The Express.
London, England, 1868-08-03 00:00:00

THE MANCHEETER VICTORIA Mt
HALL.

Almost immediately in front of the massive
steps leading to the smoke-begrimed cathedral of
Manchester is situated the large open space known
as Victoria-bridge-street, leading to one of the
few points where the inky-looking stream of the
Irwell is bridged across. The street, which is of
no great length, is of triangular shape at its upper
end ; one side being formed by the houses adjoin-
ing the cathedral steps, together with the much-
frequented thoroughfare leading from Great
Dude-street to Market-street ; the other two side*
consisting of the boundary wall enclosing the
southern bunk of the Irwell, and a small row of
plain buildings, among which are a public-house
and the music hall, popularly known as " Ben
Long's," in which occurred the terrible catas-
trophe which has just appalled all Lencaahire.
Situated as it is, close to the groat provision
markets and the Victoria railway station, Victoria-
bridge-street presents at all times an animated
aspect, especially in the evening, when the cotton-
mills are closed, and thousands of factory lads and
lasses issue forth from Awaits and Oldham-road
to enjoy the pleasures of a stroll in Peel-park, the
road leading to which is gained by crossing Vic-
toria-bridge. Were it not for this the general
appearance of the locality would be singularly
dull and unimpressive ; the Lancashire and York-
shire Railway Company having contributed largely,
by means of their hideous-looking bridge and
viaduct, to render it as unsightly as possible.
Certainly the ethics of art do not appear to be
much studied here ; consequently it is not a
favourite resort of the silk and broadcloth from
Piccadilly or Oxford-street. The wearers of these
prefer to pass into Salford by way of the bridge in
Illackfriars-street, leaving Victoria-bridge to the
denser stream of humble calico and fustian which,
during certain periods of the day, sweeps irre-
sistibly onwards with a mighty noise, in which
the perpetual clatter of Lancashire clogs strongly
predominates.
The houses in Victoria-bridge-street have a
kind of Whitochapel look about them. They pos-
sess no pretension whatever to architectural taste,
but are of the plainest imaginable character.
Indeed, but for the large, bold, and staring letters
affixed to the upper portion of the central build-
ing, few persons unacquainted with the fact
would imagine that it was a place of public enter-
tainment, a popular music hall of no mean size.
Externally it resembles a large, private, four-
storied house, the basement, towards the street,
being occupied by two or three small shops. The
(:entrance to one of these shops forms also the
entrance to the Victoria Music Hall. On one side
of the entrance passage is the shop, on the
other side the little opening in the wall
behind which site the money taker. The door-
way, forming the approach from the street, is low
and narrow, as is the passage leading to the hall,
both scarcely admitting of two persons walking
abre, t. This passage is not, however, more than
a few yards in length, and on traversing it the
visitor finds himself at once in the pit of the
music hall, the floor of which is rained but•a few
steps above the level of the passage. The upper
and lower galleries are reached by a separate and
narrow staircase, with landings on each stage. It
was here that the terrible accident, resulting in
such a lamentable loss of life, occurred. There
can be no doubt that, considering the size of the
hall, and the number of persons the galleries are
capable of containing, the means of egress on ocza-
alone of emergency are lamentably deficient, but not
more so than in many metropolitan and provincial
music halls. The interior of the hall is by no means
very attractive. It looks as if it might
have been formed, in the cheapest possible
manner, out of the shell of two or three ordinary
houses. The seats and floor are Mick with grease,
a strong and unbearable odour of stale tobacco
smoke pervades the place, and, despite several
attempts at proper ventilation, the atmosphere is
so close and hot as to be sickening and unbear-
able. The hall itself is of oblong shape, an upper
and lower gallery running round three of its sides,
the fourth being occupied by the stage and re-
freshment bar. Round the ledges of each of the
galleries run two strong, iron railings. These
rails, together with the notices prohibiting
whistling and similar noises, are extremely
suggestive of the rough and demonstrative de-
meanour of those frequenting the galleries. Tho
gaseliers are of the plainest description, the absence
of glass shades naturally leading to the inference
that the danger of frequent breakage has led
the proprietor to dispense with them. It was
in the back part of the pit, under the lower
gallery,. that the accident which led to the
panic happened. Here are several gas-burners
projecting from the wall, and the breakage of
three or four of these, through several lads
thoughtlessly clinging to them, occasioned the
.
original alarm.

Everywhere dirt and grease appear to prevail,
yet the hall has never lacked a plentiful and pro-
fitable supply of patrons. With the denirens of
Chapel-street, Deansgate, and similar localities, it
has long been a favourite place of resort. Its
chief frequenters, however, are the lower class of
lads and young men employed in the Manchester
cotton mills, dye-works, and other establishments.
These are always to be found here in large num-
bers, especially the boys; adults and females form-
ing a comparatively small portion of the
audience, except in the pit or Stalls. This
will explain the excessively large propor-
tion of males among the killed and injured
in connexion with the recent catastrophe. Must
of the audience seem to disdain the idea of chang-
ing their working clothes, and the presence of such
a large number of unwashed faces, greasy caps, and
dirty hands, together with the general prevalence
of short pipes and pewter pots, renders the scene
one of anything but a refined or elevating cha-
racter. The number of spectators generally pre-
sent ranges from 1,000 to 2,000, those in the
galleries paying twopence per head, the price of
admission to the pit being a little higher. In fact,
the place is simply a monster " penny gaff."
Contrary to what might have been anticipated,
the performances taking place here display few
really objectionable features. There is nothing
like the indecent songs and semi-nude dancing
common in numerous more pretentious places of
amusement. Hornpipes, jigs, clog-dances, nigger-
melodies, sentimental ballads, comic songs, acro-
batic feats, conjuring, and so on, furnish
the staple of the nightly entertainments ;
the leading favourites being the comic Irishman,
the nigger melodist, and the sentimental singer,

whose efforts are generally rewarded with up -
roar"oss apt lease, stamping of wooden clogs, and
clanking of pewter pots. The popularity of the
Victoria, Music Hall among the lower classes of
Manchester appears to be oJeasioned by its le
prices of admission, and the social equality of
those constituting the audience. In most other
places the working-people are stowed away in
some place out of sight ; here they form the
audience, and are pleased accordingly. They
walk in and out at pleasure. So long
as they pay their twopences and three-
pt noes, and do not get unmanageably drink,
or disturb the performers, no one may in-
tcrfire with them. They may smoke, drink, and
talk at will. Their having tattered jackets and
greasy caps is no reproach to them. They are as
comfortable and easy as if they wore in the tap-
room ; for - Ben Leng's" is—after all—merely a
gigantic tap-room, to which have been added the
attractions of music, singing, and dancing.
Towards the close of the performances the audiences
rapidly grow thinner, for most of the lads have to
be early at work the next morning, and though
there is plenty of noise, there is little real crowding
to get out. The daily rush from the factories, on the
sound of the mid-day bell, becomes wonderfully
systematic, by constant repetition, 'and so prevents
a considerable amount of confusion. The Lanca-
shire factory operatives display this peculiarity
very largely when leaving their popular places of
amusement, and it is only on a few occasions,
such as that of Friday night, that they omit—in
their common panio—to practise the customary
habits of order and regularity engendered by their
factory experiences. Still, the mere probability of
such a contingency demands that due precautions
should be taken for the prevention of any evil
results ; and we shall, in all likelihood, ascertain,
during the coming inquests, what were the de-
ficiencies in the present instance.

Tim number of sufferers by the accident is
now ascertained to be 23 persons killed, mostly by suffo-
cation in the crowd, and twelve others hurt, chiefly by
internal injuries. It would thus appear that the fatal
results were entirely due to the extreme pressure of a
great body of people rushing through narrow outlets, and
in no instance to • cause at first assigned, that some of
the audience threw themselves from the windows. This
seems disproved by the fact that of all the cases treated
at the Infirmary there was only one of • fracture of a
limb.

It may be mentioned as testimony of the confusion and
bewilderment to which the mourning applicants at the In-
firmary were reduced by their distress, that betwem K
and 9 o'clock two bodies were claimed as those of persons
named Parkinson and Sellers, who, it afterwards turned
out, were not dead, and, so far as we can learn, were not
present hi the music hall when the accident occurred.
The mistake was no discovered until the 'apposed bodies
of Parkin/on and Sellers were unmistakeably identified as
those of other persons by their friends.
According to a notice posted up on the premises, boys
are not admitted to the music-hall, but it is probable that
on occasions of benefit nights the rules of the management
are considerably relaxed. Certainly there were many
turbulent spirits in the crowd last night, and several
benches were broken and bad to be removed some time
before the accident occurred which resulted so fatally.
There was also at least one other gas pipe broken in the
pit, and safely plugged again, long before the pipe was
broken near the stage, as above-mentioned. •But this drat
breakage caused no alarm ; indeed, it appeared to be
talked of as rather a cotamon occurrence—a piece of mis-
chief such as might be expected from "those lads," and
too familiar to cause any disquiet • The nature of the
entertainment may be gathered from the fact that th 3
momentary cause of excitement, when the two or three
benches gave way at the last, was the event of a
" sack race" across the stage. Even after the
rush from the " hall, " it is doubtful whether
5/. of damage could be found to have been done
to the building or its fittings. The principal breakage
was that of an iron balustrade, which extended down the
middle of the stairway from the galleries. The object of
this division was to keep people going upstairs on ono side
the rail, while the other side was free for descending. This
firmly rivetted railing was forced out of its fastenings on
each step of the stairway by the pressure of the crowd,
who attempted to pour down it. The barrier removed,
the whole five-foot space was left clear. The steps them-
selves, apart from the width of the stairway, are too
narrow for any but careful walking, and for a crowd rush-
ing down, it would be little better than descending a ladder.
The dead bodies are almost entirely those of young men
and boys, including a number of the " Arab " type, who
frequent the streets in the neighbourhood of the railway
station. There are only three women among the number.
The inquiries made at the Infirmary this morning after
"missing friends" revealed a social fact at once sad
and suggestive. Setting aside" the number of those
who made their way to the Infirmary Aloe from mere
motives of curiosity, a class which, as far as pos-
sible, was rigidly excluded from the precincts of
the building, there were scores, probably hundreds.
of applications by terrified parents after children who had
not been home during the night, and whom forms might
be laid out lifeless in the mortuary or stretched in pain
on the beds in the surgical wards. For some hours this •
morning, until the list of identifications approached com-
pletion, the corridors of the infirmary were thronged by
such applicants. They were mostly persons belonging to
the lowest classes, but they also included a large number
of working men, who, having heard of the accident at
their early work in mills and warehouses, came in their
shirt sleeves to dispel in most instances, in one or two
unhappily to confirm, their fears. One and all, it is pro-
per to add, received the kindest attention from the medi-
cal staff and officers on duty at the
The inquest on the bodies washilr=y opened at
11 o'clock by Mr. Ilergord, city coroner. Inspector
Matthews said he had examined the building, and had left
it in the charge of two constables, so that the jury might
have an opportunity of seeing it in the state in which it
was after the occurrence. The jury then proceeded to
the infirmary to view the bodies. The inquest was
adjourned until next Wednesday week.

PANIC ON THE BRIGHTON WEST PIER.—BRIGII-
TON SUNDAY Mon; 9 PAL—There has just been •
fortunate escape here from a calamity similar to that at
Manchester. The West pier was crowded with about
6,000 people, and • large proportion of them were on the
outer " head," listening to the band. A squall of wind
caused the head to sway and vibrate a little, when a knot
of women took the alarm and raised a icy that the pier
was falling. The great body of the promeoaden at once
rushed for the shore end, the stamping and running
mincing the structure to sway in • really alarm-
ing way. Fortunately the pier master at the first
indication of alarm threw all the gates open, and thus the
crowd escaped with little or no damage except to wiring
apparel. While it lasted the aeons was one of great
excitement.
THE CARMEN AND THEIR ORIEVANCE.—The
Amalgamated Hackney Carriage Proprietors' Association
have addressed the following letter to the railway com-
panies with a view to the amicable settlement of the
privilege " guanaco :—"Sir,—l am instructed by the
committee of the above association to inform you that a
meeting of all the members of the trade will shortly take
place, and their decision solicited for the abolition of the
nanny privilege system. Unless the railway companies
will suggest some means for the furtherance of that ob-
ject there will be no alternative for us but to adopt mea-
sures which will necessarily involve great public inconve-
nience and which we should much regret. 'rusting you
will see that we are only asking for that which is just for
the trade, beneficial to the companies, and a boon t the
public, and that you will take the matter at ones into
our consideration, I remain, fie., J. S. C.ocker, same-
THE BOMEAT (HEAVY) MAIL.-411111tALTAL
Almon 2.—The Peninsular and Oriental Company's
steamer Travancore arrived at 2 and left at 6 p.m. to-day,
all well, for Southampton, where she may be expected on
the 7th inst.

New designs from the. Paris Exhibition have
Teen intandueed Into all branched. of the cloak department at J. VI..
Benson'a wateh and flock maker to the Prince of Wales, Old Bond.
street, Westbourn,gtore, and Ludgatt lull. Soo prim ILA.
lAdatrtlacmcnt.)