Show proprietors FACE CRIMINAL CHARGE mr hull who lost four members of his in iroquois fire is complaining pla ining witness chicago jan 2 the inter ocean this morning says that warrants have been issued for the arrest ot will J darts and harry powers proprietors and managers of the iroquois theater and george williams city building inspector on the criminal charge of manslaughter the warrants were issued by justice george W underwood at bis residence after 11 last night and the charges were sworn to by arthur E hull of au oakwood boulevard who lost his wife and three children in the fire mrs hulls maid also perished the warrants the inter ocean says were not served in the regular manner the three men accused were notified by telephone that the warrants had been issued and were directed to appear at 11 this morning at justice court and give bonds the attorneys for powers and dails assured the justice that their clients would appear at the stated hour mr hull the complaining la connected with a chicago commercial agency tomorrow ho will leave chicago with the bodies of the four members of his family for bis cifes former home troy N Y where they will be buried mr hull stated that he would return immediately after the funeral to prosecute the charge his entire family was wiped out in the fire the complainant mr hull said my wife and ray all I 1 ever haj to live tor are gone 1 l that as for ni to make some one pay to this carelessness A few carpenters and stage hands have been arrested men who sang in the chorus abeln jail such an investigation ti Is a cruel mockery the men who arc responsible are allowed to walk the streets untouched while a te laborers are punished this has been the greatest calamity the cites history and the authorities must understand that those who have buffered will not wait for them to dally alonga there must or favoritism in this investigation abe of ahe hour at which the warrants were completed midnight caused the complainants ata tarney aud bostice underwood to decide that it would be sufficient for dp 1 tec tives to serve the warrants over the telephone mrs powers answered tho phone detective james W cody requested her to tell mr powers to burly to justice george W residence mrs powers immediately became hysterical oh we could not terrible accident hp walled over tho phone our own little apy was there and he would not have been there it wo had not thought the theater safe she was quieted and promised to inform mr powers and mr dails wha were at the powers th eater of the summary action which had been taken against them cody assured her that if they came to the house the contusion of arresting them at their homes would be avoided city building inspector williams was reached at his home in eliodes avenue its no surprise to me but dont worry about me leaving town to didgo the consequences he briefly cant I 1 arranga 0 o prepare and give bonds some time to bang inspector Will lami to the residence on south park boulevard would have compelled the to remain up until early rooming A continuation was the retora agreed to A few minutes later came a all from the powers residence father just came honiff with a phy elchan and has been taken to bed said the voice of a young man it was agreed that the throe should appear today at justice underwood court and give bond twenty men arrested in with the theatre fire were arraigned before justice caverly in the harrlson street police court today on a charge of manslaughter five ot the defendants were members ot the chorus of the mr bluebeard company and were defended by attorney abos hogan no testimony was given in court and it was immediately agreed that the continuance bo granted most of the time was devoted to an effort by the attorney to hayo the bonds of his clients reduced from in which they had been held in the end the bonds in each caad were reduced to 1000 and the cases placed on the calendar tor hearing tor jan uary alth attorney hogan told the magistrate that bis clients bad nothing to do with the management construction or handling of tho scenery ho sal they flinging even after tho audience became panic stricken in a vain effort to allay the fear of the frightened audience who will bo before justice caverly january nth arc edward G wines victor baart aam uel bell william slack jobo J itus beell and E T mora C the other defendants will save a hearing beford justice caverly monday they are W P kerr william mcmullen william A tuerena ward ele william mcqueen william olsen E poland william carlton J J andrew F H nolan heir bonds were placed at each A mass 0 new which throws complete light on the aff WM obtained thoai stage employed emp loye by coroner today ad will tw submitted to the coroners Corp ners jury ln it meets thursday to coroner treaser has learned tb stage carpenter Cumro tuga who eup the up ot alm loft waa responsible to the of the theatre for the 0 every J r tv thing on the stage if the city ordinances were not complied with it was cummungs duty to notify the owners and managers of the house joe daugherty who Is now la one of the suffering from a broken leg was the man who attempted to lower tho asbestos curtain he says that the reason it stuck and would not was that it stuck on the arc spotlight in the first entrance near the top 0 the proscenium arch from the stage hands coroner treager learns the cause of tho mysterious explosion which occurred shortly after the alro was discovered it was caused by the falling of the big tan scene which contained 80 incandescent eleo trie lights this scene was not in use at the time of the ire but was set in the rear tho opening of the double doors in the rear of the stage created a draught which caused the big fan scene to topple over and break the light bulbs this produced a loiso like an explosion the stage hands deny that ther ewas a calcium tank on the stage the coroner has learned that each of the drop scenes ln tho theatre was hung with new oily maella rope it la estimated that tharo were lineal feet of juhls inflammable material used in support the drop curtain and that it added fuel to the flames in the rigging loft mcmullan cn is considered by the police to be one of the most important witnesses he was in charge ot the spotlight which set fire to the scenery and resulted in the large loss of life frank nolan made a vain effort to have his bond reduced from saying that he was off the stage when the fire started he told the magistrate that he and another employed emp loye a stranger to him were in the balcony above the gallery controlling the arc lights which made the pale moonlight for the show when the panic occurred he says his companion jump eato his doom he could not kemem bar the faintest detail ot bis own cs cape from the langr number of complaint received of he joss effects rom the bodfis victims the coroners office clerks estimate that ot diamonds watches jewelry lure and other personal property was lost in the fire much of the property ot value was undoubtedly lost but a large amount may have been stolen by ghouls the excitement that reigned at the scene of the fire made it impossible to i superintend the removal of the bodies and or more aers assisted the police and firemen hundreds of the bodies were carried away in trucks and express wagons and there was no way of preventing persons from searching the victims and taking their valuables the largest amount of currency recovered was found pinned to the garment of a woman fire inspector monroe fulkerson today resumed his investigation into the causes of the disaster TWO stage bands were questioned tor two hours then W A men lam manager for the george A fuller construction company builders ol 01 the theater was called into the office the companas comp anys attorney was with him from john mccluskey the fre inspector learned that joseph daugherty the man in charge of the asbestos curla ln is at passavant hospital suffering from a broken leg baugher ay iy was hurt by a fall in the theater flies in trying to lower the curtain at the time of the fire it developed at the start that the asbestos curtain instead of falling instantly as was by many persons believed was hung on and endless rope and had to be drawn to the floor the fire inspector waa convinced that the curtain was driven BO hard against the wall by the pressure of the beat of the proscenium arch that daugherty could not draw it all the way down 1 I was sitting near the rear door of the stage eald mccluskey when the fire started near the switchboard at the abo fire was first on a shelf of scenery tour feet from the edge of tho arch it spread rapidly through the linen draperies and I 1 ran from the rear door into dearborn street and turned in a still alarm then I 1 returned to the theater and climbed the first escape but could not reenter re enter the building before leaving I 1 had yelled to daugherty who I 1 supposed was in charge of the fire curtain to lower tt I 1 could not see him amt believed be was there I 1 aaa him come out later burned and a leg broken I worked at the theater from the time it was opened and it was the cus torn to lower the fire curtain before very performance it always worked finely and I 1 never caw any with it before it was rigged wibb wire cables with which the curtain was sus there were four of them each 38 3 8 ot an inah thick rj hamilton a sceal shifter ex elwed what seemed to many at the farro be an explosion five minute after the fire started said lie t big acene in tho shapo of a fan feet to the stage tha was studded with incandescent Ift nis and weighed several hundred pounds the noise ot its tall and the bilking lamps gave orth tho sound orto explosion hamilton dented tt it was tho custom to have the controlling the ventilators rs fl the enago blocked BO as to bike it impossible to open the ten ator pae ventilators rs were 1 be iw at every performance many the draft from them was so trang that it was uncomfortably cool anthe lam of the construe W i alon company and his attorney then had a private conference with inspector fulkerson for twenty minutes |