A SABBATH OF WOE.
A majority of the victims of the fire were laid to rest, however, during
the Sabbath succeeding the awful calamity. The main thoroughfares of the
benumbed city leading north and west toward the resting places of the dead
were crowded with funeral processions, sometimes four and five hearses
together showing as white as the snow on the ground, bearing as they did
the bodies of children.
As one funeral procession after another passed through the streets the
numbers of the sorrowing at the cemeteries increased. A few hundred feet
from one freshly made grave there was another and a short distance away
still another that told the mourners at one funeral that others were
bereaved.
The work of burying the dead began early in the morning and lasted until
late in the evening. Sometimes the homes of several of the dead were
grouped in a few blocks and in one instance a glance down a single street
would reveal the thickly crowded carriages for half a dozen funerals that
had thrown an entire neighborhood into mourning. Where hearses could not
be furnished they were improvised from other kinds of vehicles and
mourners who could not get cabs rode in carriages. As the night closed
down on hundreds of mourning homes, in every cemetery in the city the
speaking mounds of fresh earth told of the end of families broken and
altogether destroyed.
SEVEN TURNER VICTIMS.
More than a thousand turners joined in the services for seven victims who
were members of their societies. The Chicago Turnbezirk, the central body
of the turners, had charge of the exercises. Representatives of the Aurora
Turnverein, Schweitzer Turnverein, Forward Turnverein, Social Turnverein,
and other turner organizations joined in the services.
The exercises were held at the Social Turner hall, Belmont avenue and
Paulina street. The coffins of the victims were placed in front of the
stage at the end of the hall. After the services the coffins were taken by
uniformed turners through the hall to black wagons and the march to
Graceland cemetery began. Three drum corps, with muffled drums, beat a
funeral march.
Women turners, in their gymnasium suits, escorted the bodies of the women
victims, and uniformed turners watched the coffins of the men.
Short services were held at the cemetery.
SAD SCENES AT WOLFF HOME.
At the residence of Ludwig Wolff, 1329 Washington boulevard, the bodies of
his daughter, Mrs. William M. Garn and her three children, Willie, 11,
John, 7, and Harriet, 10 years old, lay. All day long until the time for
the funeral services a stream of sympathizing friends poured in. A crowd
of more than a thousand surrounded the house and the policemen stationed
there were compelled to force a way for the caskets when they were borne
to the hearses. The service was read by the Rev. William C. Dewitt of St.
Andrew's church. Twelve boys acted as pallbearers for their former
playfellows and followed the little white hearses to Graceland. The
funeral was one of the largest ever seen on the west side of the city,
more than one hundred carriages being in the funeral train.
PATHETIC SCENE AT CHURCH.
Far different in all except the grief was the funeral from the little
frame church at Congress street and Forty-second avenue. Inside lay the
bodies of Mrs. Mary W. Holst and her three children, Allan, 13, Gertrude,
10, and Amy, 8 years. They were in the ill fated second balcony of the
theater and met death trying to reach the fire escape. Of the family only
the father and a 6 months old son survive. Mrs. Holst was the sister of
former Chief of Police Badenoch. Interment was at Forest Home.
The building was still gay with its Christmas decorations and a large
motto, "Peace on earth, good will to men," which the Holst children had
assisted in making.
BURY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN.
Another quadruple funeral was that of the daughters and the grandchildren
of Jacob and Elizabeth Beder of 697 Ogden avenue. The two women, Mrs.
Edyth Vallely, 835 Sawyer avenue, and Mrs. Amy Josephine McKenna of 758
South Kedzie avenue, went to the theater accompanied by their two
children, Bernice Vallely, aged 11, and Bernard McKenna, aged 3. The
bodies were found after the fire by the husbands of the dead women at the
morgues. The services were in charge of Rev. D. F. Fox of the California
Avenue Congregational church. Interment was at Forest Home.
FIVE DEAD IN ONE HOUSE.
Memorial services were held in the afternoon for Mrs. Eva Pond, wife of
Fred S. Pond, their children, Raymond, 14, Helen, 7, and Miss Grace
Tuttle, sister of Mrs. Pond, at the family residence, 1272 Lyman avenue.
The services were conducted by the Rev. Mr. Bowles of All Saints'
Episcopal church.
Miss Tuttle had been for eighteen years a teacher in the Chicago public
schools. She attended the performance at the Iroquois with her sister and
her sister's children, and none of them emerged alive. Mrs. Pond was the
wife of Fred S. Pond, for thirty years cashier of the Deering Harvester
Company, who is the only survivor of a once happy family circle. The four
bodies were taken to Beloit, Wis., for burial.
ENTIRE FAMILY IS BURIED.
None but friends attended the Beyer funeral service during the afternoon
at Sheldon's undertaking rooms, for the entire family, mother, father, and
child, were numbered among the Iroquois dead. Otto H. Beyer, his wife
Minnie, and their 4 year old daughter Grace, were the victims. The bodies
were taken to Elkader, Iowa, for burial. This was perhaps the saddest of
all the sad services conducted during the day, as no relatives were
present to mourn the dead.
MRS. FOX AND THREE CHILDREN.
Mrs. Emilie Hoyt Fox, daughter of William M. Hoyt, the wholesale grocer;
George Sidney Fox, her 15-year-old son; Hoyt Fox, 14 years old, and Emilie
Fox, 9 years old, were all buried side by side in Graceland cemetery. The
funeral services were held in Graceland chapel and were conducted by Rev.
Henry G. Moore of Christ Episcopal church, Winnetka.
MRS. A. E. HULL AND CHILDREN.
Simple and short were the funeral services at Boydston's chapel,
Forty-second place and Cottage Grove avenue, over the remains of four
members of the Hull family. Mrs. Hull, the mother, was the wife of Arthur
E. Hull, 244 Oakwood boulevard, and attended the theater with her little
daughter, Helen, and two nephews, adopted sons, Donald and Dwight. The
services were directed by Rev. J. H. McDonald of the Oakland Methodist
Episcopal church and consisted simply of a prayer and the reading of a
poem found in the desk of Mrs. Hull, and which had evidently been clipped
from some newspaper. At the conclusion of the services the caskets were
carried to the Thirty-ninth street station of the Michigan Central
railroad, over which they were taken to Troy, N. Y., for burial.
HERBERT AND AGNES LANGE.
"We were four of the happiest mortals in all Chicago until that awful
thing blasted our lives forever," sobbed Mrs. Louis Lange of 1632 Barry
avenue at the close of the funeral of her only two children, Herbert
Lange, 17 years old, and his sister Agnes, 14. The service was held at the
Johannes Evangelical Lutheran church at Garfield avenue and Mohawk street.
SWEETHEARTS BURIED AT THE SAME TIME.
While the last rites were being held for Albert Alfson in Chicago, the
body of his sweetheart, Miss Margaret Love, was being buried in the
cemetery at Woodstock. Two hundred persons, 125 from Woodstock, attended
Alfson's funeral at 24 Keith street.
FIVE BURIED IN ONE GRAVE.
The largest funeral at Oakwoods was that of Dr. M. B. Rimes, 6331
Wentworth avenue, his wife and three children, Lloyd, Martin, and Maurice.
The five from one family were buried together in one large grave.
BOYS AS PALLBEARERS.
At the home of Ludwig Wolff, 1329 Washington boulevard the body of his
daughter, Mrs. William M. Garn, and her three children, Willie, John and
Harriet, lay. All day long until the time for the funeral services, a
stream of sympathizing friends poured in, bearing many floral tributes to
the dead. The impressive service of the Episcopal church was read by the
Rev. William C. Dewitt of St. Andrew's church, of which Mrs. Garn was a
member. Twelve boys acted as pallbearers to their late playfellows, and
followed the little white hearses to Graceland cemetery. The funeral was
one of the largest ever seen on the West Side, more than one hundred
carriages being in the train.
WINNETKA SADDENED.
A funeral was held which saddened the hearts of all Winnetka. The little
north shore suburb lost eight of its residents in the fire, and the
funeral of four of the Fox family was held yesterday. The services were
conducted by the Rev. Henry G. Moore of Christ Episcopal church, Winnetka.
MOTHER AND DAUGHTERS BURIED TOGETHER.
Three hearses carried away the bodies of Mrs. Louise Ruby and her
daughters, Mrs. Ida Weimers and Mrs. Mary Feiser. The services were held
at the late home of Mrs. Ruby, 838 Wilson avenue. Father F. N. Perry of
the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes celebrated mass for the two daughters,
who were members of his parish. The Rev. John G. Kircher of Bethlehem
Evangelical church read the service for the mother.
HOLD TRIPLE FUNERAL.
Triple funeral services were held at the residence of Henry M. Shabad,
4041 Indiana avenue, for his two children, Myrtle, aged 14 years, and
Theodore, aged 12 years, and little Rose Elkan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
N. Elkan. The three children attended the matinee together and all were
killed. Rabbi Jacobson of the Thirty-fifth street synagogue conducted the
service and at the conclusion referred to the Iroquois fire as one of the
"greatest calamities of the age." The interment took place at Waldheim.
WOMEN FAINT IN CHURCH.
Attended by many grief stricken schoolmates and friends, the funeral of
Robert and Archie Hippach, sons of Louis A. and Ida S. Hippach, was held
at the Church of the Atonement, Kenmore and Ardmore avenues. They lived at
2928 Kenmore avenue. At the church several women fainted and had to be
taken from the church.
LIFE-LONG FRIENDS MEET IN DEATH.
Miss Viola Delee of 7822 Union avenue, and Miss Florence Corrigan of 218
Dearborn avenue, victims of the Iroquois theater fire, whose remains were
buried, were life-long friends. They were schoolmates at St. Xavier's
College, where both graduated two years ago. On the afternoon of the fire
Miss Delee had arranged to meet her friend downtown and attend the
matinee. It is thought they secured seats on the main floor about eight
rows from the front. Their bodies were found lying some distance apart.
The body of Miss Delee showed marks that must have caused her excruciating
pain. Her face was badly burned and disfigured. Miss Corrigan was burned
almost beyond recognition. She was not identified until after the identity
of Viola's body had been established through a card which she carried in
the pocket of her dress.
The funerals of two friends who had perished together in the fire met in
Forest Home cemetery when Mrs. Floy Irene Olson of 835 Walnut street and
Bessie M. Stafford were buried in graves not thirty feet apart. The two
women had been life-long friends and were co-workers in the Warren Avenue
Congregational church. Rev. Frank G. Smith conducted the services over
each of the bodies.
EDWARD AND MARGARET DEE.
Rev. Father Quinn of St. James' Roman Catholic church, conducted the
obsequies for Edward Mansfield and Margaret Louise Dee, the children of
William Dee, at the residence, 3133 Wabash avenue. The funeral procession
was the largest ever seen on the south side for children, seventy-five
carriages following the white hearse that bore the two white caskets.
MISS E. D. MANN AND NIECE.
Miss Emma D. Mann, supervisor of music in the Chicago public schools, and
her niece, Olive Squires, 14 years old, were buried at Rosehill after
impressive ceremonies at the Centenary Methodist Episcopal church. Miss
Mann had been connected with the schools of the city for many years.
ELLA AND EDYTH FRECKLETON.
The funeral services over the remains of Ella and Edyth Freckleton,
daughters of William J. Freckleton, 5632 Peoria street, were conducted by
Rev. R. Keene Ryan at Boulevard hall, Fifty-fifth and Halsted streets.
More than 2,000 persons were in the hall and 500 others stood in the
street for hours waiting for the funeral cortege to pass on its way to
Oakwoods, where interment was made.
MISS FRANCES LEHMAN.
Hundreds of pupils of the Nash school, Forty-ninth avenue and Ohio street,
members of the Ridgeland fire department and a delegation of employes of
the Cicero and Proviso Electric Street railway attended the funeral
services over the remains of Miss Frances Lehman, at the residence of her
parents, 525 North Austin avenue, in the morning. Rev. Clayton Youker,
pastor of the Euclid Avenue Methodist Episcopal church, officiating. Many
beautiful floral tributes were sent by the teachers and the pupils of the
Nash school.
And so during this Sabbath of woe, tragedies of life and death such as
these, but far too numerous to be all recorded, were being enacted in all
parts of the stricken city. Although nature had bestowed upon the
countless mourners a day bright and clear, their spirits were dark with
sorrow and for years to come their memories will revert to that time as
the saddest of their lives; and those whose dear ones were not among the
dead, if their natures were blessed with any sympathy whatever, were
oppressed, as never before, with the heavy burden which others must bear.