The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-12-08
THE GREAT CA LAMlTY.
FURTHER PARTICULARS OF THE
BURNING OF TTzE RR00Hk-
7 LYN THIEATRE. ~, ,,zs5t 81
HE VICTIMS.
Over Three Hundred Lives Probably
s 8 Lost.

Over Three Hundred Lives Probably
h :; Lost.
SCENES AND INCIDENTS.
CONDENSED from the S dss York papers Of ss''Sr
When the flames In the ruins Of the
Brooklyn Theatre were finally suppressed,
Chief Nevins, OF the Fire Department, went
to what had been the main entrance III
Washington street. Picking his way over
the piles OF debris that encountered the
floor, he penetrated distance OF about
twenty feet, and found that all the rest OF
the floor had been burnt away. Here he
discovered the body Of a woman OF large
stature, the fingers clutching with
death-grasp the shattered fragments OF the
door that stood near where the floor had
given way. She had evidently made a des-
perate struggle to escape, and had it not
been 3or the flooring giving way beneath
| would have succeeded IN saving herself,
Her, features were terribly disfgured, 50 as
to be unrecogniZable,2 and the lower part Of
! the body was charred. The firemen were
Mortified at the sight. and. its suggestion Of
what they might yet discover, and care
| iul search was st once begun. The theatre
was built nearly in the shape Of an L,
the main part OF the building having
frontage OF about seventy-ive. feet
On johnson street, while the arm, which
was about twenty feet wide, ran into Wash
inston street, and was used as the main en-
trance to all parts Of the theatre. The fire.
men commenced their search from the en-
trance, and slowly removing az immense
mass OF debris OF every description that lay
I,opz f1,nxy 1fcn or n
number of bodies, all, like that first discoy-
cred, horribly distigured and burnt. With
the utmost care and reverence the bodies
were removed from the ruins, placed in
rude, open boxes, covered with sheets, and
taken to the morguc. In all about twenty
bodies were discovered IN this spot.
TIE SCENES OF TERRIB LIE EXCITEMENT
witnessed in the neighborhood Of the DOOM
ed theatre and the morgue are July de-
scribed below. Lists corrected up to late
hour are also given of those reported miss
ing by their friends, and Of thosewho have
been identified. tos ether with descriptions Of
articles found on unknown bodies which may
lead to their Identification. a few minutes
before midnight the bodies Of MIR.
Murdoch and Mr.. Burroughs were found
under the stage. They were not
removed to the morgue. The tes-
timony taken by Fire-Marshal Kea-
dy tends to show that large majority OF
the people who have persisted were sufo-
Gated while struggling in the narrow pas
sage-way leading out OF the top gallery.
But few of those who occupied seats in the
| lower part OF the house were Injured. n II =
STORY OF THE FIRE.
Some person inthe audience shouted that
the theatre was on fire, and the alarming
crv Of " ire a.! fire !" was caught up by those
in the family circle and the gallery. until 1t
was echoed and rcGchoed from pit to dome.
Those OF the audience who could retain
their presence OF mind, in response to the
advice Of the actors, resumed their seats,
but it was only for few seconds, and
then began an indiscriminate rush for
the doors. The books OF the boX-ottice
show that there were in the theatre over one
thousand persons, two hundred and fifty OF
whom were seated in the orchestra and par
Duet, three hundred and fifty in the dress
circle, and four hundred and five in the up
per gallery. Within three minutes after the
discovery OF the fire this mass OF human
beings was clambering over the seats and
over each other in their frantic endeavors to
reach the exits. The entrances and corrl-
doris to the lower part OF the house, which
. lead out to Washington street, are by no
means commodious, but nevertheless the
crush in them was small compared with
that at the exit from the upper gallery. .....
In less than twenty minutes after the
sounding OF the first alarm the mansard
roof fell in with crash, carrying with it to
the cellar both the upper gallery and the
: dress-circle with their freight OF human
beings. Before the falling OF the roof some
OF the inmates endeayored to get through
: the windows, but so far as known only
one succeeded, and he jumped to the roof
OF the station-house.r Another, who was
Immediately behind him, only succeeded in
catching hold OF the sill OF the window
when the smoke. and flame forced him
to relax his hold, and he fell back into, tue
burning cauldron beneath him to share the
fate of tn ose who had not succeeded in get
ting even so slight chance Of safety.
Soon the major portion OF the Johnson
street or southeriy wall fell, crushing be
meath it a brick house and covering the
street with debris. g.. =. -.# t1e
ExIUM1NG THE BODIES. .,.f
From the front entrance on Washington
street for a distance Of about thirty feet the
floor remained unburned, and at this point
the work OF removing the bodies was COM
menced. Occasionally two or three men,
smirched and Llackened from head to foot,
would come up out Of the smoke, bearing
between them dark, shapeless mass, which
q few short hours before had been human
being full OF life and strength. AS the
work progressed and the smoke became less
dense, the undertakcrs' cases were pushed
down along the gangway, and the bodies
placed in them and decenty covered before
being taken up. Many men who anXiously
stroye, and even fought, to obtain an en-.
trance turned sick when they had looked
once on the CHASTITY heap OF the dead.
Passing down into the ruins among the
tremen the sight was completely appalling.
Ones powers Of thought and speech were
paralyZed.
About noon the body Of Officer Patrick
McKeon, of the Sanitary squad, was taken
from the ruins. He was detailed in the gal
lery of the theatre, and died in the per-
formance OF his duty. Mr.. 3lcKeon leaves
a wife and four children. 1t is belived that
of the 400 persons in the gallery not more
than 100 escaped. The stairway was very
narrow, as will be seen by reference to the
plan, and had tortuous bend Just over the
/ entrance to the main corridor. -
i At I O'Clock last evening all the bodies
J which had fallen through from this pas
sage-way when The gallery gave way had
! not been recovered. About O'Clock a party
commenced the work of eXhuming the
| !, 1t, ,,,d,r tha onrri1or on thp east side