, 1866-12-22

Burning Of the New HoxTcry Theatre
The RntloinE Co1nplctcS5 Destroyed.
lFtom The Men York World December III

lFton The Men York World, Deccmbe. 1y.]
II would seem that the era Of great coufla
ETattons, ipaugurated by the burning Of the
Academy Of Mns!c, the Medical College, the
fifteenth Street Dutch Reformed Church,
and other buildings Of note, has not yet
passed nway. since the destruction Of the
Opera Honse net less than forty extensive
t3fes have occurred within the city liaalts,
--..*s.. l"4s nf n,il1iana IT ftotlars ia nnr In
s1rancc companies, and the total demolition
Of some Of the finest and best known build.
ingt IN the metropolis; aud yesterday the
New Bowcry Theatre was swcnt awsy from
our midst by fire, the true origin OF which
has ret TO he asccrtaIped. The fIrc, II an.
Pears, broke out about half past four In the
afternoon, at nn hour, 70, tunAtcly, when but
lew persons wcse IN the building, aud those
pcrfops made good their escape before the
names had spread throughout the bnilllng.
THE FIRE.
vas discovered burning under The stage ol
Inc thcntrc. located on the HoxeFy bctween
Canal and Hester streets. It was trst dis
covered by Mrs. Lewis, who, with seyesa,
other women, was cngugcd In cleaning, thc
lormapcc. Mrs. Lewis had coucluded M her
sabo1s In the front Of the house, aud had
gone on the stage to sweep It, when oae ot
The women perceived smoke asccplinc from
undet the stage in tho nefshborhood Of the
oslIet girls room. The attention OF the rest
H. - "uHen ~ Saiitu 10 1ne matter. aud
Mrs. Lewis started TO descend thc stairY lead.
!ng to tue room from which the tire seemed
10 proceed, but betnse she eould reach thu
stairs, she Was met bY q dense volume Of
dame and smoke, which compelled her to
teat hasty retreat. She Immediately rau
around 10 the front Of the house and notified
covered. Officer Carr Of tie Fourteenth
Bowcry, was informed and po,,ee
Mas at oucc sent to the Metropolitan Repair
Yard, short distance OF, aud alarm siSuai
20 u vas sent from TINT station, and In .
lev moments the fire bells throughout the
meantime the aamee spread With terrible ro-
putty along the stage, among the Immense
quantity ottnilamu1aGl Gle material stoted there.
and, before the tire apparatus arrived in sufs
achnt fcrcc to be OF any service, had com.
mpnicated to the interior OF the buildins.
a. =, 80 Incredibly short SPACE Of time the FIRE,
ied by the light materials that it came in
contact With. bud gained possession Of tho
entire building, and iEmeusc volumes Of
name were gushing out Of all the w1pdowd on
me ffont and 1caF OF the building, rising far
mo lhe e"eninc air, accompanied By light
smekc and sao*ers Of bright sparks.
Thief Engineer kinls1a.d and Assistant
Engineer Pcr1ey. when they arived on the
ground, Indlng that the force on hand was
nol II oil Sufficient 10 check the progress of
The flames, the chief ordered secund aiurm
10 1c sounded, which brought 10 bis mid scr-
eral pow erfnl steamers from the lower dis
tnets, who were soon got to work aud were
inro"inE vast Volumes Of water on the burn.
Ing building. In less than twenty minutes
atscr the fire WAS first discovered the rear wali
on Elizabeth street fell out into the street
T1th.a terrific crash, but fortunately no onewas
injured. Shortly af1er the roof OF the build.
Ing eave way ard tell, also With fearful
GfaiEf md tho Aer4as t}fho-1
hned to The interior, rose bigh INTO The ajr
ior considerable distance above the build
Ing.
At this time the building on Elizabeth
street, Immediately In rear Of the theatre,
TO-. LOOK tire, ana the Fire Department, despair
turned thesz attention 10 the adjoinlnr prop.
est5 ou Elizabeth und Hester streets. aud On
the opposite. which were at one time threat
ened With destruction. Fearing that the Ire
,so. woula spread beyond the power Of The are-
mra iaed On o.aE 1ae ground to check. Chief Kings
Which saon htought to thcecene Of the con,
migration number Of steamers from the m
Per and western suburbs OF the city. Several
steamers were got to work at once, while
Others were held In reserve for auy e.aerren-
i,St St 70 nnaa taxs tas Pisse Of any engine that
The fall Of the side walls Of the theatre
soon followed tbs roof the debEas falling au
aEd crushing In several OF the low buiIdinos
adjoining. At 81 O'Clock the front woT 81
tae thsatre Tell into the BowerJ rather sud
deniy, md several Of the Aremen In frupt Of
By The falling ruins. From this iime the
Bremen gained control Of the flames, aud Al
y o'clock had succeeded ia checkinr ana
saootnE ther Progress, and no further dan-
ser *as appseheudcd. Several stcamers
sta Sese taen hanled Of and Despatched 10 the
ase q whlSh ENC was then burning ii Reade stree,,
70 haeh several steamers had already been
eent* Although the surrounding buiIdlurs
were 90 afe humber of times the nanss
refe as often e1tinEufshed, aud the hnild.
inSs were saved from the destruction IN
"9.en 4es fa,tott. ~ thsatre .uccunbed. "
occupants of the buildings DESTROYED and
damaged, Flth their losses ana insnrancrs
Is eon'd be obtained under the cIscuu,.
~ The Sew Bowe.y Theatre oecuptcd M,
=, -, and 81 % the Bowery and Nos. IS. So
=, and 81 on Elizabeth street. The building
2no n1tnres we're owned by e1Judrc Jnu1rs
Z; f. W Whiting. whose loas Is estimated at |
Ent0. There Is but Partial insurance on
tne building. Mr. Jame4 ". Ljnpard. tbe
lessee, owned the Ecenerr.- wnrdf1he etc l
tno his loss is estimated at &c, 900. lie has
~ an insurance OF 5000, In Baltimore
III. y. B. Clarke, the stage MANAGER had
@ardroee, appointments, DC, III the 1hesIre.
naIen w 1e:c valued Ut 5000, and were
toialy destroyed no lnsursnce.
M ms; l., .: !. Dean: leader Q. the ozrhestzs.
! .ussains loss of g +0oo by the destruction ri
lis orchestral scores, &c. By lis IRE % soree NJ |
III! persons, actors ballet Cfrls, ruus,cians
Ac:. are throkn ont Of employment. Ths
ssnployes at The theatre sustain losses by lie !
ss destruction Of clothing, stage wsrdrobes.
ne:, ,1 amounting In the Aggregate to S, 900, |
AT. Lingatd's library, valued at a. IN I
Ras also totally destroyed '
7eGSERF FOR THE NEW ACAbExY pEsrYorBn.
ihefr WIS oothfus whatever TO Indicate NJ
oeloek that the building won1d Be com
1earsal Of the day had taken place. thr st,ns