"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
Mrs. Bergch attended the theater with her son, who was also killed. She
was terribly burned, the body being identified by her rings. She left a
husband and a baby two years old.]
[Illustration: ARTHUR J. BERGCH, 11 YEARS OLD. CHICAGO.
The boy was burned beyond recognition, the body being identified by a
favorite jackknife, which was found by the father in his trousers
pocket.]
[Illustration: ARTHUR E. HULL, 244 OAKWOOD BOULEVARD, CHICAGO.
Mr. Hull lost his wife and three children in the fire, and took the first
steps toward the arrest of the proprietors of the Iroquois Theater and the
formation of the Iroquois Memorial Association.]
[Illustration: THOMAS D. KNIGHT, CHICAGO.
Mr. Knight is the legal representative of Arthur E. Hull in the affairs of
the Iroquois Memorial Association, organized by Mr. Hull to safeguard the
interests of the fire victims and to concentrate public opinion on the
question of safe theaters.]
[Illustration: DONALD D. AND DWIGHT M. HULL, 244 OAKWOOD BOULEVARD,
CHICAGO.
Two nephews and adopted children of Arthur E. Hull 8 and 6 years of age
who with his daughter Helen and wife were burned to death. Mr. Hull headed
the movement for safe theaters.]
[Illustration: HELEN MURIEL HULL, 12 YEARS OLD CHICAGO
The daughter of Arthur E. Hull made one of a little theater party
organized by his wife for the amusement of the three children. All the
party perished.]
[Illustration: WILL J. DAVIS, One of the Theater Managers Arrested for
Manslaughter.]
A UNIVERSITY STUDENT'S STORY.
Equally damaging testimony was given by Fred H. Rea, 3231 South Park
avenue, a student at the Northwestern University Dental School. After
telling of the scenes when "death alley" was bridged by planks and ladders
thrust from the school windows he told of the death jam on the fire
escapes.
Rea's story was one of the most graphic told which narrated the horrors of
Death's Alley, and the narrow escape of those who were fortunate enough to
be rushed over the planks thrown to them from the University building. It
was not only a story, but an additional evidence of the total lack of
preparation for the meeting of just such an emergency.
"At the time the fire broke out I was in the Northwestern University
building on the third floor in the law school," he said. "I heard
something that sounded like an explosion and all the students present
immediately ran to the lecture room. There we met some painters who were
repairing the ceiling in the corridor. They joined us, bringing with them
three planks and ladders. These planks we placed from the back window of
the lecture room across to the upper landing of the gallery. One ladder
was placed across from the fire escape of the lecture room to the second
landing. Across the ladder, I think, only one person came, as the flames
from the exit were so hot that nobody could reach it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account