"Lest We Forget": Chicago's Awful Theater HorrorEverett, Marshall
History
"Lest We Forget": Chicago's Awful Theater Horror
Everett, Marshall
Iroquois Theater, Chicago -- Fire, 1903; Theaters -- Fires and fire prevention
Less than four months ago Warren was playing with a gun. The firearm
exploded and the boy was seriously injured. He had not fully recovered
when he fell from the top of a cart and broke his arm. Then, a few weeks
ago, a dog upon whom he lavished much of his youthful affection suddenly
sprang at him and bit him between the eyes. He was badly scarred, but his
parents were thankful that he did not lose his sight.
On Wednesday he importuned his nurse to take him to see "Mr. Bluebeard,
Jr." The nurse referred him to his father, and the latter told him that
he and his brother could go if his mother returned from her shopping trip
in time to take them. The holiday crowds detained Mrs. Toole until quite
late in the afternoon. Now little Warren is convinced that good fortune
has at last deigned to smile upon him.
USE PLACER MINER METHODS.
Methods of the California placer miner were used by the Chicago police in
recovering the valuables lost in the mad rush for safety by the Iroquois
theater fire victims. Big wagon loads of dirt and ashes taken from the
theater floor were taken down under police guard to a basement at Lake
street and Fifth avenue. There a placer mining outfit, including sieves
and gold pans, had been erected and City Custodian Dewitt C. Cregier thus
searched for valuables in the rubbish.
DAUGHTER OF A. H. REVELL ESCAPES.
Margaret Revell, daughter of Alexander H. Revell, with her friend,
Elizabeth Harris, accompanied by a maidservant, sat in the parquet of the
theater, fortunately next to the aisle. At the first alarm they were swept
to the door by the crowd, and were among those who got out early, escaping
with only minor bruises. Mr. Revell was among the early searchers on the
scene, and remained giving assistance after learning of the safety of his
daughter.
PHILADELPHIA PARTNER IN THEATER HORRIFIED.
The news of the terrible Chicago calamity was a severe blow to S. A. Nixon
of Philadelphia, part owner of the Iroquois theater. When the news was
confirmed he broke down and wept bitterly.
Fred G. Nixon, son of Mr. Nixon, said: "We were at the dinner table
Wednesday evening when the telephone bell rang and I answered. A newspaper
man told me that the Iroquois theater in Chicago had been destroyed and
many persons killed. I could not believe it and I asked: 'Are you sure it
was the Iroquois?' 'Positive,' came the answer. My father had paid no
attention to what I said, but the word 'Iroquois' attracted him, and as I
returned to my seat he asked: 'What was that you said about the Iroquois?'
'Oh, nothing,' I replied, trying to be calm.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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