The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1862-01-03

J L0uAL 4
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Tksatr1 Yssesrd1y nenl4g, g 49, -
Suss a,elDeks some perasa pag0e zen.
BrcsA aFssn,saw aamse Issuing from thae
building and rave the alarm Of frs. II =
vsry nkurt Tins TN whole STRUCTURE was en-
veloped in sheet Of fame, and when The. an
kino1 arf6Ssd npon the ground u was AfouAA
impossible to do much else than endeav0r %
save' the u6ioininx properly. The ASe spesd-
Nv comnusisatsdto he block Of buiidiDgs on
the east, The first Of which, occupied by Da.
yid A. Brown, saddler and harness nsker, and
Destroyed, WIN. II. Davidson's Hotel, the
next tenement, wa partially burnt, and the
clothing store Of 4. W. Nelson, adjoining,
somewhat damaged. The roof Of the brick
building on Grace street, below 9TH, owned
by DR.. e. Thomas, and occupied by Thomas
Lawson end John N. Lindsay, took IRE, and
the furnl Re was moved out No great Dam.
aSes was done here, except BY water and
brsakaee. Mr.. Lawson, who wss sick In his
house, was removed to the residence OF ":
Bolton, in the neighborhsod- The rear wall
Of the theatre fell and crushed two small
frame buildings, owned by Green & Allen,
one Of which was occupied BY VIM Wildt,
msnufacturer Of military buttons, and tho
other, we believe, a. spaiut shop. Thisprop-
erty was not very valuable.
Mr. j. H. Hewitt, manager, and Mr.. X.
Ogden, one of the actors, were asleep IN the
office on the second door, front, OF tho theatre,
when the Ere broke ont, and did not awake
until it was close upon them. They rushed
down stairs with euch clothing - they could
hastily secure, but returned aga1 to save
sum Of money (about 5000 which Mr. Hewitt
had locked mp in an escrltoir. They could
not accomplish this, however, and hsd q mar.
row escape themselves through the flames,
both having their hair singed, and Mr. H. be-
ing 1eyerely burnt on the face and hands.
Tho eecritoir was afterwards taken out
through the window, which was reached ~
means Of ladder, and was about the only
article saved from the building.
The theatre was undoubtedly set fre to on
The stage, and perhaps in several places at the
same tlme-at least This 10 y reasonable infer.
ence frvm the rapidity with which it was con.
sumed. Tt ere were NO fires made in the stoves
on the previous night 1t is true there were
some discharges of musketry in one OF the
plays, lthe Lay Fort,) but Mr.. Dalton, the
Stage manager, remained in tho green-room
for An hour and half after the performance
closed, and had there been any fire resulting
from that cause it would have developed itself
before he left. While the theatre was barn.
ing, one of the members Of the orchestra went
into the alley below the theatre, with view
TO saving some of the musical instruments, and
found window open, which, we are assured,
was closed the night previous. Its stated that
a negro man was seen to jump out OF WILL
dow into this alley, but no effort was made to
TO detain him. At O'Clock Mr.. Crone, of the
night watch, passed the building and found
everything quiet, and nothing To indicate the
approach of disaster In less than an hour
tsom that time it was in flames, lighted, we
doubt not, by the torch of an incendlary
The theatre ls y complete wreck-notbing
left but q portion of the walls. All the val.
liable scenery, painted by the elder Grain,
Getz, Hellge. and Italian artists en- Dyed
by George Jones ali the wardrobe ana pro.
perty," including some costly furniture and
decorations; rich oil paintings aud steel por-
traits of celebrated dramatlsts; manuscript
plays, operas, and Oratori0s, all are involved
IN the common destruction. Miss JENNIE lay
ior. the custodian of the wardrobe, lost about
81 200 worth individually, while the whole
stock wardrobe under her care, part Of which
belonged to kunkel g. Monkey, and part to
AIRS. McGill, was probably worth from 81 LOW
70 5000 Some members Of the company
lost quite heavily-Messrs. Ogden and Dalton
several hundred dollars worth in books ana
wardrobe. Mr.. Loebman, leader, and others,
of the orchestra, lOst between $500 and 500
liz instruments and sheet music. The instru-
ments destroyed were one bass VOL, three
violins, TWO French horns. and two drums
Thos. Halstead, machinist, (now in services at
Gloucester Point,l and Frank Ellers, stage
carpenter, each lose $500 to 500 in tools, &c.
Mrs. Elizabeth McGlH, the last owner, pur-
chased the theatre in May, 1855, for SIS, 900,
when property, particularly of that descrip-
ton, would not command its value at public
sale. Since that period, many costly improve
ments have been made upon it, and we sup
pose that $50 600 would not more than make
good her loss. Her insurance is SIS 900, d.
vided among five Offices, az follows: Abe
marie, 5000; Jefferson, 5000; Lynchburg
Hose Company, 5000; Merchants, $4,000
Ricsmons. Fire Association, ST, 600.
TIE theatre was built in 1915 or 10, BY Ma
ior Christopher Tompkins, for joint stock
company. under whose control it rem aimed
nntil 1898, when it was purchased by Col. s.
s. Myers. It was known, until recently, az
the :. Marshall Theatre" The season lately
inaugurated bid fair TO be the mo stp1oftable
in its history, but its career has been suddenly
brought to disastrous termination. We
learn, however, that it is the purpose Of the
owner to rebuild, as soon as circumstances
will allow.
The building occupied by Mr.. Brown, on
the east, was owned by Mrs. James Raw.
lings. The loss is about S, 600, probably in
suled. Mr.. Brown, we are informed, saved
the larger portion of his stock Mira. Jack.
son's lo.a may be 1900
j. n. Lyneman, the owner Of the building
occupied by w. II. Davidson, il insured for
81, 900 in the Mutual Office, which will probs.
s., 900, ON which there is q small Insurance.
N. w. Nelson's house is insured for Ct, 900
in the Mutual, and his stock for $1,000 each
in the Marine and Merchants. He loses but
little from fire or water, though in moving, q
good many articles were stolen. The kitchen,
worth about $3.50, was burnt His loss NAV
DO SGT down ut $3.50.
Bitter l. Hauser, and other occupants of
tenements on Eth street, suffered come damage
BY the removal Of their stock and furniture.
The only lives lost by the con6agrati0n were
three dogs, tied in the yard in the rear of
Browns saddlery.
A vast number of persons assembled yes.
terday to view the ruins, and, except in = few
unehAritable instances, there was general
expression Of regret at the loss Of that ''popu-
lar institution the theatre.
Mayors Court Recorder Caskie conducted
the ceremonies in the temple Of municipal
Justice Yesterday, and the first individual who
presented himself was Geo. Volkers, charged
with making an assault upon Ann Carter
Being unable TO furnish the required security,
he Was committed to Jail Ann Carter was
then called to answer charge of keeping .
disorderly and ill-governed house; and she,
being unable to find q friend willing to give
surety in the sum of $50 for her good bsha.
vior, was ikewise sent down. John Frsvis,
for drunkenness and disorderly conduct, had
to submit to similar fate John Casey and
Jeremiah Coughlin were each fined $i0 for
huiQg turnips in the second market and sell.
lug Them again, contrary to the ordinance.
Negro Hiriag.-This business, which NAV
be termed tho '.annual perplexity,' of house