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Newspaper
Boston Post
Location
Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Date
Jan 01, 1904
Page
5
Chicago mourns after a deadly theater disaster at the Iroquois when a curtain fire traps patrons. Officials debate cause with arc light sparks, while inspectors fault building code lapses and lack of proper sprinklers and ventilation. casualties near 675 with many injured and missing.
In Chicago on December 31 relatives and friends daily searched morgues hospitals and undertakers for disaster victims. Many dead could only be identified by clothing as numerous bodies were found and recognized by tearful searchers with mothers and sisters sometimes fainting at discoveries.
A stage fire during a performance caused a chaotic evacuation as sparks rained down and smoke filled the auditorium. Women fainted, two girls died, and bodies were found amid the crush near the balcony. Miss René Humphrey and Helen Wall escaped amid hysteria, while chorus girl Viola McDonald dodged flames and debris seeking a safe exit.
Chicago December 81 theater workers blame the Iroquois Theatre disaster on jamming of the asbestos curtain. They recount the heavy curtain, four steel cables, and counterweights that could descend under their own weight if released.
Prep yell Thompson recalls fleeing panic as the stampede ruined the theatre. He watched people climb over seats, women and children crushed, and exits blocked. He crawled over backs to reach a street window, narrowly escaping injury. Firemen carried the last person out unharmed.
The Iroquois Theatre attraction was the spectacle Mr Bluebeard brought from Drury Lane London by Klaw and Erlanger. John J McNally rewrote the book and Frederick Solomon composed much new music. It first reached the United States at the Knickerbocker Theatre in New York on January 2.
Last year the piece opened at Knickerbocker and ran for months ending the season in warm weather. It featured 15 sets with imported scenery costumes and effects from Drury. A 20 member ensemble animated the ballet with fans of many nations. It was booked for early March at the Coal Theatre.
James Schneider, once a Clinton resident and former Lancaster mills worker, was seriously injured in a Chicago fire that killed his wife. He recently served as physical instructor of the Chicago Turn Verein and is connected to local rowers. His parents, siblings, and several relatives still live in Clinton.
Chicago scene tells of a deadly theater blaze at the Iroquois Theatre where Peter Quinn chief special agent of the Atchison Topeka Santa Fe helped free 100 or more performers blocked by a trapped stage door. Police firemen and volunteers worked to clear passages. Winnie Gallagher an 11 year old girl survived after being trampled and rescued.
In Chicago an impaneled coroner jury faced repeated displays of corpses at Rolston's morgue. Several jurors protested the viewing, and Joseph Cummings collapsed during the inspection tour as jurors were made to step over the bodies.
Mrs S A Henry, a victim of the Chicago fire horror, is identified as sister to Edward D. Baker, a Boston theatrical man and stage manager of the English Daisy company. Baker, formerly of Castle Square, has many friends in Boston who mourn the loss.
Beverly Bell a well known actor singer in the Mr Bluebeard company performed at the Iroquois Theatre telegram says he escaped unharmed the cast shared the stage during the incident innis unknown safe status reported by Bell
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