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THE 1903 IROQUOIS THEATRE FIRE » Chicago, Illinois
The asbestos curtain! For God's sake, don't anybody know how to lower this curtain?"
So cried the actor Eddie Foy from the stage of Chicago's Iroquois Theatre on December 30,1903, as the terrified audience struggled to evacuate the building. A fire had started on the stage during the second act of the matinée, Mr. Bluebeard, when a stage light short-circuited and ignited a drop curtain. The fire spread to the front of the house, and from there moved quickly to the flammable scenery and stage props. Two stagehands tried to extinguish it, but the flames were already too...