Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 April 1894 — MET A FIERY DEATH. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MET A FIERY DEATH.

TEN FIREMEN KILLED IN A MILWAUKEE FIRE. Davidson Theater the Scene of n Frightful Holocaust—Many Fire Fighters Roasted —Awful Death of Those Who Could Not Be Rescued. On the Roof When It Fell. The Davidson Theater, ths finest playhouse in Milwaukee and one of the handsomest and cotliest theaters in the country, was destroyed by fire which broke out between 4 and 5 o'clock Monday morning. Ten firemen lost their lives in the fire, nine of them going . down to a living death by the fall of a roof, and the tenth bsing killed by theJaT of a ladder. Several others were also injured, some of them it is feared fatally. Th* valuable scenery and property of the Lilliputian?, whose ten days' engagement at the theater was to close cn Wednesday, is all gone. Manager Rosenthal of the company says it was worth $50,000. Shortly after 5 o'clcck, when the fire was seemingly under control, the theater roof, on which a score or more firemen stood as they fought the flames, went down, and the brave men were carried with it to the floor of the auditorium below. Some were extricated from the furnace of flames, in which the whole interior was now enveloped, by their brave and more fortunate comrades, who risked their lives to drag out the prostrate forms of the dead and injured men. Six or eight men were soon brought out, and those who were able to speak said there were ten or more in the ruins, where living death awaited them. For these poor fellows there was no chance.

The burning roof had fallen on them, and they were roasted to death, if they had not been killed outright in that terrible plunge from the roof. A cry of horror went up from the firemen who saw the awful catastrophe. The memb rs of the insurance patiol were covering up the ieats in the parquet of the theater, when suddenly a light was seen through the roof above. The men in the the a ter ran back just in time, and the next moment the roof fell into the parquet of the theater. Several of the men in the theater were caught by the falling timbers. The scene that followed is never to be forgotten by those who witnessed it. For a moment all was dark, then suddenly a tremendous sheet of flame shot up and with it came the cries of the firemen who had fa’len through the roof to the theater below. One man was heard to cry: “My God, help me. I am roasting to death?’ The men were bnried under the blazing roof, and there seemed to be little hope that any would come out alive, if indeed they had not been killed by the terrible fall. An Appalling Sight. The awful fate which overtook the firemen was the more appalling because it was entirely unexpected. No one dreamed that there was the least danger of the roof giving way. One instant the crowds of - excited spectators saw the firemen standing on the roof pouring water on adj< ining buildings and then they slowly sank out of sight. There was a groaning of timbers, a muffled crash as the roof struck the first floor, and the flames shot up along the shattered walls with a deadly fury. Occurring at the early hour of 5 o'clcck, in the midst of a driving storm of rain and sleet, the accident was invested with more than ordinary horrors. The firemen had gone to the roof for the purpose of directing the leads of ho?e to adjoining buildings as well as to saturate the roof of the theater. Nobody believed the building was in danger. But the flames had eaten upward and undermined the roof supports, and not until the structure began to sink beneath their feet did the firemen know the danger that threatened them. Then there was no’escape. Before they could even shout an alarm the roof had gone down. The men fell fifty feet and were either killed by the fall or crushed to death by the shower of bricks and stone which followed them. The immense load of debris had the eflect of stifling the flames at first, but they burst out anew and mounted higher than ever. The walls of the building remained standing and made the work of rescue extremely difficult. A look into the entrance of the theater was appalling. The stage and auditorium were buried beneath piles of debris from the falling roof, over which flames swiftly ran and crackled. Peering through the smoke the rescuers could.see a heap covered with an oilskin coat lying here and there, half hidden by the bricks and plaster. Those heaps were the b dies of the firemen, whether alive or dead the rescuing party could not tell. A fireman's helmet, an ax and a piece of hose could also be seen in the ruins.

Several Firemen Rescued. There was trouble in getting water on the fire, which now rapidly made its way through the theater and scenery. The water was finally turned on. and several of the firemen who had fallen nearest the front door of the, lobby were dragged from the burning debris and carried out more or injured. The men were removed to the saloon across the street and their wounds dressed, while the other firemen bravely kept at work pouring a deluge of water on the debris and trying to rescue others of the unfortunates, Hut soon no more cries were heard, and it was evident that all who had not been brought out must now b? past hops. The interior of the auditorium soon became a seething mass of l flames, which the firetnen vainly endeavored to subdue in order to save their doomed comrades. While the frantic men wer e at work amidst the ruins on the floor of the- parquet, the gallery began to burn, and while directing their attention to this blaze another portion of the roof fell, making the rescue of

the imprisoned men impossible and adding more fuel to the fire. The Dead. CAMPBELL, ARCHIE, captain of firebcat Foley, unmarried; taken from ruins dead. FREEMAN, JAMES, pipeman Na 4, 32 years old: taken from ruins dead. FARRELL, JOHN, chemical Na 1; taken from ruins dead. JANSScIN, AUGUST, third assistant chief of the fire department, 36 years old, married; buried in the wreckage. KOSCHM EIDER, FRED, chemical engine No. 2; taken from ruins dead. MORGAN. THOMAS, pipeman Na 1, unmarried; buried in the ruins. M'GURK, FRANK, acting captain No 14, married; taken from ruins dead. RIES, ALLIE, pipemail No. 3; fell from a ladder: died on the way to the Emergency Hospital. WINNEY, FRANK, pipeman No. 4; taken from ruins dead and unrecognizable. The Injured. Curran, James, lieutenant No. 1: injured internally. Crowley, John; internally injured by fall. Linehan, Patrick, captain No. 4; collarbone broken and badly bruised. Mauks. Fred, No. 2; knee sprained. SCHUNCK, Charles, captain chemical No. 2; left leg fractured, bruised about face and body. Schroeder, Frank, No. 4; ankle sprained. Yeo. John, pipeman Na 4; burned about face and arms. The first fatality of the fire happened before the more awful tragedy on the roof. Ollie Reis, a fireman, "lost his life while trying to reach the roof of the theater before the roof fell. He had put a ladder from the northern wing of the hotel building, which is two stories lower than the theater proper, when the ladder swayed, and he fell with it to the roof of the wing. He was carried away and died in the arms of his comrades. He was a member of Engine Company No. 3. Hotel Gueat<4 AU Escape. The guests of the Davidson Hotel, which occupies a part of the building, fled panic-stricken from their rooms when the alarm of fire ran through the corridors. They really were in no danger and had ample time to get out Noone was injured. John A. Davidson, sole owner of the theater and hotel, lives in Chicago, and was notified of the fire in time to leave on the 8 o clock train for Milwaukee. The Davidson hotel and theater were erected in 1890 and opened the following year. The building was one of the handsomest and most substantial in Milwaukee. The Davidson Theater, claimed to be absolutely fire proof, was opened in September, 1891, by the Emma Juch Opera Company. Manager Sherman Brown stated, as he stood watching the smoke curling up to the studded and frescoed ceiling which had been his pride: “The original cost to John and Alexander Davidson was between $350,000 and $400,000. The loss, of course, is mainly on the interior. The walls will stand when all else is> gone. There is no way to estimate the loss, but it may be over half of the original investment. It will be at least a year, of course, before we can reop sn. I have no doubt the theater will be rebuilt.”

DAVIDSON THEATER BEFORE THE FIRE.