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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 1904)
Loup City Northwestern GEO. E. BENSCHOTCR Ed. a id Pub. loup CUT, - - NEBRASKA. | News in Brief Ii is expected that the Immigration into the United Stales for the year ending this month will total Stiij.tMH). It is believed the United States will peek the conciliation of Columbia und the restoration of peace on the is thmus. President Joniisort announces Iho opening dates for the American lea pun season. Chicago si art a at Dc •r.vit on April 14. Walter Wellman says the United S'atCB rnay withdraw its ambassador n. St. Petersburg on account of Russia's cruelty to the .lews. Certain intercuts attempt to con vince the Treasury Department that Cuban cigars and tobacco should not enjoy a 20 per rent reduction of duty. The London Daily Telegraph's St. Petersburg correspondent says That the imperial family expects the ao couchment of the czarina next sum mer. William K. Curtis writes or tne buildings, other than the Vatican, on historic spots in Rome where the tremendous business of the Holy See is transacled. In 1870 the German people barely exceeded forty million, in 1SS." they had risen to nearly forty-seven mil lion, and in 1!HiU the census returns gave 66,345.014. it is officially announced, in view of ilie reports current abroad of re newed attacks cm the Jews, that Kishinefl' was never Quieter than at the present time. Commencing January 4 special courses in the various branches of ag riculture and its auxiliaries will be given at the South Dakota Agricultur al college at Brooklings. Kniperor William of Germany pro bably will give up his projected va ratio* in the south ot Europe, as it is said he no longer feels the need of rest from public business. in New York, at the lowest possible average, 600,00(1 peoplp live in rooms which ought to he considered abso lutely uninhabitable, dark ami with out any windows or ventilation. , It is feared that the collier Vienne of the French navy, manned tfi fifty one officers and men, which left Rochefort for Toulon, has been lost. The vessel Is nineteen days out. W. C. Putnam, aged 50 years, cash ier of the bank at Landsford. N. D„ committed suicide by shooting him self in the head. The affairs of the bank are *aid to be in good condition. Rear-Admiral Sir Charlc3 Drury, now Second Lord of the British Ad miralty, is a Canadian. His wife is a daughter of"the Whitehead of tor pedo fame and an aunt of Princess Bismarck. Chicago banks will distribute to their stockholders in January $1,150, 000 in dividends. General dividend and interest disbursements In New York in January are estimated at nearly $134,000,000. The biggest stationary steam engine on earth reached the world's fair grounds a few days ago on twenty one cars. It is of 5,000 horse power. The engine is to lie installed in the center nave of Machinery hall, just east of the big gas engine, which will hold a place directly opposite the .main entrance. ,1. J. Thompson, professor of ex perimental physics at Cambridge, has been appointed postmaster of Keokuk, in the Hawaiian islands. They call him “Kaii” for short. He was recommended as a lineal descend, ant. of the famous King Kalitapok amikoki wealoho, "who was very fond of missionaries!” Samuel Wilson of Stanwood, Iowa, boasts of having on his farm the big gest yearling calf now on record In the United States. At live months he weighed 620 'founds, at six months 670 pounds, at seven months 820 pounds, at eight months 945 pounds, jt ten months 1.120 pounds, at eleven months 1,242 pounds, at twelve months 1,290 pounds. The I/okal Anaseiger without reserve says: "The Japanese government has informed the. representatives of the powers at Toklo that the situation at this moment is unbearable, and that Japan must strike if Russia dots not ‘accept the proposition Japan has submitted, as Japan cannot longer wait for a final decision." In view of the fact that many thous ands of people In many parts of the country are Interested in the result of a guessing contest as to the number ol cigar taxes paid in November, the in ternal revenue bureau asks that public announcement be made of the number of cigar taxes paid at $:! per thousand during November. 190:;. the number is officially stated to have been 578,157, 470. The gun factory of the Hotchkiss Company in Haris was damaged by lire to the extent of $110,000. The prospective merger of the Al ton and four other lines is said to con template a trunk system from the great lakes to the Gulf and from st lxjuis to Toledo. Superintendent E. G. Cooley (if the Chicago public schools, in no address at the Etate teachers' convention at Springfield, declnres the school should he made a workshop and that more men teachers are needed lu the grades. [NEARLY SIX HUNDRED DEAD I | .. ... DECIDEDLY TME WORSED PLAY HOUSE CALAMITY THAT EVER OCCURRED IIN THIS COUNTRY. BURNING Of AN OPERA HOUSE IN CHICAGO An Appalling Loss of Life Through Burning. Smoth ering and Being Trampled to Death Chicago in Mourning Over the Awful Catastrophe. CHICAGO—Women anil little chll ilrci) fought in vain for life at a Are In the Iroquois theater, the newest, largest and safest theater In Chicago, j Wednesday afternoon, December 30. i The theater was crowded by a mat inee audience, mostly of women and children. In the midst of the perform I ance. while the stage was alight with \ beauty and colur, the first alarm of fire was given, anil 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 j 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 lank, but by far the larger ma jority perished in the wild stampede | for safety. I lie ure nror.e out aunns anil art 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. l>eing compelled to flee into ■ the snowy streets with no clothing hut 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 j 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 ol 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 thi? 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 stair way 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 cen ter of the doorway reached to within 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 he derived from the aspect of the bodies as they lay. Horrible Scenes. Scenes of unparalleled horror mel (he eyes of firemen, policemen and res cuers when they were able to enter tin ill-f&ted theatre. The dead lay in tangled heaps. fiv< and six feet high. Here and there were found masses of crushed, flesli and bone which were once m -n am women, but were trampled out of al semblance of human shape. At the doorways of the first and see ond balconies the greatest loss of life occurred. Here bodies were found in a ! pile which reached from the* head ol j the stairway, five feet from the door \ to a point as far in the rear of the exit. In the? center of the doorwaj corpses were piled until the- portal wa> choked to within two feet of the top On top of this grewsome pyramid were found women who had beer stricken by death while crawling ovoi the bodies of those who had beer caught and crushed to de-ath. in then hands they held bits of garments noi the-ir own. Some? were almost nude. Bodies were Piled in Layers. 1 As the police removed layer after | layer of dead in these doorways, the 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 were 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 l>ossil>le thing to do was to seize a leg in- arm or a piece of clothing and pull with main strength, dragging several -ent wined bodies away to gether. As the bodies were dragged out of the water soaked, blackened mass of corpses, more 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 tl... ft.,. ! ..... .... 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 I 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 I downward, before she could enter the ! aisle. The faces of dozens of people | had been trampled in by the heels of j scores of others who rushed over j them. In one aisle, the body of a | man was found with not a vestige of | clothing, flesh, hair or bone remaining j 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 J 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. __ i The First Ghastly Ulscovery. i . The building was so full of smoke | when the firemen first arrived that the full extent of the catastrophe was not [ immediately realized. It was not grasped until a fireman and a reporter crawled u!> 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 thepter anil the street. The two men immediately hurried below and informed Chief Musham of the tire department that the dead bodies were piled high in the balcony and prompt assistance must be rendered if any of (hem 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 will probably bring the dead up to six hundred. The City Press associa tion discontinued all attempts to keep |track (jf the number of dead bodies at the morgues, the faet being palpa ble that the effort was more produc tive of error than genuine informa i 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 coroner’s of fice was substituted, as a less unsatis factory method of keeping the death count. A Sad New Year. On New Year's day funeral proces sions 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 Roiston's and Jordan's morgues Friday afternoon who had been on their feet for forty-eight hours, constantly searching for those they had lost. The greater number of dead are in those two places au 1 men who had viewed the ghastly rows of corpses before and had gone on unavailing search to ev»ry morgue and undertaking room in the city to which the dead from the theater hail been taken came hack < nee more to Roiston's and Jordan's 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 ^ases they were un successful, in many others they were not. Practically all of the l>odies which admit of careful identification have been carried away and of those which remain the majority are in such a condition that only the most minute and careful inspection will be able to reveal their identity to those who knew them beat. The Fatal Building. \V. A. Merriman. western manager for the George H. 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 ordinant es 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 alt the work which our company performed was absolutely fireproof. After making a very careful examina tion of the building since the fire 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 504 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 ?.14, 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. CHICAGO—It was a day of funerals in Chicago and for the first time in the history of the city all of the people 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 bps 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 in passable condition it is a matter of several hours to reaoh 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 w’ere made by the undertakers to have as many lunerais 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 this was done, but there 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 he any fur ther trouble in this direction as the > streets to the cemeteries are now in J such conditon as to permit of the passage of funerals In almost the or- J dinary time. Dead List Increases. The list of dead was increased to 5st> Sunday hy the death of Leroy Ralnbold. .a hoy of 4 years, who was severely burned, and died in St. Luke’s hospital. Of the ten bodies nt 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 |>ersons 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 Is said to have left open the reflector which prevented the asbestos curtain from descending, is still sought by the police. He 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 at the coroner's inquest next Thursday. Coroner's Investigation. Beginning at 1) o’clock Monday morning Coroner Traoger and the jury impaneled to sit at the inquest will resume its task of collecting evi dence in the theater building. An exhaustive examination fo the build ing will be made and particular at tention will be paid to any violations of the building ordinances that may be found. In accordance with the re quest of the members of the jury, a)/ Bight-seers and even watchmen will be excluded from the building while examination is in progress. The jury has said to the corouer that they do not wish any person to hear the ques tions that they may put to anybody, as they fear publicity will interfere with the thoroughness of the inquiry. tu lilt* uumiiut'u scupe lllill 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 lias 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.—Stmon Wolf or this city, who ha3 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 tho interview far 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 L there w'ere 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 thai 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 Visw 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 that a conflict will take place in the near future, not only for climatic rea sons, but because Russia is unpre pared for war. It is believed that Russia will first consolidate her war ships in the east with her volunteer fleet In the Mediterranean, which lat ter now number nine vessels. Tho vessels of the Mediterranean fleet have purposely kept apart so that no idea might he given of the character or strength of the squadron. In political circles the opiuion pre vails that the attitude of the United States will have an effect on whether France and Great Britain remain neu tral. R U SSI A~PL ACES RUSH ORDER. Cudahy Packing Company to Supply Meat for Army. DES MOINES, la.—The Cudahy Parking company of South Omaha is Jlist in receipt of a rush order for 1.000,000 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 2f>. On that date two Russian ships will be prepared to sail from that port with the beef on hoard, 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 inslruetors. cables the Herald’s St. Petersburg correspondent. This has grown so serious as to come into the first line of Russia’s calculations, broadening out the situation on quite now tines 5 At The Posi 1 3 x l)p and doing, to live nH h-Ip 3 x to live, the old re!!.. !« 3 ! St Jacobs Oil x Is an untv real benefactor Q x in tlio curs of LJ H H I Hurts, Sprains 2 < and Bruises 2 X M x 2 x Price, 35c. and 5Cc. x ! “ : : mx^txjajtxidgii^igTTTrrra 50,000 AMERICANS WERE WELCOMED TO Western Canada DURING LAST YEAR. They are settled and settling on the Grain and Grazing I.anils and are prospeious ami -atishml. Sir Wilfred Laurier recently aaid A new star has lisen on the horizon, and it is coward it that every immigrant who leaven the land of his anres tors to come and seek a home for himself now turns his ga/e” Canada. Theie is Room for Millions. 1‘RKK Homesteads given away. Schools, «‘hurt-lie.. Railways. Market*. Climate, everything to lie desired. l:or a descriptive Atlas and other information, apply to Superintendent Immigration. Ottawa ( an ad*, oi aulhoii/ed Canadian Government Agem W. V. Bennett. M0I New Yotk I.ife Building. Omaha, Neb. CAPSICUM VASELINE (pi t tr in- eoi.i.Apmni.B rnttsi A substitute /or and stiperiorto mustard or nnv other plaster, nnd will not blister the most delicate skin. 't he pain-allaying -nd curative qualities of this article are wonderful. It will stop the toothache at once, and telieve hrail ache and sciatica. We recommend it es the best and safest csternal counter-irritant known, also as an external teniedy for pains tti the chrst amt stomach and all rheumatic, neuralgic, and gouty complaints. A trial will prove what we claim for it and it w ill be found to be invalu able in the household. Many people say "it is the bed of all your preparations.'* I’tice I* cents, at all druggist* or other dealers, or by sending this amount to us in postage s tarn os we will send jou a tube by mail. No a: title should be accepted by the public unless the rarm-g carries our label, as otherwise it is not genuine. I CHliSRBROUOH MFfl. CO.. f L_ITState Street, New Yuan Ciit.J SMOKERS FIND LEWIS* SINGLE BINDER **Cigar betUr Quality than most 10? Cigars Four Jolibtr or direct from Factory. Peoria. I.' W. N. U., Omaha. Ho. 2—1904 Everybody's Msgazine, January, 1S04. In each succeeding number of Ev erybody's .V'agazine is found some sig nificant and valuable article bearing on the subject about which tho people are most interested at the moment of its appearance. Nothing could have been better than O. K. Davis’s ex planation of the issues between Rus sia and Japan In the December num ber, Every day, since, there havo been telegrams from Tokio and St. Petersburg telling of the progress of negotiations between the beligerent powers. The readers of Everybody's had been informed by one of the most entertaining of war correspondents just what to expect when "Slav met Jap." At the moment Congress is tho live topic. What's happening in Wash ington is of paramount Interest to tho American public, and in Everybody’s is found “What Will Congress Do?” written by no less an authority than the ex-Sperker of the House, David U. Henderson, of Iowa. The more knowing a man is tho less he knows. Stops ttie (tougli nail Works ofT flic Cold Laxative IJronio (Jniuine Tablets. Price25c. Girls think it unlucky to lose tho ehanc.* of gettirg at opal. Undertaker—A doctor's silent part ner. ALT. UP-TO-DATE HOUSEKEEPER!! tTse Red Cross Roll Hlne. It makes clothes c-loau and sweet us v.neu uow. All grocers. Probably J. P. Morgan’s Offer. It is thought by those interested in I he sale in London of the original manuscript of Milton’s "Paradise Lost" that the offer of $250,000 for the work Is marie by J. Pierpont Morgan. When Your Grocer Says he dues not have Defiance Starch, you may lie sure lie is afraid to keep It until Ids stuck Of 12 ox. packages nrc sold, lit tlance Starch Is nut only better than any oilier C Id Water Starch, but contains !« oz. to the package and soils for same money as 12 oz. brands. A safe way to judge a man is to ascertain just what friends he doesn't make. Mr*. Winr.piw-J. suoTfung syrup. For children tcetlulnir. »ofi«*nw iritf K'ini*. reduce* *fi* CainmatlMi, allay* cure* w1t»q colic. 2uo AlHiUia Words are feminine; deeds mascu line. Why It Is the Best is because made liy an entirely different process. Defiance Starch is unlike any other, better and one-third more for 10 cents. A man ceases to believe in dreams after marrying one.