While sisters Pearl and Fannie prepared for a dinner party, their three teenaged children attended a matinee of Mr. Bluebeard at Chicago's new Iroquois Theater. The daughters of polish immigrants, Moses and Esther Webb Barnett, Pearl was married to milliner-turned-insuranceman, Nathan Elkan and Fannie to printer-turned-attorney, Henry M. Shabad.

The kids were excited to see the luxurious theater and a pageant that promised flying ballerinas and hundreds of dancers anad singers.  At fourteen, Rose Elkan (b.1890) was Pearl's youngest daughter. Fannie Shabad's two were thirteen-year-old Myrtle (b.1889) and twelve-year-old Theodore (b.1891).  They had good seats in section C of the second floor balcony, seats 57-59.  Afterward, there was a dinner party at either the Sabad's 6th Ward home at 4041 Indiana Avenue or the Elkan's at 3434 S. Park Avenue.

Henry M. Shabad (1859–1927) worked nearby and ran to the theater when he heard there was a fire at the Iroquois.  He later testified about trying to break through the glass on the Iroquois lobby doors.

Unbeknownst to Henry, Theodore had escaped from the theater, either through the front entrance on Randolph or out a fire escape onto Couch Place, and walked eight blocks to his father's office in room 801 in the Reaper Building at 101 Washington* where he collapsed.  He was carried  to the Shabad home at 4041 Indiana Ave and lived for thirty-three hours without regaining consciousness, passing away at 7:15 am Friday, January 1, 1904.  The coroner's jury viewed his body on January 2, 1904 at the Shabad's home. 

The image of the desperate twelve-year-old boy walking to reach his father and safe haven, in temperatures below freezing, probably worsening the condition of lungs already injured by smoke inhalation, is as poignant as any in the Iroquois tragedy.  The bodies of his sister Myrtle and cousin Rose would be found in the theater and taken to mortuaries.

So close

Theodore Shabad's weakened physical condition suggests he inhaled a significant amount of smoke thus was not an early evacuee from the theater.  Early evacuees made it out of the balconies and into the lobby before doorways were jammed, emerging from the structure onto Randolph St.  Theodore most likely escaped through a fire escape exit (doors 29-31) from the back northeast corner of the auditorium, emerging into Couch Place Alley.

It was not reported where Henry was when he learned about the fire.  This map presumes he was in his office in the Reaper Building on Washington St.  If Theodore had passed the intersection of Randolph and Dearborn and traveled even a short distance down Dearborn, they wouldn't have seen one another. 

Would Theodore's life have been spared if meeting his father had shortened his walk?  Probably not but a boy would have been saved by his Dad and a Dad would have saved his son, for at least a little whiile.  One of those times when I wish life was more like movies.

Seeking justice

Myrtle and Theodore's father, Henry M. Shabad, was one of the founders of the Iroquois Theater Memorial Association (ITMA), a group committed to remembering and seeking justice for Iroquois fire victims.  In that capacity he urged the membership to avoid becoming obsessed with vengeance but would find it difficult to take his own advice.

A Russian-born immigrant, Henry had co-owned Horstein Printing on 5th Avenue in Chicago when he returned to school and in 1894 graduated from Kent law school.  1903 newspaper legal notices suggest he primarily handled bankruptcy cases.  His involvement in Democrat politics brought him to the attention of mayor Harrison who in 1903 appointed Henry as the city's representative to the Mississippi Deep Waterway Convention in New Orleans.  The goal: deepen the Illinois River so that cargo could travel from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi and the Gulf.  With the recognition that came from that appointment, as well as his involvement in ITMA, in the years after the fire Henry entered politics.

Shabad was among those who felt strongly that the Theater Syndicate was involved in the Iroquois Fire and should be held accountable.  He based much of his opinion on testimony from lamp operator, William McMullen.  McMullen testified that he told his immediate superior, Klaw & Erlanger's hired stage manager, that the lamp and proximity to the stage curtain was dangerous but was ignored.  Shabad obtained an affidavit from McMullen that prosecutors dismissed, labeling it a duplication of McMullen's prior court testimony.

In March, 1905 Shabad announced a plan to travel to New York to gain 1.) details of a $200,000 contract between Klaw & Erlanger and the Iroquois Theater, 2.) information about a failed libel suit brought by Klaw & Erlanger against Life Magazine, and 3.) a sworn affidavit from lamp operator William McMullen about his having informed the Mr. Bluebeard company stage manager of the dangerous location of the arc lamp relative to the stage curtain.

Henry hinted that he endangered his life by undertaking the mission because emissaries of Klaw & Erlanger were following him — for which he was ridiculed in newspapers. He accused prosecutor John Healy of refusing to introduce the contract into evidence.  Healy denied seeing the contract and the prosecutorial team opined it was impossible, in any case, to connect Klaw & Erlanger to the tragedy.‡

It was not clear from numerous newspaper reports whether Shabad actually traveled to New York, or if he acquired McMullen's affidavit.

Newspapers also failed to suggest what about Klaw and Erlanger's libel suit against Life Magazine Henry thought would advance the Iroquois fire trial.

Henry was active in a Jewish lodge, Free Sons of Israel. In the years after the fire he ran for drainage trustee and a municipal judgeship.

Needed:

• Photo of Rose Elkan or her mother, Fannie Barnett Elkan
• Illustration of Felsenthal school on Calumet.

Other discussions you might find interesting