The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1870-01-27
THE VARIETIES OCCURRED THERE

| SsiiN "AS'o " civ
exceedingly promiscuous audience slit
ed from the sans -culotte and the demi
monde, and every other class in tn
community. Last night there was
full assembly when the storm burs
down upon the city. The rush Of TIN
rain and the sound Of the wind an(
thunder soon broke the spell of tn,
performance. Then, as the wind in,
creased and the furious gusts shook tn,
building, and there was heard thu
straining, creaking sound caused b,
great pressure, the men looked at eacl
other inquiringly, the play began te
drag and y hush pervaded the assembly
Finally there came a savage blast, th'
theater building seemed to shiver, an(
the audience became alarmed and star
tied. At this moment fearful crasl
sounded. A crash as of Il yielding wal
and breaking beams. 1t WAS part o
the theater. In second arrested at
tention was metamorphosed into tho
widest panic, and then came the fran
tic rush for escape, there being all thai
desperate struggle and unreasonable
ness Of effort which generally chArac
terize such events. Each one thought
only Of himself, and how to get out Of
the falling building. The approaches
to the doors became closed by con.
fused, screaming mass Of scared hu
manity, while those who were fortunate
enough to be nearest the doors tum.
blcd down stairs hcadIong, or any
other way they could, and communca
ted the alarm outside. But, rs always
is the case, the number behind in the
building that could not get out was by
far the largest, and the scene was pity
ful and appalling. A rush was made
for the windows; scores men jumped
over into the parquetto and made their
way to the stage. The side windows
opening on the alley were burst open,
and uen precipitated themselves to the
ground, height Of fifteen or twenty
feet, with perfect rccklcssness OF limb
and life. The carpenter tried to pro-
vide a ladder. but lie was pitched one
side, the more expeditions method Of
jumping being preferred, and so the
window for quite Il time continued to
vomit forth its living stream Of fright
ened men. But it was at the maiu exit
doors and stuirways where the worst
crush occurred. Here the jam was
perfectly fearful, and numerous injuries
are reported. Men were thrown down
or fell and were trampled upon by the
insane panic stricken mob, or crushed
against walls until their ribs cracked or
broke as the case may be. Women
tainted, and reached tie open air they
knew not how. The scene is described
by cye-wilnesses rs really awful, but
most fortunately, as far as heard from,
was not attended by any loss Of life.
The police state that several men were
heard to complain Of broken ribs and
Internal injuries, but none were so in
ured rs not to be able to make their
way home. The panic was caused BY
he falling Of chimney in the rear.
SCENE AT THE OLYMPIC.
The gathering at the Olympic Thea
er WAS of y religious character, there
'eing preaching by the Rev. John W.
AS customary, and particu.
arly as this was really the last sermon
" that gentleman, there vas crowded
luhience. highly respectable in charac
cr. The thunder and storm broke
udely in upon the stream of devotion
Il exercises, and the congregation soon
)ecame aware that something unusual
vas going on outside. One gust came
md shook the building as with the hand
If Titan. There was straining
loise overhead, as if the roof was be.
ng crushed in, and then panic lcaped
nto the heads of the hearers. Sp ritual
were forgotten; the lie that
low is claimed, the pre-eminence, and
aint and sinner struggled with the en-
rgy of desperation to escape. The
Gene at the. Varieties was re-cnacted,
'nly not quite to the same extent Of
Wild fear and confusion. There was Il
ush to reach every available mode of
Kit. and the crushing was very. severe.
The doors were broken oa their hinges
nd for few moments 1t seemed rs if
he panic would be attended with Sc
ious personal injury. Fortunately,
owever, except some confusion and
ruises, little damage was done. The
Gene was one that will not be easily
orgotten by those who participated
/ it, and one which is seldom seen i'll
onnecton with religious congrega
on.
Had we time and space to spare we
light fill column with the stories cur.
ent of marvellous incidents. One man
vers that ball of fire as large as the
ugest pumpkin, rushed hissingly
,rh from the ebon clouds, and dc
,ribed an apparent parabola over the
ty. disappearing somewhere in Hi
ois A woman OH Market street as.
lred police sergeant that she saw n
ian caught up into the air. and that
ne didn't see him come down, and it
her belief she entered the region of
ouds. Devoid Of proper curiosity.
owever, she failed TO cali for his name
nd he vanished skyward without lcay-
Ig it behind.
NASHVILLE AND VICINITY.
Never in the memory Of the oldest
lhabitant of thissecton was there such
storm as prevailed Sunday night. 1t
egan to gather at dusk and continued
, grow stronger until s O'Clock, when
,companied by vivid lightning and
eavy thunder, the rain poure down
torrents. This was followed by a
lick fall of hail which popped against
le windows with an energy that car.