Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Assn. · Washington, D. C. · Jan 7, 1904

— Seven thousand sheep were burned to death in a fire at Buffalo, N. Y., which destroyed part of the East Buffalo stock yards, December 28.

— A coaling ship belonging to the French navy is believed to have been lost off the Spanish coast, with fifty-one men who constituted her crew.

— There are two revolutions and two provisional governments in Santo Domingo, and the affairs of the country are naturally in a state of chaos.

— Renewed activity among the Macedonians is reported from Salonika. Four thousand revolutionists under Bulgarian officers are said to be ready to invade Turkish territory.

— The village of Calumpit, in the Philippine Islands, was destroyed by fire December 28, two hundred and fifty houses being swept away, and a thousand people left homeless.

— The city of Troy, N. Y., has suffered from five disastrous fires within a few weeks' time, the last one being a $200,000 fire, which destroyed several business structures, December 27.

— Twenty-two persons were killed and twenty-nine seriously injured by a head-on collision on the Pere Marquette Railroad near Grand Rapids, Mich., December 26. The alleged cause of the disaster was the extinguishing of a red signal light by a high wind which was blowing at the time.

— A report that another massacre of Jews in Kishineff, Russia, had been planned to be carried out January 7, has greatly stirred Jews in all parts of the world, and in this country leading Jews have made an urgent appeal to the State Department to take some action in behalf of their threatened Russian brethren.

— The Colombian government through its representative at Washington, has presented a note embodying the following demands on the government of the United States: First, that the status quo ante must be restored in Panama; second, that the United States must keep hands off while Colombia reduces the revolutionists to subjection, and whips the recalcitrant state back into the union; third, should neither of these demands be granted, Colombia asks that the United States pay damages to her for the loss of valuable territory, the amount to be determined by The Hague Tribunal.

— The prospect of war between Russia and Japan continues very strong. Japan having reached the place where she feels that she must make a stand, or abandon hope of ever having an outlet for her population or an opportunity for commercial extension on the mainland of Asia. On Russia's reply to the Japanese demands hangs apparently the tremendous outcome of a war which, once begun, would be likely to involve the leading nations of Europe. General Nelson Miles, a well-known military figure and authority on military affairs, is quoted as having said in an interview just after he had been perusing the papers on New Year's morning: “I predict that the year 1904 will be signalized by the world's greatest war! it will be between Russia and Japan, and the conflict may involve several European states.”

— The business district of Chicago was the scene, in the afternoon of December 30, of one of the most appalling calamities, sweeping human lives out of existence, known in recent times. The stage scenery in the Iroquois theater, which was filled with people, took fire from crossed electric wires, and the flames spreading quickly to the stage, threw the audience into a panic. The house was filled with smoke and gas, the lights were extinguished, a strong draft of wind carried the flames into the struggling crowd, and hundreds of women and children were trampled to death or suffocated in a few moments' time. About 2,000 people, mainly women and children, were in the theater when the fire started, exclusive of the actors, and about one third of this number were dead within ten minutes after the first alarm. From a description given in the Washington Post we gather some noteworthy statements regarding this catastrophe. The theater was “the newest, the largest, and as far as human power could make it, the safest in Chicago.” The building was fireproof, nothing combustible being in it except the trimmings and furnishings of the stage and auditorium. It had a large number of exits. Fire extinguishers were hung about the stage, and a fireman whose duty it was to watch for and extinguish any incipient blaze was at his post within a few feet of the fire when it started. Yet in spite of all this, in spite of all the safeguards against disaster from fire which human precautions taught by many experiences could seemingly provide, almost a third of the large audience met a terrible death within ten minutes after the first blaze was discovered. The most pathetic feature of the awful tragedy revealed itself in the heaps of bodies of children which met the sight of the entering firemen everywhere in the smoke-filled balconies. It was largely an audience of children that the fateful occasion had brought together, the public schools being closed for the holidays. There were also many women present, and the women and children far outnumbered the men. It is declared by survivors that a number of the theater exits were locked, and many people who thought to escape by them found themselves trapped, and perished where they stood, while the few exits that were open became choked with the bodies of those who had fallen and were trampled to death in the mad struggle of the crowds to get through them. Around these exits heaps of bodies lay in tangled masses ten feet in height. About fifty persons were taken out alive but unconscious, by the rescuers, and about half of these were resuscitated by the doctors and their assistants. The exact number of deaths as given in the latest reports is 587, among this number being thirty-four teachers in the Chicago public schools. It is charged that the laws relating to the operation of theaters were being violated in several respects by the managers at the time of this disaster. Several exits which should have been open were closed and barred. The asbestos curtain is said to have been a flimsy affair, and either was not in proper working order or could not be lowered because the mechanism was interfered with by wires used by the performers in their exhibitions. The other curtains and stage scenery were of light, inflammable material, which a few sparks would suffice to ignite. A fire escape which should have been on one part of the building had not yet been provided. It is also charged that the skylights, which were supposed to be capable of instant opening to allow the escape of smoke and flame in case of fire, were fast closed. How many of these charges are true, or what others may be made, remains to be determined by the coroner's investigation; but it is evident that outward appearances of perfect safety in such places may prove to be wholly deceptive; for the public have no means of knowing when they enter one of them to what extent the laws intended to make them safe are being complied with. A number of arrests have been made of persons connected with the management of this theater, and all the theaters and amusement houses in Chicago have been closed by order of Mayor Harrison, pending an examination into their condition as places of safety. All over the country, city officials and managers of playhouses have been stirred up by this fearful tragedy to examine into the conditions upon which safety depends for theater-going people in their communities. Telegrams of sympathy were received from London, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, and other European cities.