The Chicago Fire.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 18, 22 January 1904, Page 4

The Chicago Fire.

FAHTICULARS OF THE WSAS- l t TER. AN AWFUL HOLOCAUST f American pan>ers which arrived by | the San Fram-iseo uxril on Monday ( colitttiu gVa4rtiic descriptions of the , awful Are wtaioli occurred at Chicago ] on IVc. 30. It is rtv|aidexl as one of i the nroet teiTibie tlieatre disastera Id tiw history of America. i CHICAGO, Dec. 31. Chicago waa thrown into a state at «ohßtern)a,tioin 'by an disaster caused by a fire in a theatre. More than six hundred men.women and children, aeco»ding to the official report of the police, met death tiy lire, Miioke, and panic during the matinee perfonualtce of "Mr Biut'ljeaad" at the ibi'a'ulifui new liwuiois Thtatre. Most of the dead are women and chiWren. Scoreswere incinerated, while hundreds' were suflocatod by smolie and gas cund crushed to death hy tme another while struysling to escape. Still other Hundreds are lying tobetween life aiid death, with Kmbs brokxMi aHd liurmjd, at their homes «nd in haipitals. Every uudbrtafcang estaWiahmcnt In the city is filled with bodies, many of Which pjxfiJ.ly will nerer l« identilied. TINY TONGUE OF FLAME. From pit to dome the jouse was pjajJkcd. Mttthers and their little ones had laughed themselves hoarse at the antics of "Eddie" Foy, a comeclian. It was in tlie middle of the ptay and the cltorus, smiling and fraHcsJome, had just concluded *>c singin|g of tlie " Mcvsilfeii't cried a little chap in the front row as a curl of sinoke and a tiny tonyue of flame shot out from the wiiTifs to the rigiit of the statue. Childien clapped their hands in glee. Mothers laugl.-ed and the whole aludience was in line humour. Btt the tcnguic of flatne leached out mi caught a bit of inflammajble ecenery winch hung over the centre of the stayj. Instantly there was a tauter rtßbon of flaane, awd in a momeat ever}*''''' n 'g b&tk of the footlights w«B a brcuid waive of lire. which lighted the bouse with weird effects. GAS TANKS EXPLODE. Foy, chief comediaW of the company, stctJkl aut from the p'anicatiicken group on tlve staige to asSure the auddvnee tl.'at there was no ilaingvar. E\wi as he spoke tlie great eiJJjstos curtwjn wats let down, but it caught cJn one side, and failed to work. In another instant smoke burst from the top arch of the stage aod from under the bottom of the curtain. Before the audience realised the danger, the wljolc roof o! the auditorium was u-biiaze. Two BBS tanks exploded in the flies on ttu sides of the theatre, and black, choking funics heat down in a cloud of death from every wall. This w«a not all. Foar, is.<.ic».:tralkV'e end terrible, reigned !, Men and womteo fought like witd beasts, fdled cpdy with a desire for self-protec-tion. Little babies slipped from thwr mothers' arms, and in an inptaut their lives were crushed out by tin crowd. Girls threw themselves from the balconies, and lay crushed and dying, till Sutloqation ended their miseries. FIERCE BATTLE FOR LIFE. More than one thousand persons in the orchestra scats, with easy access to the doors, gradually made their way to safety, but most of them threw aside wraps,* pocketbboks, bats, ajud everything that seemed to imjxxie them in the rush iof life aod the Open air. But in tie tulcony and gallery the destruction wrftufekit frightful work. The flame and smoke, gathering on these upper floors, caught the victims before they realised the full extent of tteir danger. It seemod incredible KHat the little tongue of fire could tap the walls so quickly and reach nut aiJter them like a stroke of luteins;. Then, when the full meaning of the disaster came to the Helpless ones, they fought and battled with one another for safety— Mattled like stampeded animals, with the smoke curling about them. Bverytfctais was plunged into absolute darkness, not even a friendly tantern showing them the way out o* this house of death. The classic Outlines of the theatre, the fccauti*a pkish hangings, the arched windows with their stained glass, the stately pillars, became a morgue five manrtes after the first little rifclion et flame made its way along the stage. The women and gjrls in the ■AUery never had a chance of life. They met death still seated in their theatre chairs, their hands burned into one commingled cinder with the Sides of the seats they had fjrasptd when the panic came. Others who had managed i o y the strength of terror to get into the aisle* found the end in the mingled mass of smoke and fire and the tawing of limlbs there and in the open space back of the seats. DEAD LIE EIGHT FEET DEEP. Dozens of others, swept, carried. drajjfgpd or thrown out to the stairways and even beyond them dpwn to the landings, never saw the dayUgfrt ttot streamed throtfch the big front door in sight of the thrones outside with lire waggons and smoking horses, but died in great masses seven and eight feet high with «*ir teces in the last agonies all tamwd towards the doors they could not reafch. From the windows at W* north and west ends of the l»aHiJig they streamed, blinded by smoke and crafted beyond any possibility of helping themselves further or taking advatouafee of the aid extended to them from the upper floors of the taiildings facing the oheatre. Ladders, plamks, ropes poles, everything that could possibly serve to assist these creatures in their battle for life was rigged and turned into bridges, liut very few fjpt across afire. ESCAPE OF THE COMPANY. The fire broke out during the second act of the play, "Mr BlueIfeard," which was the first dramatic production presented in the theatre since its erection. Tlau company, which was a rery large one. escaped to the street in safety, marly all of the players, however, being compelled to flee into the snowy streets.with no clothing but their stage costumes. A few memVi-rs of Ofe company sustained minor injuries, but none were seriously hurt. Accounts of uhe origin of the lire are conflicting, and none certain, but tlhe best theory given is that' an electric wire on tlie lower part of a piece of drop scenery suddenly broke Bind was groimdud. Tlie fire spread rajpidly toward the front of the stage, causing the members of the chorus, who were then engaged in ttie performance, to flee to the wir.-s with screams of terror. The fire In itself up to this time was not serious, and possibly could have been checked had not the atfciestoi cur tain failed to work. CURTAIN FAILS TO LOWER. As soup* as the fire was discovered RSiie Foy, the chief comvdian of the company, shotitcd to lower the tfurtain, and this was immediately •Jane. It descended about halfwuy «nd then stuck. The fire thus was Given practically a flue through which a strong draught was setting Hided by the doors, which hud b-n-n wirown open in the front of tie ttneatre. With a roar and a bound ««e ftames shot through the opening over the .heads of the people on the first floor, and, reaching clear HP to those in the first balcony, «Wght them amd burned them to

death where they sat. lmmoiliaitely following this rush of flames there came am explosion, which lifted the Hint-ire roof of the theatre from its walls, shattering the great skylight into fi-agiinirts. An soun as the flames first appeared Vyoml the curtain a mam in uhv rear of tlw Hall sbouteil "Fine ! Fire !" aral the ami ire imfciience arose as owe person airjd m-aide for tlie ftloors. It is beMmvci:! that the explosion was caused My the llamas coming in coivtaet with the gas reservoirs of the Kx'atre. causing them to burst.