The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-11-08 00:00:00

GLASGOW THEATRE.
FIFTEEN PERSONS KILLED AND MANY
IN,TURED.

On Saturday one of the most lamentable panics
which ever occurred in a Scotch place of entertainment
happened in the Star Theatre, Glasgow, by which
fifteen persons were killed and an equal number
seriously injured. The theatre in which the disaster
took place is situated at the corner of Gallowgate-
street and Watson-street, and accommodates fully
2500 persons, but on Saturday evening 2000 paid for
admission. The theatre has three entrances, one in
Watson-street, a second in Watson-lane, and a third
(a stage door) in Gallowgate. As the place of amuse-
ment is stated on the bills to be one specially for the
working classes during the dull times, naturally the
audience was composed of people of that rank of life
The hall was opened about twenty minutes past
six o'clock, half-an-hour before the time appointed for
beginning the performance, which commenced shortly
before seven o clock, and everything went well until
about ten minutes to nine. Shortly before this the
Eugene family, a troupe of acrobats, three in number,
came forward to begin their part of the programme.
Their entertainment consists in a series of evolutions
on the trapeze. For this purpose a net, measuring
some 20ft., was spread across the area of the house.
The performers had got through their preliminary
performance and had reached the chief feature of
their display, and there was the usual expectant hush
among the audience in anticipation of the feat that
was to be performed. Just as one of the artistes, a
boy of about ten years of age, was about to make a
leap from the front of the upper gallery into the net,
a cry of " Fire " resounded through the building.
Accounts differ as to the exact quarter from which the
cry proceeded, but the preponderance of evidence seems
to show that it was raised by a man seated in the
sesond row of seats in the balcony. From this point
it is impossible to get an exact account of what took
place; but it is clear that a panic seized the audience
in every part of the building, and that there was a
wild rush to the doors. The people continued to
shout that the place was on fire, and in the midst of
the confusion nothing could be done to allay the
alarm that had taken hold of almost every one in the
house. The occupants of the gallery seem to have
been seized with absolute terror, and in their desperate
efforts to escape upwards of sixteen lads and men
threw themselves over the front into the acrobats'
net, fully 201 t. below. It is believed they were en-
couraged to do this by seeing one of the exhibitors
making the leap, which is one part of the
performance, thus making his escape on to
the stage. The first of the audience to fall
into the net was a young lad, who dropped
over the front of the gallery immediately after the
performance. No sooner was it seen that he had
aliehted safely, than others followed his example, and
ultimately succeeded in making their escape. Mean-
while a terrible scene was being enacted on the stair-
case leading from the gallery. The crowd rushed
headlong down the narrow staircase. The first to
make their way from the hall reached the bottom in
safety, but almost simultaneously with the panic in
the gallery alarm spread among the boys and girls in
the pit. Running out they were met by the headlong
rush from the gallery; someone stumbled and fell,
and immediately the passage became blocked with
a struggling mass of human beings. The stronger
and more vigorous succeeded in extricating them-
selves, but the weak and feeble became inextricably
jammed underneath. For a time nothing could be
done for the restoration of order. The attendants
in the staircase were swept out to the street in
front of the crowd, and no one was left to take the
lead in the work of rescue. By this tune it was dis-
covered that there was no foundation for the alarm
that had been raised. Mr. Carlton, one of the artistes,
and Mr. Cole the stage manager had gone upon the
stage and made an attempt to calm the audience;
several of the attendants seconded their efforts, and
succeeded to some extent in calming the excitement
in the body of the hall. Mr. Robert MiKay, the
manager, who had made an attempt to reach the
stage, but had been driven back by the mass of people
who were forcing an exit, now entered the pay-box,
and by his directions a number of people were passed
through the window, and made their escape by way of
Watson-street entrance. By this means upwards of
twenty people were rescued, but still comparatively
little progress made in relieving those who had first
fallen in the struggle to gain the street, the places of
these pulled through the window being at once taken
by others who rushed downstairs from above. The
staircase from the gallery was crammed almost to
suffocation, many men, women, and children being
carried therefrom in a fainting condition. But it was
on the pit landing that the chief loss of life occurred,
for at this point the mass of struggling human beings
was at one time piled as high as six or seven feet.
When the panic in the pit first arose, a large body of
the children endeavoured to climb over the partition
into the passage leadino, to the stalls. After some
delay a private door in the partition was opened, and
by this means a considerable portion of the occupants
of the pit were passed safely into the street by the
main doorway in Watson-street. This had the effect
of lessening the pressure into the gallery stairs from
the pit exit, with the result that some progress was
speedily made in the work of rescue.
By this time some one had either rung the nearest
alarm bell or run to the brigade, for immediately the
alarming sound of whistles heralded the approach of
the Fire Brigade, under the superintendence of Mr.
Paterson, who entered upon his duty as captain of
the Glasgow Fire Corps only on Saturday, and who
now made his first appearance in that capacity. The
firemen, upon discovering that there was no fire, ren-
dered every possible help in assisting the injured to
cabs and an ambulance waggon which ha R now reached
the spot. So great was the crowd that had by this
time gathered that Captain McCall, chief constable, had
to summon Lhe day policemen of the Central District
to assist the night division in keeping back the excited
multitude. Every cab passing was requisitioned for
carrying away the dead and injured. Seven of the
killed were conveyed to the infirmary, as the rescuing
party could not in their excitement tell whether they
were alive or not, for the faces of the injured and
dead alike were livid and blue. When the doctors
arrived and pronounced the above-mentioned seven
persons to be dead they were carried to the Central
Police-station, and laid in the mortuary to await
identification. Naturally a large portion of the crowd
rushed to the police office to learn who were
killed; but so great was the crush here that the
outer gate had to be locked, and only officials and
distressed persons who believed some of their
family were among the unfortunate occupants of the
theatre were admitted. By eleven o'clock the bodies
there were identified, and as each parent, brother, or
sister claimed the deceased the scene was of the most
affecting character. At the Royal Infirmary Dr.
Dalziel had a full staff of surgeons in attendance, and
as each of the injured was carried in he or she was
placed on a bed in the accident yard. Of the eight
persons dead in Royal Infirmary seven were
females and one a male, while of the seven lying in
the mortuary of the Central Police-station six were
males and one a female. - - - -

Subsequently a man who, it is alleged, first raised
the alarm of fire, and who is said to have been under
the influence of drink, has been appprehended, that
his name is James Turner, and that he resides at 20,
Northburn-street, Glasgow. The lessee of the Star
Theatre stated that Turner had been formerly in his
employment, and was dismissed, not for any fault,
but only because Mr. Mackay wished to reduce his
staff. Some people who were in the theatre state
that a gasburner came out of one of the brackets, and
that there was a rather large blaze, but the officials of
the theatre deny the accuracy of this.
The following are the names of the dead and
injured: