Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1907-08-01
DRIVES FREAKS AND CATERERS
OUT OF BUSINESS.
LOSSES OVER 100000
Chorus Girls and Snake Charmers
Flee in Undress as Property Burns
Thrilling Scenes of Rescue
Bowery District is Protected
Score Of Small Hotels Burned.

Z
terday morning were treated to a
thrilling spectacle not advertised
among the many attractions Of New
Yorks playground for the millions.
Fire that broke out in the Cave Of
the Winds just before daylight swept
Steeplechase Park and a score of
small hotels out of existence, and for
few hours the popular resort pre-
scented a spectacular scene of CON
fusion and excitement. From the
hotels poured forth a miscellaneous
mob of freaks, actors, chorus ladies
! and snake charmers, who drowned
the sounds of the engines and the
cries of the ffremen with their shrieks
of terror.
Loss over a Million.
For a time Luna Park and Dream
Hand and scores of smaller places
which fringe the water for a mile
were threatened, but a lucky shift Of
the wind to seward saved them.
; Several blocks in the amusement zone
were completely destroyed, causing a
loss of over $1,000 900. Tilyou's
SteepIechase Park represented the
greater part of this loss. Luckily no
Lives were sacrificed, though of the
three injured persons Gottfried Mess
! eli, a fireman. is in a precarious cOndi-
| ton.
Only the advance guard of the 300
! 900 people who flocked to Coney
! Island today saw the fire, but the
/ thrilling tales of the fearless rescue of
San Dora, the armless and Iegless
man, and the flight of Francesca, the
fire eater, when the alarm was sound
| ed were told and retold along noisy
! Surf avenue and in the less particu-
lar Bowery.
! Coney Island has had four big fires
! in the last ten years, the last previ-
Gus one in 1903, "The SteepIechase'
on that occasion being swept out as it
was today.
The alarm of fire woke up doing
! COney Island with a start and in q
flew minutes Surf avenue was damned
! with excited freaks and frolickers,
chorus girls, snake charmers, animal
trainers, performers, amusement en-
! pioyes-aII the miscellaneous pOpula-
ton of the island, in fact. Clothed
in a state Of terror and little else
thousands fed through the streets,
while the roar of the flames could be
heard from one end Of the island to
| the other.
1t seemed as though nothing could
save the island from destruction and
hundreds of the inhabitants began to
remove their household effects into
the streets. The police order to clear
! the score of hotels near the Steepie-
chase Park was quite unnecessary for
| the patrons of these places had
tumbled out of bed with the first
alarm and fed to places of safety.
| The Steeplechase Park Hotel, one of
| the first to burn, housed a hundred
|
Inside the burning park all was ex-
citement and confusion among the
two-score employees who slept in a
house near the entrance. Carrying
grips and luggage, they scurried to
the street, and while the exodus was
in progress a cry went up that San
Dora. the armless and legless man,
who eats a dozen meals a day just to.
show that he can do it without the
laid of arms and legs, was missing.
Rescue wonder" in a Basket.
Selling a basket, two employees hur-
ried back and found San Dora wig
Igling along the floor toward the door.
The wonder" was piled into a
basket and, though the flames and
smoke threatened to engulf his res
cuers, he was carried to a hotel,
where he remarked that his escape
had been effected without the loss of
life or limb
The hotels burned like finder and a
few minutes suff1ced to wipe them
out.
One of the first to escape from his
lodging place was Francisco, the fire
eater. When things are calm and
placid Francisco eats fire and breathes
it forth again, all for a livelihood
Sometimes he is advertised to battle
in tongues of fame. But today's con-
lagration was too much even for
Francesca, and he wisely gave way
to the fremen.
The fire put many small dance halls
and bathing pavilions out of business
and many sandwich men and frank
furter purveyors who stored their
stands and carts in hooks and Gran
MES between buildings lost every
thing
While the fire was at its height the
police heard a loud vail from a gypsy
fortune-teller who foresees fires and
other calamities for a consideration
His tent had been destroyed and he
was bemoaning the loss of $4,000
which he said he had hidden under the
board walk He weepingly told the
police that the money was his Iife's
savings. Under police pressure his
LIES savings dwindled to SO.
Arthur Lee, manager of SteepIe-