The San Francisco call. [volume], January 01, 1904, Image 4

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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Continued on Page 5, ¦ Column 1.
CHICAGO. Dee. ,31.— By order of Cor
oner Treager the" ; theater charnel-house
was to-day placed \ under a' tight police
guard. ' No . person could enter, without
a written 'order "from Chief of Police
O'Xeil, who was notified that he, would
be \ held ' for keeping the
building In the exact condition in which
it wasleftiby the.sweep of the flames.
/Thirty patrolmen were stationed across
the "front: of the building- and twenty
men guarded ' the - rear, while within
were thirty more 'officers/ the whole In*
terior,*including the stairways and' flre-
Thousands of Anxious Relatives Taiu
- ly? Attempt; to Gain Admittance. '.
POLICE GCARD THEATER.
Employe in a Chicago Factory Loses
His Life While Trying to Escape -
From a Burning Building.
. CHICAGO, Dec. 31. — One man was
killed and two severely Injured in a
flre in the factory of the United States
Feather Company to-day. Loss. $50,
000. The dead:
DANIEL PHALEX, foreman: badly
burned and jumped from third-story
window, crushing skull.
\ The injured: Carl Meyer, superin
tendent, burned on head and hands in
rescuing, flveglrZa; August Zaconi,
burned on head arid body.
The building, a * six-story structure,
contained a large number of employes,
but all except the three named escaped
without severe Injury.
JUMPS FROM THIRD STORY '
WINDOW AND IS KILLED
CHICAGO, Dec. 31.— Sorrow reigns In
theresldence of Dr. Frank W. Gunsa'i
lus, the noted divine, who lives at 2313
Prairie avenue. William McLaughiin.
19 years of age, a nephew of Mrs. Oun
saulus.Avas one of those severely Mim
ed/He was taken to the Presbyterian
Hospital, where the attending physi
cians-entertained no hope for re
covery. Mclaughlin's -home /Is in
Buenos Ayreu. He is a member of the
sophomore class of the Ohio Wesleyan
University at Delaware. Ohio/ and -was
spending his holiday vacation at the
Gunsaulus home. He was to have" wit
nessed the marriage of Miss '¦- Martha
Gunsaulus to: Henry Hamilton Shueler,
which took' place at' the Prairie avenue
residence this, evening. Owing to his
condition all invitations tcr ; the cere
mony, were recalled and only the im
mediate relatives of /the" bride and
groom were present. '
Sorrow Reigns In the Home of Dr.
• . Frank W. Gunsaulns.
GRIEF MARS A WEDDING.
, BERLIN, Dec. 31.— The evening pa
pers express horror and sympathy over
:he Chicago catastrophe. The flre de
partment here announces that it will
immediately make a fresh study of the
local theaters.
Arouses Berlin Flre Department.
The prisoners were taken to the Har
rison street police station and locked
up. Plunkett Was charged with man
slaughter and the members of the
chorus^ with a violation of a part of
the municipal code of Chicago,,provid
ing for the holding of witnesses for a
Coroner's jury.
Two members of the chorus,,, Misses
Anna Brant and Daisy Beauttes, were
arrested and taken to the Central po
lice station. After questioning by the
police they were released. .
in the wings when the fire was discov
ered.. According to Coroner Treager. a
large placard had been placed in th»*
hotel where a large number of the ac
tors are staying, ordering that all mem
bers of the company be ready to leave j
Chicago on short notice. Believing that :
this was a move to keep witnesses
from testifying before a Coroner's
Jury, the arrests were decided upon.
Late to-night, in addition to the ar
rest of the stage manager and 'six
others, detectives arrested William
Plunkett. assistant stage manager, and
four members of the "Moonlight
Chorus." The chorus Is ¦ made up of
eight men and eight women and was
about to appear on the stage when the
fire started. Those arrested in 1 addition
to Plunkett were : William Stack. Sal
uel Bell, Victor Bozeart and Edward
Wines. y >-.:': ;.-; ,¦ ..-. ': ,
Orders were issued to-night by Chief
O'Xeil ioiind members of the company
and othf r theater employes who were
v.itnfSEPS of the fire. This order will
mean, the police say, that in all more
than twenty arrests will be made,
chiefly among the dancers and mem
bers of the chorus, who were crowded
POLICE .MAKE ARRESTS.
"The exits are too small anyway,"
Raid Juror Meyer, as he measured the
donrs loading to the flre escapes.
At the conclusion of the inspection of
the theater it was decided to continue
th« inquest until next Thursday.
A few of the questions to which the
jury v.lll endeavor to obtain satisfac
tory answers at the inquest are:
"Were the steel doors leading to the
fire escapes on the rirst and second ba.1
<onie£ locked when the fire broke out?
Jf they were locked, were they opened
promptly by the attendants?"
. "Why was it impossible to lower the
afebegtos curtain?"
f "Why did the management permit
ihe vro of arc lights in the flies, with
no device to prevent carbon sparks ig
niting the borders of the scenery and
the curtain?"
"Why did the ushers, as alleged, shut
all the doors and urge the audience to
remain seated after the fire broke out,
instead of doing everything possible to
empty the house?''
STANFORD UNIVERSITY. Dec. 31.
Miss Cara Stillman, '03. d,aushter of
Professor Stillman, head of the de
partment of chemistry and at present
acting president of the univ,.»r?ity. was
one of the victims of the terrible tha
ater fire at Chicago. Word was re
ceived of her .death this afternoon and
Dr. Stillman left immediately for the
scene of the disaster.
Miss Stillman, with her si?ter. Miss
Minna Stillman, left for Chicago last
October to spend a year with an aunt
who lives in South Chicago. AH threa
had seats at the theater, but Cara alone
was killed. The sister was unnurt, but
the aunt was severely injured. Miss
Stillman'sbody was found late yester
day afternoon and was Identified soon
after by friends. At Stanford Miss
Stil'-man '¦ was very well known. She
graduated in the department of history
last spring. - Both sisters were mem
bers of the Greek letter sorority" of
Kappa Alpha Theta.
to Chicago for Dead Daughter.
Stanford's Acting President Hurries
.STARTS ON SAD JOURNEY.
Canada Expresses Profound Rezret.
OTTAWA, Dec. 31. — Lord Minto,
Governor General of Canada, to-day
telegraphed to President Roosevelt
asking him to convey to the Mayor
and citizens of Chicago the profound
regret of the people of Canada for the
great calamity which had bereaved
so many homes in Chicago.
VIENNA. D,ec. 31.— The catastrophe
at Chicago has aroused the most pain
ful interest ani the utmost sympathy
everywhere, tfce Viennese having a
keen recollection of the disaster at the
RIngTheater in 1881, when many per
sons lost their lives.
"LpOMJS. Acting Secretary."
Count Casslri. the Russian Embas
sador here, wont to the State Depart
ment to-day /'and expressed the per
sonal sympathy of the Russian Em
peror for the people of the United
States in their hour of affliction. Loomis
assured the Krobassador that the ex
pressions of-.the Emperor were deeply
appreciated and a message to that ef
fect has.be*n cabled to St. Petersburg.
Recalls • Disaster at Ring Theater
The following cablegram has been
forwarded by the ?tate Deijartment to
Embassador Choate at London:
"Assure Lord Mayor and citizens of
London of the Ngh appreciation of
their sympathetic? message in this hour
of sorrow.
WASHINGTON. Dec. 31.— The fol
lowing telegram has' been received at
the State Department trim' Embas
eador Choate at London, <fated to-day:
- "Citizens of London, /through the
Lord Mayor, offer their deep sympathy
and sincere condolence with llie Ameri
can people in the aw'ul loss of life at
the Chicago fire."
State Department Receives a Cable
gram From the Lord Mayor.
LONDON SENDS CONDOLENCE.
"I ain't groin* to have any one tellin*
my mother about this of , me. I'm all
right. 1 am: It was a fire, that's what
it was." ••. . ; J .'"'' ,,' ' \ ¦
¦¦: "I'm the most grateful man in Chi
cago," said; John A.. Thompson, who
owns the restaurant. "My sister was
in the theater with my- two* children.
John, aged 9. and Ruth, aged 7. She
almost got to the door;. with: both- of
them; when Ruth . disappeared.. My
sister told me she knew (hat the child
must be safe. , but Iran around like a
maniac for an hour before I found
her.: -How. it happened I don't know,
but she" ran back into the theater and
out under the stage through the stage
entrance." - . * . ; .
Over one girl in Thompson's restau
rant'the doctors labored an hour.
They- loosened her dress and two of
them waved her arms up over her
head and slowly brought them down
again in an attempt to induce artificial
respiration. Every moment > or two
one of them listened with his stetho
scope for her heart beats. There was
.no sign of a burn. on her. She could
not have been more than 16 years old
and when they forced her eyelids
apart her brown eyes were yet bright.
"She is too perfect a creature to give
up." said one doctor.
Stimulant after stimulant was tried
and last of all nitro-glycerine, but all
proved useless, and in the end the
doctor gave up. 'j?S:-'i'?i . !
Not far away: a nurse and . two
doctors labored over a boy. After ten
minutes he opened his eyes.
"Watcher- doin* to .me?" he ques
tioned. • . .;.,'':
"Taking .of you," said the
doctor. "Tell us your name."
Walter Zeis-ler, 17 years old. son of
Mr. and Mrs. Sigmund Zeisler. is
among the misslny. He is a nephew
of P'anny Bloomfleld .Zeisler. the fa
mous pianiste. . J .;.<'":
FAIL TO REVIVE VICTIM.
on the staircase leading to the main
floor. :'-•-'
One of the saddest of the many scenes
enacted In the Thompson restaurant,
near the ", theater, J where, many .'of > the
dead and "Jnjured were taken
diately 'after the flreiwas-'the search by
a party of priests and nuns." headed by
NUNS SEARCH FOR. DEAD.
party, r ¦
.Graeme Stewart, Republican na
tional commltteeman from Illinois,
spent the" entire night hunting f or
Mrs. F. M. Fox of Winnekta, III., and
her three children. Mrs. Fox is. the
daughter of W. M. Hoyt, who was.
president of the W. M. Hoyt Grocery
Company, one of the wealthiest con
cerns of the kind in the West. Mrs.
Fox was taken home, but none of
the children was found. Mr. Stewart
said the handkerchief of Hoyt Fox,
12 years old, had been found in the
pocket of a suit upon the body of. a
boy at Rolston's morgue. There ; l3
no doubt that it is the boy, although
the features cannot be identified.
• There was a pathetic scene at Rol
ston's morgue when the body- of John
Vanlngen, 18 years old, of Kenosha,
Wis.; was identified. Friends of the
Vaningen family had spent many
hours searching at the request of Mr.
and Mrs. Vaningen, who were injured.
To-day four of the Vanmgen children
who are believed to have perished In
the -fire had net been accounted: for.
They are Grace/two years old: Dotty,
five years old; Mary, 13,, and Edward,
20 years old. '-'•-]
A party consisting of Mrs. Lucy
Garn. her two children, Frank; 10
years old. and Willie, six years old;
Harriet Wolfe, 10 years old, daughter
of Ludwig Wolfe, a millionaire busi
ness man', and Miss Burke, a dress
maker, is missing. Wolfe's 'entire
family searched all night through the
hospitals and morgues, but failed to
find a trace of any members of tha
Among the first persons to escape
were Joseph Grab-am and Dorothy
Bour, two children. They were in the
parquet, fifteen rows from the stage.
"I saw the scenery catch tiro on th:?
lower, lefthand side of the stage." paid
the boy. "Eddie Foy came to the
front of the stage and told us to/fsit
jstlllj but we decided we would fret out
and right away. Four women fainted
near me and nearly -all the others
seemed dazed and just sat still. We
got up and kicked the door open. I
ihink a lot of others could have come,
too, if they had not been 'so scared.
We stood outride until they brought
a dead man out and then we went
home."
KICKED A DOOR OPEN.
Foremost among the remarkable
escapes was that of Winnie Gallagher,
12 years of age. The girl occupied a
seat in the third row on the main
floor and that she was able to make
her way through the struggling mass
of stronger and elder persons is con
sidered remarkable by the police. Un
assisted the girl made her way over
the heads of terror-stricken persons
and escaped. When she reached" th»
street her clothing was torn almost
into shreds.
was led away and did not learn the
truth for two hour?.
All. night*, long search^ was kept ,ud
for Mary Dorothy Gartz; 12 years old,'
and Barbara": Gartzr' 4 years old, who
attended the theater- with their aunt.
Mrs. Adelaide Hoptfelt. To-day their,
bodies, had not been found and there
seems^ to , be ino^dqubt.ithat" the, chil
dren; have perished. . They are', daugh
ters of ;'A:"FV Gartz. and the nieces of
R. T. Crane'.; the ¦millionaire manufac
tufefbf thls^city.-; ;.'• : ' : .: ¦>,'¦-., •";;
;, .;Mrs.'HHdntfelt.lwaV taken from the
theater, ; severely/,- burned ' about v.the
head and shoulders.'.. The children are
.believed .to •have'. v been : caught -in; the
crush coming down from the balcony
and to have been trampled to death
Clinton C. Meeker, a clerk in the reg
isJry division of the postofflce, living. in
the suburb of. Irving Park, has prob
ably lost- in 'the fire his entire family,
consisting of his wife, two. daughters
and two sons. A friend called Mr.
Meeker on the telephone at 4 o'clock
in'the" afternoon and asked hhn If any
of, his family had gone to the theater.
He /answered that ¦ so far ; as he 'knew,
none of them had. left home. When he
reached the house, however,"* he found
only his mother-in-law. there.*. • ¦ - ¦
"Where are. ,Mabel "and the chil
dren ?*' he .asked.' .. •'.'
•'They have, gone, to. 1 the Iroquois
Theater,"- was the" reply.
"I dropped right .down on my
knees,", said Meeker, "and prayed -that
God, might' spare-', them."
To-day Meeker had partially iden
tified L . the; bodies of his wife ar»d two
daughters.'; He failed .to find any. trace
of hisit wo sons. " ¦ ' ".'
the Rev. J. L. Hollinger of Ontonagon,
Mich., for Edith Horton and her sister,
young girls, who in company with one
of the convent sisters had attended the
performance. The body of Edith Hor
ton was found in the restaurant, many
of the nuns breaking down and weep
ing bitterly at the sight. The other
Korton girl and the sister who accom
panied, them were not found.
Charles Dexter of the Boston baseball
club and Frank Houseman, the old Chi
cago second baseman, with families,
occupied a box. Both claimed <hat but
for the presence of mind of Eddie Foy
the death roll would have been doubled.
When the panic began Dexter and
Houseman .each made for and manned
a door leading into the alley on the
north side of the theater, The people
from the balconies had already com
menced jumping to the ground floor
when Houseman i and Dexter forced
open, the doors, and they were com
pelled to. lift away the maimed and the
dead in order "topermit" of exit from the
ground, floor. Houseman, having es
corted his party out, took a position at
his door and kept it from choking up
by assisting people through. Finally,
forced away by the named. Houseman
got into the alley just in time to hear
the agonized voice, of a woman from
the window in an upper gallery shriek.
"Catch ma!" '.As the woman screamed
she jumped; and Houseman, catching
her to the best; of his ability, broke her
fair to. the ground and she walked away
uninjured. . ,
ENTIRE FAMILY LOST.
PROMINENT CHICAGO RESIDENTS WHO DISPLAYED HEROISM AT
THE IROQUOIS FIRE OR ARE RENDERING HERCULEAN AID IN
CARING FOR THE KILLED AND THE INJURED,'* . .
BERLIN. Dec. J 31. — Mayor
Harrison. Chicago: Wish to ex
press deepest sympathy on ac
count of terrible" catastrophe at
Iroquois Theater. Please let me
know of missing and If some of
my acquaintances among them.
What a. terrible beginning of the
new year many, good citizens of
Chicago will have! .
PRINCE HENRY OF PRUSSIA.
PRUSSIAN PRINCE
CABLES SYMPATHY
Adele Philipson, S years of age, was
one of the children struck down and
trampled to death. Her body was re
move/! by the firemen and taken to a
drugstore. There the child was seen
by her mother, who had escaped unin
jured. The mother became hysterical,
but was not permitted to go near the
child's body. Bystanders tried to
make the woman believe the little girl
had escaped death. Mrs. Philipson
F. L. Donaldson, a Iood chief for the
Western Union Telegraph Company,
handled a long telegraphic story of
the fire and its harvest of death, un
aware that his own wife was among
the missing. When he went home
and found that she had gone to the
theater he hurriedly . returned and
searched for her through the morgues
and in the hospitals, but to-day had
jvot found the least trace of the misi
ing woman.
VAIN SEARCH FOR WIFE.
Trade houses were likewi~2 laden with
inquiries and answers.
Chicago's telephone service has never
before been put to such a test as from
4 o'clock yesterday afternoon until 4
o'clock this afternoon. Every avail
able operator was pressed into service
and for hours It was impossible to ob
tain connections with some of the out
lying exchanges.
Coroner Treager and his assistants
did all in their power to supply infor
mation concerning the dead and in
jured, but five times the number of
available men in the Coroner's office
could not have accomplished the task.
Crowds besieged the Coroner's office all
day and begged that arrangements
might be made so that they could
view the bodies without delay. The
applicants were promptly supplied
with permits, which they showed to the
police and which admitted them to any
hospital or morgue.
Six bushel baskets of valuables and
trinkets of various descriptions were
gathered in the theater by policemen
ard firemen and turned over to the
Coroner. Among these were fully a
dozen watches, and in every case the
watch had stopped at 3:50 o'clock.
The flre started about 3:15.
"If those doors were locked somebody
wa3 criminal!;- negligent," said Juror
Fine.
An inspection was made of the exits
leading to tho fire rscapes. and the
.iurore were told that the bodies of the
<tead were piled ton feet high in front
< f these dr>ors when the police reached
in* theater.
The jurors then ascended to the top
gallery, where the greatest loss of life
"ccurrcd. Coroner Treager pointed to
the balcony rail, which was bent in
several places, and eaid that a number
of spectators had jumped through these
openings to the lower floor.
WERE THE DOORS LOCKED?
The jurors then climbed the stairway
¦ ading to the first balcony. Here the
lush covering of the seats was found
-o be burned on every seat. An inspec
: on was made of the exits leading to
'he fire «?sca:>e at the north end of the
building.
'"These doors are much too small;
they should have be^n three times as
large," said Juror Fine.
The iron doors were closed and locked
•nnd it was then seen that the inner
i-.ors were so close to the steel shut
ters that they could not be opened
when the shutter** were fastened. This
exit is not sufficiently high for a man
to walk through without stooping, and
when the jurors learned this fact by
personal experience there was much
comment among them.
The jury asked Coroner Treager re
psirding the asbestos curtain that
r-aught when an attempt was made to
lower it. The members of the jury
"hiic engaged in inspecting the stage
frequently remarked that the protec
tion against fire seemed to them to
>.ave been inadequate.
INADEQUATE PROTECTION
pointed out the spot where the fire
started. The seats in the first ten rows
on the first floor were burned, but back
of that the orchestra chairs were in
gcod condition. In one corner of the
Etage was a rile of brass spears and
armor used in the production of "Mr.
Bluebeard." All that was visible of the
1*0 pieces of scenery used in the extrav
aganza were small piles of ashes where
the scenery had dropped and burned on
ihe stage. The steet frames of the arc
lights, one of which is said to have
t aused the catastrophe, were piled in
confusion near the front of the stage.
Continued From Page 1. Column 1.
Dr. Lueger, Mayor of Vienna. Aus
tria, sent the following cablegram to
Mayor Harrison:
"The city of Vienna expresses to the
city administration of Chicago on ac
count of the terrible theater fire,
through which hundreds of lives were
lost, its warmest sympathy and heart
felt .condolence."
Messages of condolence were re
ceived from Mayor Collins of Boston
and from dozens of the executives of
cities between St. Louis and New
York.
CHICAGO, Dec. 31. — All during the
day messages of sympathy to the peo
ple of Chicago and offers of aid pour
ed in by telegraph on the Mayor. He
announced to-night:
"I have received many offers of aid.
It may be that before we get through
this trouble a few persons will be
found to be in need, but Chicago will
be able to give that aid herself. Most
of those killed and injured, now iden
tified, can be abundantly cared for."
From E. S. Willard. actor, London,
was received the following:
"Deepest t sympathy with citizens
mourning."
I WASHINGTON, Dot-. 31. —
Hon. Carter Harrison, 3Iayor,
Chicago: In -common with all
our people throughout this land
I extend, through you,- to the
people of Chicago my 1 deepest
sympathy in the terrible catas
trophe which has befallen them.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT. ,
CHIEF OF NATION
EXPRESSES GRIEF
Sympathetic Messages
Pouring Into the
Stricken City.
CROWDS VISIT
THE MORGUES
TO SEEK DEAD
"From all the information we have
been able to gather thus far, it seems
to me as though the fault in creating
the draught, which threw the audience
into a panic by forcing the flames out
• ver their heads, was due far more to
the action of the theatrical people in
opening the door at the rear of the
theater than to the audience in open
ing the doors in front. The manage
ment of the theater, I believe, assert
that it w.as the action of the audience
thst made the draught which was the
primary cause of the disaster. I may
be wrong, but from the evidence now
at hard I think it will be shown that
Jt was the action of the stage hands or
"members of the company, instead of
anything done by the audience in its
attempts to escape."
Coroner Treager to-night took the
jury to examine the theater. On arriv
ing at the theater the Jury first went to
the stage, and Deputy Coroner Buckley
STAGE HANDS TO BLAME.
Other witnesses were examined and
after these had been heard Assistant
State's Attorney A. A. Hee. who was
present, said:
"It seems agreed that the asbestos
curtain was dropped, but that it went
only within ten or fifteen feet of the
stage floor. The people on the stage
opened the door leading from the stage
snto the street on the \\<?st side of the
theater and this created a strong
draught. The draught blew the cur
tain out toward the audience. This
held the curtain eo tightly that all at
tempts to lower it further were fruit
less. Attempts were made by numer
fjs persons to pull the curtain down by.
hand, but without success.
the fire. His first witness was William
C. Sellers, a fireman employed at the
Iroquois Theater. Sellers did not know
just how the fire began, but said he
saw it shortlv after it started. He
threw extinguishers upon the blaze, but
without effect. He tried to pull down
ths drop curtain' or to tear loose that
portion of it which was blazing, but
without success. The fire then spread
with such rapidity that he was unable
to do more.
Continued From Page I, Column 3.
Sir Thomas Llpton says sympathy is
best expressed by helping the unfortu
nates, and that if a fund is opened in
Chicago to assist those who have been
deprived of their breadwinners he will
gladly contribute $500 or $1000.
All local and foreign topics of inter
est were forgotten here to-day in the
general horror over the Iroquois ..Thea
ter tragedy. The extra editions were
eagerly bought. The accounts of the
deadly panic were read by the English
people with peculiar sympathy and
horror, for the pantomime season is
now at its height and the London thea
ters are daily crowded by women and
children. The disaster of yesterday
doubtless will kee? many Londoners
from sending their children to the usual
Christmas holiday pantomime.
The afternoon newspapers comment
sympathetically on what the Globe
terms "one of the most terrible disas
ters of its kind in the last hundred
years."
The Globe thinks that in the outset
there could have been no adequate fire
appliances or else that they failed to
work, and does not believe that in this
country any theater management
would be "so utterly helpless."
"The scheme of exits," say3 the Pall
Mall Gazette, "appears to have been
practically worthless."
The St. James Gazette say»: "The
ghastly holocaust at Chicago teaches
the wisdom of the local ordinance
which requires the Sreproof curtain to
be lowered once every evening to In
sure its good order."
The Westminster Gazette points to
the terrible regularity with which
Christmastide coincides with a great
disaster, and thinks it only shows how
necessary to public security are the
theater regulations, which so often arc
deemed oppressive.
To the Lord Mayor's message of sym
pathy, which also was transmitted to
the United States Embassy and for
warded to the State Department at
Washington, Embassador Choate re
plied:
"I have received your tender mes
sage of condolence in behalf of the citi
zens of London to the people of the
United States in the tragic calamity at
Chicago, and thank you most sincerely.
I have transmitted it to Washington.
"CHOATE."
"MANSION HOUSE. LONDON', Dec.
31. — The citizens of London offer their
deep sympathy and sincere condolence
with. the American people at the awful
loss of life in Chicago.
"JAMES T. RITCHIE. Lord Mayor." ,
The following message which Lord
Mayor Sir James T. Ritohie of London
transmits through the press well
the consternation and sympathy
which prevail throughout the British
metropolis over the disaster in Chi
cago:
LONDON. Dec. 31.— King Edward
and Queen Alexandra have sent tele
grams- of sympathy for the sufferers
of the Chicago fire to the United
States Government through Foreign
Minister Lansdowne. «
Great Britain's • King
and Queen Send
Telegrams.
Prompt Action of Po
lice Checkmates
Flight.
Chicago Horror Stirs
the Sympathy of
All Europe.
CHICAGO. Dec. 31. — Twelve employes of the Iroquois
Theater were arrested to-night on orders issued by
Chief of Police O'Xeil. The charge against them is that
of being accessory to manslaughter. They will be held pend
ing the verdict of the Coroner's jury. Among them are: Will
iam Carleton. stage manager : Edwarcl Cummings. carpenter ;
Frank T. Andrew. R. M. Cummings, E. Engle. Thomas Mc-
Queen and S. J. Mazoni. The last five are stage hands and
sceneshifters. After being taken into custody by the police
four of the men told Chief O'Xeil that they had been re
quested by persons connected with the theater to leave Chi
cago. They later admitted that the advice was given by As
sistant Stajre Manager Plunkett.
Manslaughter Charge
Against Stage
Employes.
CHICAGO, Dec. 31. — There is still- a wide variance of opinion as to the cause of the Iro
quois Theater disaster. Members of the "Mr. Bluebeard" company and employes of the
theater assert that an explosion started the fire. In this they are contradicted by scores
• of survivors, who say that sometime before the explosion occurred they saw flames creeping
along the highly inflammable material appended to the wings of the stage. They are of the
opinfon that the fire was started by sparks from an arc light. A sensational story Avas in circu
lation to-day as to the reason for the failure of the attempt to lower the asbestos curtain, which
would have' kept the flames confined to the stage had it not stuck when half-way down. It
was declared that; a fire inspector found that a wire. had been stretched from the back of "the
stage to the rear of the theater, to be used in one of the features of the second act — an aerial
" flight over the audience. When the "curtain was lowered as far as this wire it could go no fur
ther. : Members of the company assert that the cause of the failure to lower the curtain was
that the draught due to the opening of the doors caused the curtain to bulge out and render it
POLICE ARREST ATTACHES OF IROQUOIS THEATER
fHE SAN FRANGISGOGALE;^ /FRIDAY- jANi::VRYr;l:-a904
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