The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 1, 1904, Page 1

erly. A. @ Distriot ing Quring the day: light north- erly winds, changing to west- MCcADIE, Forecaster. VOLUME XCYV—NO. 32 SAN FRANCISCO ‘RIDAY, JANUARY 1, 1904, PLUNGE AUDIENCE INTO DEATH T TOGKED DOORS | BIR THE WAY - TOTHE EXITS | CHICAGO, Dec. 31. — Coroner Trea- ger's inquiry into the Iroquois Theater dis- | aster has already be- | gun. A jury com- | posed of business men, which visited the charnel house this evening, found that the protection against fire had been inade- quate. The fact that bodies were piled ten feet high before the | doors of minor exits | bears out the charge | made by survivors that these doors were 1 L Some of the | simpos e €a sible. wa Thrilling Escapes an Sad Incidents of Disaster. d Crowds of Stricken Relatives Throng Morgues. —On every train cégo to-day cam who are thought injured in th= the downtown many happy of anxious in- athers, mothers of could be strangers returned to h evening, arch or: after find- harred and disfigured body ying orgue ail that remained-of the rejat or friend for whom. they had searched F. A, Freer, postmaster of Galesburg, arrivet o in gram saying that deughter . “were s, - “Freer, hicago on We rning -expressly to Ironois Theater. Since Chitago Freer has had ir arrival il nquiries of the hoars examining Man, of lance to his wife which fter \nvestigating gue & n and. in‘despalr of LOSES HER TWO CRILDREN. L morning at conscious condition, oss of her daughter and mon. . Stoddard purtha ickets for her‘irl:. deughter and son for the matifee, but later became indisposed and 4\l pot attend the performance. - Her sog and daughter went and both were burned t vX;llh. Mre, rth ard returned to ome this afte on, - tak 1 the bodies of her children. e " From early in the morping untsl:jate at night crowds besleged the um ing rooms and_hospitals looking - for dead and injurcd. Pollcemen were @e. tatied at sl places where the dead and ‘njured bhad been carried to res the unxious men end women, vrerged in at the doorwavs and .ig- nuiged for lost friende and relatives. n-all the uncert 'K rooms bodies were placed as far as_possible, on cots,. and, when these were exhausted, the lies were stretched in long lines on fioor. and & constant succession of c-faced men and *tearful women rsed slowly between the bodies. Hft- £ the coverings from the burned and facer, and searching in the thing of the dead for something by hich . their lost ones could be recog- nined in many instances women fainted when lllt:’in: the sheet .from w face in which they recogniped ¢ Lentures uf & Gead ch{ld. TELXGHRAPH IS XEPT BUSY. Vhile the crowds of anxious seek- = for mews besieged the different revre, the telegraph: and- long dis- ce telephone S -Were - almost amped by & flood' of inquiring mes- ages. - Mespenger - for the tele- #raph- companies were on the go all ey, apd tovmight the terrific rush of sincss was #til on.. Private wires f the Stock Exchagge and-Basrd of grieving’ over the - s of persons | found. ! after | attend | the | re Were clothed in | ( he | @ examining'every body | returned to & hotel | irain 1 smy such calamity as has just brought grief and mourning to our | | i o ‘4-‘;{—‘%EAD A FALSE EXITS IN IROQUOIS THEATER K S S TYPICAL MORGU% SCENE AFTER CHICAGO'S THEATER FIRE, STATESMAN WHO HAS TAKEN THE LEAD INTH 33 - RIX THE S £V JESPONSIBILITY AND SAN r FRANCISCO FIRE CHIEF WHO WILL PLE. NATOA it Ts SROCUAMATION CON'LENGGE LOCKE { ViHOUSES i — e | | | ‘WILL INSPECT THEATERS O the Board of Public Works, the Board of Firc Commission- ers, the Board of Police Commissioners, the Chief of the Fire Department and the Chief of Police of the City and County of San Francisco: 5 Gentlemen: The a palllnf‘di!nfltr swhich: has - just come upon the city of Chieago, the frightful loss of ‘life which: has resnited from the Iroguols Theater fire, appeals to us all to take every pre- caution in our power to prevent the possibility-of a similar fatality here. Care and attention now may avoid regret and sorrow hereafter. 1 therefore urgently request you and each of yoy at once to in- spect and examine all our local theaters and places of amusement, causing cach to comply strictly with the provisions; of onr existing buflding ordinance governing theaters and other noywes of amuse- ment, and also_to report to me immediately any dangerous, defect- ive or unsafe consirnction or conditions which may exist and any rture from the ordinances and regulations now in force, to- gether with any recommendations or suggestions which you may deem it proper to make to improve or render them more safe, A great responsthility is upon - us all, as public ofcials, “and smay none of us ever be called upon to reproach one. another for | or indirectly “intersted in the piles of | | | | 1 sister city. ! December 31, 1903, H B S S ) Coroner’s Jury Begins lts Inquiry Into ‘the . Cause of the Holocaust. E. E. SCHMITZ, Mayor. b, 31.—With the an- i 3 of the Jaw. The investigation of the' | nor st ‘one jury of tepre-ifire will be thorough. We will leave sentative: “would listen -to all | no stone unturned in our efforts to fix | the v regarding the fire and | the responsibility.” The Coroner's jury is as-follows: L. , ‘Wholesale grocers, 2 that the death » Mrs. F. Mortol _children would:be jam H. Hoyt &4 was told by the of Hoyt's da Fox, and her. taken us a mings, mannger of Browning, King Co.; George W. Atki credit mag { Marshall: Field & €o.? s salesman for A. H. Revells: -~ Corpner. Treager. to-night /¢ n”informal -inquiry into th ey |t 6 i with. no evidence i the ppeople treturn & single verdict for all the | TIF Cor secretary of the Kennedy | e ; TR . Meyer, e Kenne hv.um:.‘ Coroner :’r;:xe: N:;::_"; Furniture ‘Company; Peter Byrnes, prompily Sjury. S5 I salesman for: Lyon ‘& Healy: Wllter[dn Repubdlican seman Graeme | Clingman, - salesman for - the Tobey:; t Stewart, m roof the firm of Will- | Furnitre Company; Joseph A. Cume: Chicago, | Stunned by Playhouse Horror, W—Take Prompt Steps to Place the Blame and Prevent Future Catastrophes. CHICAGO, Dec. 31.—For: the first} time s Chicago has possessed bells histles to shriek:and: horns the old _year to take its i and the N Year u rmitted. to_comw joy atits:birth. Il Chicago mourn v {hs: 600- per- | ied - yesterday in.the ifir In “histor: i panic and suffocation at the. Irogquo! Theater. { In an offictal prociamation issued | this afternosn Mavo! sugpested that the usual New Year's i be o itted. The idea e in the hearts of | Mayor's - words to give utterance to. ger- 2ve celebration found r v of the o-intc rformed Iroquois Theater gloom. Business with'a v e Yeat's ‘eve the nakers, OR Ney s e With to-night the only m diria: 1 nts_ ave fliled who toast I the year places doors « time has Not only | s and -daughters v of ‘horrible and ftorturing forme. but ‘the bhlow has fal- en’ 28 Neavily on strangers within her na : For the Chicago heen - etrloken he t drath tn. a va There 'ishardly a-village or within‘a ‘padius of 100 miles“of cago -whosgpeonleé are not directly | ! dead, or in-the: injured avhich fill the | hospit: or in ‘the fate of those who are m g, probably dead, likely burned or trampled hHeyond recognition. 7 distant in America ‘are and pathy has comb } from. oross tha se 3 i The list of dead’continues, as it was given last night, in the neighborhood of 600, A widely accepted estimate {s 564 | dead. This number will be increased, as | there are persons in hospitals who wiil die, 1t is believed, however, that the total number.of dead will not exceed 600, Including the dead, missing and’ in- Jjured, the total number of casualties is approximately 1000. There were about 2500 spectators and actors in the theater at the time of the | fire. In- the excitement following the: calamity many persons were reported missing. who have since geturned to their homes. No report of these returns ; has been made to the nolice, and théir names still swell the list of the missing. ‘are. nimated - discussion to- men, ‘employes of the architects as to the cause nis differed to-day as varied last night...The | Are a unit in declar- tarted with an explo- ¢y ar a was - allowed ! when overtaken by the frightened rush | City Electrician Hyland said: | if I had to make all sorts of noise. 3 s em of auf, matic sprinkiers. Thefe were no au&: 8lon took place. “A - number of ‘persons left ‘their geats after seeing the blaze nd were well on their way to:the street of those thev-had left behind: them. Miss Anna ' Woodward, who sat in-the second-balcony, to-day said: : I plainly saw the fire.. I .am a large woman, welghing: close to 180 pounds, and I made up my:mind.if there wasti i be ‘a_panic it would: be ‘wise for 'me to | heat it to the street. ‘1 left my seat.in the balcony, went down: the. stairs:to Carter HarriSon'| the-firat baicony and from there started 58 _out through the very door i 'h ‘80 ‘many persons swere .killed minutes later, The door was closed, and a man -standing on the outside re fused t0 open it for me. Whether he was an emnlove of the theater I do not know, but he evidently had determined that no .one should leave the theater and in so doing start a panic. I was leaving quietly up to this time, but when he refusged o allow me to pass out veaceably 1 determined to get out I went along the balcony about ten ‘eet to a glass partition and smasheq it with the noint of my umbrella. I wart down the stairs. When about half-wa down T heard the roar of the crowd as it came after me, and I hurried with all the speed T had. They overtook me, however, and knocked me dowi.. an but. for the fact that I was close to th door I .think my chance of life would have heen almost nothing. As it was, T think I must have walked the last ten feet of my vassage to the exit.on. the bodies of those who had fallen.” BUHLDING LAW VIOLATED. The best evidence at present obtain- able js. that the fire was started by sparks from an arc light striking the edge of the drop curtain, but: this has not been nroved. There are so many statements as to the cause at present and they differ so widely that it is im- pessible to ascertain the exact truth., Although the Iraquois Theater was as | j#afc as any theater in Chicago, it be- came evident to-day that the city building department had not strictiy enforced cne or two sections of the bullding ordinances. William Curran, a building inspector, was in the theater a few moments ba. fore’ the catastrophe and went away saying that everything was in good condition. - He revorted this fact thi morning to Deputy Building Commis- sloner Stanhope. The deputy com- missioner this morning, in company with ‘Inspectors Laughlin, Daiton and | Lenz, went to the theater to make an inspection.. .On his return to the City Hali he sald: “The theatcr and its management were ‘steictly “withlir the law. I shall not go into detalls until I Lave com. A Rebauets 3 eatep:| Iongs there. shall be. a sy o Satn sprinklers in the Iroquols Theater, angd tanhope, when this: was called to B attention, said:: . = % h"'l‘hm was ro sprinkler system In the iron: doors made it \lnfiécemry for the theater, but the prcvision about th.. ! *The Iroquois has fire alarm connec- i tions. I did not see the box, but that f1s my Information.” *The Iroquols had no fire alarm con- i nection with® the city fire’ alarm sys- { tem. “No application is on file for any { such’ connection.”" i “The'alarm of fire was turned in from & box.more than a half block from the theater. { "‘The law: provides:that there ‘shall be ra’ventilating-shaft:at the ‘rear end of ‘the stage. to conduct flames and. smoke away from the auditorium in just such emergencies”as arcse yesterday. “The Iroquols ‘possessed ‘no such: ventilating shatt. 5 Lo Twelve -Aldermen: to-day:: inspected i the theater and returned .to :the City { Hall and called_unon’ the: buliding . de- i partment. They asked to see the plans { of the theater, and Staniope produced them. ‘How about sorinklers?’ demanded Alderman Jones: | *“The: way''the thezier is built they ican be" left -out.,” Stanhope replied. : “And, -anyway, the flames spread so ! rapldly that no sprinkler system would i have availad anythin: i FALSE EXITS ON PAPER. § * Alderman Jones then remarked that he ordinance required-alf exits to be marked. “That will be looked into,” Stanhope aid. “Remember, however, that the ights were out and that | people were killed In their seats.” i Pointing to’the diagram of the thea- i ter, Alderman Herman said: | :Here is & passageway on.the south | side of ‘the:first: balcony. which looks as i though it leads.to the stairway. but in the darknéss:neople.scrambled through it and ware caught’like rats in & trap. They could not get either way. confusion of exits was such that no one could find his way in the dark. If those ! things are .regarded as exits.I do not know what constitutes an exit that { would be of any use.” | Stanhope told the Aldermen that he and that it was good. “You cannot convince me,” ‘declared Alderman. Herman, “If you talk for a undred vears, that people could- get cut of that nlace. 1 do not care what they call the exits—they did not work. ). show -aisles at the end of-the first floor, i leaving no aisie at all. ‘Now, what I want to know is: Did these.people In ! plans they submitted to the City Butld- ifing Department? Here there zeem o be amnie exits on.paper. but a. fnumber 3 of friends of mine got” badly scorched vOn. the firat floor they got out,* sald tanhope. : s - “My friends were on the first floor, but they received burns on their backs ‘{iust the same,” s=ald Alderman’ Hers man. St o2 e Alderman Friestedt declared -tha the second balcony 0 ficient Toom whe: t'a hand. to.the store ‘ésmpany: - The bits were o | | catastrophe. many of the; i The | had made an inspection of the building | here were not enough of them open and ; the-people could not get put. These plans but we were over there and saw the! seats run bang up against the railing, building this theater live 'up to the| ‘they got It ‘an- incautiotis clerk re- Cons{ pany, who added that they @aid not TRAP | GRIM RECORD | OF CHICAG0'S | | | CATASTROPHE | Identified Dead.- - 485 | | Unidentified Dead 97 ci 390 Injured. . Grand Total......76 o |San Franciscans Per- | ish in thé Theater Holocaust. Mrs. F. M. Peasinger Is | ~Among the Dead in Chicago. | — F. M. Persinger, a merchant tailor | in the Phelan building, received a tel- egram at 8 o'clock yesterday morning | announcing the death of his wife and | 10-year-old son in the Chicago theater The message was sent by his borther, H. R. Persinger, and | announced that both mother and son | were, without doubt, lost. In 1893 Mrs. Persinger, her two daughters, Irma and Gladys, and her infant son left San Francisco for Chi cago. Miss Irma went for the pose of cultivating her voice. Since then the young lady has completed her musical education plans were being made by which the family could be reunited. Persinger, on receipt of the sad tid- ings. at once wired to Chicago, but until a late hour last night had re- ceived no particula He will start for the t this n ling. Reverend William H. Studley, the selagyman. who was killed in the Fro- queis Theater, W a former resideat of this cit s parents still live hers, residing at Shotwell street. Studley was born and reared in this city. In the younger years of his life he was a cle Later, in 1893, he | was assistant secretary of the Twen- {tiath street branch of the Young Men's Christian Association. In 1895 | Studley was transferred to the posi- | tion of department secretary of the | Young Men's Christian Association. | He was studying for the ministry | while holding these pesitions and in | 1896 married the daughter of William | Wolff, a real estate man residing at | 1059 Brush street, Oak | Two years ago he w nd. nt to Chicago. ! Although a minister of the Methodist t faith | i | he assumed the pastorship of the All Strangers’ Chureh in that city, a non.sectarian house of worship. He as still connected with that church at the time of- his death. Reverend Mr. Studley was well known in religious circles in_this eity death, so terrible and sudden je.as a great shock to his m i friends here. - 'He leaves a fath [Genrze W. Studley. 2 printer: a moth- er.and a sister. Miss Ruby W. Studley, teacher.at the Irving Institute. They reside at 727 Shotweill street. . EW YEAR'S EVE. SILENT ON N { Usual Din“1s Prevented by the Mayor's i Proclamatlon. | “CHICAGO. Dec. 31.—Following is the i-text of a plea’issued -by Mayor Harri- | 'son: ! “On’ each recurring: New Year” annoyance has béen: caused to' th eve ek {and “infirm- by the induigence of {-thoughtless persons in noisy calebra ! tions ‘of the passage -of the ol Ar. i The city authorities have at all times i discouraged 'this practice, but “n {when CHicago:lies in the shadow of | the-greatest disaster:in her history for {'a generation, nofse making, whether by 1 bells, ‘whistles, cannon, horns. or any | other means, is particularly objection« i able. ° “As Mayor of Chicago, I would thers- | fore request all persons to refrain from | this' indulgence, and I would particu- | tarly ask all railway ofiiclals: and sil persons in control of factories and milis to direct their employes not to blow whistles between the hours of 12 and 1 a’clock to-night. ' “CARTER H. HARRISON, Mayor." In addition to this proclamation May- or Harrison te-night announcea that all departments of the city would be clused { on Saturday. January 2, on account of | the calamity of .the Iroquols Theater. ! He ‘made the request that all business i houses throughout Chicago also cloge on that day, making it a day of geperal { mourning. SAFE CRACKERS DESTROY PROPERTY IN THE SOUTH Nitro-giycevine Is. Used to Breax Surong Bozxes, but a Firm Loscs Little MMoney. LOS ANGELES, Dec. 31, —=Safe erackers last night entered the office of.the Helm Bottling.Works and blew open.two safes, using nitro-giycerins to do the work. Most of the firm’s funds had been banked the previous sevening and the cracksmen secured fbut a trifing sum. The safes, however, ware . badly wrecked, one of them baing literally: blown to pleces. The police have 1o clue to' the perpes srators.” shown to be of ashestos, " the’ examiner proncunced it of s low-grade. SThey: wanted = chead:curtain and. | miarked,. He was instantly hushed up: by ons ‘of the mmbfllfl,fl the edz E to’discass the matter. inamuch as they had 'bid on supplying 3 = 1ain 1o the theater and Mal“ been rejected for a lower g’ A