"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
Over a narrow, ice covered bridge made of scaffold planks, more than 100
feet above the ground the police carried more than 100 bodies from the
rear stage and balcony exits of the Iroquois theater to the Northwestern
University building, formerly the Tremont house. The planks rested on the
fire escape of the theater and on the ledge of a window in the Tremont
building.
Two men who first ventured on this dangerous passageway in their efforts
to reach safety, blinded by the fire and smoke, lost their footing and
fell to the alley below. They were dead when picked up.
The bridge led directly into the dental school of the university, and at
one time there were more than a score of charred bodies lying under
blankets in the room. The dead were carried from the pile of bodies at the
theater exits faster than the police could take them away in the
ambulances and patrol wagons.
As soon as the police began to take the injured into the university
building the classrooms were drawn upon for physicians, and in a few
minutes professors and dental students gathered in the offices and stores
to lend their assistance. Wounds were dressed, and in cases of less
serious injury the unfortunates were sent to their homes. In other cases
they were sent to hospitals.
When the smoke had cleared away the rescuers first realized the extent of
the horror. From the bridge could be seen the rows of balcony and gallery
seats, many occupied by a human form. Incited by the sight, the police
redoubled their efforts, and heedless of the dangers of the narrow,
slippery bridge, pressed close to each other as they worked.
While a dozen policemen were removing the dead from the theater, twice as
many were engaged in carrying them to the patrol wagons and ambulances at
the doors of the university building. All the afternoon the elevators
carried down police in twos and fours carrying their burdens of dead in
blankets. So fast were they carried down that many of the patrol wagons
held five and more bodies when they were driven away.
CROWDS OF ANXIOUS FRIENDS.
Behind the lines of police that guarded the passage of the dead, hundreds
of anxious men and women crowded with eager questions. The rotunda of the
building between 3 and 7 p. m. was thronged by those seeking knowledge of
friend or relative who had been in the play. Some made their way to the
third floor and looked hopelessly at the charred bodies lying there. In
one corner lay the bodies of husband and wife, clasped in each other's
arms. From under one sheltering blanket protruded the dainty high heeled
shoes of some woman, and from the next blanket the rubber boots of a
newsboy.
A Roman Catholic priest made his way into the room. He was looking for a
little girl, the daughter of a parishioner.
"Have you the name of Lillian Doerr in your list?" he asked James Markham,
Chief O'Neill's secretary, who was in charge of the police. Markham shook
his head.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account