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The Progress-Adve rtise r J. F. Ul( 1ST. Editor._ LEXINGTON. 5 : MISSISSIPPI. Postmaster-General Payne was suf fering. on the 2Sth, with a severe cold, and did not leave his apartments. On the 1st. at Butler, Pa., typhoid fe ver claimed three victims, making total of 87 deaths. Three new cases were reported. Mary Anderson (Mme. de Navarret, the famous American actress, reap peared on the stage, in London, on the 29th, after an absence of 15 years, in charity performance. John P. Newman, of Dayton, Ky., a prominent democratic leader, who was to have gone on the bench, on the 4th, at Newport, Ky.. as circuit judge, died, on the 1st, al Cincinnati. The United States cruiser Topeka and the torpedo boats Truxton and Stewart arrived at Kingston, Jamaica, on the 30th. from Key West. Fla. The vessels, after coaling, proceeded to Colon. A large amount of hay was pur chased at Carson City. Nev., on the 1st, for immediate shipment to San Francisco. It was stated that the hay was being purchased for the Russian government. A call for a mass meeting, in New York city, to consider ways and means of securing Ihe democratic national convention for New York, in June, 1904, was issued, on the 29th. by President Forties of the board of aldermen. Sir William Alien, the well-known marine engineer, shipowner and mem ber of parliament for Gates Head since 1893. died, on the 28th, in London. He was born November 29, 1837. Death was due to heart disease. Miss Emily Fuller, of Shippensburg, Pa., was killed, four persons were prob ably fatally injured and ten others were painfully hurt, on the 1st, at Newville, Pa., when a Cumberland valley passenger train ran into an open switch and left the rails. The national convention of Christian Scientists began a week's session at Beatrice. Neb., on the 30th. Over 300 delegates from all parts of the coun try were in attendance. Among th# delegates were prominent Christian Science healers and leaders from 3C Btates. Catherine McVey, 104 years old, who was pastry cook at a Danville (111.) hotel when Abraham Lincoln stayed there, died suddenly, at Danville, 111., on the 28th. Her husband died 25 years ago, and after his death she never want to bed, hut always slept in a chair. , Police Captain Cottrill, of New York city, on the 29th, was exonerated of charges of neglect of duty brought because A. B. Denning succeeded in reaching the side of President Roose velt when the latter was attending the funeral of his uncle, James K. Grade In New York city. Miss J;ilia Ricks, who created a sen sation in New York city, by demand ing a large sum of money from Mrs. May Harrington Stallo, the former wife of Dan R. Hanna, of Cleveland, O., was adjudged insane, on the 30th, and committed to the state asylum for the insane at Newburg, O. The public schools of Chicago were closed on the 4th, on account of the large number of funerals of victims of the fire. All the church bells of Chi cago were tolled at noon, in token cf grief, while the bodies of those who lost their lives at the Iroqouis theater lire are receiving the last rites. A' One of the unique exhibits at the St. Louis World's fair by an Indiana man will be several bushels of corn, that were harvested in 1864. L. J. Pence, one of the pioneer settlers of Grant county, Ind., nas nearly a hun dred bushels of the grain that is in an excellent state of preservation. ■ - • A stiff northwester, which at one time reached a velocity of 45 miles an hour, struck Oraana, Neb., on the 28th. resulting in the fatal injury of one man and doing considerable prop •erty damage, A number of plate glass ■windows were blown m and large signs torn from their fastenings. Complaining of sudden illness Ralph Hammerslough. a merchant of Trin idad, Col,, entered a store on Fifth avenue, in Chicago, on the 29th, and asked for water. Before anyone in the place had knowledge of his con dition, Hammerslough fell to the floor, and when he was reached he was dead. Gen. MacArthur arrived at. San Fran cisco. Cal., on the 7th, on the steamer Sineria, from the Hawaiian islands, where he had been making a military inspection. The general was in good health, enjoyed his trip and was great ly pleased with the islands, vhich ho termed "a most valuable acquisition to the United States. ' One death and five new cases of fever were reported, on the 29th, at Butler, Pa At that date the relief committee had received in the neighborhood of $45,900. and although they had been curtailing expenses in every way, it was estimated that $35,000 additional would he needed before the stricken families could shift for themselves. The street railway systems of Bloomington and Normal, 111., were tied up by a strike, on the 1st, and uot a car moved in either city. The request of the men for an increase in pay ranging from one to two cents per hour, according to length of service, was refused by the company. There was little prospect of an eaily set tlement. United States Senator Hale, chair man of the committee on navnl af fairs. said, on the 28tli, that it lu the Intention to make provision for an other liberal addition to the navy dur ing the present session of congress He said —at when tho additions al ready authorized were completed the ;llnlted States would have erful navy than any other natlor. ex cept Great Britain. a more pow IN THE MfIKEIIF DEM Rescuers Are Forced to WaJk on Dea.d to Extrica-te Living—Exits Choked With Bodies of Women a.r\d Children. * Chicago, Jan. 1.—On the heels of the firemen came the police, intent on the work of rescue. Chief O'Neill and Assistant Chief Schuettler ordered cap tains from a dozen stations to bring their men, and then they rushed to the theater and led the police up the stairs to the landing outside the east entrance to the first balcony. The firemen, rushing blindly up the stairs in the dense pall of smoke, had found their path suddenly blocked by a wail of dead eight -or ten feet high. They discovered many persons alive and carried them to safety. Other I firemen crawled over the mass of dead | and dragged their hose into the theater to fight back the flames that seemed to be crawling nearer to turn the fatal landing into a funeral pyre. Pn.unge. Strewn with Bodies. Among the elevated passages lead ing from the foyer to the balcony were strewn scores of women and i !< . (jROQUOISTHMTRil i 7 'ii T (bWj W\ / : > T?) I i it i * V m 7/ li Wlm I MR MR. BIUE jBmje mi, bjEARfiM F BfARl mm m Entrance and Front of Playhouse. children, who, in the struggle inside the doors, had exhausted their strength and who, when the outside and com parative safety were reached, were un able to continue to the street and fell helpless upon the marble floor. Some were dean when the rescuers reached them and some still showed signs of life. These latter were hurried to the street and committed to the waiting arms of hundreds who had gathered about the entrance, ready to carry them to near-by stores and restaurants and to the police ambulances which soon began to arrive. There are three doors leading to the main balcony from the front of the theater and most of the imprisoned spectators attempted to escape by way of the east one. This door is higher than either of the others and farther away from the stage, and it is thought that this accounts for the number that tried to use it. The fire approaching from the stage gradually drove them back to the east wall, where they per ished in the frenzied jam. Women Bcnlen Down by Men. Comparatively more men than wom gained positions anywhere near the door. According to one man who es caped, they climbed over the backs of the seats, beat down women and chil dren and even walked over their fallen bodies. They tore children from their mothers and threw women who blocked their way out of the aisles and beneath the seats. As soon as the bodies which blocked the door were cleared away the chief and his assistants turned (heir atten tion to those who had not been so fortunate as to even Charred and stiff in death, en on get near the doors. women and children were found appar ently In the very seats from which they had viewed the performance. One little lad of about 12 years was found caught between two seats not a half dozen feet from the center door. There one near him and he seemed was no to be one of the few who in avoiding the rush for the door above fell vic tims to the suffocating heat. Cnnac of the Horror. Careful investigation Into the hor dlsclosed three predominant fac This trio of in operating was re ror tors In the hplocaust. flueneing simultaneously undoubtedly sponsible for the great loss of life. It the consensus of opinion of ex perts that there could be no doubt as to the correctness of the conclusions circumstances, was which follow: First—The sudden shutting off of all lights in the structure at a time when the people were endeavoring to leave the building. This Egyptian darkness caused people to stumble up or down steps; those behind plied on top, many being suffocated and crushed. Second—The unfortunate spreading of the fire on the stage and Its un looked-for communication Into the auditorium, caused for the most part by the failure of » fire curtain to work. If this had dropped and had been thoroughly fireproof, it would have cut off the fiery tempest and held it within the stage space. Third—The unquestioned failure of doors, leading out of the theater to tiro escapes and to landings, to move when the people tried to open them, doors do not lock with holts, but are held by perpendicular levers are inclined to "stick." the inner doors which lead to the fire escapes are iron folders, which are snapped together by horizontal iron levers. These levers were ice-coated and not movable when the crowd at tempted to open them to get out to the steel stairways. ' Aldermen, firemen, policemen, insur ance men, architects and newspaper men who spent a good deal of time in the burned theater Thursday generally agreed on these causes as being the one3 leading directly to the awful loss of life. It was admitted that undoubt edly there were minor reasons which. The which Outside of contributed in bringing up the per centage of dead. At Mormirn and Ho-ip,tula. Morgues ana hospitals we re the seines of wild disorder and frantic grief for hours after the disaster. Kinsfolk and friends sought their loved ones, frantic with grief, threatening to break win dows and overpower the police unless permitted to enter and search for the bodies of those they lovtd. Heavy po lice guards were necessary to keep the crowds in check at Roliton's and Jor dan's morgues. At the same time the hospitals were filled in with injured. Many of them unconscious, many of them writhing in pain from their burns, the yet living victims were taken to the wards, where hastily collected extra forces of nurses and physicians did all they could to alleviate suffering. Many had breathed flame and were in the stupor that preceded death; many had been scorched from head to foot, and some died on the way to the hospitals or shortly after their arrivals. Never have such scenes been wit nessed in Chicago's institutions for the care of the dead or the suffering. The capacities of many were exhausted long before ail had been taken care of. Wonnuol Fill Hospitals. Rolston's morgue was filled early, when 100 bodies were laid out in rows, and wagons carrying hundreds of oth ers were turned away. And all the while, as the black wagons, express wagons, carriages, vans, carts, wagons for delivery of meat, groceries and mer chandise of all sorts, arrived with their fearful burdens, the crowd surged around the doors in waves that the po lice could scarce withhold and hailed each new arrival with frantic manifesta tions of grief and horror. Those in front strove to get nearer and look ai the faces of the dead as tfley were car ried in and those in the rear surged for ward. The whole human mass, swayed by a common Impulse, moved in a tide that almost swept the policemen from their feet. Create.t In Country'. History. The Iroquois theater was vastly morn destructive to human life than any othei playhouse fire in the history of thlt country. The fire next to It in point ot lives lost occurred December 5, 1876, in Conway's Brooklyn theater, Brooklyn, N, Y. Here 295 of the audience perished in fierce flames. The day after Christ mas In 1811, while the play, 'The Bleed ing Nun," was being perfo:med In .< theater at Richmond, Va., a lire starte'. that burned 70 persons Ip death, among them the governor of the state, George W. Smith. Only two European theatei catastrophes approach that of the local playhouse. On December 9, 1891, the Ring theater In Vienna burned and 876 lives jwere lost. In the destruction ol Lehman's theater In St. Petersburg be tween 600 and 700 persons were killed. In the great Chicago fire of 1871, the largest conflagration of modern times, In which 2,124 acres were devastated, but 200 lives were lost, so far as the moat reliable Information showed. . Friends and Relatives of Victims Haunt Morgues and Hospitals. MANAGERS OF THE IROQUOIS THEATER PLACED UNDER ARREST City Official* Also Taken in Chars* and Churned with MannlaiiMhter -Many Ollier Theaters Are Closed by the Uayoi Chicago, Jan. 2.—The search of ths rows of charred dead at the morgues by sorrowing friends and relatives con tinues. Over 400 of the 683 known dead now have been identified. Failing to find scores of the missing in these heaps of bodies, the search has been turned to the private hospitals and homes for more dead and dying. Coro ner Traeger has asked all citizens to aid him in this quest. Grief-crazed friends and relatives of the missing join in this appeal. Funernla of Victim.. The saadest reminders of the Iro quois catastrophe Friday were the numerous funerals which moved tlwough the streets in all portions of the city. In the homes of hundreds of victims friends gathered to console the parents, brothers and sisters whose relatives had been lost. Such a day of mourning Cnicago has never witnessed, and sad scenes were enacted in tie homes where funeral services were conducted over the chil dren. In some homes funeral services were held over the body of one mem ber of a family while another was ly ing in some morgue still unidentified by the distracted relatives. Such was the case at the home of Herbert and Agnes Lange. 1632 Barry avenue. Both children had attended the theater per formance, and after many hours of tireless searching the broken-hearted father found the body of his daughter, Agnes, in an undertaking establish ment. Then came a longing on the part of mother and father to find the body of the boy, Herbert, and the search was conducted the entire day. Mr. Lange met with no success, and finally in de spair he went to the office of Chief of Police O'Neill and begged Detectives Wooldridge and Schubert to assist him. He also pleaded with newspaper men. He was only one of hundreds who spent the day searching for beloved ones, but his appeal for assistance was so full of pathos that intense sympa thy was immediately aroused and every effort was made to find the miss ing body. The absolute failure of Mr. Lange to identify any of the bodies aroused hope in his heart that the lad may some hospital. New Year's day the black hearses and the white began their slow way through the city's streets, not hearses enough to bury the dead; to carry the charred, distorted bodies from the sorrow-darkened homes to the waiting graves in the cemeteries. Thirty-four teachers in the public schools are known to have lost their lives in the fire and the schools will he dosed Monday in their memory. Arrented. still be alive and cared for in There are Manage Will J. Davis and Harry J. Powers, proprietors and managers of the Iro quois theater, and George Williams, city building inspector, were placed un der arrest on the criminal charge of manslaughter. Warrants for the three men. who have hitherto been unmolest ed by police and coroner investigations of the catastrophe, were issued Friday night by Justice George W. wood. Under Otber Arrr«ti. Eight stagemen and electricians of the ill-fated theater have been held in bonds of $5,000 each on charges of manslaugh ter due to criminal negligence, and 19 others, actors and chorus girls of the "Mr. Bluebeard, Jr." company are held witnesses for the coroner's inquest. as Theater* Clawed. Seventeen Chicago theaters were closed peremptorily by Mayor Har rison Friday night because they were not equipped with asbestos drop cur This action following on the tains. heels of the Iroquois disaster, shuts one half of the playhouses in Chicago, with total seating capacity of more than 20,000 persons. Violations of the build ing ordinances received thus the only drastic punishment ever known to come from the city hall. The mayor was moTed to issue the order by his dispo sition not to take additional responsi bility for further calamities. Until they have provided asbestos or iron curtains for the protection of their patrons these theaters will remain closed: Academy of Music, Alhambra, Avenue,Bijou, Chi cago Opera House, Clark Street muse um, Columbus. Criterion, Feigenbaum's, Milwaukee Avenue Garrick. Glick man's, Howard, Sam T. Jack's. London Musee, Marlowe, New American and Olympic. A Hvniorlil Day. Mayor Harrison in a proclamation names to-day as a day of mourning throughout Chicago for the dead in the Iroquois theater fire. Tho proclama tion follows: "The mayor announces that, the city hall will he closed all day Saturday on account of the calamity at the Iroquois theater. He respectfully requests all b.-.siness houses to close as a mark of respect for the dead." Meiiaagfi of Sympathy. Expressions of sympathy for the city in its sorrow reached Mayor Harrison from all parts of the world. President Roosevelt. Gov. Yates, Prince Henry of Prussia, the lord mayor of London and the mayors of several other Eu ropean capitals sent messages of con dolence; Mayor Seth Low, of New York; Mayor Patrick Collins, of Bos ton, and many others. The catastro phe seemed particularly to touch Prince Henry and to cause real personal in terest and anxiety. Following was the meaaage received from the president: "Washington, Dec. 31.—To Hon. Car ter H. Harrison, Mayor, Chicago: In common with all our people throughout this land, I extend to you, to the people of Chicago, my deepest sympathy In the tetrible. catastrophe which has befallen them.. 'THEODORE ROOSEVELT." ' Lowest Prices Pure Drug's Best SKill . • • > > On this Basis we ask Your Prescriptions. We keep only one Grade of Drugs . . • • The Best • | . £ ^ \ COMPLETE LINE of toilet articles, perfumery, writing tablets and tancy stationery, schoolbooks, cutlery, paints, oils, varnishes, cigars, high-grade chewing and smoking tobaccos. 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