IVkCook Tribune
F M KIMMELL Publisher
MCOOK
NEBRASKA
v3
Brief Telegrams
The salary of the president of the
American Base Ball league is 10000
Robert Catcrson of New York re
cently purchased the far famed gran
ite mountain of Texas
In Paris a youth attempted kill his
father in order that as a widows son
he might escape conscription
Coins are classed according to their
state of preservation as proof un
circulated fine good fair and
poor
John Sharp Williams the new dem
ocratic leader in the national house
of representatives rarely if ever
loses his temper
According to the census taken by
the prefecture of the Seine there aro
at present in Paris 41350 Italians 42
000 Belgians and 32500 Germans
Arthur Cnamberlain of Binningham
England a nephew of Joseph Cham
berlain has been touring Canada part
ly on business and partly on pleasure
Plans are being made to erect a
monument to the philosopher Kant in
Berlin to be unveiled on the occa
sion of the 100th anniversary of hi3
death in 1904
The queen of Holland has just ap
pointed an Englishman Rev Kirsopp
Lake of Lincoln college Oxford a the
ological professor at the famous Dutch
university of Loydeu
F N R Martinez the musical and
art critic of tne New York World died
after a months illness iesulting from
paralysis Mr Martinez was born in
San Francisco in 1849
Consul Louis Kaiser writes from Ma
zatlan Mexico June 16 1903 that that
port has been declared open by Pres
ident Diaz All restrictions on traffic
have now been removed
President Roosevelt sent Miss Sarah
U Provost the principal of the Cove
Neck school at Oyster Bay a check
sufficiently large to give every pupil
a handsome Christmas present
Resolutions have been adopted by
the chamber of commerce of Pensa
cola Fla urging representatives of
Florida in congress to vote for the rat
ification of the Panama treaty
Orders have been received at San
Francisco from Washington by local
transport officials to get the troop
ships Sherman and Newport in readi
ness for service immediately
The pope has issued of his own ac
cord a note on the subject of sacred
music In churches recommeviSlng the
Gregorian chant The note will be
published in the Osservatore Romano
William P Frye of Maine boasts ot
being the only great grandfather 9
the United States senate a girl baby
having arrived at the home of his
grandson William Frye White in
Washington
Premier Seuden of New Zealand is
being criticized for unloading his rela
tives on the government It is said
that he and eight of his relatives are
rawing an average of 25000 each in
salary
The congregation of the propaganda
has received information that Arch
bishop Chappelle will visit Rome in
the near future for the purpose fo ob
taining a definite settlement of church
questions in Cuba and Porto Rico
The striking union miners arrested
at Telluride Colo some time ago
charged with vagrancy are said to
have been all released and ordered to
go to work or leave town They have
not as Zet complied with the order
Announcement was made of the ap
pointment of C M Waters as superin
tendent o the division of salaries and
allowances of the postoffiee depart
ment to succeed George W Beavers
to take effect January 1 next Mr
Waters is now acting superintendent
of the division
Bishop Thomas Bowman of East
Orange N J the oldest living Meth
odist bishop who has just passed his
S6th birthday has just made public a
story in which he tells how he warned
President Lincoln that he was in dan
ger of being assassinated by John
Wilkes Booth five days before the trag
edy occurred
The club of Seattle com
posed of 314 of the most prominent
Jews in that city has sent messages of
appeal to President Roosevelt the
members of the Washington delegation
in congress and William R Hearst of
New York asking aid and intercession
in behalf of the Jews who are in dan
ger of massacre in Kishineff
Prof Giovanni Livi director of the
state archives of Bologna which town
is the principal center of Dantes fame
has founu a parchment dated 1323 on
which are two pen sketches represent
ing Dante crowned in Bologna This
discovery will prove of great interest
to those who are searching for an au
thentic portrait of the poet
Sir John See the premier of New
South Wales has added a new phrase
to the political vocabulary Urged
to bring pressure to bear upon the
commonwealth government in a cer
tain cause he replied yith a worried
end irritated air that he might just
- - A XT 1 -
as well sneeze against Lunuucjr
In leaving his residuary estate to
his sons only Mr A Holmes a Bing
ley England brewer said he did so
not because his sons were dearer to
him than Ms daughters but because
ho considered that men have a harder
struggle In life
NEARLY SIX HUNDRED DEAD
DECIDEDLY THE WORSE PLAY HOUSE CALAMITY
THAT EVER OCCURRED IN THIS COUNTRY
BURNING Of AN OPERA HOUSE SN CHICAGO
An Appalling Loss of Life Through Burning Smoth
ering and Being Trampled to Death Chicago in
Mourning Over the Awful Catastrophe
CHICAGO Women and little chil
dren fought in vain for life at a firo
in the Iroquois theater the newest
largest and safest theater in Chicago
Wednesday afternoon December 30
The theater was crowded by a mat
inee audience mostly of women and
children In the midst of the perform
ance while the stage was alight with
beauty and color the first alarm of
fire was given and the next instant
a great wave of flame shot out over
the theater The resulting scenes
were indescribable Hundreds were
trampled to death in the mad rush to
escape from that blazing furnace
Many bodies were scorched and black
ened by the flames after the life had
already been trampled out Several
people were burned to death others
were suffocated by gas thrown into
the auditorium by the explosion of
a gas tank but by far the larger ma
jority perished in the wild stampede
for safety
The Are broe out during the sec
ond act of Mr Blue Beard which
was -the first dramatic production pro
duced in the theater after its opening
The theatrical company which was
large escaped nearly all of them
however being compelled to flee into
the snowy streets with no clothing
but stage costumes A few members
of the company sustained injuries but
none were severely hurt
Origin of the Fire
The accounts of the origin of the
fire are conflicting and none of them
certain but the best reason given is
that an electric wire near the lower
part of a piece of drop scenery sud
denly broke and was grounded The
tiro spread rapidly toward the front
of the stage causing the members of
the chorus who were then engaged
in the performance to flee to the
wings with screams of terror
The fire in itself up to this time
was not serious and possibly could
have been checked had not the as
bestos curtain failed to work As soon
as the fire was discovered Eddie Foy
the chief comedian of the company
shouted to lower the curtain and this
was immediately done It descended
about half way and then stuck The
fire thus was given practically a flue
through which a strong draft was set
ting aided by the doors which had
been thrown open in the front of the
theater With a roar the flames shot
through the opening over the heads of
the people and clear up to those in
the first balcony caught them and
burned them to death where they sat
Modes of Exit
The theater is modeled after the
Cpera Comique in Paris and from the
rear of each balcony there are three
doors leading out to the front of the
theater Two of these doorways are
at the end of the balcony and one be
ing in the center The audience in
its rush seems to have for the greater
part chose to flee to the left entrance
and to attempt to make its way down
the eastern stairway leading into the
lobby of the theater Outside of the
people burned and suffocated by gas
it was in these two doorways on the
first and second balconies that the
greatest loss of life occurred When
the firemen entered the building the
dead were found stretched in a pile
reaching from the head of the stairway-
at least eight feet from the door
back to a point about five feet in the
rear of the door
This mass of dead bodies in the
the eyes of firemen policemen and res
cuers when they were able to enter the
ill fated theatre
The dead lay in tangled heaps five
and six- feet high Here and there
were found masses of crushed flesh
tnd bone which were once men and
women but were trampled out of all
semblance of human shape
At the doorways of the first and sec-
sight became so sickening that po
licemen and firemen hardened as
they are to horrible scenes turned
away in horror The bodies were in
such an inextricable mass and so
tightly Avere they jammed between the
sides of the door and the walls that it
was impossible to lift them one by
one and carry them out The only
possible thing to do was to seize a
leg or arm or a piece of clothing and
pull with main strength dragging
several entwined bodies away to
gether
As the bodies were dragged out
of the water soaked blackened mass
of corpses more m horrifying sights
were disclosed
There were women whose clothing
was torn completely from the bodies
above the waist whose breasts had
been trampled into a pulp and whose
faces had been marked beyond iden
tification
In the auditorium there was no such
number of dead in any one spot but
bodies lay in the first and second bal
conies in great numbers
In some places corpses were piled
up in the aisles three or four deep
where one had fallen and others
tripped over the prostrate forms
These had died as they fell evidently
suffocated by gas
Killed in Their Seats
Others were bent over backs of
seats where they had been thrown by
the rush of people for the doors and
killed without a chance to escape
from their seats One man was found
bent backwards nearly double his
spinal column having been fractured
by the rush A woman was found cut
nearly in two by the back of a seat
over which she had been forced face
downward berore she could enter the
aisle The faces of dozens of people
had been trampled in by the heels of
scores of others who rushed over
them In one aisle the body of a
man was found with not a vestige of
clothing flesh hair or bone remaining
above the hips nothing but bones
Even the skull was gone
Rarely in the history of Chicago has
its people been so stirred as by the
calamity The speed with which it
came seemed for a brief period to
appal the business quarter Every
available policeman within call of the
department was hurried to the spot
and the men were placed in lines at
the end of the block They tried to
prevent anyone entering Randolph
street from either Dearborn or State
streets It was found for a time al
most imposible to hold back the
frenzied crowd that pressed forward
many of them having friends or rela
tives in the theater
The First Ghastly Discovery
The building was so full of smoke
when the firemen first arrived that the
full extent of the catastrophe Yas not
immediately realized It was not
grasped until a fireman and a reporter
crawled in the stairway to the bal
cony holding handkerchiefs over their
mouths to avoid suffocation The two
men tried vainly to get through the
door which was jammed with dead
women piled higher than either of
their heads All the lights of the
theater were out and the only illumi
nation came through the clouds of
smoke that hung between the interior
of the thester and the street The
two men immediately hurried below
and informed Chief Musham of the
fire department that the dead bodies
ter of the doorway reached to within were piled high in the balcony aud
two feet of the top of the passageway
All of the corpses at this point were
women and children The fight for
life which must have taken place at
these two points is something that is
simply beyond human power to ade
quately describe Only a faint idea
of its horror could be derived from
the aspect of the bodies as they lay
Horrible Scenes
bcenes ot unparalleled horror met
proinpt assistance must be rendered if
any of them were to be saved The
chief at once called on all his men to
abandon work on the fire and to go
at once to the rescue The building
was so dark and the smoke so thick
that it was found impossible to ac
complish anything until lights had
been obtained More than 200 lights
were quickly carried into the build
ing and the work of removing the
bodies was begun
One large truck ordinarily used for
conveying freight to depots was so
heavily loaded with dead in front of
the theater that the two draft horses
attached to it were unable to start
and the police were compelled to as
sist by tugging at the wheels
Dead will Reach Six Hundred
Later reports give estimates that
ond balconies the greatest loss of life will probably bring the dead up to
occurred Here bodies were found in a six hundred The City Press associa
pile which reached from the head oftion discontinued all attempts to keep
the stairway five feet from the door track of the number of dead bodies
to a point as far in the rear of the at the morgues the fact being palpa
exit In the center of the doorway ble that the effGrt was more produc
corpses were piled until the portal was tive of error than genuine informa
choked to within two feet of the top
On too of this grewsome pyramid
were found women who had been
stricken by death while crawling over
the bodies of those who had been
caught and crushed to death In their
hands they held bits of garments not
their own Some were almost nude
Bodies were Piled in Layers
As the police removed layer after
layer of dead in these doorways the
tion owing to the confusion incident
to the removal of bodies and the dazed
condition of those in charge from
overwork and lack of sleep The rec
ords at the morgue showing the issue
of burial permits at the coroners of
fice was substituted as a less unsatis
factory method of- keeping the death
count
A Sad New Year
On New Years day funeral
slons were moving through the snow
covered streets to various cemeteries
while the throng about the various
morgues and undertaking establish
ments seemed almost as large as ever
The scenes here were the same as
those of Wednesday night and Thurs
day night Many men appeared at the
door of Rolstons and Jordans
morgues Friday afternoon who had
been on their feet for forty eight
houi3 constantly searching for those
they had lost The greater number
of dead are in those two places an I
nen who had viewed the ghastly rows
of corpses before and had gone on
i unavailing search to every morgue
and undertaking room in the city to
which the dead from the theater had
been taken came back ence more to
Rolstons and Jordans almost in de
spair but hoping against hope that
they might have overlooked their dead
in the great number that had crowded
the tables and floors on Thursday
morning In some cases they were un
successful in many others they were
not Practically all of the bodies
which admit of careful identification
have been carried away and of those
which remain the majoritv arc in such
a condition that only the most minute
and careful Inspection will be able
to reveal their identity to those who
knew them best
The Fatal Building
W A Merriman western manager
for the George II Fuller company the
concern which erected the Iroquois
theatre to a press reporter made the
following statement concerning the
construction of the building
The Iroquois theatre was built with
safety as the first consideration All
the building ordinances were adher
ed to in every detail and more than
that there were additional safe
guards thrown about until I do not
hesitate to state there was no theatre
building in the country freer from
danger The exits were numerous
and all the work which our company
performed was absolutely fireproof
After making a very tjreful examina
tion of the building since the lire I
find that the structure as erected still
stands intact
Saturday brought out the legacy of
the awful calamity and the prediction
that the list of fatalities in the Iro
quois fire will run to over GOO when
information is complete
The latest statement of dead at the
various morgues is 5G4 and it is
stated at the various hospitals and
hotels to which the injured were re
moved that of the 157 who were in
jured probably one third cannot live
The missing at this writing is esti
mated at 314 but it is expected that
many of these will be accounted for
probably a large majority of them
Chicago in Deep Gloom
It is no extravagance of language to
say that the city is stunned by the
overwhelming tragedy which was en
acted when the theater which housed
Mr Bluebeard became a chamber
of horrors indeed There is the deep
est woe in hundreds of homes deep
sorrow in a thousand others and a
pity beyond the potency of words to
convey in all
The first streak of daylight which
shone on the snow covered streets
found the morgues still the sorrow
haunted center of many searchers
Theer are husbands searching for
their wives wives searching for their
husbands frenzied parents seeking
their children so many or whom lost
their lives and in some instances
wide eyed children still dazed from
the horror of their experience groped
distressedly about in search of father
or mother
A Sad Sunday
who desired to bury their dead were
unable to do so The unprecedented
demand for hearses and carriages
would have been enough in itself to
task to the very utmost the resources
of the undertakers but the heavy
snow that has fallen during the last
two days has increased their difficul
ties enormously All of the cemeteries
in Chicago are miles from the busi
ness center and residence districts
and with good weather and the streets
m passable conuition it is a matter
of several hours to reach one of them
Sunday when every hearse was in
urgent demand it required about
twice as long to reach a cemetery as
under normal conditions Arrange
ments were made by the undertakers
to have as many funerals as possible
held in the early part of the day in
order to allow if possible the use of
the hearse for a second funeral in
the afternoon In a number of cases
mis was uone Dut tnere were in
stances where the families who were
to wait for the return of the hearse
were disappointed and were com
pelled to defer the burial of their
loved ones until Monday It is not
expected that there will be any fur
ther trouble in this direction as the
streets to the cemeteries are now in
such conditon as to permit of the
passage of funerals in almost the or
dinary time
Dead List Increases
The list of dead was increased to
58S Sunday by the death of Leroy
Rainbold a boy of 4 years who was
severely burned and died in St Lukes
hospital Of the ten bodies at the
county morgue four more were iden
tified Sunday
The injured of whom there is any
record now number 103 although the
number of those who were slightly
hurt would swell this number greatly
Numbers of people went to their
homes after the fire without report
ing themselves to the police as in
jured
Outside of the numerous funerals
that were held in the city Sunday It
was the first day of rest the city has
known since last Wednesday after
noon Less than twenty persons call
ed at the office of the chief of police
for permits to visit morgues and few
people were at the hospitals
John Schmidt the stage hand who
Ms said to have left open the reflector
which prevented the asbestos curtain
from descending is still sought by
the police lie is believed to be in
hiding in the city but the chief of
police received an intimation from his
friends that Schmidt will be ready
when he is wanted as a witness a
the coroners inquest next Thursday
Coroners Investigation
Beginning at 9 oclock Monday
morning Coroner Traeger and tha
jury impaneled to sit at the inquest
will resume its task of collecting cvh
dence in the theater building Av
exhaustive examination fo the build
ing will be made and particular at
tention will be paid to any violation
of the building ordinances that n3y
be found In accordance with the re
quest of the members of the jury a
sight seers and even watchmen will
be excluded from the building while
examination is in progress The jury
has said to the coroner that they do
not wish any person to hear the ques
tions that they may put to anybody
as they fear publicity will intcrforo
with the thoroughness of the inquiry
Because of the unlimited scope that
the coroner intends to give to the in
vestigation it is expected that the
work of taking testimony will con
sume several weeks Contractors and
all others who can give expert testi
mony will be summoned and the cor
oner has issued a notice to all per
sons who were in the theater and who
made their escape that he would be
glad to have them appear and give
their testimony
IN AID OF RUSSIAN JEWS
President Has Received Reports from
Consuls in Russia
WASHINGTON Simon Wolf ot
this city who has been active for
several days in his endeavors to in
duce the United States government to
make representations iO Russia look
ing to the protection of the Jews of
Kishineff had an interview with
President Roosevelt At its conclu
sion Mr Wolf said that at the re
quest of the president himself he
could not discuss the interview for
publication
It is known however that Mr Wolf
was informed that prior to his pre
sentation of the matter to the state
department the president had direct
ed tho United States consuls in Rus
sia to inform this government u there
were any likelihood of a repetition of
the Kishineff massacres of last spring
The replies to that inquiry thus far
received have been reassuring in their
tone Moreover they indicate that the
Russian government is fully alive to
the reports of possible trouble at
Kishineff on January 7 In view of
that fact it is assumed that the Rus
sian authorities will take if indeed
they have not already taken steps to
prevent a recurrence of the massa
cre
NO WAR IN THE NEAR FUTURE
Optimistic View of Situation Enter
tained at Rome
ROME Following the reports from
the far east rather an optimistic view
concerning the difficulties between
Japan and Russia is entertained in of
ficial circles here It is not believed
ftiat a conflict will take place in the
near future not only for climatic rea
in Chicago and for the first time in I bwe Tu8Sf Js 1
thfi hlstnrv of thp pilv nil rf tho nonnlo J
is believed that
Russia will first consolidate her war
ships in the cast with her volunteer
fleet in the Mediterranean which lat
ter now number nine vessels The
vessels of the Mediterranean fleet
have purposely kept apart so that no
idea might be given of the character
or strength of the squadron
In political circles the opinion pre
vails that the attitude of the United
States will have an effect on whether
France and Great Britain remain neu
tral
RUSSIA PLACES RUSH ORDER
Cudahy Packing Company to Supply
Meat for Army
DE3 MOINES la The Cudahy
Packing company of South Omaha is
just in receipt of a rush order for
1000000 pounds of extra mess meat
for the Russian army The shipment
must bo made from South Omaha so
as to reach San Francisco before Jan
uary 20 On that date two Russian
ships will be prepared to sail from
that port with the beef on board It
is learned in Omaha that the same
ships will also carry a large amount
of other supplies which are now on
their way or in preparation for ship
ment in various parts of the United
States All of these supplies it is
said are for the war department of
Russia
China to be Reckoned With
NEW YORK The British govern
ment is noting with the closest atten
tion and keenest interest the quite
uncommon energy now being shown by
the Chinese in making warlike prep
arations under the guidance of a
large number of Japanese instructors
cables the Heralds St Petersburg
correspondent This has grown
serious as to come into the first line
of Russias calculations broadening
out the situation on quite
lines
COMPLETELY RESTORED
Mrs P Brunzel wife of P BruazeTi
stock dealer residence 311 Grand
avc Everett Wash says For fif
teen years I suffered
with terrible pain
In my back I did
not know what it
was to enjoy a
nights rest and
arose In the morn
ing feeling tired and
unrefreshod My
suffering sometimes
was simply inde
scribable When I
finished the first box
of Boans Kidney
Pills I felt like a
different woman I
continued until I had taken five boxes
Doans Kidney Pills act very effec
tively very promptly relieve the ach
ing pains and all other annoying diffi
culties
Fostcr Milburn Co Buffalo N Y
For sale by rll druggists price 50
cents per box
White Pallbearers for Black Woman
All the pallbearers at the funeral of
Jessica Ormand an old colored
mammy of Atlanta Ga who died
the other day were white men who
had known her when she was a slave
Several or them had bees nursed by
her in their infancy
100 Reward 100
The leaders of thN paper wilt be pleisad to Icara
that Uiero In ut leant one dreaded disease that science
has been able to euro to all lta stages und i tint la
Catarrh Ilalia Cuturrh Cure Is tho only posltlve
cure now known to the medical fraternity Catarrh
being a constitutional disease rerpilrea n constitu
tional treatment Haifa Catarrh Cure Is taken In
ternally ectlUR directly upon the blood and tnucou
surfaces of tho system thereby destroying bo
foundation of the disease and glvlnz the patient
atruuKth by building up the constitution and a wlsttni
nature In doing Its work Tho proprietors have
mnoh faith In Its curative powers that they offer
One Hundred Dollars for any case that It falls to cure
Send for list of testlmonUls
Adircs F CHSXEr CO Toledo O
Sold by drilssts 75c
Halls Family fills are tho best
A genius is a man who refuses to
believe in the impossibilities of other
people
AIllHons In Oats
Salzers New National Oats yielded
In 1903 In Mich M0 bu in Mo 235 Iju
in N D 310 bu and in 30 other
states from 150 to 300 bu per acre Now
this Oat if generally grown in 1904
will add millions of bushels to the
yield and millions of dollars to th
farmers purse Try it for 1904 largest
Seed Potato and Alfalfa Clover grow
ers in America
Salzers Sneltz Beardless Barley
Home Builder Porn Macaroni Wheat
Pea Oat Billion Dollar Crass and Ear
liest anes are money makers for you
Mr Farmer
JCST SEXO THIS XOTICE AXD IOC
in stamps to John A Saizer Seed Co
La Crosse Wis and receive in return
their big catalog and lots c farm seed
samples W N U
Sweet Potato Bread
Place one pint or lukewarm water
in the mixing bowl add one table
spoonful of butter one level tablc
spoonful of salt half a cup of good
yeast or a half compressed yeast cake
which has been dissolved in four table-
spoonfuls of lukewarm water sift in
one quart of flour beat well and stand
in a warm place over night In the
morning bake four sweet potatoes
scoop out the pulp and mash through
a sieve into the sponge beat well arl
add sufficient flour to make a soft
dough Knead lightly roll out and
cut into biscuits Place these in
greased baking pans and very lightly
halve in a quick oven twenty five min
utes When the biscuit is half done
take from the oven and brush over
with the white of one egg beaten with
one tablespoonful of water Place
again in the oven until thoroughly
done
Southern Sweet Potato Pudding
Wasn and boil two pounds of sweet
potatoes very soft but not soggy
Mash the potatoes while warm and add
one cupful of butter and beat the mix
ture until very light in color Beat
four eggs very light with one cup of
white sugar and stir into the other
mixture stirring rapidly Add grated
nutmeg to taste half a pint of sherry
wine one pint of rich milk and the
grated yellow peel of one rich lemon
Mix turn into tne pudding dish and
bake in a quick oven Delicious
KNOWS NOW
Doctor Wss Fooled by His Own Cscer
for a Time
Its easy to understand how ordi
nary people get fooled by coffee when
doctors themselves sometimes forget
the facts
A physician speaks of his own ex
perience
I had used coffee for years and
really did net exactly believe it was
injuring me although I had palpita
tion of the heart every day
Finally one day a severe and al
most fatal attack of heart trouble
frightened me and I gave up both
ta aud coffee using Postum instead
and since that time I have had abso
lutely no heart palpitation except on
one or two occasions when I tried a
small quantity of coffee which caused
I severe irritation and proved to me I
must let it alone
When we began using Postum it
seemed weak that was because we
did not make it according to
t tions but now we put a little bit of
butter in the pot when boiling and al
low the Postum to boil full 15 minutes
which gives it the proper rich flavor
and the deep brown color
I have advisod a great many ot
my friends and patients to leave off
coffee and drink Postum in fact I
daily give this advice Name given
by Postum Co Battle Creek Mich
Many thousands of physicians use
Postum in place of tea and coffee in
s i their own homes and prescribe it to
patients Theres a reason
A remarkable little book The Road
new to Wellville can be found in each
package
v j
z
-
-
i
r
J
c
