The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-12-30
.-NFARTYRED DEAD" OF IROQCOIS FIRE TO BE
 REMEMBERED TO-DAY

.1est we forget it is well to recall that today is the ninth anniversary of the Iroquois Theatre fire in Chicago. In which 500 people, mostly women and children lost their lives Relatives and friends of the victims will hold their annual memorial meeting in Chi cazo today An Iroquois Memorial Hospital has been built with funds raised by an associa ton formed ito perpetrate the memory of the martyr ed dead" At the exercises a year aEo toady tablet by Lorado Taft was dedicated in the main reception room of the hospital. It depicts the mother hood of the World protecting the chi1- dren of the universe, the body of child borne on a. litter by herculean male figures. with a bereaved mother bending over 1t. The hospital, erect ed to perpetuate so terrible a tragedy is performing a merciful mission as a city emergency institution Another memorial to the Iroquois victims stands in Montrose cemetery, and is a hand some shaft of granite which marks the resting place of the one unknown wo- man who perished in the holocaust.
 The Iroquois Theatre fire, the most appalling disaster of it's kind in the
 
 :ux the matinee performance on Dec 3e 1908 The pla yhouse was crowd ed with a happy holiday throng of wo- men and children, assembled to wit nees the specta cle "'B1uebeard.'' The theatre was practically a new one. having been opened only a short time before and was supposedly equipped with every known means of prevent ing and extirsguishing fires. This was merely supposition- The blaze originated. on the stage. and was prob ably caused by sparke from one of the spotlights igniting some Of the flimsy scenery Actors and stage hands rushed forward and sought to beat out the blaze, but their efforts were in vain. Then came the signal to drop the fireproof curtain.
 An aerial ballet was a feature of the performance. and the ropes ob- structed the dropping of the asbestos curtain Finally it was releas sed. but too late The employees, panic-strick- ems then ade a fatal mistake. They opened the large double doors in the rear of the stage and the draft caus- ed the asbestos curtain to bulge far and threateningly out into the body of the theatre Tn the meantime the audience had sought the exits, and were crowding out as rapidly as possi- bIe- Frightened the women and chi1- dren still maintained sembIance of or der until the bulging curtain let through a great cloud of smoke and flame Hundreds were overcome, and dropped, suffoca ting, to the floor. to be tramp led on by the maddened horses that were still able to continue the battle for life The dead and dying block ed the few available exits preventing the escape of the living Numerous fire exits had been provided on every floor hut they were kept locked and the ushers fled without unbolting them. This neglect of duty left only the main exits available A few peo- pie in the balcony escaped by the fire escapes, but these were totally made quate. When the firemen arrived they soon extinguished the flames, and at first the full extent of the disaster was unrealized It was only when the fremen reached the upper floors, where they found the burned corpses piled seven feet high before the use less exits that Chicagoans realized the full terrors of the catastrophe The pathetic scenes that followed are beyond the powers of language to describe.
 For months afterward theatres the world over suffered from the effects os the Chicago disaster, and every playhouse that hoped to retain it's patronage was forced to assure the pub lie that adequate means of escape had been provided But nine years is a D<