The Seattle Star Newspaper, January 14, 1908, Page 1

| READ THE SECOND INSTALLMENT OF THE SPOILSMEN ON PAGE 5 TODAY LAST EDITION e e VOL. 9. THE SEATTLE STAR SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, ‘HUNDRED AND FIFTY MEET DEATH IN A BURNING THEATRE SEVENTY-FIVE OF INJURED WI and Children Trampled Dewe by Tee iw Pac "C*" door. The victims, caught in the firetrap, were| Frits Blocked and Bodies ef Victims Ave Piled Up —Terrible Scenes Are Witmessed. (By United Press.) BOYERTON, Pa., Jan. 14.—One hundred and fif- ty were burned to death in the fire and panic which fol- Jowed a gas explosion at Rhoads’ opera house last Fully 75 of the injured are expected to die, and this will swell the total of deaths to 225 in one of the worst theatre holocausts which has occurred since the terrible disaster in Chicago, when the Iroquois theatre was destroyed and hundreds lost their lives, : s Dead bodies cover the ground in all directions, q } and rushing frantically from one body to the other are B scores looking in a last anguish for missing ones. The opera house was crowded with the members of St. John’s Lutheran Sunday school, who were at- tending a benefit given for that ¢hurch. While the show was in progress a tank exploded. The actors en- deavored to quiet the audience, but in their anxiety to make themselves heard and to avoid the awful stam pede of the women and children, the coal oil lamps which were used at the footlights were overturned, setting the place on fire. The flames, fed by the oil, shot almost to the ceiling, and there was a wild rush of the 700 persons to escape from the burning building. Scores of women and children were trampled upon and many who escaped being burned to death died after being dragged from the opera house. In many cases, it is said, entire families have been wiped out. The scene which followed the explosion is indescribable. Scores of persons who were in the balcony at the | time the explosion occurred jumped from the windows @fdsustained fractured limbs and skulls. To add to the terrible disaster, the fire apparatus disabled and the structure was left entirely to Mercy of the flames » Assistance was asked from Pottstown, but before the fire apparatus from that city reached this place fit entire structure was a roaring furnace. Had the women and children heeded the warning @f the cooler heads in the audience the horrible loss of fe might have been avoided, but there was the usual | panic and stampede which invariably follows such an @cident. The flames spread rapidly and communi- ited to the other part of the building. Men, women children rushed for the many exits, and the weak- @ sex and the children were tramped and maimed in the mad rush to gain the streets Special trains from Reading and Pottstown, car- wre nurses and doctors, were rushed to the scene of disaster. Every home within a radius of half a dozen blocks of the opera house was made a temporary hospital, where the wounded were taken in carriages * and other conveyances. As the night wore on the crowds surrounding the ' ~ building grew to such proportions that it was almost Mpossible for the police force, which had been aug- Mented by a score of men from Pottstown and Read- ing, to keep the people back. One woman, who said she had lost her entire fam- ily in the theatre, was with difficulty restrained from throwing herself into the roaring flames. A few minutes after midnight the rear wall of the theatre collapsed. The flames broke out anew, and those who had vainly hoped to be able to find the re- Mains of some of their beloved ones turned in despair fom the scene of the awful catastrophe. It is estimat- d that at least 75 persons were injured on the stairway Or by jumping from the windows. Of this number at it a score were fatally hurt. It developed this morning that the disaster was due princip: to the panic that followed the gas ex- Plosion, which was not serious in itself. It was loud * enough, however, to start a stampede among the wom- €nand children. It was a repetition of the Iroquois theatre fire in ago, only on a smaller scale. In- Stantly following the first rush the one small exit was Clogged with bodies. Those who tried to leave through the main exit encountered this wall of human forms, heaped one on top of the other. As the panic increased the heap grew Were crushed out in a twinkling. th hile this scene of death was being enacted in|' _ the front of the theatre, the members of the amateur | trical company that had been furnishing amuse- Ment for the women and children fled through the Soon enveloped in flames which swept over the audi-| ence in the same way that the fire attacked the people, in the Iroquois disaster. When the stage door was opened by the panic-| | Stricken players, a strong draught was created. This, al (By United Press.) The lives of those nearest the floog| ,. current of air fanned the roaring flames, which swept down upon the poor wretches caught in the narrow exit. In removing the charred bodies this morning the police and firemen found the remains of a mother who had died with her baby still clasped to her bosom, The two bodies were burned to a crisp. Others were) found with hands clasped in prayer; others with bones | and skull crushed into a mass. Mrs, Stella Mayes, who had charge of the ama-| teur players, could have saved her life if she had not) tried to save the lives of the members of her com-! pany, which presented “Mary, Queen of Scots.” She’ reached the open air in safety, but returned to see if! those behind the scenes had escaped. The flames closed | in upon her and she perished. i Boyertown is a borough wrth a population of about, 2,500 people, and is located about midway between | Pottstown and Reading. | ka Yukon: Pacific [eke eee eevee eee TUESDAY, JAN. 14, 1908 * ¢ 88EK MISSING MAN Dr. George W. Jones, a prom thent physician of Burlington, la 8 missing, and friends b he @ame to the coast, He was men fally deranged from overwork, it is paid, and had the hallucination that People were persecuting him CLUB TO ACT he Beattie Kentucky club will hold & meeting at the Chamber of Commerce Thursday night for the purpose of taking such action # Will impress upon the Kentucky members of congress the desirabil ity of favorable action on the Alas | exposition bill PE PEPE ER OREES > * BANK CLEARINGS. 7 * * *. Beattie. * ® Olearings today, , .$1,993,847.42 & ® balances oT ONL ® * Tacoma. * # Clearings today... 604,263.00 & Balances 21,244.00 & * Portiand. a ® Clearings today $ 999,255.00 & ® Balancer 112,291.00 #/ * * si JEROME AND LITTLETON HAVE VARIOUS DISPUTES Witnesses Give Testimony as to Insanity of Thaw's| Relatives~-Evelyn Not Admitted to Court Room. (By United Press.) Littieton argued he had » right to! ae ‘ bring in any allegations of insanity NEW YORK, Jan. 14--—-Dr. J90. Re) setecting even the farthest T. Detmar, Thaw ily physician moved relatives, bat Justice Dow ling overruled this, whereupon the tion ended abruptly cross-examined Deemar ely about the exact mental of Heury The physician re Jey could not work, that he w upported by money given him by Mrs. Thaw Dr Wm. W. FP. Butler of Roan | oke, Va, wan the next witness f ny years, was the first witness se this morning Thaw was called by the deter when the trial of Harry r med Dr. Deemar tloned by Attorne witness said had k bis birth. and he was ques The owe Harry condition Thaw since that when he was a chi was nervous and the victim of & ss dance. He While acting ax assistant physician | declared that Heary ley, of the Virginia State Hospital for brother of Mra Wm. * an ar Ineno imbectle alx yearn be his death. 1883, he atten t Attorney Jerome + of the first Mra Thaw, When he ed vigorously when Littleton asked was questioned about the ewagition Dr. Deomar concerctag sohn Ross, much squabbling son of Mrs, Thaw's sister. Jerom Jerome and Lit 4 trom the ly_vietort ed to tow | was not tleton, Littleton em 4 (© Harry battle of words comy ference Butler was a b th abt clome ly Thaw to make any ous and ABE RUEF GIVEN A | havey He declared that the patient | Was mentally Incompetent Dr, Litdebury 8. Foster of Nor folk, connected with the Virginia Mastern State Hospital for the to mine, was called to identify the rec etd of the admission of Wm. & Thaw, cousin of the defendant, to that institution. Jerome's objection to this course was sustained. Lit tigton, however, succeeded in get tinge before the Jury the fact that the hospital book contained the rec cords. Dr. Deemar was then recalled to vtaume his testimony erning | the mental condition of Ross said that his insanity was of a ma | niaeal pature i There were few spectators tn court when the physician took the stand Marry Thaw en with L DIE! _AT 5 ee ete eae eee eee ed SPOKANE’'S “DRY” RESULTS. (By United Press.) SPOKANE, Jan. 14 Tesult of the lid going on In this city fer the first time last Sunday is summed up as follow The an arrest for drunken news Not an arrest for disorderly conduct of intoxicat er a bar served in a drink drink nt over “dry Sunday Rift-raff driven from saloons line puriieu streets. See eee eee eee eee ee ee ee ee ee DESTROYED BY FIRE (By United Pre: MEXICO CITY ing to a telegram Jan. 14 city Eire, one of the greatest in the re public When the dispatch was received the im prinetpal hotels and the portant business buildings camp bad been reduced to anh The information declared the en town more wan threatened from the camp terrupted eee ANARCHISTS AFTER FIGHTING BOB'S BiG FLEET (By United Press.) & depressed loo RIO JANEMRO, Jan. 14 Rounced than the Police here have been in terday. Evelyn was an early call forn by the police of Paris er, but, with other witnesses, she that French afiarchfkts was exctuded from the courtroom come to Rio Janeiro witht Phe proceedings were not opened intention of des the BHU! 16:30 o'clock, because of the American tleships, Striet t that Justice Dowling was de measures have ed tn a blockade in the subway 4 by the local au HARD BLOW ‘Judge Dunne Refuses to Sign Agreement to Grants 7) on" Frisco’s Ex-Boss Immunity. \s WASHINGTON “4 emanding ever since the * . * | ® Labor organizations of the Pa # ® cific coast were dealt a severe & . 7. * * * % blow today, when the supreme SAN FRANCISCO, Jan, 14 urt handed down the | wicourt of the United States re Judge Dunne this morning flatly See nae tented alley was | @ameed to review the judgment refused to sign any agreement to he had pleaded guilty Was) gle the federal court of Cali lgrant Abe Ruef tmmunt In a not @ crime, that he be given &/ @4ornia, which issued an injunc ‘ie J ween written contract of tmmunity, and | Sakenies Nolen jesttetkers of the and District orney bas heretofore been confident Of) coastwise steamers. Labor un- & in which the entire mat-| *ecuring | |@ tops wanted the restraining * mmunity was (thoroughly t course the district at | # order set aside. * peat Suena pealitvety am) & ce will take now that * fared to Langdon that under no cir. Judge » has refused (0 COM kee ee eee eee would-ne enrer tnto any | sent is not known, as neither Lang: | om with Langdon nor Ruef would discuss the ator immunity. He told the im no amicable frame of mind and Che Gay teation or agroaeentn drove to Burns ; offioe, | : gen ago pel pve a consultation wax held. | coming before neys Baicom Lumber company, at Bal onl Bug “ Dunne refused to discuss | latte Fesumed operations this morn refusal of Judge Dunne to conference beyond stating that |!%@ This ts the first shingle mill dens 4F contract, or to en-| the conference was over the immu |! the state to open since the shut- | cm late private agreement! nity to Ruef and that he and the |@0#® of two months ago, in which with the district attorney's office, | district attorney's office did sot | Seout 90 Of the mills) j with eee heat wae | cron closed under agreement in order to came as & grea retain a firm market - About 200 men are employed at| Y NOT PLEASE: {this mill. It was announced this HENE | morning that a cut in wages, over | the former scale, amounting to ———— ; about 60 cents a day had been (By United Press.) Heney scowled as he read &) made. Some of the men stated PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 14—| United Press dispatch containing| however, that the wage question ancia J, Heney was far from) this news. He refused to talk had not been fully determined pleased this morning when he| “Have nothing to say,” he snap 1 the news of Ruef's apparent| ped, “Not one word Mr. and Mrs. Loule Hemrich left l victory Langdon and Burns| Then he scowled some more. He| this morning for their trip to the yesterday and their alleged promise was still angry wheg he arose to| Orient. Mr, Hemrich will visit Jag of complete immunity to the former | address the court in the Hall case,|an, China, the Straits Settlements political boas if he would testify in| but declined to talk about the Sanjand other southern Asiatic cour the graft cases now coming up Francisco situation tries for business reasons. Sete eee eet eee eee ee eeee eee eee eee e eee eee FAVOR COAST DEFENSES. A letter was Chamber of Ce United States on the matter memorial asking for f Senator states taixed with President KR and official f th war depa and found everybody favora the consideration of the plan — eee eee eee ee LISTEN TO THE WHISTLE. Listen for the whistle of The Star carrier in your district When he biows the whistle, that is a signal that your Star has been delivered. If you do not hear the whistle, or fail to get your Star, please call Sun set Main 1050 or Independent 441, and ask for the circulation department. ea ee © DISARM THE JAPS ‘sorta (By United Press.) VANCOUVER, B. C,, Jan. 14 The city council has passed a reso Accord received in this the great gold mining camp of is being destroyed by fire Bince thie despatch no word has been received a® connection is in ONE CENT COOL WIND. FORECAST—FAIR AND WEDNESDAY RAIN; WEATHER ER TONIGHT; — BLACK HAND WORK HERE? t Attack on Miss Ballou Believed to Have Been a Well- * . * Planwed Affair---May Have Intended to Hold Her : by Relati *; for Ransom by Relatives. * ———————— * Fears that the e 1 Black 1 twice, loud to a passing 2 Hand socle ha un « i py nal ania ie dr] 1m Beattie seem to have bec ie anion in English @ fed last night, when tw at Well. he are e here quick * one mod with a stiletto, attacked w a the ped # Geraldine Ballou near her home at ¢ this some day,” 1514 Virginia st. After tying and © this the gir! ne aes Oe * clousness, Toda Ballou is *| ®4eKing the girl her assailant » confined to her bed from.her i ® mo a hack with the | r and hock rf pena 7 t »y distinetly all that ed up to Coating Ber away, rerun for | ime the men hurried away Owing eo) a to the darkness, she could describe Miss Ballou had left her ho only one of the men, the one she *) me to maf! @ postcard he saw two years ago. bad r reached the mai! b« 8 allou is a niece of M. J, than two men sprang upon her f Lutz, the well-to proprietor of the shadows of the bullding and | th Pioneer saloon at 85 beat bh forcing a strange iq . re many lta down her throat She struggied » conditions congregate. tz knows ently, and one of the men with a of them pe and by stilett lnshe at her ¢ 4 and it is the be { the fam- ting away her und lea i that the gir m nix had ing slashes in bh was | made a well laid plan, through con- gagced, bound hand and foot niva » with ¢t backmar to tle he hand behind her back her », bear ‘ with ¢t straggling and screaming, d hack in ready eall, and hold ber for by main fc fo » feet He ransom by relatives erfis, and ca Miss Bal at the smaller At th ye men nk of the two assailan of last night about two years ago accosted her m says t ents hear the rescue away in the darknew completing the operation of on the street, and she stabbed him tying the girl the smatier of the with a hatpin. A few days later, two men, who Miss Ballou declares she declares, © saw him again she stabbed bim with a batpin when fn any with a policeman with he accosted her two years ag head bandaged DROPS DEAD + WHILE TELEPHONING Heart fail (By United Press.) fice of Dr. G. B. Sinith ANAC Ont BS. Jan. 14--8. G.| ure is given as the cause of his dea He is a brother of Superior. cogs PO) gibt cggiereey ink le J » McFadden, of Corvallis, Ore, or and builder of th and ha en in Anacortes about daught y while the of pped dead yest s. He leaves a wife and ing through a te SCRAP ON AT “U” FOR EDITORSHIP on the ground that he ab y has so many duties that he is ficient in his studies and is not ixible to edit the Wave. His can hone in 09, and Hs Walter Birkett Dunbar. 09, were by students of the See EERE RR RR RR RR editor of the ee y a group out acific be ave, staff of the Friday, the elec has en nicknamed tical campaiga wil vende league,” after arst's erstwhile powerful WwW. R nt ' rganization. Poll ave talked on ent Wa » all * of the ¢ and the of r will be cle sepesohy as L. Andrews was caught Birkett ts edit f the by er Helms on the streets Tyee, which is the cc «ht in the act of robbing Fred and stands well The f according to th officer, xe of the W were taken to headquarters began a campaigr him, for investigation. HAWAHAN BELLES BRING TO SEATTLE MAN ‘Richard Mansfield White to Be Tried by Commercial * * — Club for Saying, “All Coons Look Alike to Me” in + Presence of Dusky Maidens. . Whether it was an act un neky” order. He undertook * a contionna tors mbes 4 while to conduct the affairs of * coons look alike to me h « that He has been @ * ence of the Hawatian r " active member of the # | recently visited a ( club since its organiza. club wii as h has made himselg b obnoxious to many of ite " that report will be made t I » visit of the Hawaiian club at tonight's ng f ) ttle last month they, club's action ‘ ‘ sts of the The member of the club a of the offense is Richard Mat function in honor of lution asking the opinion of the| White, a brother of the late hat Mr. White city solicitor on the city’s powers | ford White, who was shot in W|is accused of having made the re to disarm the Japanese, Alderman| York by Harry K. Thav f hh now on trial, MeMillan declared that an charges have been considere Chare he made the remark erable condition now preval the board of trustees, which w n a formal manner Vancouver. He believed that th port tonight, recom { trustees, who have was a regularly ganized ar White's expulsion from ncoused is guilty guard within Vancouver's Japanese! Mr. White has been a resid t f and that the act charged « The changing of guards | Seattle for two or three ye act unbecoming a by the Japanese from time to time,|ing which e he h be he report of the truss he declared, indicated the perfec-| quently in the public eye ade to and considered tion of the system |various and sundry acts t tonight's meeting ee