The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1861-09-20
TerrIbIe Accident at a PhiIadeIphIa
Theatre. q
FoURTEEx BALLET GIRLS BuRNED-sIx
- DEATHS &5
From the Philadelphia Press. /

From the Philadelphia Press
An accident of frightfnl fatality occurred
at the Continental Theatre, in w alnnt street,
on Saturday night. Since the destruction
Of the National Theatre, some years ago, we
have had no theatrical matters SO terrible
to recount. A few weeks ago Mr. William
Wheatley, an oldAnd fayoFite actor and man
ager, leased and re6tted the place. At
great expense he produced the stage edition
of Shakspeare's " Tempest and devoted
unusual means to perfecting the scenic and
mechanical arrangements, The ballet corps
was numerous. Ta saa t-agz ct sa -a7-15
All at once those accustomed to witness
ing show pieces saw an unnecessary light
glaring over the top of the rear scene.a
Before they had time to speculate upon 1t
a number of men in shirt sleeves (stage car
| penters) ran upon the stage, and, while the
| confusion grew moRlentarilY, "a sharp scream
4 rang upon the ears of the people, and a wo-
| man in ballet costume, with her dress on
| fire, emerged from the side scenes, waving
| her arms above her head. In moment
she fell into the abyss where the ship was
riding. At the same time succession of
screams ensued. TrincuIo suddenly ceased
to joke, and dropped into the water, while
Stephano forgot to be drunk, and became as
sober as judge. =. ls3...s - =73a-
The girls we're dressing for the ballet
The dressing rooms adjoin SAMSON street.
and, in dressing-Eoom at the Northwest
! corner of the building the Misses Gale were
/ adjusting themselves for the ballet fer
/ Act II. Miss leila Gale, one of the sisters,
/ stood upon q settee to reach her dress, and,
1 when in the act of handing it down, the
i flame of gas from an adjacent tube set it on.
j fire; the fame communicated to her under
4 clothes, and she was all ablaze in an in
i slant. Her sisters rushed up to extinguish
4 the fire, and they. too, were ignited. The
/ fire mounted to their arms and breasts, in
4 ficting terrible burns. Panic-strieken they
rushed from the room through a narrow
2 passegeway, into the next dressing room,
filed with ballet-ladies, The cause dresses
4 of these blazed up directly, and screaming,
4 struggling, wrestling, the poor creatures
either turned and leaped from the windows
4 into SaBsOme street. or ran hither and thith-
4 er, calling for assistance. a
= Miss Zella Gale, with her clothing on FIRE
and uttering loud screams, ran down stairs
and upon the stage, behind the scenes, fall
ing below the stage level, where she was
caught in the arms Of Mr.. Thomas Bayard,
. the carpenter of the theater. Mr.. Bayard,
in attempting to extnguish the FIRE with a
tsea-cloth," was himself burned about the
!, hands and arms. -
Miss Clara Clifton was caughtlin the arms
of the bystanders having leaped down and
4 escaped unhurt, her clothing not having
taken Ere. saaF. sa.s-u %
j Miss Hannah Gale did not jump from the
window until she was badly burned, and
:. when she leaped she fell to the ground upon
her back, and sustained severe injuries from
the fall as we'll as from her burns She
was carried into Greer's tavern, near by,
1ba1 la al /
ton at late hour. On Sunday, at ten
o'clock, she expired at the hospita,in great
agony.sftC- ..Fs.-,, ,rsr.st .sss-.--zh
Miss Anna Nichols in her fright Jumped
from a platform to the stage, distance of
!. about ten feet. She will not recover.
! Miss Abby Carr was burned about the
breast and waist Phebe Forbs died in the
morning at nine o'clock Miss Anna Nc
Bride died at six o'clock in the morning
Misses Adeline Gale and Ruth Gale are bad
: II y burned. These cases are not hopeless
Mrs. Mary E. Hermon will not live. Her
, husband watched her up to a late hour last
night. Miss Anna Phillips died during
Sunday afternoon Kate Harris was hurns
z slightly. - II .1.e
The Misses Gale were young ladies of pre-
90 possessing appearance They were excel
! lent dancers They were English by birth
and they first appeared professionally in
, this city in the Rouzani troupe, at the time
Faust was brought out as a ballet at the
: Academy of Music.
Six of these burned women had died III
) to midnight last night, and four more are
: not expected to survive the next twenty,
four hours All of them suffered terribly
calling for water most piteously, and main
9 tanning their senses unimpaired to the last
/ | Mr.. and Mrs. " beatty were in the hospital
= | throughout, ministering to their necessities
and doing al. in their power to make theiI
: last moments peaceful. The matter was
= purely accidental and no stigma can in any
q way be cast upon the management