IRON GATES, DEATH'S ALLY.
That two iron gates, securely padlocked, across stairways in the Randolph
street entrance, held scores of women and children as prisoners of death
at the Iroquois theater fire horror, was the startling evidence secured on
Saturday, Jan. 9, ten days after the holocaust by Fire Department Attorney
Monroe Fulkerson.
In a statement under oath George M. Dusenberry, superintendent of the
auditorium of the playhouse, admitted that these gates had remained locked
against the frantic crowds through all the terrible rush to escape.
Against these, bodies were piled high in death of those who might have
gained the open air had they not been penned in by the immovable bars.
Not until the sworn statement had been secured from Dusenberry were the
investigators brought to a full realization of the horrors of the
imprisoned victims.
These deadly iron gates, four to five feet high, according to Dusenberry's
testimony, were quietly removed after the fire. One of the gates was at
the landing of the dress circle. The other was on the stairway which led
from the dress circle entrance to the landing above. At the Randolph
street entrance were two grand staircases. Passage down one of these
staircases was shut off completely by the iron gates.
According to Dusenberry, the gates were locked with a padlock, requiring a
key to open them. It was the custom to open these gates after the
intermission at the close of the second act, so as to give the people an
unobstructed passageway for leaving the house at the close of the play.
The exact condition made by the locked gates and the extent to which they
contributed to the immense loss of life may be realized by Dusenberry's
sworn testimony in detail on this point.
DUSENBERRY'S TESTIMONY.
It was as follows:
Q. Do you recall an inspection which I made of the stairway of the second
floor of that theater the next day after the fire? A. Yes, sir.
Q. And showed you two iron gates that folded up like an accordion? A. Yes,
sir.
Q. Please state whether or not these two gates were locked at the time of
the fire. A. Yes, sir.
Q. State where the lower one was located. A. At the landing of the dress
circle.
Q. And do I understand that one side of it was solidly hinged with an iron
rod and that the other side of the gate was fastened by a chain locked by
a padlock? A. A small lock.
Q. The lock required a key to open it? A. Yes, sir; a small key.
Q. How high was this gate? A. I should think four or five feet.
Q. And was I correct in saying it folded up like an accordion when not in
use? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where was the other one located? A. On the stairway which led from the
dress circle entrance up to the landing above.
Q. And was it secured and locked in the same manner as the other gate? A.
Yes, sir.
PURPOSE OF THE TWO GATES.
Q. Consider the first one; what was its function? A. In order that we
could have system in handling the house.
Q. Yes; but what was it used for? A. When people were going upstairs that
gate simply turned them for the balcony stairway.
Q. You are talking about the lower gate? A. Yes, sir.
Q. So, by reason of this gate, when the people started out they could have
only one direction in which to leave, instead of two, as would be the case
if no gate were there? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Let us consider the other gate; what was it for? A. To keep the people
from going down into the dress circle, and to keep them on the regular
stairway for the balcony.
Q. I believe you told me that you locked these gates yourself just before
this matinee began? A. Yes, sir.
Q. That is correct, is it? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you ever say anything to Mr. Noonan or Mr. Powers or Mr. Davis as
to the importance of having men stationed there, instead of a gate, so
that in case of fire this would not be an obstruction? A. No, sir; they
were always unlocked after the second intermission.
Q. In what act was that? A. At the close of the second act they would be
always unlocked. They were exits.
Q. At the time this fire began and people started out, were they still
locked or unlocked? A. They were locked.
NEVER ANY FIRE DRILLS.
Dusenberry admitted that at the time of the fire's outbreak he was
descending from the top balcony after having made an inspection of the
entire house. This was his custom, to see that the ushers were in their
places. He said that 100 persons were standing in the passageway back of
the last row of seats on the first floor and about twenty-five persons
occupied standing room in the rear of the first balcony, and seventy-five
in the rear of the top balcony.
He admitted that he had never received any instructions from any of the
owners or managers of the theater as to what to do in case of fire. He
said that he had been told in a general way by Will J. Davis that he was
to instruct the boys in their duties as ushers and make them familiar with
the house.
There had never been any fire drills, he said. He did not know, he said,
from what point or in what manner the large cylindrical ventilator over
the auditorium was worked. It was because this ventilator was open and
those above the stage closed that the fire was drawn into the front of the
house. He said the nine exits on the north side, three of which were on
each floor, were all bolted at the time of the fire; also that the nine
pairs of iron shutters outside the inner doors were bolted at the time,
and that he had never received orders from any one to have these unbolted
while the audience was in the house.
GATES WERE BATTERED.
"I found these gates in a battered condition by personal inspection, the
next morning after the fire," Fire Department Attorney Fulkerson added. "I
hunted up Mr. Dusenberry and took him to the place and examined him on the
spot as to each minute detail. The examination was with reference to their
being locked, and as to why a man had not been stationed there, in place
of a gate, to direct the people.
"I called two policemen as witnesses. The reason I have kept this matter
secret until now was the fact that this is the first day I have had an
opportunity of examining Mr. Dusenberry under oath and taking his
statements in shorthand to be used in any proceeding that may follow.
"The importance of his testimony is that he is the man the theater
management had put in direct control of the audience and auditorium, and
the facts which he has testified to speak for themselves. Let the public
draw its own conclusions.
"I wish to say, however, with reference to those iron gates that they are
no part of the building or the stairway as turned over by the builders and
were not a part of the plans of the same, but a feature installed by the
management after the stairways were finished and accepted, and no permit
was obtained from the city building department to place the gates there.
They proved to be the gates of death. Until this time they have been
overlooked in the general investigation and silence has been maintained by
the fire department for the purpose of clinching the evidence concerning
them. This was rendered necessary through the fact that those best
qualified to tell of their danger gave up their lives in acquiring that
knowledge. They were gathered from behind the deadly barriers and now lie
in eternal silence beyond the reach of all earthly summonses and the
jurisdiction of our tribunals."
Ernest Stern, 3423 South Park avenue, Chicago:
"There was nothing left in the playhouse but standing room when my sister
and I arrived, so we bought tickets according that privilege and took up a
position in the middle of the first balcony. We were standing there when
we saw the first evidence of fire and at once ran out. We owe our lives to
that fact.
"It was about the middle of the second act when I noticed the blaze on the
upper left-hand corner of the stage. Those on the stage seemed to be in
semi-panic. The people didn't know what to do. Then there seemed to be
somebody giving directions for them to put down the curtains after a
burning piece of scenery or something fell on the stage. A man came out
and gave instructions for them to pull down the curtain and after that we
went out the door, downstairs and came to a door on the left hand side in
the foyer, facing the street, and in the inner vestibule. There was a man
there. He was not in uniform. He was trying to open the door, which was
locked. There was a pair--two doors--and one of them was open and a great
crowd was going out. This man was trying to unlock the other door and he
could not do it. I broke the glass, and that wouldn't do either, so I
kicked the whole door out and we escaped."
DIDN'T BOTHER ABOUT LOCKED DOORS.
That the foyer doors, which the van of the fleeing audience found closed,
were locked during the performance was the statement of Harry Weisselbach
of Chicago. He was at the ticket office in the outer vestibule off
Randolph street, some time before the fire and saw two men in an argument
regarding the doors. They were coming out of the theater.
"That's a mean trick, to lock the doors so people can't get out," said one
of the men. "They have locked the doors again," he continued, looking back
at the door man. "I wonder if there is a policeman around here."
The man's companion replied that he wasn't going to bother about the
matter and the two left the theater. Weisselbach went around to the
Northwestern University school and was there only a short time when the
fire in the theater started. His story of the fire from that viewpoint was
similar to that told by Witness Fred H. Rea.