The Iola Register

Directors of Convention Hall Which Burned Yesterday Have Decided to Commence at Once the Work of Re-building

SUBSCRIPTIONS POURING IN
And it will be no Trouble to Raise the Money.

The Hall will be Completed in Time for the Democratic Convention

By telegraph to the Register.

Kansas City, April 5.-The directors of Convention Hall which was burned yesterday decided to rebuild immediately and it is claimed the hall will be ready for the Democratic National Convention July 4. Money is being subscribed and the only difficulty will be in securing structural iron. The National Committeemen as a rule are in favor of standing by Kansas City and are confident that the hall will be completed in time.

ALREADY AT WORK.

Kansas City, April 5-As many men and teams as could be secured are already at work in the ruins of Convention Hall and the work of re-building will be rushed.

A DETAILED REPORT

Kansas City, Mo., April 5.-"Convention hall is on fire!" This was the startling news that was flashed across the city yesterday afternoon at one o'clock, and in the short space of an hour Kansas City's magnificent auditorium was four ghastly, ragged walls; the Second Presbyterian church and parsonage and the beautiful Lathrop school, across the street, were in ruins; the Williamson flats, north of the hall, fronting on Twelfth street, were gutted; innumerable small fires had been started within a radius of three or four blocks; 25 families had been rendered temporarily homeless, and property valued at $325,000 was destroyed. Gross carelessness on somebody's part is given as the primary cause for the destruction of the beautiful building and the other structures. It is stated that a janitor has been cooking his meals on a rickety old gasoline stove in a rear room, which is littered with debris. Chief Hale declared yesterday that he had warned Manager Loomas to remove a mass of rubbish from the rear of the stage, where a lot of refuse, old junk, papers, etc., had been stored. Chief Hale says he warned Loomas of the danger of allowing such inflammable rubbish to accumulate. Two men who were smoking went behind the stage yesterday. They were ordered away by the janitor and soon disappeared. A few minutes afterwards the fire broke out in the very spot where the rubbish was stored. Some half dozen carpenters were at work on the roof garden when the alarm was first given and all, with one exception, succeeded in making their way in safety to the street, though two of them were a little scorched. The one who failed to get out was James Brennan, a contractor, who was on the roof working on the cornice. When he found that escape through the interior of the hall was impossible owing to the headway made by the flames he made his way to the southeast corner of the roof of the building. Fortunately the aerial truck, which was one of the first pieces of apparatus to reach the building, drew up on this side. Driver Ensley Willis noticed Brennan standing on the roof and stopped the truck right on the corner of the alley. Capt. Russell and his men ran up the ladder in less time probably than it has ever been done before and Brennan was carried safely to the ground. In less than two minutes the spot on which he had been standing was enveloped in flames. The fire department estimated the total loss at $298,260. At the completion of Convention hall and upon the day it was delivered over by the contractors the directors placed insurance amounting to $96,000. Later this was increased to $150,000. Convention hall will rise from its ashes, greater than before. Before the red embers have turned to gray workmen will begin to remove the debris. The new building will be erected in ample time for the national convention. It is the purpose of the hall directors to erect an absolutely fire proof building on the old site, taking advantage of the splendid foundations that have remained almost uninjured by the fire.