage and leading to the
 court behind the theater. through
 which the scenery was brought into l and out of tne theater. The terrific draft caused the "fireproof' curtain, fimsy and thin affair, to bulge out , into the house, and in a few moments it tore and fell and immense volumes of smoke and flame poured into the auditorium. / h,. .F h., l. tire ir6sss=- had heep emDtied by the panic-stricken spectators, and they were crowding through the few doors
 as fast as they could. When the smoke F and flames poured into the auditor ium, sweeping the whole interior. hun ! dreds were overcome. They fell in heaps right at the exits and were suf- . located by the smoke and heat. Those on top of the pile were scorched be- yond recognition. The situation was i. greatly aggravated by the fact that f the ushers. thinking only of their own | safety, had fled for their lives, without f stopping long enough to unlock and
 unboit the safety exits provided for on l every floor. The spectators, finding ' the safety exits bolted and locked, l were compelled to make their exit - through the main exits on the Ran !, dolph street side. While crowded around these exits during the jam - they were overpowered by the smoke - and flames and perished. Only a few
 escaped over the fire escape, which they reached from the balcony. The ! fire was soon under control At first
 it was not thought that the loss of
 life had been great, and the full ex-
 tent of the disaster was not realized , until the fiTemen reached the upper . floors of the house, where they found
 the dead piled up six or eight high, . all headed for the exits and those on
 top terribly burned.
 The scenes which followed beggar , description. The police department took charge of the removal of the hun
 dreds of bodies and they were taken
 to the various morgues and undertak-
 ing establishments, where they were
 laid in rows nthe bare floors to
 await identification. Many of the bod | ies were so terribly burned that rec 1 ognition was impossible Many of g the bodies were not identified until [ several months after the catastrophe. C and a large number of them were nev- -- CT identified.
 The case was investigated by the !, coroner and the blame fixed upon the
 owners and builders of the house.
 the building department and some of
 the employees of the theater. Since l. then hundreds of suits for damages D injuries received during the fire have z been filed against the proprietors