The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1882-12-12 00:00:00

THE DESTRUCTIOY OF THE ALHAMBRA

THEATRE.

The fire which broke out early on Thursday morning in
the Alhambra Tomo', Lemest, e in•re, Lind in,
in roe tota de•truction of that popular place if amuse-
ment. The fire was dire .verel by • detective named
B iwden, as he was coming ..ff duty and returning t •
the Police Seetion.house in L eicaater-squere. where he
resides. The detective, .in approaching the theatr-• Per-
ceived • v-liune of 'es ik• issuing from three or the
windows in the second row, and at once raised an earn).
With some itilfiewty he euceeeled in arouaine the rem-tent
fireman, who was IthatOttrd 111 the theatre in act -n.411,109
with a regulation olnervoil in boil lingm of that description.
On being admitted to the interior of the building, the
detective was joined by one of toe official/ at ached to
the Alhanotra, and together • hey pr--cn• lel to examine
the rooms. Trey soon aseertain•.l that the fire hal -rico-
stet in the dres• circle of the tteatre, for im reaching this
part they sow &den. volume of inioke and ft ones rolling
upwards. The fireman pr ceed dto get his *Be and taco
ciiildren out of the theatre. and ten direct. d hi, att no-
tien to lb. dame., which be 'end ....ore,' to suhdue by
mane of to,. private 11,1•0 -in th • premises. All such
effort., however, proved unavailing, and so rapidly did
tho c maceration spread th.t. in an incredibly short
space of time, he was compel.t to mate ivy ...cape by
. forcing his way [brooch tie dam-s. By the time the
lint contingent of the Fire Brit obi arrival upon the
wane the doomed timers was wrappel in tlem•-• e most
front door to roof. Huge volume. of smoke, mingling
with • column of flame, swept upward., and the scene
was one of terrible grandeur. The engines played moon
the bluing p•te front front to rear, but no visible effect
w. for • long tine produced. The flee had probably
not been raging more than half-an.hour when the roof
fell in with • loud crash, and was foliows.l by • gigantic
column of forked Ram., which seemed to pierce even the
leaden mass above, en I lit up the unighbourho al with
...ling effect Altho igh the roof had appar mtly
fallen in, the two towere which flank the build.
ing north and Routh continued to remain intact, and it
speaks well for the strength an I s ilidity of the
masonry that they did nit succumb to the flames,
although raging furiou•ly for several ii 'or.. So mitt was
the fire in its career of dastructem.. complete was the
itastrophe, th it Urn- Wee not porruitted t i Mae anything
from toe ,11..4tre. At one time the fl ones had eat- nded
to some of the adjoining property in •he rear, but in the
nt or. of an hour or two the heavy weight of water that
was constant y being poured upon the burning maga told
with ri.ii lo effect, however, • complete ICeeel
attendel the operations of the firemen in that quitter,
and the neighbouring house, were relieve 1 from the
imminent danger in which they ot one tune sto 4 of
sharing in the general ruin, • tougher task awaited them
In that portion of toe theatre witch liately face.
L tic-rater—quire. Deep t• all the efforts mad., and not-
wit.'. ling the tremendo•ig vol tame. of water directed
against the flames, the fire still regal with ti-ree intensity.
The central flaz•t f• I tree. the rod into the roidw ay
•-eneath. and snapped in twain Ike so much match wood.
Fortunately the diem en manning to- es • .pee en 1 directing
the stream. of water below bail ample uot ce 01 the imp opt•
leg downfall, ant were Chu. en stile It. w thane • to a safe
dist ice. On the theatre's southern flank th•• dam— n •-ver at
any time aim at to the adj. i• •12., ho i.e. though it was at
Otle time in crest, jeoesuily. 0., t ii• north. h•iwever, :hi
cow Wee ailf.rrot Here, when once the lire bad taken
a Ening he-I, and best entered lilt undiepute I piewseton
of the 1114 et. d theatre, the flame'. Of) spread to the roof
of foe adjoining hone., which Is titt 4 up as • Furkioh
bath, Before the fire coold ho itt under the upper por-
tion of the house eat completely gutted. About balf•
past three it became eel lent that tie water was graduate
gaining th • mastery over the flames in the northern wing
of the theatre which faces the squat.. In the centre, and
also the southern wing, however, the fire still raged, lint
hp four o'clock the fire wee finally got under. The
theatre, however, is gutted from rcof to flo itt. The
skeleton enaaonry stands, b it not • solitary stick of fur.
nitur• is left, and all that rema ns of a oplendid interior,
with Its lavish app tintinentk is • few charred. brnken
rafters of the helms. sufll Mint y stout t i resist the flames.
Strange to say, while the dentructlom in the inside of the
building haa thus been eo to r comet it the ext.rior
decoratmns of the walla and the entr.nce to the t he.tre
have almost altogether e.•ped damage. The theatre
belongs to a limitel c impany. At the present moment
it is impwoole to eitirustn the amount of damage that
has been done. The building was Uttered for • large
sum, but it I. not known ado tier or not the losses will he
fully c merited by the inswance. Ton performance took
place as usual on Wednesday night, and when the ttutld-
log was I. ft all was app.reetly Life. Teo of the flremen
were unfortunately ••• serio sly injured during the night
that but faint hopes of their ree 'very are entertain 4.
The exact nature of their injure, has not yet
been ascertained : but One men, named B-rg, received
his injuries by falling from • fire-escape, and the
other, named Ashford, was hurt by a wall tell.
iog upon him. The cause of the fire is unknown.
but it is supposed to have originated In the 2.. balcony
stalls of the sp aciiitis audit mum, for here • volume of fire
end smoke wal first discover-'d by the resident eirem.n.
who had been roused ad n alarmed, as stated above, by
a detective who had noticed smoke Issuing from the
boildlog
Mr. William H illand, the monoger of the Alhambra,
states that he was the last to leave the premises. at about
half-peat 11. Previous to doing so .11 light, and te w were
put hut. It appears that the only portion of the building
saved from the flame, is the piinting-room and Mr.
Holland'. own office. The whole of the valuable ward-
robe, whi, h is estimated at £111,01.10, is destroyed, but
fortunatelyb.L.thd was,edrszdlr .
fort.hoeunk to
piece, which w. in
mKing
Curt: or Love of the Flame and Icicle," hid n-it bean
d-livered. The building and content, were insured for
.C 30,000 in the Norih Bnush, the Royal, and emus other
(dhow About 600 persons are, in consequence of the
catastrophe, thrown out of employment,