The Lexington advertiser. [volume], January 07, 1904, Image 6

About The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.) 1904-1985

Image provided by: Mississippi Department of Archives and History

                
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.
FIRST FLOOD MASONIC
BUILDING.~.piione Ho. ss
Swinney & Stigler.
1
F resh Drugs
Every thing that we carry In stock Is new
and Fresh; no shelf worn Goods. We carry
a complete line of everything found in a first
class Drug Store. Call to see us.
In the C. A.
Pitchford Bldg.
East Side of
Public Square.
«
T. J. JORDAN
Proprietor.
Lexington Drug Store
i
JUST RECEIVED
A full line of new goods consisting of Fancy
Cut Glass, Plaques, Cups and Saucers, Choclate
Sets, Plates, Glassware Tea Pots, Besques Fig
ures, Celery Dishes, handsome Buggy Robes,
Fancy Buggy Harness, Saddles, Bridles, and,
Bugg ys, Toilet Sets, Lamps, Dinner Sets, Crock
ery, Jardners Flowers Pots. In fact everything
kept in a first class Hardware store.
Implements
Of All
Kinds *•
'll
4.
Up -to-date Stoves Heating and Cooking.
Prices are right. Call and see us
*
m
.
D. W. Beall
You Gan Do Without
fl Good
Hardware
Mann stores
But you can't do without a good Hardware Store.
To a housekeeper it Is as essential as the house
Itself. The stock is made up of many things in
dispensable to the home, farm and the workshop
such an . ....
store
• ••
Is a necessity In any community.
Don't break down your hard
ware store by baying from other
Don't orde' off after
Stoves, Ranges, Grates, Heavy Hardware, Puinpa, Piping, Belting and
Engine Repair Parts, Guns, Loaded Shells, Cartridges, Shot, Powder, Caps,
Bridles, Collars, Baggies, Harness, Saddlss, Blankets, Wagon Gear, Wagon
and Buggy Spokes and Rims, Thimble Skeins, Buggy Shaft and Poles, Cart
Shafts, Wooden Churns, Stona Churns, Jars sod Crooks, Pocket and Table
Cutlery and Shelf Hardware, Home-made Tinware guaranteed better than
any you can buy elsewhere. Tin Roofing and Guttering done to order
I HAVE A TIN AND REPAIR SHOP IN CONNECTION IN CHARGE OF
AN EXPERT WORKMAN. SELECTION IS EASY. STOCK ATTRACTIVE.
stores.
anything kept in my ine beforo
getting my prices. The needs of
the u 'tchon and dining room met
to the advantage of the pocket
book.
BAXTER WILSON.
SEEING IS BUYING
I
I
7here's Standard
Quality Here
■ 1868
An Unbroken
Record of 33
Yean Selling;
Reliable Drug?
1902
>•!
I
J
<S* <8*
Remember this when you are in need ol . . . .
Drugs, School BooKs, Stationery,
Paints, Oils, Window Glass
. J. or anything Kept in a first-class drug store.
^TICKING TO
a
j\
FACTS and
BIGHT PUCES
\
b the repu
tation we
have
A S. BEALL
TRY .US
AND SEE
I L
I
^