1914 Holy Cross football team
The 1914 Holy Cross football team was an American football team that represented the College of the Holy Cross in the 1914 college football season.


1914 Holy Cross football team
In its first year under head coach Luke J. Kelly, the team compiled a 2–5–1 record. Walter Mullen was the team captain.


1914 Holy Cross football team
Holy Cross played its home games at Fitton Field on the college campus in Worcester, Massachusetts.


1914 Hong Kong sanitary board election
The 1914 Sanitary Board By-Election was held on 1 May 1914 for the one of the two unofficial seats in the Sanitary Board of Hong Kong. It was a by-election caused by the absence of F. B. L. Bowley from Hong Kong on holiday.


1914 Hong Kong sanitary board election, Overview
There were two candidates, P. W. Goldring, senior member of the Goldring and Russ solicitors firm and W. L. Carter, manager of the China and Japan Telephone and Electric Co., Ltd.. Goldring was proposed by E. J. Grist and seconded by Playfair while Carter was proposed by E. A. Hewett and seconded by H. E. Pollock.


1914 Hong Kong sanitary board election, Overview
The polling took place at the City Hall from 4 to 6 p.m. on 1 May 1914, presided by H. A. Nisbet, Registrar of the Supreme Court. With the inclement weather, only 175 persons of the around 1,200 voters showed up. Goldring was elected with the majority of 109 votes.


1914 Ice Hockey European Championship
The 1914 Ice Hockey European Championship was the fifth edition of the ice hockey tournament for European countries associated to the International Ice Hockey Federation .


1914 Ice Hockey European Championship
The tournament was played between February 25, and February 27, 1914, in Berlin, Germany, and it was won by Bohemia.


1914 Idaho football team
The 1914 Idaho football team represented the University of Idaho in the 1914 college football season. Idaho was led by tenth-year head coach John "Pink" Griffith and played as an independent; they joined the Pacific Coast Conference eight years later in 1922. The first three games were at home in Moscow, with the opener at the fairgrounds, and two on campus at the new MacLean Field.


1914 Idaho football team
In the season opener, Idaho defeated Gonzaga 5−3, then played a scoreless tie with Montana in the mud in the MacLean Field debut.


1914 Idaho football team
After two consecutive wins in the series, Idaho lost to Washington State in the Battle of the Palouse, falling 0–3 at Rogers Field in Pullman. The weather was ideal but the only score was a drop-kick field goal in the second quarter. Nine years later, the Vandals won the first of three consecutive, their only three-peat in the rivalry series.


1914 Idaho football team
Idaho tallied a mere twelve points in its six games. In the opener, they scored on a field goal and a safety on a punt return, then went scoreless in the next four games. The sole Idaho touchdown came in the final game on a forward pass for the game's only score.


1914 Idaho football team
It was Griffith's final year as head coach; he left for Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) in Stillwater.


1914 Idaho gubernatorial election
The 1914 Idaho gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1914. Democratic nominee Moses Alexander defeated incumbent Republican John M. Haines with 44.13% of the vote.


1914 Illinois Fighting Illini football team
The 1914 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois in the 1914 college football season. The Fighting Illini compiled a 7–0 record (6–0 against Western Conference opponents), claim a national championship, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 224 to 22. The team was retroactively selected as the national champion for 1914 by the Billingsley Report and as a co-national champion with Army by Parke H. Davis.


1914 Illinois Fighting Illini football team
End Perry Graves and guard Ralph Chapman were consensus All-Americans. Chapman was the team captain.


1914 Indiana Hoosiers football team
The 1914 Indiana Hoosiers football team was an American football team that represented Indiana University Bloomington during the 1914 college football season. In their first season under head coach Clarence Childs, the Hoosiers compiled a 3–4 record, finished in eighth place in the Western Conference, and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 130 to 104.


1914 Indianapolis 500
The 4th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 30, 1914.


1914 Indianapolis 500
René Thomas was the race winner, accompanied by riding mechanic Robert Laly.


1914 Indianapolis 500, Background, Race history
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened in 1909, and the first motorsport event at the track, a series of motorcycle races, was held in August of that year. A series of automobile races were held in 1909, but concerns were raised about the condition of the course after numerous accidents, including a fatality. The track was re-paved at a high-cost to Carl G. Fisher and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation, and further series of races took place in 1910.


1914 Indianapolis 500, Background, Race history
Fisher was worried about the dwindling attendances at these races, and decided to establish a 500-mile race; double the furthest distance of any previous race at the track. He went on to announce that the track would host no other races during the year, and that the prize for first place would be $25,000: more than 10 times higher than any other race. The total prize-fund was $85,000. Fisher's plans paid off, and at the 1911 Indianapolis 500, the inaugural event, newspapers reported that in excess of 80,000 people attended the race. Each of the first two races were won by Americans; Ray Harroun in 1911 and Joe Dawson in 1912. In 1913, the large prize-fund attracted European teams and racers, and the race was won by Jules Goux in a Peugeot.


1914 Indianapolis 500, Background, Rule changes
During the 1913 race, Goux had drunk champagne during each of his pit stops, and for 1914, the consumption of alcohol during the race was banned. Riding mechanics were mandatory for the 1914 race. The maximum engine size remained unchanged at 450 cubic inches (7,400 cc) of engine displacement.


1914 Indianapolis 500, Report, Elimination trials
There were 45 entrants for the race, but only the quickest 30 drivers during the elimination trials would qualify for the race. The first day of trials was completed on the Monday before the race, 25 May. Caleb Bragg set the fastest official time on the first day, recording 1:36.8, though it was reckoned that Howdy Wilcox went quicker, but his time was not officially recorded.


1914 Indianapolis 500, Report, Elimination trials
Ralph DePalma, a crowd favourite, struggled in his Mercedes and could only manage a quickest time of 1:47.4, slower than the 1:45 that it was predicted drivers would have to beat in order to qualify. Only fifteen of the drivers ran on the first day, and they continued with two sessions on the Tuesday. On the second day, three drivers set record times around the Speedway: first the 1912 winner, Joe Dawson, set an unofficial lap time of 1:34.8.


1914 Indianapolis 500, Report, Elimination trials
Later in the day Teddy Tetzlaff completed a lap in 1:33.4, while Jules Goux finished the day as the fastest driver, with a time of 1:31.7. Tetzlaff's lap was completed in a Maxwell which was fuelled with a 50:50 mix of gasoline and kerosene; the other Maxwell, driven by Billy Carlson, set a time of 1:36.6 fuelled by a combination of kerosene and lucubrating oil, with no gasoline. Ray Harroun, who had won the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911, designed the Maxwell car, and was given $10,000 (equivalent to $255,000 in 2019) by the company's president as a reward for the cars qualifying with sub-1:37 times.


1914 Indianapolis 500, Report, Elimination trials
By the end of the second day, 21 drivers had completed speed trials, and all but DePalma and Eddie Pullen had times below 1:45. Hughie Hughes's car suffered a broken crank case, preventing him from being able to set a qualifying time. On the final day of the trials, DePalma managed to make significant improvements in his Mercedes, and qualified with the twentieth fastest time overall, in 1:42.12. Georges Boillot set the overall fastest time, edging out his teammate Goux by completing a lap in 1:30.13, exceeding 125 miles per hour (201 km/h) along the straights. The slowest of the thirty qualifiers was Harry Grant in a Sunbeam, with a lap time of 1:44.09.


1914 Indianapolis 500, Report, Build up
After the rigours of the elimination trials, DePalma withdrew from the race, claiming that his car had been vibrating so heavily that his engine would not survive the race. His place was taken by Ray Gilhooley in the Italian-built Isotta car. Gilhooley was known as a fearless, and sometimes erratic, driver who was feared by his peers, as they considered him unpredictable. DePalma claimed that he had twice seen Gilhooley "tear through a wooden fence at full tilt" on occasions when Gilhooley risked overtakes on dangerous corners.


1914 Indianapolis 500, Report, Build up
The bookmakers made the 1913 race winner, Goux, the favourite, followed by his Peugeot teammate Boillot. Although the Frenchmen were accepted to be driving the quickest cars, there was some belief in the American press that their English tires might not be as durable as American tires, which could improve the chances of the American drivers.


1914 Indianapolis Hoosiers season
The 1914 Indianapolis Hoosiers season was a season in American baseball. The Hoosiers won the inaugural Federal League championship, finishing 88–65, 1½ games ahead of the Chicago Federals.


1914 Indianapolis Hoosiers season, Regular season
The offensive star of the team was outfielder Benny Kauff, who led the league in batting average (.370), runs scored (120), and stolen bases (75). Future Hall of Famers Edd Roush and Bill McKechnie also saw significant playing time, and Indianapolis scored a league-high 762 runs. Their rotation ace, Cy Falkenberg, went 25–16 with a 2.22 earned run average; he topped the circuit with 236 strikeouts.


1914 Indianapolis Hoosiers season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1914 Indianapolis Hoosiers season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1914 Indianapolis Hoosiers season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1914 Indianapolis Hoosiers season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1914 Indianapolis Hoosiers season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1914 International Cross Country Championships
The 1914 International Cross Country Championships was held in Amersham, England, at the Chesham Park on 28 March 1914. A report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald.


1914 International Cross Country Championships
Complete results, medallists,  and the results of British athletes were published.


1914 International Cross Country Championships, Participation
An unofficial count yields the participation of 45 athletes from 5 countries.


1914 International Lawn Tennis Challenge
The 1914 International Lawn Tennis Challenge was the 13th edition of what is now known as the Davis Cup. The bulk of the competition returned to the United States for the first time since 1903. The United States fell to Australasia in the final, which was played at the West Side Tennis Club in New York on 13–15 August.


1914 Invercargill mayoral election
The 1914 Invercargill mayoral election was held on 29 April 1914 as part of that years local elections. This was the final election for an annual term; beginning in 1915 terms would be biennial.


1914 Invercargill mayoral election
Incumbent mayor Duncan McFarlane was re-elected with an increased majority against former mayor William Ott.


1914 Iowa Hawkeyes football team
The 1914 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1914 college football season.


1914 Iowa Senate election
The 1914 Iowa State Senate elections took place as part of the biennial 1914 United States elections. Iowa voters elected state senators in 22 of the state senate's 50 districts. State senators serve four-year terms in the Iowa State Senate.


1914 Iowa Senate election
A statewide map of the 50 state Senate districts in the 1914 elections is provided by the Iowa General Assembly


1914 Iowa Senate election
The primary election on June 1, 1914, determined which candidates appeared on the November 3, 1914 general election ballot.


1914 Iowa Senate election
Following the previous election, Republicans had control of the Iowa Senate with 32 seats to Democrats' 18 seats.


1914 Iowa Senate election
To claim control of the chamber from Republicans, the Democrats needed to net 8 Senate seats.


1914 Iowa Senate election
Republicans maintained control of the Iowa State Senate following the 1914 general election with the balance of power shifting to Republicans holding 35 seats and Democrats having 15 seats (a net gain of 3 seats for Republicans).


1914 Iowa State Cyclones football team
The 1914 Iowa State Cyclones football team represented Iowa State College of Agricultural and Mechanic Arts (later renamed Iowa State University) in the Missouri Valley Conference during the 1914 college football season. In their second and final season under head coach Homer C. Hubbard, the Cyclones compiled a 4–3 record (2–1 against conference opponents), finished in third place in the conference, and outscored opponents by a combined total of 167 to 78. Lew Reeve was the team captain.


1914 Iowa gubernatorial election
The 1914 Iowa gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1914. Incumbent Republican George W. Clarke defeated Democratic nominee John Taylor Hamilton with 49.31% of the vote.


1914 Ipswich by-election
The Ipswich by-election was a Parliamentary by-election. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP)  to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.


1914 Ipswich by-election, Vacancy
Silvester Horne had been one of the Liberal MPs for the dual member seat of Ipswich since the January 1910 elections. In 1914, returning from New York, he was taken ill suddenly and died.


1914 Ipswich by-election, Previous result
In terms of a purely party vote, the votes cast for the party ticket were as follows;


1914 Ipswich by-election, Candidates
Masterman had personal misgiving about contesting Ipswich; "It was an area of small employers, hostile to Insurance. It was a very Protestant area, reluctant about Home Rule. The local Liberals were enthusiastic and pressed hard for him to come, and Mr. Illingworth (Liberal Chief Whip) did not see how to refuse them."


1914 Ipswich by-election, Campaign
The campaign was dominated by the National Insurance Act introduced by Masterman in 1911. Both the Unionist and Socialist candidates attacked the Act. On 22 May 1914 David Lloyd George a close ally of Masterman, visited the constituency to speak for the Liberal campaign. He attacked the Unionists for their behaviour over Ulster which he considered a threat to constitutional government. Unionists had given support to a possible call to arms to resist the introduction of the Liberals Irish Home Rule Bill. He also emphasised the benefits of National Insurance and Old Age Pensions.


1914 Ipswich by-election, Result
This was the last contested by-election to take place before the outbreak of the Great War, after which the main political parties agreed an electoral truce.


1914 Ipswich by-election, Result
Scurr threatened that he would continue to harass Masterman by standing against him wherever he was a candidate. He never stood against Masterman again.


1914 Ipswich by-election, Aftermath
Masterman's defeat forced him to resign from the Government. At the 1918 elections  he unsuccessfully fought West Ham Stratford. A general election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the autumn of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election. Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place.


1914 Ipswich by-election, Aftermath
At the 1918 general election, Scurr unsuccessfully contested the Conservative Party safe seat of Buckingham. The Ipswich constituency had its representation cut from two to one member.


1914 Isle of Man TT
The 1914 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the last held before the outbreak of the First World War.


1914 Isle of Man TT
Bad weather overshadowed the Junior race on Tuesday, 19 May, but Eric and Cyril Williams gained first and second place for AJS having passed Irish newcomer Frank Walker who had been leading on the second lap but for an unfortunate accident.


1914 Isle of Man TT
Walker remounted his Royal Enfield, chased after the two men with determination but was parted from his machine twice more and still managed to flash over the finish line into third place while the two William's were still congratulating each other, but he failed to turn onto Bray Hill for the machine examination, crashed again on a barrier and succumbed to his injuries four days later.


1914 Isle of Man TT
Thursday, 21 May, was the Senior race day and after more than four hours only 6 m. 24 secs, separated the first three riders and there was the first dead heat in the history of the TT for 2nd place between Howard R Davies and Oliver Godfrey, the winner of the 1911 TT again riding an Indian.


1914 Italian Athletics Championships
The 1914 Italian Athletics Championships  were held in Milan. it was the 9th edition of the Italian Athletics Championships.


1914 Jubilee Exhibition
The 1914 Jubilee Exhibition took place in Kristiania, Norway, from May 5 to October 11, 1914. It marked the centennial anniversary of the 1814 constitution and focused on industry and agriculture. The main location was the grounds of Frogner Manor (the site of the current Frogner Park), in addition to a subsection on shipping at Skarpsno at Frognerkilen. The exhibition opened on 15 May, and was closed on 11 October 1914. The total number of visitors was more than 1.5 million. On 11 October, the final day, more than 100,000 visitors visited the exhibition.


1914 Jubilee Exhibition, Planning
The idea for the exhibition is credited to architect Torolf Prytz, in a proposal to the board of Kristiania haandverks- og industriforening in 1907. Prytz became chairman of the planning committee, and later also chairman of the exhibition. Various location alternatives were discussed, including Hovedøya, but it was finally decided on Frogner. In August 1911 the Kristiania city council granted a funding of 300,000 kr to the exhibition, in addition to extra funding for street modifications.


1914 Jubilee Exhibition, Exhibition pavilions
The park area was designed by architect Josef Nickelsen, and leading architects were Henrik Bull, August Nielsen, Rudolf Emanuel Jacobsen and Adolf Jensen. The exhibition showcased developments in Norway over the last 100 years. Among the pavilions were the Industry Hall, the Machinery Hall, restaurants, and more than hundred other buildings. Two locomotives were on display, one constructed at Hamar Jernstøperi og Mekaniske Verksted, the other at Thunes Mekaniske Verksted. Kværner Bruk won a gold medal for their contributions, which included construction elements of the Machinery hall.


1914 Jubilee Exhibition, Exhibition pavilions
Lilleborg's soap bubble fountain, which was placed in the Industry Hall, attracted some attention. A department of agriculture included a farm with barn and living house, in addition to separate exhibition buildings for forestry and agriculture. Among the exhibitions was a village with 80 inhabitants brought in from Kongo; it was called the Congo Village.


1914 Jubilee Exhibition, Exhibition pavilions
Other amusements were a 700 meter long roller coaster, the Tanagra theatre, and Lilleputbanen. Another display was Hjalmar Welhaven's large collection of skis. A maritime department was located in Frognerkilen, at Skarpsno.


1914 Jubilee Exhibition, Exhibition pavilions
Most of the pavilions were demolished after the exhibition, with a few exceptions.


1914 Jubilee Exhibition, Events
The exhibition opened on 5 May 1914, and was met with great interest from the public. Among the performances in "Sangerhallen" was Edvard Grieg's Kongekvadet, and a new cantata written by Nils Collett Vogt with music by Christian Sinding. Actor Johan Fahlstrøm recited the national hymn "Ja, vi elsker dette landet". The exhibition was declared open by King Haakon. In the evening a dinner was given for 1,400 invited guests, which included 300 mayors from various municipalities.


1914 Jubilee Exhibition, Events
Several large gatherings took place during the exhibition period. At one assembly the restaurant served dinner for 4,000 guests. On 4 July a dinner was served for 2,600 guests. In July the exhibition faced some unexpected problems. A tram strike reduced the accessibility drastically. At the outbreak of World War I the Tyrolean orchestra and a German brass band had to leave, heading for the front. On 8 August the number of visitors was below 2,000 for the first time, but from then on the daily number of visitors increased again. On 4 October there were 30,000 visitors. On the closing day, Sunday, 11 October, there were more than 100,000 visitors, and a fireworks ceremony ended the exhibition. During the whole period, the exhibition had total of about 1.5 million visits.


1914 Jubilee Exhibition, The Congo Village-exhibition
The Kongo village was regarded as popular and exotic; "the public appeared as they were mesmerized. All day they could stand and stare at the activities of the around 80 aborigins"; spectators "let themselves mesmerize by the fantastic African village", according to Sverre Bjørstad Graff. (At the time there probably were not any Africans who lived in Oslo, but at traveling fairs (tivoli) Africans were occasionally encountered.)


1914 Jubilee Exhibition, The Congo Village-exhibition
The exhibition also led to a heated newspaper debate. During the planning stage of the exhibition, a Dagbladet article said that it would be preferable with a large open-air theatre in the entertainment area rather than a "gang of filthy, begging rascals from the fever swamps of Zulu".


1914 Jubilee Exhibition, The Congo Village-exhibition
Benno Singer was the man behind this exhibition, and he "clearly knew what was required to catch the public's attention", according to Graff.


1914 Jubilee Exhibition, The Congo Village-exhibition
Reactions to the Congo Village include the 2014 "construction of a copy of the Congo Village that stood in Frogner Park in 1914", according to Dagbladet. The constructors of the 2014 "village", will be artists Mohammed Ali Fadlabi and Lars Cuzner.


1914 Kansas City Packers season
The 1914 Kansas City Packers season was a season in American baseball. The Packers finished in 6th place in the Federal League, 20 games behind the Indianapolis Hoosiers.


1914 Kansas City Packers season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1914 Kansas City Packers season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1914 Kansas City Packers season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1914 Kansas City Packers season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1914 Kansas City Packers season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1914 Kansas Jayhawks football team
The 1914 Kansas Jayhawks football team represented the University of Kansas in the Missouri Valley Conference during the 1914 college football season. In their first and only season under head coach H. M. Wheaton, the Jayhawks compiled a 5–2–1 record (2–2 against conference opponents), finished in fourth place in the conference, and outscored opponents by a combined total of 158 to 84. The Jayhawks played their home games at McCook Field in Lawrence, Kansas. John Detwiler was the team captain.


1914 Kansas State Aggies football team
The 1914 Kansas State Aggies football team represented Kansas State Agricultural College in the 1914 college football season.


1914 Kansas gubernatorial election
The 1914 Kansas gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1914. Republican nominee Arthur Capper defeated Democratic incumbent George H. Hodges with 39.67% of the vote.


1914 Kendall Orange and Black football team
The 1914 Kendall Orange and Black football team represented Henry Kendall College (later renamed the University of Tulsa) during the 1914 college football season. Local businessmen urged Sam P. McBirney, who had coached the team in 1908, to take over as the football coach. Prior to 1913, the bulk of its games had been played against high school teams. From 1914 to 1916, McBirney built the Kendall football team into one of the best in the country. The 1914 team finished with a record of 6–2, outscored opponents 261 to 48, defeated Northwestern Oklahoma State (33–0), East Central (12–0), Pittsburg Normal (63–0), and Oklahoma Methodist (39–9), and played respectably against both Oklahoma A&M (a 13–6 loss) and Oklahoma (a 26–7 loss).


1914 Kentucky Derby
The 1914 Kentucky Derby was the 40th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 9, 1914. Horses Ivan Gardner, Brickley, Belloc, and Constant scratched before the race. Betting favorite Old Rosebud led the entire race, winning by eight lengths. The winning time of 2.03.40 set a new Derby record. Churchill Downs president Matt Winn channeled Old Rosebud's record setting run, which smashed the previous year's record set by longshot Donerail, into considerable publicity for the Derby.


1914 Kentucky Wildcats football team
The 1914 Kentucky Wildcats football team represented the Kentucky Wildcats of the University of Kentucky during the 1914 college football season.


1914 Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship
The 1914 Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship was the 25th staging of the Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Kilkenny County Board.


1914 Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship
On 28 March 1914, Johnstown won the championship after a 3-01 to 0-00 defeat of Erin's Own in the final. This was their first championship title.


1914 Kingstown Urban District Council election
Elections to the Kingstown Urban District Council took place on Thursday 15 January 1914 as part of that year's Irish local elections. The election resulted in a shock defeat for the Unionists, who prior to the election had majority control of the council.


1914 Kingstown Urban District Council election
Kingstown was composed of four multi-member wards, with councillors being elected through Plurality-at-large voting.


1914 LIHG Championship
The 1914 LIHG Championship was the third and last edition of the LIHG Championships. It was held from January 20–22, 1914, in Chamonix, France. Great Britain won the championship, Germany finished second, and France finished third.


1914 LIHG Championship
The tournament was also known as the 1914 Coupe de Chamonix.


1914 LSU Tigers football team
The 1914 LSU Tigers football team represented the LSU Tigers of Louisiana State University during the 1914 college football season.


1914 Lafayette football team
The 1914 Lafayette football team was an American football team that represented Lafayette College as an independent during the 1914 college football season. In its first season under head coach Wilmer G. Crowell, the team compiled an 5–3–2 record. Joseph Diamond was the team captain. The team played its home games at March Field in Easton, Pennsylvania.


1914 Lehigh Brown and White football team
The 1914 Lehigh Brown and White football team was an American football team that represented Lehigh University as an independent during the 1914 college football season. In its third season under head coach Tom Keady, the team compiled an 8–1 record and outscored opponents by a total of 167 to 60. The team played its home games at Taylor Stadium in South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.


1914 Leith Burghs by-election
The Leith Burghs by-election was a Parliamentary by-election. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP)  to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.


1914 Leith Burghs by-election, Vacancy
Munro Ferguson had been the Liberal MP for Leith Burghs since 1886 when he succeeded William Gladstone. In February 1914, he was appointed to the post of Governor-General of Australia and thus resigned his seat.


1914 Leith Burghs by-election, Electoral history
The result of the previous election is worth noting because it was a three-way contest;


1914 Leith Burghs by-election, Campaign
Labour's intervention was expected to hurt the Liberals, but there was evidence that they might still win a three-way contest; Although Labour had not stood here last time, a Labour candidate had contested the January 1910 general election, finishing third and polling 18.9%.


1914 Leith Burghs by-election, Campaign
Although Bell was a moderate in Labour Party terms, his campaign was run by extreme Socialists. Bell explained his position by stating he was a Socialist and he was selected by the working class bodies of Leith. The Seamans Union Leader Havelock Wilson visited the constituency to speak in support of the Liberal candidate and was involved in an exchange with the Socialist Emmanuel Shinwell who sought court action for alleged slander with £1,000 for damages.


1914 Leith Burghs by-election, Aftermath
A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the summer of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election. Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place.


1914 Leith Burghs by-election, Aftermath
The Leith Burghs seat was abolished and mainly replaced for the 1918 elections by Leith. Smith did not contest the 1918 elections but was elected MP for Orkney & Shetland in 1921. Bell became Labour's prospective candidate for the new seat of Leith but was replaced at the eleventh hour.


1914 Les Avants Ice Hockey Tournament
The 1914 Les Avants Tournament was an international ice hockey tournament held in Les Avants, Switzerland from January 16-18, 1914. Five teams participated in the tournament, which was won by Prince's Ice Hockey Club of Great Britain.


1914 Liechtenstein general election
General elections were held in Liechtenstein in September and October 1914.


1914 Liechtenstein general election, Electors
Electors were selected through elections that were held between 9 and 14 September. Each municipality had two electors for every 100 inhabitants.


1914 Liechtenstein general election, Results
The election of Oberland's Landtag members and substitutes was held on 30 September in Vaduz. Of Oberland's 140 electors, 137 were present. Oberland elected seven Landtag members and five substitutes.


1914 Liechtenstein general election, Results
The election of Unterland's Landtag members and substitutes was held on 2 October in Mauren. Of Unterland's 76 electors, 75 were present. Unterland elected five Landtag members and two substitute.


1914 Liga Peruana de Football
The 1914 Primera División was the third season of top-flight Peruvian football. A total of 8 teams competed in the league, The champion was Lima Cricket.


1914 Limerick Senior Hurling Championship
The 1914 Limerick Senior Hurling Championship was the 22nd staging of the Limerick Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Limerick County Board in 1887.


1914 Limerick Senior Hurling Championship
Claughaun won the championship after a 6-00 to 0-00 defeat of Castleconnell in the final. It was their first ever championship title.


1914 Liverpool City Council election
Elections to Liverpool City Council were due to be held on 2 November 1914.


1914 Liverpool City Council election
Due to the First World War none of the seats were contested.


1914 Liverpool City Council election
Annual local elections were suspended from 1915 to 1919. Under the Elections and Registration Act, 1915 the term of office of all members of the Council was extended by one year and casual vacancies among the members of the Council were filled by the choice of the Council, rather than by election. Subsequently, the Parliament and Local Elections Acts of 1916, 1917 and 1918 each further extended the term of office of all members of the Council by a year.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Ward results
Comparisons are made with the 1908 election results, as the retiring councillors were elected in that year.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Aldermanic Elections, Aldermanic Election 9 November 1914
The resignation of Alderman Sir Thomas Bland Royden Bart. (Conservative, elected as an alderman by the Council on 9 November 1913) was reported to the Council on 28 October 1914.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Aldermanic Elections, Aldermanic Election 9 November 1914
In his place, Councillor James Willcox Alsop (Conservative, Castle Street, elected 1 November 1912) was elected by the Council as an alderman on 9 November 1914


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Aldermanic Elections, Aldermanic Elections 3 February 1915
Caused by the death of Alderman Edmond Brownbill (Liberal), elected by the Council as an alderman on 9 November 1910) on 12 December 1914


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Aldermanic Elections, Aldermanic Elections 3 February 1915
In his place, Councillor John Lamport Eills (Liberal, Great George, elected 2 November 1914) was elected by the Council as an alderman on 3 February 1915.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Aldermanic Elections, Aldermanic Elections 3 February 1915
Caused by the death of Alderman William Radcliffe JP (Conservative), elected by the Council as an alderman on 9 November 1913) on 15 December 1914


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Aldermanic Elections, Aldermanic Elections 3 February 1915
In his place, Councillor William James Burgess (Conservative, Aigburth, elected 18 March 1913) was elected as an alderman by the Council on 3 February 1915.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Aldermanic Appointments, Aldermanic Appointments 9 November 1916
Caused by the death of Alderman Sir William Benjamin Bowring, Baronet (Liberal, elected by the Council as an alderman on 9 November 1910)on 20 October 1916, which was reported to the Council on 25 October 1916


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Aldermanic Appointments, Aldermanic Appointments 9 November 1916
In his place Councillor William Evans JP (Liberal, Anfield, elected 1 November 1911) was appointed by the Council as an alderman on 9 November 1916


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Aldermanic Appointments, Aldermanic Appointments 9 November 1916
Following the resignation of Alderman Robert Edward Walkington Stephenson (Conservative, elected by the Council as an alderman on 9 November 1913) which was reported to the Council on 9 November 1916, Councillor Robert Stephen Porter (Conservative, Wavertree, elected 1 November 1913)was appointed by the Council as an alderman on 3 January 1917 in his place


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Aldermanic Appointments, Aldermanic Appointment 6 June 1917
Caused by the resignation of Alderman Frank John Leslie(Conservative, elected by the Council as an alderman on 8 January 1913) was reported to the Council on 2 May 1917. In his place Councillor Samuel Mason Hutchinson JP (Conservative, Kensington, elected by the Council as an alderman on 1 November 1913)was appointed as an alderman by the Council on 6 June 1917


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Aldermanic Appointments, Aldermanic Appointment, 5 September 1917
The death, on 6 June 1917, of Alderman William Bartlett (Conservative, elected as an Alderman by the Council on 9 November 1910).


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Aldermanic Appointments, Aldermanic Appointment, 5 September 1917
In his place Councillor Edward Russell-Taylor (Conservative, Anfield, elected 1 November 1913) was appointed by the Council as an alderman on 5 September 1917.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Aldermanic Appointments, Aldermanic Appointments 9 November 1917
The Resignation of Alderman Charles Herbert Giles (Conservative, elected as an alderman by the Council on 9 November 1910) was reported to the Council on 31 October 1916. In his place Councillor William Boote (Conservative, Low Hill, elected 1 November 1913) was appointed by the Council as an alderman on 9 November 1917.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Aldermanic Appointments, Aldermanic Appointments 9 November 1917
The Resignation of Alderman Richard Kelly (Conservative, elected as an alderman by the Council on 9 November 1913) was reported to the Council on 31 October 1916.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Aldermanic Appointments, Aldermanic Appointments 9 November 1917
In his place Councillor George Brodrick Smith-Brodrick (Conservative, Fazakerley, elected 19 March 1913) was appointed by the Council as an alderman on 9 November 1917.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, By-Elections, No. 6 St. Domingo, 4 November 1914
Caused by the death of Councillor Dr. Charles Alexander Hill (Conservative, St. Domingo, elected 1 November 1913) on 24 August 1914.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, By-Elections, No. 15 Castle Street, November? 1914
Caused by the election as an alderman by the Council of Councillor James Willcox Alsop (Conservative, Castle Street, elected 1 November 1912) on 9 November 1914, following the resignation of Alderman Sir Thomas Bland Royden Bart. (Conservative, elected as an alderman by the Council on 9 November 1913) which was reported to the Council on 28 October 1914


1914 Liverpool City Council election, By-Elections, No. 17 Great George, 25 February 1915
Caused by the election by the Council of Councillor John Lamport Eills (Liberal, Great George, elected 2 November 1914) as an alderman on 3 February 1915, following the death of Alderman Edmond Brownbill (Liberal, elected by the Council as an alderman on 9 November 1910) on 12 December 1914.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, By-Elections, No. 36 Aigburth, 2 March 1915
Caused by Councillor William James Burgess (Conservative, Aigburth, elected 18 March 1913) being elected as an alderman by the Council on 3 February 1915, following the death of Alderman William Radcliffe JP (Conservative), elected by the Council as an alderman on 9 November 1913) on 15 December 1914


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 18 Abercromby, 9 November 1915
Following the resignation of Councillor Edward Lawrence (Conservative, Abercromby, elected 1 November 1912), which was reported to the Council on 27 October 1915, his position was filled by Edwin Thompson, Manufacturing Chemist of 25 Sefton Drive, Liverpool, was appointed by the Council on 9 November 1915.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 37 Garston, 9 November 1915
Following the resignation of Councillor Joshua Burrow (Conservative, Garston, elected 1 November 1912), which was reported to the Council on 27 October 1915, Thomas Tushingham, Licensed Victualler of 31 Window Lane, Garston was appointed by the Council in his place on 8 November 1915.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 20 Dingle, 3 February 1916
Following the resignation of Councillor Thomas Charles Huxley (Conservative, Dingle, elected 1 November 1912), William Wallace Kelly, Theatre Proprietor of 3 Holly Bank Road,Birkenhead, was appointed in his place by the Council on 3 February 1915.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 18 Abercromby, 5 April 1916
Following the resignation of Councillor Charles Henry Hayhurst(Conservative, Abercromby, elected 1 November 1911), which was reported to the Council on 1 March 1916, Colonel Robert Montgomery, Corn Broker of 8 Brunswick Street, Liverpool, was appointed in his place by the Council on 5 April 1916.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 20 Dingle, 5 April 1916
Following the resignation of Councillor Alfred James Branwood(Conservative, Dingle, elected 1 November 1913), Joseph Dalton Wood, Coal Contractor of 8 Drury Buildings, 21 Water Street, Liverpool, was appointed in his place by the Council on 5 April 1916


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 17 Great George, 4 October 1916
Following the resignation of Councillor Thomas Philip Maguire (Conservative, Great George, elected 27 November 1913), his place was taken by Thomas Owen Ruddin JP of Stapely House, Grassendale Park North, Aigburth.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 34 Allerton, Childwall and Little Woolton, 4 October 1916
Following the resignation of Councillor Henry Glover(Conservative, Allerton, Childwall and Little Woolton, elected 1 November 1913)which was reported to the Council on 6 September 1916, Herbert Plant Harrison was appointed by the Council in his place on 4 October 1916.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 29 Wavertree West
Caused by the death of Councillor Alfred Parsons (Conservative, Wavertree West, elected 1 November 1912) on 11 November 1916.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 29 Wavertree West
John Glyn was appointed by the Council as a councillor, in his place, to represent the Wavertree West ward.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 26 Anfield, 6 December 1916
Caused by the appointment of Councillor William Evans JP (Liberal, Anfield, elected 1 November 1911) by the Council as an alderman on 9 November 1916 in order to fill the position vacated when Alderman Sir William Benjamin Bowring, Baronet (Liberal, elected by the Council as an alderman on 9 November 1910) died on 20 October 1916, which was reported to the Council on 25 October 1916.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 26 Anfield, 6 December 1916
Wilfred Bowring Stoddart JP of "Birkgate" Grassendale Park South, Aigburth was appointed by the Council as a Councillor to represent the Anfiels ward


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 30 Wavertree, 7 February 1917
Following the appointment by the Council of Councillor Robert Stephen Porter (Conservative, Wavertree, elected 1 November 1913) as an alderman on 3 January 1917 following the resignation of Alderman Robert Edward Walkington Stephenson (Conservative, elected by the Council as an alderman on 9 November 1913) which was reported to the Council on 9 November 1916, Alfred Henry Bramley was appointed by the Council as a Councillor for the Wavertree ward on 7 February 1917


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 12 Vauxhall, 2 May 1917
Following the death of Councillor Joseph Hughes (Irish Nationalist, Vauxhall, elected 1 November 1913) on 11 February 1917, which was reported to the Council on 7 March 1917, James O'Hare, Fancy Goods Merchant of 101 Richmond Row, Liverpool was appointed as a Councillor by the Council on 2 May 1917.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 8 South Scotland, 2 May 1917
Following the death of Councillor Francis Joseph Harford JP(Irish Nationalist, South Scotland, elected 1 November 1913) on 17 February 1917, which was reported to the Council on 7 March 1917, in his place John Morley, Cashier and Book Keeper of 74 Dunluce Street, Walton, Liverpool was appointed by the Council as a Councillor for the South Scotland ward on 2 May 2017.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 30 Wavertree, 2 May 1917
Following the death of Councillor Charles Clarke Morrison(Liberal, Wavertree, elected 1 November 1911)on 20 March 1917, which was reported to the Council on 4 April 1917. His position was taken by Robert Henry Morgan, Forwarding Agent of 3 Green Lane, Mossley Hill, who was appointed by the Council as a Councillor for the Wavertree ward on 2 May 1917.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 9 Kensington, 4 July 1917
Caused by the resignation of Alderman Frank John Leslie(Conservative, elected by the Council as an alderman on 8 January 1913) which was reported to the Council on 2 May 1917 and the subsequent election by the Council of Councillor Samuel Mason Hutchinson JP (Conservative, Kensington, elected on 1 November 1913) as an alderman by the Council on 6 June 1917.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 9 Kensington, 4 July 1917
On 4 July 1917, Joseph Ashworth, Builder and Contractor of 30 Holt Road, Liverpool was appointed by the Council as a Councillor for the Kensington ward


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 26 Anfield, 3 October 1917
Caused by Councillor Edward Russell-Taylor (Conservative, Anfield, elected 1 November 1913) being elected by the Council as an alderman on 5 September 1917 following the death, on 6 June 1917, of Alderman William Bartlett (Conservative, elected as an Alderman by the Council on 9 November 1910).


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 26 Anfield, 3 October 1917
John Greville Earle JP of 63 Upper Parliament Street, Liverpool was appointed as a Councillor for the Anfield ward on 3 October 1917.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 36 Aigburth, 9 November 1917
Caused by the death of Councillor William Parkfield Wethered (Conservative, Aigburth, elected 1 November 1913) on 17 October 1917. In whose place, Commander John Howard Temple RNVR was appointed by the Council as a Councillor for the Aigburth ward on 9 November 1917.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 11 Low Hill, 5 December 1917
Caused by Councillor William Boote (Conservative, Low Hill, elected 1 November 1913) being appointed by the Council as an alderman on 9 November 1917, following the Resignation of Alderman Charles Herbert Giles (Conservative, elected as an alderman by the Council on 9 November 1910) was reported to the Council on 31 October 1916.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 11 Low Hill, 5 December 1917
George Anthony Metcalfe, Billiard Table Manufacturer of 9 Holly Road, Fairfield, Liverpool, was appointed by the Council as a Councillor on 5 December 1917.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 11 Fazakerley, 2 January 1918
Caused by the Council appointing Councillor George Brodrick Smith-Brodrick (Conservative, Fazakerley, elected 19 March 1913) as an alderman on 9 November 1917, following the resignation of Alderman Richard Kelly (Conservative, elected as an alderman by the Council on 9 November 1913) which was reported to the Council on 31 October 1916.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 11 Fazakerley, 2 January 1918
In his place Albert Edward Jacob JP was appointed by the Council as a Councillor on 2 January 1918


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 27 Walton, 4 April 1918
Caused by the death of Councillor Richard Pritchard (Conservative, Walton, elected 1 November 1912)  on 7 December 1915.


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 27 Walton, 4 April 1918
In his place Arthur Lloyd, Builder and Contractor of 46 Mandeville Street, was appointed by the Council as a Councillor on 4 April 1918


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 28 West Derby, 4 April 1918
Caused by the death of Councillor William Henry Parkinson JP (Conservative, West Derby, elected 1 November 1912) on 12 February 1918


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 28 West Derby, 4 April 1918
In his place John Ellis, Butcher of Town Row, West Derby, was appointed by the Council as a Councillor on 4 April 1918


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 34 Allerton, Childwall and Little Woolton, 5 June 1918
Caused by the death of Councillor Herbert Plant Harrison (Conservative, Allerton, Childwall and Little Woolton, elected 4 October 1916), on 27 March 1917


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 34 Allerton, Childwall and Little Woolton, 5 June 1918
In his place Frederick Harrison, Major in the Liverpool Scottish Regiment of Eton Bank, Hornby Lane, Wavertree was appointed by the Council as a Councillor on 5 June 1918


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 15 Castle Street, 24 July 1918
Caused by the death of Councillor John Edward Rayner (Conservative, Allerton, Childwall and Little Woolton, elected 1 November 1913).


1914 Liverpool City Council election, Appointment of Councillors, No. 15 Castle Street, 24 July 1918
In his place Frederick William Frodsham JP, of Cross Mount, Aughton, Ormskirk was appointed by the Council as a Councillor on 24 July 1918


1914 Londonderry City by-election
The Londonderry City by-election was a Parliamentary by-election. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP)  to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.


1914 Londonderry City by-election
Liberal Sir James Brown Dougherty was elected unopposed. Dougherty was the last Liberal MP elected in Ireland.


1914 Londonderry City by-election, Vacancy
James Hamilton, Marquis of Hamilton had been elected as a Unionist in the 1910 general election, facing Nationalist opposition. He then succeeded to the Dukedom of Abercorn, resulting in the 1913 Londonderry City by-election, where the Roman Catholic hierarchy supported the Liberal David Hogg, a 73-year-old local shirt manufacturer and a Protestant. Hogg died in August 1914 and the by-election was called for 30 November.


1914 Londonderry City by-election, Candidates
Dougherty was a Presbyterian minister, professor of Logic and English, and civil servant.


1914 Londonderry City by-election, Aftermath
Dougherty did not stand in the 1918 United Kingdom general election, when the seat was won by Eoin MacNeill of Sinn Féin in a contested election against Unionist and Nationalist candidates.


1914 Louisiana Industrial football team
The 1914 Louisiana Industrial football team was an American football team that represented the Louisiana Industrial Institute—now known as Louisiana Tech University—as an independent during the 1914 college football season. Led by sixth-year head coach Percy S. Prince, Louisiana Industrial compiled a record of 2–4.


1914 Louisville Cardinals football team
The 1914 Louisville Cardinals football team was an American football team that represented the University of Louisville as an independent during the 1914 college football season. In their first and only season under head coach Bruce Baker, the Cardinals compiled a 1–4 record. The team played its home games at Eclipse Park in Louisville, Kentucky.


1914 Lubin vault fire
On the morning of June 13, 1914, a disastrous fire and a series of related explosions occurred in the main film vault of the Lubin Manufacturing Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Several possible causes for the blaze were cited at the time, one being "spontaneous combustion" of highly flammable nitrate film, which was the motion picture industry's standard medium for cameras throughout the silent era and for the first two decades of "talking pictures".


1914 Lubin vault fire
Millions of feet of film were consumed in the flames, including most of the master negatives and initial prints of Lubin's pre-1914 catalog, several of the company's recently completed theatrical prints ready for release and distribution, a considerable number of films produced by other studios, inventories of raw and stock footage, hundreds of reels documenting historic events that occurred between 1897 and early 1914, as well as other films related to notable political and military figures, innovations in medical science, and professional athletic contests from that period. While this tragic fire was not a decisive factor in Lubin's decline and bankruptcy by September 1916, costs associated with the disaster only added to the corporation's mounting debts, which led to the closure or sale of its remaining operations the following year.


1914 Lubin vault fire, "Lubinville" in Philadelphia
In 1902, after five years of filming assorted, rudimentary motion pictures, pioneer studio mogul Siegmund Lubin officially formed in Philadelphia the Lubin Manufacturing Company. Several buildings in the city served as the company's early downtown headquarters and production facilities, but the rapid growth of Lubin's business demanded much larger accommodations, so in 1910 he constructed a state-of-the-art studio and film-processing plant in North Philadelphia at 20th Street and Indiana Avenue. Dubbed "Lubinville" by the press, the complex of buildings was then among the most elaborate and technically advanced motion picture facilities in the world with labs capable of processing up to 1.5 million feet of film per week.


1914 Lubin vault fire, "Lubinville" in Philadelphia
The Lubin "film factory" included a 9,600-square-foot studio with a slanted glass roof and glass walls supported by light steel framing. It also had costume rooms, property rooms, areas for set construction and equipment repair, a cafeteria, spaces for every phase of film processing, a large garage for servicing the plant's fleet of trucks and Lozier touring cars, and a five-story building that housed administrative offices, shops on its top floor for the manufacture of projectors, and the plant's shipping department in its basement. Also at Lubinville was the most up-to-date vault for storing and organizing the company's growing catalog of master negatives and prints for its theatrical releases, its historical films, and all other footage under its care.


1914 Lubin vault fire, "Lubinville" in Philadelphia
In addition to generating revenue from its own motion pictures, Lubinville earned substantial income by processing and assembling theatrical print copies for other studios, which explains why some master negatives and test prints for productions made by other companies were also stored in Lubinville's film vault. Various studios sent their negatives to Lubin for printing, for the Philadelphia firm was highly regarded in the motion picture industry for the superior clarity of its footage, a reputation represented by the company's logo, the image of the Liberty Bell accompanied by the motto "Clear As A Bell". In one of its 1914 issues, the trade paper Billboard explained how Lubinville received, processed, edited to specifications, and stored films for its studio customers:


1914 Lubin vault fire, "Lubinville" in Philadelphia
Although not generally known, the product of the Reliance and most of the Eastern Mutual companies are sent to this city in its raw state (directly from the cameras) to be developed. After one copy is made by the Lubin factory it is shipped to the company owning negative, and when returned, cut to proper length, with subtitles inserted and all scenes assembled properly, as many positives as ordered are made up here and shipped back to the original producer. This is admittedly the largest and best factory in the East, and most producing companies have their films made, etc., by the Lubin force.


1914 Lubin vault fire, "Lubinville" in Philadelphia, The film vault
Lubinville's film vault was located at the "extreme southeastern corner of the plant", and for safety reasons it was positioned outside employee work areas and situated on the perimeter of the complex. The vault's lengthy front side, however, did not face empty lots; it faced North Garnet Street, a narrow residential street lined on the other side with two-story brick row houses.


1914 Lubin vault fire, "Lubinville" in Philadelphia, The film vault
Every precaution was taken to minimize the possibility of fire in and around the vault since the dangers of using and storing volatile thermoplastic film stocks were very well known in 1914 and a subject of ongoing concern in the motion picture industry. The standard film type used by studios at the time was composed of celluloid, which photographic companies manufactured by treating nitrocellulose with camphor as a plasticizer. The combination produced a flexible and effective film strip for cameras, but it was also a highly sensitive material that could be easily ignited and burned intensely.


1914 Lubin vault fire, "Lubinville" in Philadelphia, The film vault
Celluloid film, also referred to as nitrate film owing to its nitrocellulose base, only became more unstable and more hazardous as it aged. Off-gassing and heat were byproducts of the material as it continued to degrade over time, especially in storage conditions with excessive humidity and elevated temperatures. Film cans or reels containing deteriorating nitrate stock had the capability of "autoigniting" or spontaneously combusting. Once burning, the film was extremely difficult to extinguish since celluloid contains sufficient oxygen within its molecular structure to continue burning even when fully immersed in water.


1914 Lubin vault fire, "Lubinville" in Philadelphia, The film vault
With concerns regarding the instability of nitrate film and the inherent dangers of its storage, many safety features were incorporated into the design and construction of Lubinville's one-story "fireproof" vault, which according to news accounts occupied a total area of 2,000 square feet with perimeter walls of red brick 13 inches thick. The whole vault, running 100 feet in length, was divided into five adjoining but "entirely separate" compartments or units, each measuring 20 by 20 feet and separated from one another by interior walls, also brick, nine inches thick.


1914 Lubin vault fire, "Lubinville" in Philadelphia, The film vault
This chambered configuration intended to minimize losses and contain a blaze if one unit ever caught fire, reducing the likelihood of its migration to the other four. All of the units shared an eight-inch-thick reinforced concrete roof and concrete flooring, with access to each unit through individual sealed "bank-like" doors outfitted with burglar-proof locks. No lighting fixtures or devices with electrical "wiring of any sort" were installed inside the units. Daytime illumination of each interior relied solely on a pair of narrow "deadlights" or sealed skylights positioned on the structure's roof and fitted with one-inch-thick glass.


1914 Lubin vault fire, "Lubinville" in Philadelphia, The film vault
In late afternoons or on overcast days when more light was needed, assigned "runners" or any other Lubin employee who entered the vault to retrieve, return, or to organize films, that person was required to use only a special battery-powered "hand flashlight". Air exchange inside each unit relied on a passive ventilation system consisting of four "grated windows near the roof" and two vents at the base of the unit's back wall on the factory side of the vault.


1914 Lubin vault fire, "Lubinville" in Philadelphia, The film vault
To prevent the spread of fires and to protect further both the vault and employee work spaces inside the plant, a substantial firewall of brick and reinforced concrete was incorporated into the factory's perimeter wall that was set back from the vault and ran the entire length of the five units.


1914 Lubin vault fire, "Lubinville" in Philadelphia, Fire-safety standards at the plant
Unlike New York City's infamous 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, where 146 employees died in a cluttered working environment with poor safety standards, Lubinville's facilities in uptown Philadelphia were for their time models of fire prevention, evacuation procedures, and fire-suppression capability. Lubin, like every other studio or processing plant that stored large quantities of nitrate film, was perched atop a constant fire threat and, in a very real sense, a potential bomb. Minimizing risks from those hazards as much as possible was the goal of motion picture companies; nevertheless, minor and major fires occurred regularly and in many cases film stock was either cited as the source or was blamed for greatly accelerating and spreading the flames.


1914 Lubin vault fire, "Lubinville" in Philadelphia, Fire-safety standards at the plant
Prior to the fire at Lubinville, employees there were described as working "secure in the knowledge that there was no place in the plant where a fire extinguisher or fire hose was not plainly visible and functional". All exits throughout the complex were marked and kept unobstructed in accordance with not only Philadelphia fire regulations but also at the insistence of Siegmund Lubin himself. Fire drills were regularly held, and work areas were "maintained in a scrupulous state of Teutonic tidiness". Fire-safety rules were also rigorously followed and were described by employees to be "'as strict as those of a battleship'".


1914 Lubin vault fire, "Lubinville" in Philadelphia, Fire-safety standards at the plant
Despite Lubin's attention to safety procedures, fire remained an ongoing concern at the plant and throughout the film industry in the summer of 1914, a concern heightened by three very destructive fires that occurred at other companies earlier in the year. On March 19, flames swept through the plant of the Eclair Moving Picture Company in Fort Lee, New Jersey, causing $750,000 in damages. Several buildings there and films in that studio's "fireproof" vault burned.


1914 Lubin vault fire, "Lubinville" in Philadelphia, Fire-safety standards at the plant
News reports stated that the facility was "adequately equipped with hose lines", but employees were unable to battle the fire because there was no water pressure. Just nine days later, Edison's studio in New York City, in the Bronx, was very heavily damaged by fire. Then, on May 13, 1914, exactly a month before the Lubinville disaster, yet another fire destroyed a large collection of films at Universal Pictures and "gutted" much of that company's six-story Colonial Hall facility at 102 West 101st Street in Manhattan.


1914 Lubin vault fire, "Lubinville" in Philadelphia, Fire-safety standards at the plant
However, none of those earlier 1914 events was traced directly to spontaneous combustion or to some other film-related cause. At Eclair the fire originated near a production being staged inside the studio; at Edison a short circuit inside a lighting switchboard was blamed; and "defective insulation" was cited as the source of Universal's costly accident. Still, when large quantities of film stored at Edison and at the other two locations ignited, they significantly increased and intensified the blazes, adding greatly to the firefighters' tasks of extinguishing the fires and to later costs for repairing wider damage. Unfortunately for Edison, the company suffered a much worse fire at its headquarters in West Orange, New Jersey later in 1914, on December 9. The origin of that catastrophic $7,000,000 loss for Edison was indeed traced to a building where nitrate film was kept for inspection.


1914 Lubin vault fire, The June 13th fire and explosions
On Saturday morning, June 13, 1914, during an extended summer heat wave in Philadelphia, "several hundred" employees were working at Lubinville. Suddenly, "shortly after" 10:00 a.m., they heard and felt a "terrific" explosion on the far east side of the complex. An undetected fire burning in one of the film vault's five units ignited celluloid gases that had built up inside the brick-and-concrete container.


1914 Lubin vault fire, The June 13th fire and explosions
The resulting explosion had "ripped out the street side" of the structure and "shattered its roof", spreading the fire to other units, ultimately setting alight millions of feet of highly flammable film stock and detonating three more violent explosions. "Flames shooting into the air over a hundred feet" and columns of thick dark smoke dominated the northern skyline of the city as the blasts hurled hundreds of metal film reels and cans with "blazing celluloid" in all directions, many high above the plant. Seconds later, the "flying" reels, can lids, and fragments of footage began raining down, setting off more fires both on and off the Lubin property as the odors of sulfur dioxide and other toxic gases from the burning film filled the area.


1914 Lubin vault fire, The June 13th fire and explosions
With the collapse of the vault's walls from the explosions, fire spread to the plant's printing rooms and shops, and then to part of the site's highest structure, its five-story main building. Burning debris continued to fall from the sky, igniting additional small fires throughout the central compound. Several row houses on the other side of North Garnet Street were roasted by the fiery blasts, as were cars parked along the narrow street. Then other houses began to smolder and ignite. Gathering at safe distances around the film factory, groups of stunned neighbors watched the inferno.


1914 Lubin vault fire, The June 13th fire and explosions
Soon they were joined by Lubin set technicians, carpenters, film developers and assembly workers, mechanics, administrative staff, and actors, all of whom, after years of fire-drill training, had quickly evacuated their respective work areas. Some employees dared to remain behind in several plant locations in attempts either to save "costly gowns and dresses of actresses"; grab drafts of "scenarios", completed scripts, and other important paperwork; or to carry out manageable pieces of expensive film-processing and production equipment.


1914 Lubin vault fire, The June 13th fire and explosions
The center of destruction, the vault area, lay largely in heaps of charred rubble littered with twisted rebar, mangled covers and bases of film cans, and melted projection reels. The brick walls and contents of four of the vault's units were entirely destroyed; the fifth unit, though severely damaged, was left standing. That structure survived total destruction because it served as future storage space for Lubin's growing catalog of negatives and prints. The unit was therefore filled largely with empty reels and empty film cans. It is likely that small supplies of unexposed or "raw" film stock were also kept in that space, but the amounts were certainly not large enough to produce, if ignited, sufficient explosive power to blow out the unit's heavy security door and demolish all of its walls.


1914 Lubin vault fire, The June 13th fire and explosions, Some recognized "heroes" during the fire
Lubin employees, given the scope of the disaster, were thankful that favorable winds that day allowed the Philadelphia Fire Department to bring the widespread flames under control in less than an hour. City firefighters were also aided by plant personnel who were already using the site's own emergency water hoses and its ample supply of extinguishers when the municipal fire crews arrived. The New York Times in its coverage of the fiery explosions specifically recognized some of Lubin's actors and a visitor to the studio for their heroic efforts in assisting injured evacuees, saving lives, and battling the flames.


1914 Lubin vault fire, The June 13th fire and explosions, Some recognized "heroes" during the fire
"Among the moving picture actors who quickly acted heroes in real life", reported The Times, "were Charles S. Schultz, Frank Daniels, Joseph Boyle, Frank Haesler, Harry Myers, and Thomas Walsh." "Some of them", added the newspaper, "got a ladder and, climbing to the roof of the building, fought the fire with good effect."


1914 Lubin vault fire, The June 13th fire and explosions, Some recognized "heroes" during the fire
The visitor to the plant who was credited with saving Lubin employees from serious injury or possible death was a local professional boxer, Willie Houck. The featherweight title contender lived close to Lubinville, in the neighborhood of Mt. Airy in Northwest Philadelphia. Referred to as a "pugilist" and "lately a movie actor" in news coverage of the fire, Houck was reported to be "posing" in the studio for cameras when he heard the first explosion. Both The New York Times and the Chicago-based trade journal  Motography described how the young boxer then "saved several girls who were in a panic at a window and about to jump."


1914 Lubin vault fire, Suspected causes of the disaster
While the origin of the fire remained questionable and officially unverified in subsequent investigations, some authorities and reports in trade publications in 1914 immediately attributed it to spontaneous combustion. One other theory that gained greater traction in the days and weeks after the disaster blamed Philadelphia's prolonged heatwave and the intense summer sun. Although not issued as the definitive and official cause for the disaster, it was the personal opinion of Ira M. Lowry, who was Lubinville's general manager and the son-in-law of Siegmund Lubin, that concentrated sunlight started the fire. His comments circulated to various news outlets soon after the fire. The popular trade paper Variety quotes him in its June 19 article "Lubin's Big Blaze":


1914 Lubin vault fire, Suspected causes of the disaster
"Some of the films which were destroyed had never been released. Others cannot be reproduced or duplicated. Our loss on films will be at least $500,000 and on the vault about $5,000. The only explanation I can give for the explosion and fire is that the sun coming through a window [skylight] so heated one of the tin cylinders holding a film that it exploded, setting the others off."


1914 Lubin vault fire, Suspected causes of the disaster
Three weeks later in a separate interview with reporter W. Stephen Bush, which was published in the July 11 issue of The Moving Picture World, Siegmund Lubin reiterates Ira Lowry's comments about the fire's origins, although his statement, like his son-in-law's, is not delivered with any certainty or conviction. "'The fire'", Lubin states, "'will be a lesson and we will know where to store negatives the next time.'" With regard to the fire, he adds, "'I don't believe that the fire started by itself'" [spontaneous combustion]; "'Some rays, may be, got through a prism and started the film burning.'"


1914 Lubin vault fire, Suspected causes of the disaster
Several industry news sources picked up on Lowry's and Siegmund Lubin's comments and cited them jointly in articles as the most plausible explanation for the fire, if not the "official" reason for the tragic loss of so much material. In doing so, the publications advanced the "roof window" or "prism" theory that sunlight streaming through the thick glass of one of the vault unit's skylights had focused a beam on a film can or open reel in storage. Julian M. Soloman of Motion Picture News describes the theory in more detail in his article in the trade journal's June 27, 1914 issue:


1914 Lubin vault fire, Suspected causes of the disaster
The newspapers all reported the cause as spontaneous combustion, but the theory of the writer, who has installed many thousands of square feet of vaultlights similar to those used in the roof to admit daylight, is that the sun, streaming through one of the prisms of glass, produced the same effect as if a reading lens be held in the sun and the beam of light, being concentrated, set fire to some of the film. The result was a quick fire which communicated itself to other film in close proximity. All of the prints and negatives were stored in airtight cans and as celluloid is highly explosive when confined, an explosion resulted which spread the fire and wrecked the vault.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Suspected causes of the disaster
Yet, many of Lubinville's lower-level plant employees never accepted the spontaneous-combustion explanation or the "beam of light" theory since the skylights in the vault were fitted with frosted glass, which would have made the focusing of a beam and the magnification of its heat very unlikely. Instead, as recorded in Joseph P. Eckhardt's 1997 biographical work The King of the Movies: Film Pioneer Siegmund Lubin, employees held to another belief about the cause of the fire, an opinion based on their experience of daily plant operations and their personal knowledge about fellow workers at Lubinville. Eckhardt, as a follow-up, also provides in his book some insight as to why that belief was not officially pursued:


1914 Lubin vault fire, Suspected causes of the disaster
"We just couldn't believe that the heat or the rays of the sun that could only come through this frosted glass...could come through and hit the film and ignite it," recalled Ida Hanneman Breuninger, a Lubin employee for eight years. "We always thought the runner who brought the film from the vaults laid a cigarette down—he was quite a smoker—and there was film around." This possibility was never investigated perhaps because the custodian of the vault was Stanley Lowry, the brother of Ira Lowry. Ironically, the City Fire Inspectors had only the day before examined the vaults and pronounced them safe and sound.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire
Whatever the cause of the fire, it inflicted a staggering loss to Siegmund Lubin personally. The motion picture mogul tried to remain the "stoical business man" publicly when discussing the destruction of so many films, but the psychological impact of such a calamity was immediately apparent to insiders in the rapidly expanding film industry, including to reporters for leading trade publications. Motography, in a news article titled "Lubin Mourns Lost Negatives" and published two weeks after the event, challenged its readers to consider that impact.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire
"Imagine, then, if you will", posed the news journal, "what must be the loss to [Siegmund Lubin] who is forced to realize that every one of his historic negatives and the first prints of his first pictures are destroyed." Thankfully for his company, at least a portion of recently processed prints survived, having been transferred from Lubinville to labs at the company's Betzwood plant 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire
Still, with the exceptions of that transfer, the existence of some Lubin prints that remained in circulation in domestic and foreign theaters, and to smaller numbers of wayward prints and stock footage stored at Lubin facilities outside of Pennsylvania, the flames of June 13 wiped out within a few minutes after the initial explosion the bulk of the company's entire cinematic history up to that day. Lost were small and large reels and film cans containing master negatives and prints estimated to number well over 2,500 individual titles. Film types ranged from Siegmund Lubin's early and very brief experimental films to longer documentary footage on an array of subjects, along with pristine copies of the company's regular theatrical releases and of pictures produced by some other studios.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire
Monetary recoveries for the motion pictures lost by Lubin were not possible in 1914, for fire insurance coverage was not generally available for "the dangerous and unpredictable nitrate film stock". The estimated commercial value of the destroyed uninsured films was reported in news sources to be between $500,000 and $1,500,000 ($12,920,000—$38,760,000 today), very hefty sums in the early 1900s. Additional costs for repairs to other areas of the plant were estimated to range between $10,000 and $50,000.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire
All of those unexpected costs and other related expenses proved to be an "unbearable financial disaster" at that time for the Lubin Company, which was borrowing substantial amounts of money to finance its plans to upgrade and lengthen theatrical releases in its production schedule and to complete current and future construction projects at Betzwood and at other studio properties. Borrowed sums were also needed to compensate for the financial drain caused by ongoing court battles on copyright and patent lawsuits filed against Lubin by Thomas A. Edison, Inc.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire
Estimated total material costs and other financial losses from fire, smoke and water damage continued to climb in the aftermath of the disaster, especially since the vast majority of the material consumed, the nitrate film, was not insurable by underwriters. The New York Times reported that overall losses could eventually be as high as $2,000,000 ($51,674,420 today), an amount that few motion picture studios in 1914 could absorb without considerable hardship.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire
In addition to the vault units' destruction and the total loss of their contents, there were varying degrees of damage across the Lubin property as well as liability expenses for neighboring properties. Private vehicles on the street had been destroyed, and, according to Motion Picture News, the fronts of 10 two-story private row houses across from the vaults burned, seven of them being "seared from cellar to roof" and three others reported as "somewhat scorched". The Moving Picture World, however, reported far more extensive collateral damage to residential properties from the explosions and fire, that 16 houses "were almost wholly destroyed and a score of others were damaged."


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Injuries and deaths
Miraculously, given that the powerful explosions and intense fire occurred mid-morning on a Saturday, with several hundred people working at Lubinville and numerous residents living close to the plant, casualties were overall very light. Only 20 employees suffered physical injuries, largely minor ones. Safety procedures and the substantial firewall between working areas inside the plant and the destroyed vault units outside were credited with saving many lives. However, one person near the Lubin property, a 10-year-old "Italian boy" named Roy Didero, was hospitalized after being severely burned.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Injuries and deaths
A reel of flaming film hurled by the blast toward a nearby row house had struck the child. Lubin actor Harry Myers, already credited in the press for fighting fires on the plant's rooftops, was further praised for aiding the boy at the scene. Variety reported that once Myers saw the child on fire, the actor ran to him, smothered the flames with his own coat, and carried the youngster "through one of the blazing houses" to safety at a nearby drug store, "where an ambulance was summoned." Myers in that action suffered burns to his hands and arms. News updates did not confirm whether young Didero died, but The New York Times and other papers repeatedly referred to him as "dying" and "not expected to recover".


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Lubin's pre-1914 catalog and the loss of films from other studios
Beyond the human toll of injuries and one probable fatality, the fire wiped out a huge collection of films that was described even in contemporary trade publications as "priceless". Those losses included nearly all of Lubin's pre-1914 catalog, approximately 100 news reels that were ready for release, along with the master negatives and test prints for the Hobart Bosworth Productions Company, the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company, and for D. W. Griffith, a director of major film projects for Mutual Film and Reliance-Majestic Studios in California.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Lubin's pre-1914 catalog and the loss of films from other studios
Other tragic losses were the master negative and original archived print for the comedy short Outwitting Dad, Oliver Hardy's first credited screen performance. That Lubin production had been initially distributed on April 21, 1914, less than two months before the disaster and over seven years before Hardy first appeared with Stan Laurel in the 1921 release The Lucky Dog.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Lubin's pre-1914 catalog and the loss of films from other studios
The master negatives of two of D. W. Griffith's major 1914 dramas were also consumed in the fire: the "six-reeler" Home, Sweet Home, which premiered in Los Angeles on May 17, 1914, and Griffith's seven-reel adaptation of Paul Armstrong's play The Escape, already in limited released less than two weeks before the fire. Griffith had sent the negatives of both films to Lubinville so the Philadelphia company could process higher-quality prints of them for the director and for wider theatrical distribution. Prints of Home, Sweet Home survive from other sources, but The Escape is classified today as lost.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Lubin's pre-1914 catalog and the loss of films from other studios
Neither a full or partial print nor even a fragment of footage is known to exist from that film, which actress Lillian Gish, a costar in The Escape, characterized it as a "daring topic" about the horrors of syphilis, a photoplay that Gish said Griffith handled with "power and taste". In June 1914, Billboard, a Cincinnati-based publication covering the music and film industries, confirmed the destruction the Griffith negatives and of other important films that were reduced to ashes in Lubinville's disaster:


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Lubin's pre-1914 catalog and the loss of films from other studios
While no definite statement would be issued from the [Lubin] offices, it is known that D. W. Griffiths  [sic] had the negatives of his two biggest features, The Escape and Home, Sweet Home, in the vaults which were destroyed today, as well as several others which have not as of yet been announced for release.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Lubin's pre-1914 catalog and the loss of films from other studios
Michael Strogoff, with Jacob Adler in the lead, which has been extensively advertised by The Popular Plays and Players, Inc., as a big feature film, was destroyed in its negative form, but some prints had already been made and delivered, so the loss is not as serious as that to other producers like Griffiths  [sic]


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Examples of other Lubin releases destroyed
Lost Lubin titles include hundreds of Siegmund Lubin's early kinetoscopic and nickelodeon releases produced during "the pioneer period of the motion picture industry". Many of those are documented in Howard Lamarr Walls' 1953 reference Motion Pictures, 1894-1912, Identified from the Records of the United States Copyright Office. Among the lists of standard drama and comedy shorts recorded in that reference are screen adaptations of many classics from literature such as Rip Van Winkle (1903), Beauty and the Beast (1903), Gulliver’s Travels (1903), Swiss Family Robinson (1903), Snow White (1903), and Julius Caesar (1908).


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Examples of other Lubin releases destroyed
Other lost films include a variety of productions with intriguing, rather strange and unexpected titles from the very early silent era, some that indicate productions with science-fiction, fantasy, educational, and human-interest themes: Trip to the Moon (1899), Sapho (1900), Ostrich Farm (1901), Lubin's Animated Drop-Curtain Announcing Slides (1901), A Trip to Mars (1903) Evolution of the Japanese with the added film description "from a curio-box to a world power in 50 years" (1905), A Dog Lost. Strayed or Stolen. $25 Reward.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Examples of other Lubin releases destroyed
Apply to Mrs. Brown, 711 Park Ave. (1905), The Life of an Oyster (1907), Miraculous Eggs (1907), The Making of a Modern Newspaper (1907), The Evolution of Man—An Educated Chimpanzee (1908), Baxter's Brain Storm (1907), Acrobatic Pills (1908), Ten Minutes with Shakespeare (1908), A Female Fire Department (1908), The Hebrew Fugitive (1908), A, B, C's of the U.S.A. (1909), Brain-Serum (1909), The Fighting Cigar (1909), and In the Land of Upside Down (1909).


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Examples of other Lubin releases destroyed
Hundreds of cans of master negatives and reels of initial prints for later Lubin theatrical films—those released between 1910 and the spring of 1914—burned as well. A few examples of those lost dramas and comedies are The Tatooed Arm (1910), A Child of the Sea (1910) filmed in Florida, The Nearsighted Chaperone (1911), The Substitute (1911), The Devine Solution (1912), The Last Rose of Summer (1912), the "powerful and picturesque Indian romance" Back to Primitive (1913), the three-reel drama The Parasite (1913), and a six-reel adaptation of Charles Klein's The Lion and the Mouse released in March 1914.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Examples of other Lubin releases destroyed
Regrettably, too, the master negatives for cartoonist Vincent Whitman's animated 1914 productions A Trip to the Moon and A Dream of the Circus were among the casualties. Those two lost films, each released as one part of a two-film "split reel" in March and April respectively before the fire, were the first installments in a series of animated shorts that Whitman produced for the Philadelphia studio prior to end of 1915. Although Lubin's A Trip to the Moon carried the same title as Georges Méliès' 1902 groundbreaking sci-fi French classic, the nine-minute 1914 animated comedy portrayed an entirely different story in which the protagonists reach the moon by "aeroplane" instead of by a shell-shaped capsule propelled by a huge cannon.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Documentary films lost
Over nearly two decades, from Siegmund Lubin's first film in 1897 of a horse simply eating hay to early 1914, the motion picture mogul had accumulated either out of personal interest or for their commercial entertainment value, many hundreds of documentary films relating to historical events and notable personalities. Lubin during that period routinely dispatched roving camera crews "to capture on slide and motion picture film" assorted natural and man-made disasters and footage of prominent individuals and major political, military, and social events. Soon after the fire, Mr. Lubin was generally reluctant to discuss the magnitude of the films destroyed, but he did express regret about the destruction of some particular footage in one interview:


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Documentary films lost
"You know I am sorry for the loss of some of our historic records. We had pictures of [President] Cleveland and of McKinley and of ex-Vice-President Stevenson, who has just died. We had pictures, too, of Schley and Dewey. I happened to be in Buffalo at the time when McKinley was shot and I myself took some interesting scenes."


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Documentary films lost
More important documentary footage lost in 1914 was Lubin's recordings of the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, the American Civil War's pivotal clash between Confederate and Union forces that occurred in 1863 only 125 miles west of Philadelphia. Lubin's camera crews traveled to the Gettysburg battlefield in 1913 and over the first three days of July filmed "'the greatest of all reunions'". The footage they shot, all of which would burn less than a year later, was used to produce a final one-reel, 15-minute release. That final cut included both grand ceremonies and personal moments: the arrival at Gettysburg of 55,000 war veterans, sweeping views of the attendees' huge encampment, parades of former high-ranging officers and enlisted troops, meetings of old field nurses, and scenes of various "Yankees and Rebels shaking hands".


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Documentary films lost
With regard to other lost documentary films, the following list provides a sampling of losses and the range of their content:


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Unique athletic and medical science films
More historical footage lost in the fire is listed in the previously cited reference Motion Pictures, 1894-1912 by Howard Lamarr Walls and in the July 11, 1914 issue of Motography, which describes a wide range of Lubin films that documented medical innovations, scientific discoveries, and professional athletic competitions that were incinerated in the disaster. Lubin possessed genuine footage as well as staged reproductions of famous turn-of-the-century title and non-title bouts involving fighters such as George Dixon, Joe Gans, Terry McGovern, Young Corbett II, and other boxing champions. Also destroyed were films of early baseball games, one of many being "the crucial game of the baseball season of 1902, when Rube Waddell pitched the Philadelphia Athletics to their first American League championship".


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Unique athletic and medical science films
Siegmund Lubin held lifelong interests in medicine and the natural sciences, interests instilled in him as a young man during his university studies in Germany, at Heidelberg, where he earned a degree in ophthalmology before emigrating to the United States in 1876 and finally settling in Philadelphia seven years later. His training in the anatomy of the human eye and his practical experience in manufacturing optical lenses led to Lubin's fascination with cameras and a growing expertise in the technology of still photography and then, by the late 1890s, in the new medium of moving pictures.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Unique athletic and medical science films
By the time he formally established the Lubin Manufacturing Company in 1902, Lubin was already experimenting with filming through different lenses and capturing moving images through microscopes and early x-ray cameras and later, in cooperation with Philadelphia's medical community, documenting surgeries, blood transfusions, and assorted ailments and debilitating disorders of many patients at local hospitals and in mental health facilities. Publicly, he was increasingly credited for personally expending "a great deal of money and much of his spare time" promoting the use of moving pictures for scientific purposes and, more specifically, in using films as a teaching tool for surgical training.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Unique athletic and medical science films
All of Lubin's medical films shot prior to the fire were destroyed. While there is no full accounting of those motion pictures or of other science-related footage stored in the demolished vault units, the titles and general descriptions of their content can be found in several published references. For instance, in the April 15, 1911 issue of The Moving Picture World, in a news feature titled "Pictures in Aid of Medical Science", the journal highlights how a few of Lubin's now-lost medical films were used:


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Unique athletic and medical science films
The latest assistance given by the Lubin Manufacturing Company to the medical fraternity was in the illustration of a lecture by the widely known nerve specialist, Prof. Theodore H. Weisenburg, on "The Gait, Station, Tremors and Other Symptoms Of Various Forms of Nervous Diseases," delivered to the Alumni Association of the Department of Medicine of the Medico-Chirurgical College in the Clinical Amphitheatre, Eighteenth and Race Streets, Philadelphia, Penna., on March 21st.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Unique athletic and medical science films
The Lubin Company furnished for this occasion a twelve-hundred-foot reel depicting some extraordinary views of a number of patients who had been carefully selected by Prof. Weisenburg...cases of locomotor ataxia, paralysis of one side of the body resulting from a hemorrhage in the brain, different forms of spinal cord disease, hysteria and different tremors and involuntary movements of the body... At the finish of the lecture there ensued a scene of the wildest enthusiasm....


1914 Lubin vault fire, Losses from the fire, Unique athletic and medical science films
Lubin worked extensively with Dr. Weisenburg, who today is recognized internationally as a pioneer in the use of moving pictures for comparative neurological studies and classroom instruction. Along with all the other losses in the fire, the destruction of so many innovative medical films was not only another blow to Siegmund Lubin personally but a true misfortune regarding the visual documentation of early 20th-century medicine and surgical practices in the United States.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Recovery and new fire regulations
To reassure the company's domestic and foreign distributors and for the benefit his employees' morale, Siegmund "Pop" Lubin acted immediately to repair facilities at his plant. The prompt action was also intended to demonstrate to the wider film community and to the general public that the studio would recover quickly and that the fire would not significantly disrupt the studio's existing production and release schedules. Only two weeks after the fire, in its June 27, 1914 issue, Motography reports assertions from Lubin's upper management that the company would rapidly resume normal operations:


1914 Lubin vault fire, Recovery and new fire regulations
Little time was lost after the fire in arranging to repair and rebuild the parts of the factory which were ruined. Departmental managers estimated that it would take only a few days to effect temporary renewal of facilities for turning out photo-plays and a few weeks at most to completely re-establish the factory.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Recovery and new fire regulations
Motography also reports in the cited issue that while Siegmund Lubin himself professed that there would be no "hiatus" in the studio's releases, he did admit that "it may not be possible to replace immediately some of the [recently completed] films that burned." Actions at Lubinville to rebuild the demolished film vault in short order further underscored the company's commitment to a rapid recovery. On Monday, June 15, just two days after the fire, Lubin awarded a contract for a new structure. Clean-up and preliminary  design work on the new vault commenced the following day.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Recovery and new fire regulations
Despite Siegmund Lubin's efforts to minimize publicly the damaging effects of the fire and the disaster's effects on him personally, the event detrimentally affected his company's budget and income. Repair and reconstruction costs further depleted Lubin's financial reserves that were already becoming stretched by the company's widespread operations and services, including the ongoing expansion of its new, costly "Betzwood" production plant outside of Philadelphia. The noted loss of master negatives and of some theatrical prints ready for release during the remaining weeks of the summer in 1914 also disrupted and reduced to varying degree Lubin's box-office income.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Recovery and new fire regulations, Revised film-storage guidelines
Siegmund Lubin's acceptance of the skylight theory instead of spontaneous combustion or any employee carelessness as the most likely cause of the disaster factored into his company's reconstruction plans for a new vault. A new interior lighting system was a priority in the replacement's design, a system of illumination that Lubin said would "not give rise to any such condition that caused the recent fire."


1914 Lubin vault fire, Recovery and new fire regulations, Revised film-storage guidelines
Those design plans were several months ahead of revised safety regulations recommended to studios in November 1914 by the 20-year-old National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), which focused considerable attention in its new guidelines for "The Storage of Nitro-Cellulose Motion Picture Films". It is probable that Lubin's fire, coupled with the other major fires at Eclair, Edison, and Universal, increased calls in the motion picture industry to adopt new safety regulations and, in particular, to help devise improvements in the handing, transportation, and maintenance of nitrate film collections.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Recovery and new fire regulations, Revised film-storage guidelines
New safety guidelines announced in 1914 by the NFPA were officially established by the organization in January 1915, and they included general specifications for film containers, storage cabinets, and for ventilation and lighting systems in vault construction. Perhaps again in response to the Lubin disaster and its cited cause, the guidelines addressed the issue of skylights. They did not recommend banning them, but they did strongly discourage any further use of them in vaults, stating "To prevent abnormal temperature within the vault, glass windows and skylights should be avoided".


1914 Lubin vault fire, Lubin's bankruptcy and closure
By mid-August 1916, slightly over two years after the vault fire, Lubin's mounting debts and dwindling financial reserves prompted creditors to move in and seize control of the company and to begin restructuring and systematically selling off its assets. The fire was certainly not the decisive factor in the studio's takeover and subsequent closure, but it was one contributing factor in a series of problems that confronted the Lubin Company between 1912 and 1916 and hastened its decline.


1914 Lubin vault fire, Lubin's bankruptcy and closure
Unlike some of Lubin's main competitors in that period, the company did not adjust as quickly to the changing tastes and expectations of theater audiences, who wanted longer, more elaborately staged films. That lagging response resulted in a decline in box-office revenue, a reduction made worse by political and military events in Europe, where World War I began only two weeks after the vault fire. As that conflict escalated, Lubin and other American filmmakers had to contend with many disruptions in their most lucrative overseas market.