The Sun.
London, England, 1828-02-29 00:00:00

DESTRUCTION OF TAE NEW BRUNSWICK

THEATRE.

(From the Times.)
It is rumoured, but of this there is at present no
evidence, that the, walls, the mortar of which is not
yet dry, were far too slight to support the weight of
the roof, and they in consequence bulging outwards,
the whole mass of iron forming the roof fell in with
the most dreadful crash, carrying with, it-the yvhole
of the inside of the house, and burying beneath its
ruins.all those who had the misfortune to be within
its walls. By this dreadful accident, the structure,
which but a day ago was the "general theme of admi-
ration at the east end of London, is now left a mere
shell, its bare walls standing on three sides in a state
so tottering and unsafe, as.to leave little doubt that
in a short time the whole will -be levelled with the
ground. The wall fronting towards Wells-street is the
only external one which accompanied the fall of the
roof, and falling outwards into the street, its descent
was not only destructive to the t ix) houses opposite,the
one a public-house, and the other a baker's, but was also
nearly proving fatal to several passengers. A lady-and
gentleman, who were passing at the time, had a very
marrow escape. A portion of the ruins fell upon the
leg of the gentleman, who saved' himself by a des-
perate muscular effort, and extricated his leg from
the boot.:, Some. persons state that the lady was
killed, .but.VVe areinformed, and trust, that this
statement is incorrect. 2 Various rumours are. ineirs
dilation as to the number of those who were-in the
houie at the time of the-accident, and we regret to
say, that it is generally believed that there were not
less than from 80 to 100. Some, indeed, have gone
so far as to assert, that there were from 150 to 20t,
but this we trust will prote incorreet. Two per.
sons who were at the top of the theatre, were in
moment precipitated to the ground. One of them,
escaped 'with little injury; the ether received. ti*;
severe contusions on the head, but it is hoped he j
was. not dangerously hurt..
Mr. Percy Farren, the stage-manager; brother to
Mr. Farren of Covent-garden theatre, was on the
stage superintending the rehearsal, when he observed
the chandelier giving way, and heard a cracking in
the walls. By an instinctive effort, as it were,_ he
reached the door, and rushed into the street, where
he had not been many seconds, when the roof fell in,
and he heard the shrieks and groans .of those who
had been buried in the ruins. It is feared that. this
gentleman is the only person; or nearly so, who was
able to-effect his escape withopt injury. - The effort
made by him was so sudden, and his mind .was so
bewildered at the time, that it does not appear that
he was able to communicate his alarm to any of those
who were on the stage with him. As a proof Of the
state of mind iii whiCh he was, it is mentioned, that
as soon as he. was out of the theatre, he ran :on,
wards without thinking what he Was about, and 'pro-
ceeded to Covent-garden theatre, tp• his brother,
with whom he remained for a short time in a state
of-very great agitation. He then returned to. the
scene of calamity. . .
'The escape of a man named Shaw, and his wife,.
appears to -have' been quite miraculous. The man
was employed.in .the counting-house, which is not
less than 40 feet above the stage, and in one mo-
ment he states he found himself and his wife below-
the stage with a large plank across their :bodies.
Extricating himself from the plank as speedily as
possible; he -relieved his wife, and carried her up a
staircase then standing, and having gained a window '1
he lowered her into the street by means of a rope,
and immediately followed himself.- They'were both
so much bruised, however, that. it .was considered
necessary to carry them to, the London Hospital. A
person named Ferris escaped with life by jumping
from the first-tloor Window into a cart, and fortu-
nately for him he received only a', feivSlight injuries.
Four men and a female were extricated from the
scene of devastation about half-past one; The for-
mer were mechanics employed on the premises, and
were removed to the London Hospital with scarce
any hopes of ,their recovery. The latter is sup-
posed to hate been Mrs,- Henry Beverly,. an actress
of some • promise ; but from the mutilated state of
the body, it was impossible to ascertain her identity.
From that time until aikagreamany bodies in a most
mutilated estate cuutinuell to be dug out, and among
them, we regret to state, was found the remains
of Mr. Maurice, the proprietor. , His body was,
dreadfully crushed; and as it was eVident to all that
the vital spark had fled, he was conveyed to the
King's Arms public-house in the neighbourhood.
The body of Miss Fearon also, One of the actresses,
' has been discovered, as also those Of Mr. Caries, of
Mr.. Gilbert, and, of six persons whose names are
unknown; and these were all who it was' ascertained
had been killed up to six o'clock. The number of
those who had been relieved from their frightful
situation by the unceasing labours of the workmen,
and conveyed to the different hospitals at that hour,
'amounted to about seveuteen, and the cries of *those
still remaining beneath the ruins afforded a melan
choly proof that that number would be greatly in.
creased before morning.

As to the origin of this most melancholy event, it
must, for the present, remain purely conjecture.
The prevalent opinion is, that it is attributable to
the weight of the roof, which is composed of iron,
pressing too heavily on the ectprnal walls, which
may be said to be quite green, and . not cemented
enough before it was laid on.

Ail-other re.part is, that it was occasioned by the
very heavy weights which the manager would insist
upon attaching to the roof in order to facilitate the
machinery; and it is, said that the builder or sur-
veyor protested in the strongest terms against this
additional weight, affirming that the walls were not
sufficiently strong to support it, liut, as we have
before stated, this is all mere rumour.
Of the pecuniary loss to the proprietors little. is
said in the horror excited by personal .calamity, but
it cannot be trivial. The building itself cost up-
wards of 40,0001,, and what. remains of it i 3 of very
little value.

The mob increased so much towards night, that it
required the utmost exertions of the soldiers' and
police-officers to keep them back. A great many
firemen from the different offices were in attendance,
with their engines, it being feared that. the ruins
might ignite, as fires were said to have been kept
up in the theatre.

At six o'clock last evening, the bodies of The fol-
lowing persons had been taken out dead :—Mr.
Maurice, the principal proprietor ; Miss Fearon, one
of the actresses; Mr. Caries, Mr. Gilbert, an 4 six
persons whose names we could not ascertain: the
names of those who were injured, and conveyed to
the London Hospital, independently of two waggon-
loads carried to St. Thomas's' and Guy's Hospitals,
were as follows:

Mr. Carruthers, one of the proprietors, very much
bruised ; Elizabeth Forster, with a contused elbow ;
John Abbott, a compound fracture of the leg; Moses
Miles, a severe contusion ; John Harris, and Henry
Clark, fractured legs; Robert Mitchell, George
Hoare, J. Robarts, and James Hodges, with cut
heads ; Stephen Spencer, a dislocated shoulder and
fractured fibula; Joseph Blamire, fractured spine;
Jane Wall, a compound fracture of right femur and
left tibia and fibula; Hannah Shaw, a cut face and
contused leg; John Shaw, an injured foot ; Eliza-
beth Godfrey, William Ferris, and John Paul, slightly
injured.
We are requested to state that Mr. D. W. Os-
baldiston, of No. 18, Bedford-street, Commercial-
road, was not among those who sustained any injury
at the above frightful accident.
Messrs. Maurice and Carruthers, the gentlemen
who had erected the Theatre, and expended a very
considerable sum in its completion, were behind the
scenes, witnessing the probable effect that the. drama
would produce, when, at about 25 minutes to 12
o'clock, a slight crash of timber was heard, which
was unattended to, from the supposition that it
might have been the falling of a beam from the hands
of a carpenter, who, with others, was still employed
in completing the building; another came,_ and it was
equally disregarded; a third followed, which excited
only a momentary alarm, and shook the lustre; but
a fourth followed with instantaneous rapidity, and