The Chicago Catastrophe.

Manawatu Herald, 21 January 1904, Page 3

The Chicago Catastrophe.

SCENES OF*~HORROR

Details of the Chicago fire show that the people in two balconies Were enveloped in the first burst of flame. A large number of these died in their seats, their hands clutching the arms of their chairs. Others’ attempted to escape and at one of the staircases leading to the balconies the firemen afterwards found dead and charred bodies piled up 10ft high. Five minutes after the first little tongue of flame was seen the whole interior of the beautiful new theatre, the Iroquois, was a morgue Barely five minutes after the first alarm was given firemen were struggling into the building, making their way in some fashion through the maddened crowds which streamed forth and doing what little they could, not only to check the flames but to rescue the few people in the balconies who were still alive. The flames were soon under control and then the firemen, with the police, went to the scenes of death on the stairways and in the balcony seats. Men, even those accustomed to scenes of horror, could not approach those dreadful stilled masses calmly. Some fainted and others clung to each other and cried like little children. The awful news spread through the city rapidly and soon men came rushing from all parts of the city and became like maniacs in their distress and anxiety for their loved ones. Many found their wives and children among the dead, identifying them perhaps by some bit of charred clothing or blackened ornament. The rescuers worked side by side down the beautiful staircases of the theatre which glittered again with the electric light. Then came the procession of men carrying the dead and dying. In ten minutes a dozen stores had been converted into hospitals and morgues. Two large restaurants piled up their tables and counters on top of each other and threw out great heaps of table linen to be used as bandages. All the great State Street stores threw their main floors open and sent to the theatre great piles of blankets and rubber cloth, and everything that could be utilised.

It is said that the desperate determination of mothers who were present to save their little ones was the cause of the awful panic. The theatre had many exits, and, but for the panic, most of the people must have escaped, excepting those who were instantly overcome by gas. Despite the bitter weather, great numbers of people stood in line all night, seeking some chance to identify their dead or receive assurance, from the living. The police called out the names of those in the hospitals who were able to speak. All members of the theatrical company escaped by some miracle, though several of them were injured. The chorus girls were compelled to go into the street clad only in tights. Women who got out of the building rushed back, in some instances, crying out that their children were lost inside. The audience, in its rush for the outer air, seems to have chosen, for the greater part, to flee to the left entrance, and to attempt to make its way down the eastern stairway, leading into the lobby of the theatre outside of the people

burned and suffocated by gas. It was in these two doorways oii the first and second balconies that the greater loss of life occurred. When the fireihen entered the building the dead were found stretched in a pile, reaching from the head of the stairway, at least eight feet from the door back to a point about five feet in rear of the door.