Chief of Police Samuel Swan, when seen late last night, told of scenes inside the house. He said: "When I heard the first cry I ran to the front door, but that was already packed with people and I saw that everything possible was being done. Then I immediately entered the theater from the rear, and running onto the stage told the people that there was no fire and that they would be perfectly safe if they remained seated. This did not have much effect, so I jumped from the stage and went to the rear of the hall, where there was a struggling mass of people, and these were told to re-enter the room, for there was no fire, but still they continued in their attempt to reach the street through the front door. After I had deputized about 25 men many were persuaded to leave the showhouse through the rear door, but only after a hard struggle.
"I believe that if these people had persisted in their futile attempts to reach Pike street that the death list would have reached 100."