Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1909-02-19
800 DEAD IN FIRE
Acapulco, Mexico, Audience
Trapped in Theater.
NO AMERICANS ARE VICTIMS
Consul Moorehead Wires That FATAL
ties Are Confined to Mexicans-
Scores Crushed in Mad Rush for
Narrow Exits.

Washington, Feb 17.-No Amer.
leans lost their lives in the fire which
destroyed the Flores theater at AGA
pulco. Mexico, according to dispatch
received at the state department to-
day from American Consul Maxwell K.
Moorehead
Over 200 people We're burned to
death, according to Consul Moorehead.
Nearly 500 Burn to Death.
Mexico City, Feb. l7.-Between ESQ
and 800 people, among them Ameri-
cans. were burned to d4ath and many
were injured in a fire which des royed
the Flores theater in the City of
Acapulco.
The news of the disaster reached
this capital yesterday, ieiegraphic
communication with Acapulco having
been destroyed and to-day owing to
the fact that the telegraph Office ad-
joining the theater was burned and all
wires put out of commission.
The Flores theater was e wooden
structure and more than one Thousand
people crowded into 1t to witness a
special performance given in honor OF
Gov. Damian Flores of the state of
Guerrero. who was visiting the host
at the time One of the numbers of
the program consisted of series of
moving pictures. While the operator
was exhibiting these, film caught
fire and blaze was quickly communi.
Gated to some bunting which had been
used for decorative purposes.
Only Three Narrow Exits.
In an incredibly short time the
flames spread to all parts of the struc.
ture. There were but three narrow
exits and the panic-stricken audience
rushed to them, many persons falling
to be crushed to death, their bodies
choking the way to escape for others
The screams of those imprisoned
We're terrifying. Owing to the rapid
itS with which the fire spread and iti
intense heat it was impossible to at
tempt rescue work and those impris
oned were literally roasted alive, as
the fire burned with little smoke and
few were suffocated. The efforts OF
the fire department were confined tc
buildings and the firemen succeeded
so well that the property loss was
small The telegraph office, postoffice
and custom house were damaged, but
all of the governments records and
registered mail were saved
Pitiful Scenes Witnessed.
Yesterday pitiful scenes of grief
rrysfx,
city. Men, women and children are
wandering from place to place hunting
for relatives or friends Many of the
dead are from the first families of the
state, the affair at the theater being
social event of considerable i'm
portance and calling out the wealthiest
and Oldest families for miles around.
In some instances whole families
were wiped out of existence. The
municipal authorities to-day caused
large trenches to be dug and into these
the bodies of the dead were laid
Identification Of the dead has been
impossible, the bodies having been
burned in most cases to c.isp.
kilograms sent to the American con
sui at Acapulco by the Associated
Press asking for the names of the
American dead have not been an
swered Acapulco is on the west coast
of the state Of Guerrero, is one of the
three important ports of the Pacific
coast of Mexico. Nearly all of the
steamer lines make 1t port of call
and the harbor is accounted the best
in Mexico.