National Republican., 1873-01-29

in the day, and they did good service in seeing
that no unauthorized parties took goods TO which
ties were captured, hut the oficers were COM
PEELED TO allow them to depart.
In front Of the theatre some excitement wfl
to 20 beyond the rope Spe " when ordered to do So
Soon after the crowd enjoyed themselves In |
laughing at the foreman Of the hook-and-ladder |
company, who attempted to reach the top OF tho |
building by ladder some inches too short; then |
they laughed at party on whom the full force |
Of . stream Of water was thrown, while being |
turned from one place TO another.
In the hotel lots Of thirsty boys tried 10 steal
drink by playing nremen, and were surprised to
md the bar closed on, as they expressed 1t, such
and special case, was that Of a gentleman guest
In the Imperial, who was awakened by some
parties, and angrily inquired, "what In hell is
found out, and didn't take much time to make
his toilette. Capt. Frank Holllngshead, who
occupied the room in the hotel which was frst
attacked by FIRE, had some time before sent a
man up for his trunk, but when he arrived the
trunk was gone, and has not yet been found
The ladies' charged around In lively manner,
lAmentinR the occurrence at first, and when the
damage was over, amusing themselves In looking
at the havoc made within and without by nre and
water.
The Damages
sustained by the several losers have been va
rOusly estimated, and II will be several days he
fore any correct estimate can be made, hut In
general terms they are about as follows: Mr.. W.
that II cost him about 900, and nXes his loss
At about ts0,OO0, covered by an insurance Of
10000, mostly In Northern companies, and In
small amounts In each, which will Insure n
| speedy settlement. lie has also 5000 In the
| Globe Of London. II was only last Monday that
he paid the sum OF 81 900 In renewal OF some OF
| the policies. In the orchestra was hno upright
knabe piano, the property Of Mrs. Rcichenbach,
| worth 5000, which was destroyed.
| The Oates company lose some Of the ward
robes used the night previous In "Fortunio," and
few OF the properties, amounting In all to less
than 81 800, the music being all saved, Manager
sayilles loss cannot be estimated, but he places
| u at about %, 900, covered with small insurance
! Messrs. Gross and Shehan, stage carpenters,
lose their tools and some other property, valued
In all at about $500. Mr.. Jas. Lockhead, the gen.
tleman who had charge OF the calcium light, loses
Messrs. Miller Jones, proprictors OF the bill.
llard-room and the sample-room below, had most
Of their stock so much damaged that II Will be
unnt for use 10 thew In the future. They are In
sured for between 5000 and 1900 In several
companies, and propose TO make arrangements
to reopen ut an carly day In some suitable
The damage to the hotel, which was almost
entirely by water, Is variously estimated at from
5000 to $4,000, covered by Insurance; and Mr..
Sykes wishes It distinctly understood that the
accident will not In the least interfere with his
business, and that he is now ready to receive
them with meals, There may he other losers,
but they have not yet appeared.
THE BUIIDINu ur-AfP
Mr.. Adolf Cluss. superintendent Of buildings.
appeared M tue scene after the nre had been
eNiinguished, and took survey OF the premises
In his oificial capacity. After carefully viewing
all the different points he gave II as his opinion
that the building had always been unsafe, as the
side walls, with all the pressure they had to sus-
tain, were only fourteen inches thick, the exits
not ample, aud the main stairway leading TO the
dress circle entirely inadequate In case the fire
had occurred during q performance with a
/ crowded house. In addition to this they had
been built Without regard to safety, and had a
fire begun under them they would have fallen In
few moments, He at once gave orders that all
the walls be pulled down, so that In the event Of
a new building entirely new walls would have Ia
! be built.
as ever, deserve all possible credit for the
bravery and endurance they exhibited. There
: was no spot too hot, or no point too dangerous
for them to enter, and IL IL to their lahors that
the citizens have the satisfaction Of knowing
that the Ore was confined as II was,
There were, however, several things clearly
demonstrated by the event, chief among them
being the fact that had the nte gained headway,
latter not paid for Is entirely inadequate for such
a city as this, and II is only wonderful that II did
not spread TO the hotel and the adjoining build.
ings.
Harmed tho Third Time.
There seems to he a fatality about this spot
I and the buildings erected on II, for this Is thu
fourth time nre has visited them, and, strange tt
! ! saw Just at this period Of the year. The nrsi
firc was on the night Of the 5th OF March, 1875
the building then being famous as one OF thu
largest In the country, the front being adorned
with a colonnale " large pillars with wOoder
caps, which, when ignited, presented a wonder
fui effect. On the night Of the FIRE the perform
ance was "Beauty and the least," with the ther
famous comedian, Charles Burke, as the Beast
Luckily no one was injured In the hurried exit
hut II was told Of Mr.. Burke that when discov
cred he was IN his costume on the top OF his
] hotel, corner Thirteenth and y streets, pouring
water on the shingles to prevent them from
lgnltinR.
10 1857 the theatre was rebuilt for the adven,
, Of Jenny Lind, and afterwards leased by Mcssrs
! Kunkel, Ford and Moxley, with Miss Fanny Mo
, rant as manager, and under this management Il
! continued until February q, 1857, on the after
: noon Of which II was again burned.
: After allowing the ground to remain idle for
I long time, (being used occasionally for circuses
the war broke out, and an amphtheatre, rudell
constructed, was erected, which In turn gayI
way to the new National theatre, built in Is62
! and opened on the 22d OF April Of that year by
Mr. Leonard Groyer with the play Of the "se
riOus Family" Several Years later II fell into IN,
Y hands Of Mr.. Z. u. Hess, and was run by hin
= ! until the assassination Of Mr.. Lincoln, when 4
was closed for the season.
: Messrs. Spalding Rapley then took chargt
In the capacity OF managers, and after a yea
= Mr.. Spalding became the sole lessee. and he wa
\ two seasons ago succeeded by Mr.. Sayille, III,
: present manager, who expended consideTahl,
E money in ftting il up in proper style. The thea
: tire building proper was 100 feet by i5O and al
: joining the stage was brick building 25 feet ~
81 In which were the green room and Othe
rooms. The seating capacity was about 1850
. there being besides the orchestra seats, par
qlette row, with dress circle above and owe
Z that one gallery. In front were the restaurant
: and places Of business noticed above, the en-
trance to the theatre being IN the centre.
: The East Niahi,
3 The last night o. the performance at the Ma
tiOnal was unusually pleasant. The popularity
= Of Mrs. Oates had drawn one OF the largest aul
: diences Of the season, as was evident even 4
an outsider by the long line Of people who for al
n hour patiently awaited their turn at the box OF
e nee. Even before they entered the house peOpl
o aaRmRl a he haDnV with the unfFlDatlOn Of fh
= enjoyable performance which they felt was Il
e store for them. As consequence eyerybOd
was In good humOr-the tiCket-selleT, the door
{ tender, the usher-all wore smile upon thei
l. countenance as the patrons OF the theatre passe
: In and deposited themselves in their seats.
THE SCENE IN THE AUDITORIUM
was also one long TO he remembered. BY 1880 tn
d seats were nearly all taken, and % the time wor
on they continued TO OIL IN rapidly, and by elgh
G o'clock not an empty seat either In the Orchestr
i Or circle was discornbe, II was fne audience
d too, Us well as Jolly one. Looking at the counte
V nances OF those present, many that were yer
q a1mV and pe psSy oieers T senators mem6eTs met
Is Congress, Judges and other high dgnitaries o
: both city and State. In one OF the boxes at tn
r, left sat the lne and braye-lOOkinR Gen. lIaZen
e with his young and beautiful wife, while In
box at the other side were the family Of Senate
stockton. All were pleasantly Willing away IN
d time that ntervened until the rising OF the cuI
Q tain. Yet not one OF them, probably, conceive
/ the idea that they were present at the last per
n Torrance to be held In that pretty temple OF tn
y uFhnh,
c The lre was even then almost klndlei ye
J. there they all sat chatting, nOddlnB to friend
Z seated In other parts OF the house, perrin
through lorgnettes or glancing at the lively bill
: Of the play. In the meantime the orchestra ha
d appeared and played number Of beautiful airs
g Then the gas was turned on In full force tn
II stage managers bell was heard to tlnkle, an
e the curtain arose on the nrst scene OF "FOrtu
o MO-" which, singulary enough, was a very inaT
n prOpriate closing piece for the unfOrtunat
u theatre.
THE PERFORMANCE.
The beginning OF the 1rst scene possessed bu
g little novelty Tor the audience, In few inc
d ments, however, a door In the drop scene ne'
u open, and like fairy, out slipped the little mis-
= chieylOus Mrs. Oates, In pretty costume
= noticeable for the shOrtness OF Its skirt. He
!. appearance was the signal for hearty applause
0 which the pert actress acknowledged with one o
J. her short, quick bows. Her face was wreathe
= IN smiles, which showed her pretty white teeth
Is her step was as agile as deer's, uhe word nigh
Q also be spelled with an a. and her Jolly lAug
u and TUllicklng don Nt-care-a-snap swing OF IN
+ body put everybody In the best OF humOr, for
was evident that their previous antlclpatiOns o
an evening OF real fun were TO be fully Carrie
n out,
e Then came the Jolly king, with his red nose
Il his cOmical face, his tpsy swaRger and his funn
r makeup, to add TO the jOllity OF the occasion
: HOwson, too, with his impersOnAtiOn Of the fdi
9 but rather aged princess came on with his eN