Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1871-12-06
LOCAL NEWS.
BURNING OF WALLS OPER, House
An Extensive CouaagraTtOa Lo~~
over s5c, 600 -faiitsg ga the
MAILS


This morning, about ore O'Clock, The brick
building adjoining Wallis Opera House on the
wet, aud oocapi,d by Mr. George W. Bushee 40
junk shop, was discovered % b. hre. Ser
x ant Clayton, OF the police force, al once at
mrtcd 10 turn in an alSrm hon -. but
failed. and then going 20 the hotgs, of Nc. en-
gsne gave an alarm. an ttW inmates after
sarcs that company and Others az the tire de-
psrtms MT were In service, and. notwithstanding
the night Was intensely cold, thes worked man
fully. Il he names. however, found entrance
through the openings i'm the rcar wall OF the
opcia House, n large thrce-sgory bu4lding. aud
scon burning through the foor q the stage com
mnnlcsted 90 the inhsmmabie stage furniture.
which blazed up In inst ant c tire Nifty ran
oug the open work the roOI, ard thvre bling
no lossihle chance OF saving tlc fheater
building west OF Bushels. occupied ~ Mr. p ,
hensolNing a. All agricultural impt m.-ut store
WHICH vas Also m hsmes. la tlis thrs were snc-
chsful- while they were at WORK al this Point
the wtst wall OF the opera HoaSr tsu. and a
young man. named Edward q. GRAY. -..Sitlinc ON
2th sarrtt, near i. Was severely iEjUrc,l. Tie
Vas knocked - useless. and for two hoars showed
no signs OF recovery. For, man Geese s'id several
m, mbers OF No. were NEAR him az the time a.
slso Commissioner McDcSiu, bat they all
escaped injury. When the hrc apparatus first
arrived on the ground No. engine tooA the plug
at the corner OF 9Th aud q strrrts. AfteT ths.
west wall Tell they r,movcd fr,,n thar t.oint a.
IL az dir,ctly under the north wall h u should
fall outward. Al the sane tim. tn t,oliee b.
great efforts succeeded i'm prcsSisc the crowd
hack, aud not a moment too som. ior in q few
Minutes after the space cleared a large por
ZION Of the north all fell. Had % MOT been Tor
the precautions taken 20 clear the ground the loss
OF life wouldhaye been fearful.
The air Was hlled with sparks aud ctaders
caused by the burning of the large na-s OF lighf
combust bic material in the opcra House AMI
stores underneath, and the wind drove the cloui
az IRE directly over the market SHEDS. threaten
ing their destruction. Private Thomas Young.
however, summoned al the ideTs he could Ia
bis assistance. and mounting the roof with
pwras slA Sc. .fT AZ I'll
The Opera House. a three-storv brick build
ing, xas riginslly built by Msssrs. Haslup and
Weedon about the year ls5o ~ a coach factory,
and subsequently as gymnasium. About
fifteen years age the building was purchased bv
Gessrs. Thomas Berry and Francis Mohun, and.
after the gy mnasiun had disbsndrd. IL used
Tor several years AS storeroom and Cor other
purposes. During the war II was lifted up and
run a Varieties Theater, but was closed after
the war. and Messrs. Berry and Wall (the lAtier
gentle man having secured Mr.. Mohan's interest
in the premsesl used IL a storeroom for fur
niture. About six years ago, thinking az coald
be used 10 better advantage, these gentlemen
made certain necessary improvements and re-
pair, and II was opened under the name II
- Wallis Opera House." The theater Va
leased to II. b. Phillips, who opened the place
with Rosetta and full dramatic company.
Wallack and Davenport come next. and under
the management OF Humphrey BLAND, (now
dead,) q roundof the Characters peculiar % those
eminent actors, assisted by Rose Eytinge, were
PLAYED. liz was leased 10 Sandcrson Il Barton
during the season OF 1880, and after that
MT. Thsddeus Barton was, up TO the close OF
the season Of lssO-Tl, the principal lessee.
While he was manager very eminent histrionic
names appeared upon the boards Of Walls
Opera House, among them Madame Marie
Seebacb, Mn. Scott Siddons. and Mrs. Fred w.
Lander; also, the Mrs. James Oates and Lisa
Weber Burles9ue operate Companies, Kelly x
Leon, the walhalla Troupe, Bryant's Ministries.
by Mr.. j. q. Sayille, lessee OF the National, ami
has only been occupied about three weeks i'm
that time. Arrangements, however, had been
<fa.l l.sxr Ca
Risley for reopening next Monday.
Nessrs. Berry n Wall were-insured for $4,000
in home and foreign companies. They est-slate
their loss, independent Of insurance, AZ 81, 900.
MIR. Savile had no stock I'm the theater, and
consequently loses nothing
Mr.. q. w. Bushee, junk dealer, loses stock 20
the amount OF @, goo. His insurance had run
out about I'VE days AGO, and on presenting his
application for renewal the agent informed him
that the underwriters' association Of THE city
had decided TO advance the rates from 4 20
per cent, which he declined to pay, and thus
loses his stock on hand, which, however, had
been reduced greatly by sending away TO New
York. Mr.. j. II. Mead, blacksmith and manu-
fscturer Of iron railing &c, loses all his tools
and fixtures; besides sustaining damage 70 his
gether amounting Ia ~ 500; mo insurance. John
i. kudd, restaurant keeper, loses 5000 DO
insurance. n. kaufman, clothing store. saved
a portion Of his stock, but from goods missing
or by IRE, his loss will be about 81 900.
n. Michaelis, harness maker, loss in good and
nxtures, ABOUT $50. John n. HOLMAN, cabinet
maker, loss 500; no insurance. Geo. Morgan,
horse shoe and nail maker, who rented a por-
ton Of Mr.. Meads' shop, loses about 500 in
tools and material.
Mr. Wall expresses his determination 10 re-
bnild At once. but Is undecided TO whether hs
will adapt the new building TO the purposes OF a
theater.
The fire companies all worked well, and de-
serve great credit Tor their exertons TO cave the
building. Chief Engineer Cronin states that Al
one tine he thought he had the fire completed,
subdued, but soon discovered that il Was work.
ing under the roof OF the Opera House, and be-
fore IL could be reached, burst through in sew
eral places at The same time. Some of the
engines had TO play ON the market, 20 save IL
from destruction, IL having caught fire siN diff
ferent times.
TIN CAUSE OF THE FIRE
ID not fully sscertained. When frst discovered
il was in a recess between Mr.. Bushels Office
and bin, and the flames were not then a foot
high. II h the opinion OF some that the FIRE
originated from the spontaneous combustion Of
a lot OF rags.