From the Lawrence Journal-World for May 21, 1915:

• “Fire which originated from an unknown cause did about $4,000 damage to the Varsity theatre last night about 12:30 o’clock. The fire was not discovered until it had broken through the roof in the west end of the theatre and it was then seen by people living in the same block on Vermont street. The alarm was turned in immediately and the fire department experienced little difficulty in extinguishing the flames when the water was turned on. The theatre was closed at about 11:30 o’clock and all was well then according to the statement of Lloyd Ware, the manager of the theatre. The fire had evidently been burning about half an hour before it was discovered. According to indications the fire had originated on the stage a little south of the middle and probably caught in the scenery and most of the fire went up among the curtains which were raised catching in the frame work which supported the roof. The fire was confined to the stage part of the theatre and did not get out into the auditorium to do much damage except by the heat…. The chairs in the first few rows were scorched and a few others were damaged by water, but for the most part the chairs can still be used. The rear of the room in which the picture machine was located was not damaged by the fire…. Mr. Ware announces that his show will be started again as soon as the building can be repaired. In the meantime he will attempt to get another building in which to run the show while the work is being done on the building.”
• “Henry W. Schaake, 37, passed away this morning at 4 o’clock at his home at 1248 Connecticut street, practically without warning, as he did not appear in the least indisposed when he retired nor until an hour before his death, when he awakened his wife. He was in pain, and complained of a stuffiness in his chest, and difficulty in breathing…. Henry W. Schaake was the son of William Schaake and wife, and was born March 3, 1878, near Edwardsville, Illinois. With his parents and other members of the family he came to Lawrence from Illinois in 1893, and his life had been spent in Kansas since. With his family he moved to a farm he had purchased near Abilene, in 1904, and resided there for about 7 years…. In 1911 the family returned to Lawrence and Mr. Schaake engaged in farming for a short time; afterward, some three years ago, engaging in the hardware business here, succeeding Thad Stevens when the latter sold out and went to California. He was successful and became a prominent figure in business circles here. Mr. Schaake was married in 1902 to Miss Augusta Stulken, who with five children survive him. The children are Irma, Edna, Viola, Elmer and Ruth. Other surviving relatives are his father, William Schaake, a well known farmer, and an uncle, Chris Schaake, also well known…. Since boyhood Mr. Schaake had been a member of the German Methodist church…. When a young man Mr. Schaake attended the Business College in this city and made therein a record for accuracy and comprehension. While yet in his teens he became a traveling salesman, which vocation he followed for six years, and in which he was unusually successful in every sense…. Mr. Schaake leaves behind him a good name and a large number of the best citizens of Douglas county as sincere mourners. In boyhood and manhood he was always temperate of habits and speech, and self-respecting in a high degree.”
• “Providing the United States keeps out of the European conflict, this country will be looked upon as the greatest self-sacrificing and sympathetic nation in the world, according to Charles F. Scott, of Iola, who recently accompanied the Belgian relief ship Hannah, loaded with food and provisions sent by the state of Kansas to the starving Belgians, after the invasion of their country by the Germans. Mr. Scott spoke before a special convocation at the University this morning…. Fraser chapel was crowded with University students and townspeople, many of them unable to get inside the doors…. Mr. Scott told of the great suffering and ravages of the war in Belgium, which has left the country depleted and its cities and villages destroyed. ‘After seeing the horrors of the war, I advise that under no circumstances less than a direct attack, that we permit the United States to be precipitated into this terrible conflict,’ said Mr. Scott in closing, which was greeted with a burst of applause. ‘The United States has the good will of the world at present, on account of its answering to the call of the suffering in Belgium, and if we plunge into the struggle, all of our work will be lost. My plan is to enter a vigorous protest against every violation of our neutral rights, and when war is over to call for a strict account of the injuries.'”