Herald of the times, and Rhode Islander. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1846-1849, 1848-12-21


lion Of the Park Theatre.-The following par
ticulars Of another disastrous fire in New York, =,
we copy from the n. Y. Herald of Monday
morning -
II 1t is our melancholy duty, this morning, to
lchroncle the total destruction, by fire, Of the
| Park Theatre, in this city. This sad event
took place last evening, about a quarter past Il
O'clock. an hour before the time appointed for
the performance TO take place. About that
time smoke was seen to issue from the rear
part OF the establishment, which butted on
Theatre alley, small street running in the
rear OF Park row, from Ann to Deekman
street.
II The announcement was made immediately
that the Park Theatre was on fire and in a
few minutes afterwards, the smoke poured
from every window and skylght in the build
| ing. Soon flame shot forth fIom the win
dows, aud in an inconceivably short period Of
time, the whole building was enveloped in
|. fire. When this occurred, the scene' was
| ItIlghtfully and terrifcally interesting. The
dark heavy clouds which were hurried across
the frmament by a strong easterly wind, re-
fected the illumination and lighted up the city
so fully that person could read ordinary sized
| type at distance Of half mile from the scene
of the conflagration Crowds Of persons, far
and near, attracted by the glare, hurried TO the
scene the fire bells pealed the alarm, and the
whole metropolis was in a state Of commoion
rarely equalled. The fremen were on the
| spot with their accustomed and praiseworthy
alacrity, and in less time than we have taken
to write this much of our narrative, as many
as forty streams of water were being directed
on the burning edfce.
II Rut human on. ooan,nl nf bpt httla yp1
in stopping the progress of the destroying ele
ment. The flames whsked and danced, as if
in defiance Of the attempts to stop their de-
siruclye career, and in about half an hour the
burning rafters were visible An hopes of sa-
wing the Theatre were then abandoned, and
|, the tremen directed their attention to prevent
I the adjoining houses in Ann street, Beekman
street, aud Park row from being destroyed
Accordingly, they sorrowfully left the Theatre
10 fate which they were pOwerless 10 avert,
and played their streams on the property mos:
in danger. Their eliolts were crowned with
success.
II There are various con lectures as to the ORR
gin Of the fire. NJ. Martini says he was in
The Theatre about hali.past one clock, when
the smell of vitriol was So strong that MIR.
Dawson, who was engaged in the rehearsal of
a comedy, was obliged to stop, not being able
10 go on IN consequence thereof, and when the
Monpiaiser troupe assembled aiterw ard, they
were also obliged to suspend their rehearsal
lie spoke Of the unpleasant smell, and said
something about vitiol, when he was told II
was gas but he says he is satisfied it was not
the gas which produced such smell, and he
thinks the house must have been filled with an
inflammable gas, which caused the whole in
terror to be wrapped in flames SO suddenly -
/ hon lao. Ern Ee,, H.
al ladies belonging to the troupe and ballet,
who became very much frightened, and one of
them swooning, was rescued by Louis, the |
servant Of NJ, Monplaisir. All the rest es-
capped
1t is said by those who were in the Theatre
at the time, that the fire originated from the |
scenery taking fire from the gas light over the |
pronpter's stand, which, being Of such infam-
Unable material, caused the flames 10 spread |
with great rapdity.
Only about one-tenth of all the costumes
were saved, which were very valuable, espec
tally those OF the Monplaislr troupe. Mr.. !
Hambiin's loss is about S25 900, upon which |
there was very trtng insurance. The build |
ing belonged To Messrs. Astor and Beekman,
and was worth $50 900, upon which there was
also trihing insurance.
The flames communicated to Earle's Hotel, |
adjoining, the rear Of which was partially des-
troyed. The most of the bedding was safely |
removed, though the other furniture was con-
siderabiy broken, and the whole building was
flooded with water. The damage to the fur-
niture was fully insured. The injury to the
house is probably $4,000, which was insured.
The fire also communicated to Clarke s |
House, which sustained trifing damage by !
fire, though the furniture was considerably in
jured by water. They are both five story
houses, which was the cause of their taking |
fire so quickly. The Park House, five story
building, was at one time thought in imminent,
danger, though by the exertions of the iremen
it sustained very trifing damage. The Foun-
tain House, adjoining the east end of the The
atre, took fire, but was extnguished without
material damage. A building in the rear, on
Theatre alley, took fire from the heat, but a
single stream of water at once extngushed il.
la one hour and three quarters from the
time the fire was discovered, the flames was
subdued, with loss of property to the amount,
including the costly costumes Of the Theatre, |
OF probably 100000. 1t is twenty-cght years
since the Park Theatre were burned, and yes
tcrday was the anniversary of the great fire OF
1885, when an enormous amount of property |
was destroyed