Chicago's Awful Theater Horror Part 29

A. On the platform in the theater.

Q. Did you notice anything of that kind at the Iroquois theater?

A. No, sir, I did not; I cannot say that I did.

Q. Now, if you did not see those appliances, you did not see them when you went in the stage entrance?

A. No, sir.

Q. You say you saw them in other stage entrances?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. You didn't see them at the Iroquois theater?

A. No, sir, not any time I was there.

Q. Did you see any hose of any kind that could be used in cases of fire?

A. I don't know whether there was any; I didn't see any.

Q. Did you know of any other fire that occurred in the theater previous to this one?

A. No, sir.

Q. You have been with the company for how long?

A. I played right along with it in Wisconsin and New York last season, and opened in Pittsburg with it and have been with it ever since.

Q. Did you play at Cleveland?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. What was the date of the fire in Cleveland?

A. I don't know the date; there was a fire on the stage.

Q. Was the cause the same as at this fire?

A. No; the flies caught fire at this fire. This was on the stage. They could not get at this fire.

Q. What caused it?

A. That I don't know, sir.

Q. Did you consider it a dangerous lot of scenery to travel with, lights and scenery combined?

A. I don't know; I consider all scenery dangerous.

Q. Did you consider this dangerous?

A. No, sir.

ONLY ONE EXIT OPEN.

Q. Were both of the exits on the stage open?

A. Only one door, a little door that we go through always was open when I went out.

Question by Foreman Meyer of the Jury: Mr. Foy, when you came out to the footlights to try to quiet the people and you cried for the curtain to come down, did you see the curtain come down?

A. I did not see the curtain come down. I screamed for the curtain to come down, and I told the orchestra to keep up the music, and then I addressed the audience, thinking I would get the curtain down. I would have been in front of the curtain if it came down.

Q. You said at the same time you looked around?

A. I looked around, yes, sir.

Q. What was the color of the curtain as you looked at it?

A. I couldn't tell the color. It was right over my head.

Q. Could you tell from any observation at any time before that?

A. No, sir.

Question by Juror c.u.mmings: When you counseled the audience to keep quiet were you working on the a.s.sumption that there was a fire brigade on the stage?

A. Well, my idea was to get the curtain down and stop the panic. The audience was composed of women and children.

Question by Deputy Buckley: From the time that you first heard the noise, when you were in the dressing-room until you got out, about what time elapsed?

A. Well, I have been trying to figure that out in my own mind. I don't think it was ninety seconds.

WIRE ACROSS AUDITORIUM.

Q. Do you know, Mr. Foy, whether there was a wire extending from the stage across the auditorium to any of the balconies or any part of the theater or auditorium outside?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Where was that wire located?

A. The wire hung from the center of the auditorium to the side of the stage, to where the fire, they say, started, on my right-hand side facing the audience.

Q. Was that the side of the stage where the curtain was caught?

A. I could not say. I have been trying to fix that in my mind.