THE STORY OF THE BURNING OF BALTIMORE.
All the world was startled on Sunday, February 7, 1904, just 39 days after
the Iroquois theater horror, by another sickening visitation of the fire
fiend. This time the devouring element fell upon the city of Baltimore and
all but effaced it from the map. Millions upon millions in property were
swept away, old established firms annihilated and miles of streets
occupied by business houses laid waste. Fortunately this disaster was
accompanied by no loss of life.
Twenty-seven hours elapsed before the conflagration was checked. Fire
fighters hurried to the scene from a number of near by cities and aided
the local fire department in subduing the flames. Strangely enough it was
a coal yard that broke the onward sweep of the sea of fire and enabled the
firemen to bring the fire under control. Even then it burned for days,
feeding on the debris and wreckage that marked its early progress. The
greatest danger past troops and police relieved the firemen who sought
rest exhausted and maddened by the terrible ordeal through which they had
passed.
History affords no parallel of the conditions in fire-swept Baltimore on
the following Tuesday when its people awoke to the mighty task of
reconstruction looming up before them. After having suffered a loss
estimated at $125,000,000 a cry of rejoicing went up among them because of
the absence of casualties. Not a life was lost in the avalanche of flame
and only one person was seriously injured--Jacob Inglefritz, a volunteer
fireman from York, Pa. While the hospitals were full to overflowing the
injuries sustained were of a minor nature. A strange comparison with the
Iroquois theater fire of a month before! In that instance 600 met death
and a host were seriously injured in a fire of fifteen minutes' duration
confined to one building that suffered insignificant damage. Here in a
fire that swept for days over the business heart of a great city not a
life was lost. Such is the strange operation of providence.
Other conflagrations suffered by American cities have nothing in common
with Baltimore experience. Fire destroyed 674 buildings in New York on
Dec. 26, 1835, causing a property loss of $17,000,000 without causing loss
of life. Thirty-six years later Chicago burned, wiping out 17,450
buildings and 250 lives and entailing a loss estimated at $200,000,000.
The following year, 1872, fire laid waste 65 acres of property in Boston,
causing a property loss of $80,000,000 and killing fourteen persons. The
partial destruction of Ottawa and Hull, Canada, April 26, 1900, inflicted
a loss of $17,000,000 and brought death to seven. On June 30 of the same
year the North German Lloyd dock fire in Hoboken, N. J., cost 150 lives
and $7,000,000 in property. Jacksonville, Fla., lost $10,000,000 through a
visitation of fire that swept through an area 13 blocks wide and two miles
long. The last in the list was the Paterson, N. J., fire of Feb. 8, 1902,
which destroyed 75 buildings valued at $18,000,000.
As fire and water have ever been recognized as the most potent agencies of
death and destruction it will readily appear that seared, scorched
Baltimore was fortunate indeed in the absence of casualties. On the calm
of a restful Sabbath, marred only by the presence of a high wind, the
consuming storm broke upon the doomed city. To that wind and the presence
of hundreds of old fashioned highly inflammable structures nestling among
the sky scrapers may be attributed the indescribably rapid spread of the
flames.
The start of the fire was in the basement of Hurst & Co.'s wholesale dry
goods house. After burning for about ten minutes there was a loud report
from the interior of the building as the gasoline tank used for the engine
in the building exploded. Instantly the immense structure collapsed,
sending destruction to adjacent buildings in all directions and causing
the fire to be beyond control of the firemen.
Spreading throughout the wholesale section, the fire burned out every
wholesale house of note in the city, swept along through the Baltimore and
Fayette street retail sections, destroyed all the prominent office
buildings, leveled banks and brokerage offices, as well as the Chamber of
Commerce and Stock Exchange, in the financial section, then sped on
through the wholesale and export trade sections centering about Exchange
place. It finally stopped at Jones falls, a creek that runs through
Baltimore, but swept along the creek to the lumber district and the docks.
As soon as the threatening character of the fire was realized appeals were
sent broadcast for help and desperate measures were adopted to prevent the
spread of the flames. To gain that end huge buildings were leveled through
the agency of dynamite. Eleven fire engines and crews were hurried from
New York by a fast special train and they joined in the battle early and
fought like demons until exhausted. Philadelphia, Wilmington, Washington,
Frederick, Md., Westminster, Md., and York, Pa., each sent brave
contingents of men with an equipment of apparatus to reinforce the
desperate firemen of Baltimore.
The first attempt at dynamiting was in the large building of Armstrong,
Cator & Co., but it failed to collapse and attention was turned to the
building at the southwest corner of Charles and German streets, where six
charges of dynamite, each charge containing 100 pounds, were exploded. The
tremendous force of the explosion tore out the massive granite columns
that supported the building and left it with apparently almost no support,
but the walls failed to collapse and stood until the flames had crossed
Charles street and were eating into the block between Charles and Light
streets.
Meantime the fire had been communicated to the row of buildings on South
Charles street, between German and Lombard streets, and all those places,
occupied principally by wholesale produce and grain dealers, were in
flames. Before midnight the Carrollton hotel was in flames and the fire
was sweeping toward Calvert street with irresistible fury.
It was a terrible Sunday afternoon and night! People forgot their usual
devotions at church to pack their most valued possessions ready for
flight. Men of wealth left their families and firesides to join in the
work of suppressing the flames. Women prepared to flee with their
valuables before the wave of fire they momentarily expected to roll down
upon them. Wealth and employment were disappearing under the advance of
the fiery element and gloom, fear and dark forebodings settled down upon
the doomed municipality. But there was neither sleep nor rest for man,
woman or child.
Firemen working on the south side had succeeded in checking the flames at
Lombard street and, as the wind was blowing from the northwest, there was
no danger of it spreading farther in that direction. The western limit had
also been reached at Howard street and the danger was confined to the east
and north.
The progress of the flames toward the north had in the meantime been so
rapid as to be simply appalling. From structure to structure they flew,
licking up the massive buildings as if they were composed of paper. In the
block between German and Baltimore streets they flew along and almost
before it could be realized the buildings along Baltimore street were
blazing from roof to basement.
For a time it was hoped the fire could be kept from crossing the north
side of Baltimore street and the firemen made a desperate effort to
prevent it. The effort was useless, however, and soon the tall, narrow
building of Mullin's hotel began to dart out tongues of flame and the
remainder of the buildings between Sharp and Liberty streets were ablaze
and the fire was marching north. The flames flew rapidly from place to
place and soon the entire south side of Fayette street was in their grasp.
Down Fayette to Charles they swept and in a short space of time the
building occupied by Putts & Co. was doomed.
Seeing that nothing could save it, it was decided to destroy the building
with dynamite in the hope of preventing the fire from crossing Charles
street. The explosion was successful in accomplishing the object as the
entire corner collapsed instantly. This had, apparently, no effect upon
the progress of the fire, for almost before the sound of the falling walls
had died away the building on the east side of Charles street began to
blaze, and it was evident the block between Charles and St. Paul streets
were doomed.
In a desperate but futile effort to prevent the fire going further to the
east building after building was dynamited in this block, but it was all
of no avail and the fire swept steadily onward.
The Daily Record building was soon in flames and not many minutes later
the fire had leaped over St. Paul street and the lofty and massive Calvert
building began to emit smoke and flame. The Equitable building, just over
a narrow alley, quickly followed and these two immense buildings gave
forth a glare that lighted the city for miles around.
It was thought that the fire could be prevented from crossing to the north
side of Fayette street and here again a desperate stand was made by the
firemen. Again it was useless and soon the large building of Hall,
Headlington & Co., on the northwest corner of Charles and Fayette streets,
was blazing brightly. With scarcely a pause the fire leaped across to the
east side of Charles street and enveloped the handsome building of the
Union Trust company, while at the same time the large buildings to the
west of Hall, Headlington & Co., occupied by Wise Bros. & Oppenheim,
Oberndorf & Co., were aflame throughout.
Down Fayette street to the east the flames swept, and soon the new
courthouse was ablaze. The fire area then extended along Liberty street
north to Fayette, east to Charles, north to Lexington, south on Charles to
Baltimore street, east on Baltimore to Holliday and from there in spots to
Center Market space.
When it was seen the courthouse could not be saved the court records were
all removed to the northern police station, two miles and half away. The
Continental Trust building, a thirteen-story structure, caught at the
tenth floor and was totally destroyed after burning like a great torch.
The private bank of Alexander Brown, located at Baltimore and Calvert
streets, in the very heart of the fire district, a one story stone
structure, miraculously escaped annihilation, the surviving building out
of a great spread of two square miles of costly structures that caught the
early morning sun that fateful day. Sunrise that disclosed naught save
ruin, chaos and confusion.
Thus raged the warfare of man against a relentless hungry element for 27
hours. It was 11:40 Sunday morning when the fire started. At 2:40 Monday
afternoon the joyful news was spread that the allied fire departments had
the flames within control. Hotels, banks, business houses, factories--in
fact everything in the heart of the city was swept away. All the local
newspapers save one were destroyed, the street car systems were without
power to operate and the lighting facilities were sadly crippled. Towering
ruins loomed up on every hand, swaying in the breeze and jeopardizing
life. And still the countless fires in the burned district raged on,
illuminating the heavens and clouding the atmosphere with dense smoke
against which myriads of sparks twinkled like miniature stars.
The last places to go before the fire started to burn itself out, were the
icehouse and coal yard of the American Ice company. The coal yard, which
spread out about 200 yards south of the icehouse, was the means of staying
the march of the flames on the south and Jones falls on the east. The
Norfolk wharf of the Baltimore steam-packet company, which was stocked
with barrels of resin and other miscellaneous merchandise, was destroyed
before the ice company's plant was reached.
At 10 o'clock Monday the fire was reported under control, but a little
later the flames were sweeping along the harbor and river men began taking
their vessels rapidly out into the middle of the stream. There were about
seventy-five of these vessels and they were hastily anchored down the bay.
The buildings of the Standard Oil company and the Buckman Fruit company
along the water front were soon in flames. This renewal of the energy of
the fire continued until well along into the afternoon of the second day.
Following is a partial list of the principal buildings destroyed in the
baptism of fire or by dynamite in an effort to stay the flames:
The courthouse, loss, $4,000,000
The postoffice, $1,000,000
Equitable building, twelve stories, $1,135,000
Union Trust Company building, 11 stories, $1,000,000
Continental Trust building, 16 stories, $1,125,000
Baltimore & Ohio general offices, $1,125,000
Calvert building, $1,125,000
Hopkins bank.
Holliday Street theater.
Guardian Trust building.
Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone company.
Maryland Trust company.
Alexander Brown Banking company.
Bell Telephone building.
Custom house.
Western Union building.
National Exchange bank.
United States Express office.
Mercantile Trust building.
Baltimore American.
Baltimore Herald.
Baltimore Sun.
Baltimore Evening News.
Baltimore Record.
John E. Hurst, dry goods, $1,500,000.
William Koch Importing company, $150,000.
Daniel Miller company, dry goods, $1,500,000.
Dixon & Bartlett company, shoes, $175,000.
Joyner, Wilse & Co., hats and caps, $100,000.
Spragins, Buck & Co., shoes, $125,000.
Cohen-Adler Shoe company, $125,000.
L. S. Fitman, women's wrappers; Jacob R. Seligman, paper, and Nathan
Rosen, women's cloaks, $100,000.
Morton, Samuels & Co., boots and shoes, and Strauss Bros., storage,
$100,000.
Bates Rubber company, $135,000.
Guggenheimer, Wells & Co., lithographers and printers, $125,000.
M. Friedman & Sons, clothing, and F. Schleunes, clothing, $150,000.
Schwarzkopf Toy company, $100,000.
National Exchange bank, building and contents, $125,000.
S. Lowman & Co., clothing, $125,000.
John E. Hurst & Co., storage, $150,000.
Lawrence & Gould Shoe company and Bates Hat company, $125,000.
S. Ginsberg & Co., clothing, $125,000.
Winkelmann & Brown Drug company, $125,000.
R. M. Sutton & Co., dry goods, $1,500,000.
Chesapeake Shoe company, $100,000.
S. F. & A. F. Miller, clothing manufacturers, $150,000.
S. Halle Sons, boots and shoes, $100,000.
Strauss Bros., dry goods, $250,000.
A. C. Meyer & Co., patent medicines, $150,000.
Strauss, Eiseman & Co., shirt manufacturers, $150,000.
North Bros. & Strauss, $150,000.
McDonald & Fisher, wholesale paper, $100,000.
Wiley, Bruster & Co., dry goods, and F. W. & E. Dammam, cloth,
$125,000.
Henry Oppenheimer & Co., clothing, and Van Sant, Jacobs & Co., shirts,
$175,000.
Lewis Lauer & Co., shirts, $100,000.
Champion Shoe Manufacturing company and Driggs, Currin & Co., shoes,
$100,000.
Mendels Bros., women's wrappers, $125,000.
Blankenberg, Gehrmann & Co., notions, $125,000.
Leo Keene & Co., women's cloaks, and Henry Pretzfelder & Co., boots
and shoes, $125,000.
Peter Rohe & Son, harness manufacturers, $125,000.
James Roberts Manufacturing company, plumbers' supplies, $100,000.
R. J. Anderf & Co., boots and shoes, and James Robertson Manufacturing
company, storage, $100,000.
L. Grief & Bros., clothing, $150,000.
Maas & Kemper, embroidery and laces, $125,000.
Within 72 hours of the start of the fire the people of Baltimore were
giving thought to reconstruction. After an investigation it was announced
that the vaults of the Continental Trust company, which contained
securities to the value of $200,000,000, were intact and that most of the
great bank and safety deposit vaults escaped destruction. To relieve banks
and citizens from the embarrassment of financial transactions the next ten
days were declared legal holidays in the commonwealth of Maryland.
Mayor McLane reflected local public sentiment when he sent out the
following declaration to the world at large:
"Baltimore will now enter undaunted into the task of resurrection. A
greater and more beautiful city will rise from the ruins and we shall make
of this calamity a future blessing. We are staggered by the terrible blow,
but we are not discouraged, and every energy of the city as a municipality
and its citizens as private individuals will be devoted to a
rehabilitation that will not only prove the stuff we are made of but be a
monument to the American spirit."
With the exception of the Baltimore World all the local newspapers
suffered the loss of their plants, moved their staffs to Washington and
issued editions regularly from there devoted to Baltimore news. The World,
published in the thick of the ruin and desolation, gave voice to its
sentiment in the following editorial:
"God be merciful unto those who suffered from the awful calamity that
swept down on Baltimore.
"Tongue fails; pen is inadequate and refuses to comprehend the extent of
the disaster that has overtaken us. We have heard of awful calamities to
others; in fancied security we have looked on in sympathy while others
have suffered. Now the pain, the anxiety, the suffering is ours and we
stand appalled, unable to realize the immensity of the terrible affair.
"The World is the only newspaper office in the city that is standing. Once
it was on fire and was saved only by the earnest, valiant and courageous
work of the World employes and the goodness of God. To our suffering
contemporaries we extend the greatest sympathy and to the hundreds of
other sufferers also. For those thousands who are thrown out of work in
the dead of winter, with sorrow and suffering staring them in the face,
our heart throbs with a feeling that we cannot express. All we can say is,
'God help them.'"
Local and national military authorities took immediate charge of the
situation to prevent looting and disorder, possible because of the vast
sums of money in the various safes and vaults scattered about in the
ruins. Recognition of the disaster came from the nation in another
practical form. A bill was promptly and appropriately introduced in
Washington by Representative Martin Emerich of Illinois reciting the
destruction by fire in preamble and then continuing:
Whereas, The fire has so crippled the merchants and business interests
in the City of Baltimore that they are unable adequately and properly
to provide and care for the many who are rendered homeless and
penniless by this calamity, and
Whereas, The City of Baltimore and its people are probably unable in
the face of the unlooked for catastrophe to provide proper means for
effectually checking the fire and promptly to remove the embers and
debris; and
Whereas, The same, while remaining, are constantly a menace to the
safety of many citizens, it is enacted that the Secretary of the
Treasury be authorized and directed to pay upon the order of the City
Council of Baltimore, certified by the Mayor of the city, to any
designated authority of said city, any necessary sum of money not
exceeding the sum of $1,000,000 out of any money in the treasury of
the United States not otherwise appropriated, to be used for the
purpose of providing shelter for those rendered homeless by the said
fire, and also to be used for the purpose of clearing the streets and
localities devastated by the fire and in order to render the city
available for the use of residents and others as speedily as possible.
The bill was referred to the committee on appropriations.
Two days after the fire insurance men estimated the loss at $125,000,000
and the insurance carried at $90,000,000.
For the thousands of clerks and other employes whose positions are gone
forever there seemed to be nothing before them but to move to other
cities.
In the work of rebuilding came employment for another army, but it offered
no avenue of escape to those whose doom was sounded by the explosions of
dynamite and the crash of falling walls. Few of the men were fitted for
the heavy labor of the building trades.
Baltimore's great wholesale houses and wharf district have been
ruined--not irrevocably, but to such an extent that the fear grips the
heart of every Baltimore business man that the city may be unable to
recover from it for many years.
Amid ruins still hot and smoking Baltimore began its resurrection and made
known its determination to rise, Phoenix-like, through its own efforts, by
politely, yet firmly declining proffers of help that poured in from all
sides. The blow that befell Baltimore aroused an intense civic pride that
found expression in an effort to work out its own salvation. In declining
financial assistance Mayor McLane was actuated by the spirit shown by the
Chamber of Commerce, Stock Exchange and practically every local commercial
body, which came forward with offers of all the money needed by the city
for immediate use. It was decided that should the Herculean task prove too
great for the municipality there would still be ample time to seek outside
assistance.
While heavily armed soldiers marched about the blistering ruins with
stately tread holding back those who only a few hours before had fought
the police to save their valuables at the risk of their lives, the
latter--energetic business men--were already preparing to re-open their
establishments. Old buildings, long unused, private residences near the
business section, in fact, every available structure to be secured
blossomed forth within 24 hours with crudely lettered signs on board or
cloth announcing that within was the temporary office of a firm. The names
on some of these signs were those that rank high in the financial and
commercial circles of the world, and in these temporary offices men who
for years have known only mahogany desks worked on cheap tables and plain
boards.
One of the surprises of the fire was the discovery after the excitement
was over that two financial concerns whose homes were directly in the path
of the flames escaped practically unharmed. These were the Mercantile
Trust company and Brown Brothers' Bank. The escape of these buildings was
due to their lack of height. They do not exceed four stories, and as they
were surrounded by lofty structures the flames swept over them.
Unconcealed joy greeted the discovery and the information that millions
upon millions in securities in various vaults escaped destruction, whereas
all was at first believed to have been swept away. Practically all of the
vaults and strong rooms and safes of the financial concerns whose
buildings were destroyed were found unhurt. A tremendous loss in
securities had been anticipated at first, and when vault after vault
yielded up its treasures unharmed the joy of the guardians was boundless.
From one trust company's safes alone papers to the amount of more than
$200,000,000 were recovered. Merchants and their assistants, smoke soiled
and begrimed and hollow-eyed from anxiety and loss of sleep, worked like
laborers in the smoking ruins to uncover their safes, and in nearly every
instance they were rewarded by intact contents.
[Illustration: MRS. L. H. MELMS, 117 GROSVENOR AVENUE, CHICAGO.
Mrs. Melms was before her marriage an Athens (O.) girl and was a great
favorite there. For a number of years she conducted a millinery store in
that place, her maiden name being Blanche Cornell.]
[Illustration: MRS. CHARLES F. BOETTCHER, 4140 INDIANA AVENUE, CHICAGO.
Mrs. Boettcher was the wife of Charles F. Boettcher, a butcher on the
south side. She was the only one of the family who perished in the fire.]
[Illustration: MISS MELISSA J. CROCKER, 3730 LAKE AVENUE, CHICAGO.
Miss Crocker was for seventeen years a teacher of the higher grades in the
Oakland school, coming to Chicago from Princeton, Ill. She attended the
theater with a friend, Mrs. L. H. Pierce, and little girl of Plainville,
Mich. All were lost.]
[Illustration: MRS. EMMA STEINMETZ, 2541 HALSTED STREET, CHICAGO.
Mrs. Steinmetz was fifty-one years of age and the wife of O. T. P.
Steinmetz. She was born in Galena, Ill., her maiden name being Emma
Garner.]
[Illustration: MRS. WM. C. LEVENSON, 268 OGDEN AVENUE, CHICAGO.
This victim of the Iroquois fire, 28 years of age, was a Russian by birth,
and left a husband and two children. The latter were girls, four and two
years of age, respectively.]
[Illustration: MARY HERISH, 710 SO. HALSTED STREET, CHICAGO.
A Russian girl, only eighteen years of age. She was one of only three or
four of that nationality to lose her life in the disaster.]
[Illustration: LUCILE BOND, 4123 INDIANA AVENUE, CHICAGO.
Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George R. Bond, and granddaughter of Benjamin
Moore, ten years of age. Her mother did not attend the matinee and her
father was absent in Nome, Alaska, where he holds a government position.]
[Illustration: SIBYL MOORE, HART, MICH.
Daughter of Mrs. Perry Moore, 13 years old, who also perished in the fire,
and granddaughter of Benjamin Moore. At the time of the calamity her
father was on his way home from Nome, Alaska.]
[Illustration: THE DEE CHILDREN, 3133 WABASH AVENUE, CHICAGO.
The three children of William Dee attended the matinee with their nurse.
Louise was two years of age and the two boys, twins, Edward Mansfield and
Samuel Allerton Dee, were seven years old. Eddie (the boy to the right of
the group) and his baby sister were killed. Samuel escaped, but the nurse
was found badly mangled, burned and unconscious.]
[Illustration: LOUISE DEE, CHICAGO.
The child of William Dee, who was killed with her brother at the Iroquois
fire. She was not burned, but is supposed to have been suffocated or died
of shock and exposure.]
[Illustration: MRS. MARY W. HOLST, 2088 VAN BUREN STREET, CHICAGO.
Wife of Wm. H. Hoist, and daughter of ex-Chief of Police Badenoch, who,
with her three children, Allan, Gertrude and Amy, perished in the fire.
She was identified by her husband by means of her wedding ring and a
diamond ring.]
[Illustration: GERTRUDE HOLST, 2088 VAN BUREN STREET, CHICAGO.
Gertrude was ten years of age and with her younger sister, Amy, and her
older brother, Allan, was a pupil of the Sumner school. All were burned in
the fire. The picture was taken some time ago when she was a flower girl
at a wedding.]
[Illustration: AMY HOLST, 2088 VAN BUREN STREET, CHICAGO.
The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. H. Holst. Amy was seven years of age and
a pupil of the Sumner School. She, with her mother, brother and sister,
was a victim of the fire.]
[Illustration: MRS. CLARA RUHLMAN, CHICAGO.
The mother of Mrs. Sidonic (Herman) Fellman, who was burned in the fire
with her son-in-law and his mother.]
[Illustration: HERMAN FELLMAN, 3113 VERNON AVENUE, CHICAGO.
Mr. and Mrs. Fellman attended the matinee with their little girl, twelve
years of age, and their mothers. All except Mrs. Fellman and her daughter
perished.]
[Illustration: MRS. BERTHA FELLMAN, CHICAGO.
The mother of Mr. Herman Fellman, who, with her son and Mrs. Herman
Fellman's mother, were victims of the fire.]
[Illustration: MYRON A. DECKER, 3237 GROVELAND AVENUE, CHICAGO.
Mr. Decker, who, with his wife and daughter, perished in the fire, was a
prosperous real estate dealer, 65 years of age. He had a particular horror
of fire and seldom attended a theater. Only one member of the family
survives, a daughter and bride of a few months, Mrs. Blanche D. Kinsey,
wife of Carl D. Kinsey, of the Chicago Beach Hotel.]
[Illustration: MISS MAYME A. DECKER, CHICAGO.
Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Myron A. Decker, who, with her parents, met her
death in the fire. She was thirty-three years of age.]
[Illustration: MRS. MARIA E. BRENNAN, 608 FULTON STREET, CHICAGO.
Mrs. Brennan was the wife of P. G. Brennan, connected with the
stereotyping department of the "Chicago American." Before marriage she was
Miss Maria Hogan. Mrs. Brennan and her boy were lost.]
[Illustration: JAMES PAUL BRENNAN, CHICAGO.
Jimmy Brennan, as he was generally known, was the son of Mr. and Mrs. P.
G. Brennan, and, with his mother, was burned in the fire. He was eleven
years of age, sturdy and bright.]
[Illustration: MRS. ETTIE EISENDRATH, 10 CRILLY COURT, CHICAGO.
Mrs. Eisendrath attended the matinee with her talented little daughter,
Natalie. When identified they were found locked in each other's arms.]
[Illustration: NATALIE EISENDRATH, 10 CRILLY COURT, CHICAGO.
Mrs. S. M. Eisendrath and her daughter, Natalie, ten years of age, were
both lost in the fire. They were in the first balcony and were smothered
and crushed. Natalie was a bright child and an especial favorite in church
entertainments.]
[Illustration: MRS. BARBARA L. REYNOLDS, 1286 E. RAVENSWOOD PARK, CHICAGO.
Mrs. Reynolds, her daughter, sister and sister's two boys attended the
theater together. When entering the auditorium she remarked: "What a
death-trap!" Soon afterward she and her little daughter were burned. Her
sister and boys escaped.]
[Illustration: JOSEPHINE E. REYNOLDS, E. RAVENSWOOD PARK, CHICAGO.
The daughter of Mrs. Reynolds who perished with her mother in the theater
disaster was only seven years of age. Both were burned beyond
recognition.]
[Illustration: MYRTLE SHABAD, 14 YEARS OLD. 4041 INDIANA AVENUE, CHICAGO.
Myrtle and her brother Theodore, attending the grammar grades, were at the
matinee with a girl friend, Rose Elkan. They all met death in the fire.]
[Illustration: THEODORE SHABAD, CHICAGO.
Theodore was a bright boy, eleven years of age, and, as stated, formed one
of the merry party of three which met their fate on that terrible
afternoon.]
[Illustration: MRS. ANNA H. DIXON, 100 FLOURNOY ST., CHICAGO.
Mrs. Dixon attended the matinee with her two daughters, 15 and 9 years of
age respectively, all being lost in the fire. She was the wife of A. Z.
Dixon, a well known West Side grocer.]
[Illustration: DORA L. REYNOLDS, 421 E. 45TH ST., CHICAGO.
Dora attended the fateful matinee in company with her mother and her
cousin, Ruth Stratman, of Dodgeville, Wis. Both the girls were burned to
death. Mrs. Reynolds being the first to cross the plank to the university
building.]
[Illustration: LEAH F. DIXON, 100 FLOURNOY ST., CHICAGO.
The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. Z. Dixon, fifteen years of age, who with
her mother and younger sister, was burned to death in the Iroquois theater
fire.]
[Illustration: EDNA A. DIXON, 100 FLOURNOY ST., CHICAGO.
The younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. Z. Dixon, 9 years old, who with
her mother and sister, lost her life in the holocaust.]
[Illustration: WALTER BISSINGER, 15 YEARS OLD, CHICAGO.
The son of Benjamin Bissinger, the real estate man. The boy had an unusual
poetic gift. He attended the theater with his cousin and sister, Miss
Tessie. The latter only was saved.]
[Illustration: MISS TESSIE BISSINGER.
Who was in the gallery and made a heroic but unsuccessful attempt to save
her brother, Walter Bissinger, the Boy Poet of Illinois, and her cousin,
Jack Pottlitzer, of Lafayette, Ind.]
End of Project Gutenberg's Chicago's Awful Theater Horror, by Various