Editing World's Columbian Exposition (section)

== "Greatest Refrigerator on Earth" fire tragedy ==
A large Romanesque structure called "Greatest Refrigerator on Earth" stored thousands of pounds of the Exposition's food and held an ice-skating rink for patrons.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Cold Storage Building |url=https://chicagology.com/columbiaexpo/fair058/ |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=chicagology |language=en-US |quote=It was known as the “Greatest Refrigerator on Earth,” and was estimated to be 130 by 255 feet. The lower level provided cold storage for the thousands of pounds of food served every day at the fair; while the upper story featured an ice skating rink for fair patrons.}}</ref> The large structure demonstrated artificial freezing, a recent development, and was planned by architect [[Franklin Pierce Burnham|Franklin P. Burnham]]. The structure's floor space was 130 by 255 feet and its height reached almost 200 feet. On the evening of July 10, 1893, the "Greatest Refrigerator on Earth" caught fire. Two firemen entered, one sliding down a rope and another on a line of hose, and both were trapped in the burning refrigerator. A total of fifteen people died, twelve firefighters and three civilians, in front of a crowd of more than a thousand fairgoers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Connolly |first=Colleen |title=Tragedy at the 1893 World's Fair: Fire killed 16 while crowds watched |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-flashback-worlds-fair-1893-fire-columbian-exposition-0729-20180718-story.html |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=chicagotribune.com |date=July 28, 2018 |quote=“In a funeral pyre … imprisoned by flames,” read the headline of a front-page story of the Chicago Daily Tribune on July 11, 1893. A day earlier, 16 people, including 12 firefighters, had died in a blaze at one of the buildings in Jackson Park during the World’s Columbian Exposition. It was the fair’s first tragedy, and it was witnessed by thousands of fairgoers.}}</ref> The only artifact that survived the fire was a twelve-foot copper statue of Christopher Columbus, which was kept as a monument to the men who lost their lives and is kept by the [[fire museum]] of Chicago.<ref name=":2" />