Auditorium Burned

Kansas City, Pee. 21.- The Auditorium hotel and theater were completely destroyed by fire early in the morning. The loss is es-timated at over $500,000. The flre originated in an unoccupied room on the sixth floor of the hotel and was oaused, it isbalieved, by the crossing- of electric light wires. There were 105 guests in the hotel. Bellboys we re at once sent through the different floors to arouse them and all escaped. A frantie effort was made by the owners to save their personal effeets, but in spite of all efCorts the loss was heavy. Had it been possible to get a stream of water to the room where the fire started within a reasonable time the catastrophe might have been averted, but the water pressure was too low to prive an effective stream, and the fire ate its way to other rooms. By the time pressure had been increased and the flre engines got to work the building was nearly destroyed. The conflagration was a magnificent sight. SeettiiiiL Volcan ot Fire. The wallsof stone and brirk sent the force of the flames upwarcl and a se.ething voloanö of fire w-as thrown 100 feet above the top of the ruin. The theater, which ocoupied the east .side of the building, was one of the finest playhouses west of Chicago. It would accommodate nearly 3,000 people. It was opened in 1887 by Booth and Barrett. A stock eompany has been playing at the house this season. The building was erected in the height of boom times at a oost of $365.000, and the fact that the theater was complfted in sixty days ■ was widely commentod on. Since its erection $100,000 has been spent on it in repairs. It proved an unprofltable venture, and the building has changed hands several times. Alexander Frafer is the present owner. Mr. Fraser says the amount of insurance on the building is not accurately known. but wlll not exceed $75,000. Only the hare walls of the building are standing. FATAL FIIÍF, AT DANYIl.I.K, HL." Miss Mary Reed I'erislios in a Rurning Jry (iixiik Stoi'e. Danville, IIls., Dec. 21.- The Golden Rule dry oods store was completely destroyed by flre and Miss Mary Reed, a clerk, lost her Ufe in the flamea. Several other persons had narrow escapes. Mr. Lewis, a clerk, jumped out of a third-story window,strikingsomeempty boxes which broke his f all. The fire started at 2 o'clock from a broken incandescent lamp in a front window, which was packed vvith fotton t,o íllustrate a Christmas scene. In a few minutes the ,entire store was ablaze. The stock was valued at $80,000, the at $15,000. The-e was no insurance on the building, whicb was owned by John Gemand, who was a prominent 'figure in a recent breach of prómise suit. The stock was owned by A. W. Heinley and Herman Schmitt. They had $28,000 insurance. Fire at lïaltimore. Baltimore. Dec. 21. - The extensive establishment of Crook, Horner & Co., dealers in plumbers', machinists' and millers' supplies, at the corner of Howard and Saratoga streets, this city, was partially destroyed by flre, entailing a loss of about $150,000 to stock and building.