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"I have been unable to do 10 cents worth of work since I came
back home early this morning. The sight
was awful and will remain with me as long as I live.
Mr. Kingsbury and myself passed the alley in the
rear of the theater just as the flames burst through
the windows behind the stage. A moment later the
fire escapes were packed with women and children, to
say nothing of men and boys, all eager and crowding
to get to the ground. Suddenly a tongue of flame
burst out of the rear of the building and as it
enveloped the people on the fire escapes we could
see them drop to the ground. People continued to
crowd out on the fire escapes only to be burned
alive or pushed off to certain death by others who
were coming after them. This was before the fire
department arrived and it was the most horrifying
scene I ever witnessed. Mr. Kingsbury and myself
talked to several of the people who were burned, but
who were fortunate enough to be alive, and among
them was the first man who made his escape by the
fire ladder. His face and hands were terribly burned
and his hair was singed completely off, but he was
alive and he thanked God for that."
Arthur G. Brown
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Arthur G. Brown (1868–) worked for the George Marott shoe store and Samuel
D. Kingsbury (1865–) for the Manufacturer's Shoe
Company.
By 1922 George Marott boasted that his seven-story
facility on East Washington St in Indianapolis was
Indiana's largest shoe store. Arthur Brown had been
promoted from clerking to managing by then. Samuel
D. Kingsbury had joined the staff as advertising
manager after the Manufacturer's Shoe company was
dissolved in October 1917.
To his retail holdings, George J. Marott eventually
added a department store and hotel. Marott had come
to America with his parents from England in 1875.
George started his business with $176 in 1881.
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Discrepancies and addendum
* An Indianapolis newspaper initially reported Samuel
Kingsbury's name as "A. D. Kingsbury." This was one
of many errors the paper published, including large
photos claimed to be of the Iroquois interior that
were of an altogether different theater, and a
picture said to be of the cast on stage when the
fire started that was an altogether different scene
in the play.
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