St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-12-15

The great disaster was the sole topic o
conversation in every quarter, and busi
ness of all kinds was at a standstill
From an early hour, thrOngs surgel
from all directions to the scene of the
cont1agration, and thousands of people
fingered in Washington street, betweel
Myrtle avenue and Johnson street anG
i'll the vicinity. The anxious crowd
took possession of the sidewalks, and
talked of the calamity. The traffic ot
vehicles through the ill-fated district
was entirely suspended, except for the
undertaker's wagons, which came and
went with dreadful regularity on theil
ghastly work of removing the charreG
remains and transferring them to the
mOIgue. Among the crowd were hun
dredS of men and women looking for
missing friends. 1t was necessary, OF
course. in most instances to DENY them
admission to the ruined building, and
the police directed them to 90 to the
mOrgue. Files of policemen were sta
toned at the various approaches to the
RUNS, and admission was denied to all
persons who were not directly engaged
i'll the search for bodies and the work of
removing them. Incidents of the most
distressing nature occurred. Mothers.
wild with grief, rushed through the
crowd, bewailing the loss of clildI Ell.
and begged the officers to allow them
to enter the building. During the long
continued excitement numerous acci-
dents occurred, but none of them of IL
serious nature.
FORMER DISASTERS OF THE SAME SORT.
This disaster is the greatest of the
kind that has occurred in this country
III loss of life, but l.OOU perishcd in the
burning of theatre at SaragOsSa,
Spain, in l772, us many in an Italian
theatre in 1874, 500 at the Palais Royal
in Paris in l7Sl. 500 in an Amsterdam
play house III the same year with the
SaragoSSa catastrophe, and 600, the
largest on record, in the burning of Il
cathedral at Santiago, Chill. in 1868.
The Holy Oke disaster of Il wear and IL
halt ago will at once occur to many of
our readers is possessing many points
of similarity, where 73 persons lost THEN
lives in Il pani,' caused by the burning
of the French Catholic church. Theatres
are particularly liable to he lost in this
way from the number of lights used in
dramatic representations and the in
ftamnahlc nature of the SCENERY and
other fixtures, and no less than 40
large theatres have been DESTROYED bN
fire in this country since 1877 The
most famous contiagrltion of this sort
WAS the burning of the Richmond (Na.D
theatre. i'll ISL, at which the governor
Of the state. q. W. Smith. and 20 others
hnI
plain building. rectangular in form. and
about 800 people of the best society in
Richmond had assembled to witness Il
new and gorgeouSly mounted panto-
mime on the benefit night of one of the
most popular actors named Placidc.
DurIng the first act. some of the light
scenery was swayed lay the wind against
the large chandelier. which WAS then
used to light the stage. but the audi
ence did not know it till one uf the
actors told them. The flames quickly
caught i'll the woodwork of the stage.
and the audience, rushing in Il mad
panic for the single narrow door, which
waS the only exit in front of the house.
were wedged ineXtricahly in IL strug-
Cling. helpless mass. Suffocated bv the |
smoke and burned 10y falling flakes of
wood and canvas. Those in the rear
persisted miserahly. while many who |
escaped died of their injuries or were
manned for life. The Monumental
Episcopal church, built 10y the friends |
IF the victims. commentaries the disaS-
IeI and its site to this day. and 50 dcep
was the feeling created by the accident .
hat no other theatre was opened in the |
'lty tor IL Years. Singularly enough. |
1 grandfather of Miss Kate ClaXton. |
>penccr III. Cone, WAS one of the actors
'n this occasion, and had miraculous
'Scape tl"m being burned alive. He
ltterward left the stage and became IL
Baptist minister. In the burning of
he Quebec Theatre Royal, in lS46. Il .
ives were lost. and several panicS have
occurred more recently with smaller
o>>eS of life. New York has lost nine
heatre> within the last quarter cen
ury. involving a money loss of =. 500
'Oo. hut. happily. no sacrifice of life
Brooklyn has previously lost only one
heatre 10y fire, ioolcy'S old theatre.
which was burned. l3 years ago.