The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1876-12-22
DESPERATE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE
Heartrending Scene in the City Of
Churches Tales by Men Who Were
Inside the Burning Play. House.


we're in the gallery of the Brooklyn
rheater at the time of the disaster is
and horrible. Alfred A. I
Jones gives the following account Of the
'cene: / was seated next to the front
'ow, but, seeing that something was
wrong on the stage. moved up to the
of the tier. While my back
vas turned shrieks were heard, and the
mass Of people in the gallery arose in
Wild confusion. / cannot describe the
scene as it was. They were climbing
over seats, gripping each other by the
and struggling frantically TO get
ahead of one another. ! saw one man
smash fellow in the face who would
not yield to him in the passage, and a
big, powerful woman tore her way
through and came toward me with
any clothes on her back, and
with blood streaming from her nostrils
wedecentlooking boys got together in
the front row, and I saw them Chamber
ing over the seats and squeezing their
bodies through the crowd. One of
them was thrown down, and the other
turned and called him wildly by name.
] got down among the first that escaped,
and didn't wait to see what happened.
A tall, stout man, who said he was a
truckman. gave very vivid description
of the scene. "When the uproar be-
gan," he said, 81 was seated in the aisle.
about the middle of the gallery, and
three or four seats from the front. ]
never saw anything like it. All the
people In the. gallery seemed to be
crowding one on top of the other. There
were men there who seemed perfectly
frantic. The yells and shrieks shall
never forget to my dying day. My
wife is down stairsn one man cried out.
'let me get her ontp Were all safe if
you'll only be orderlyp another cried.
At the same time, however, he was max
ing the most strenuous exertions to get
through the throng. The weakest went
down one after another, and the strong
est rushed recklessly over them. ]
could actually hear the bones cracking
as the men jumped on the writhing,
struggling, helpless mass beneath them.
The cries that ascended amid the uproar
were heartrending., -.
"'My God! have mercy on me- one
voice repeated several times. One man
managed to crawl from a heap of pros
trate bodies, but the struggling throng
rushed against him, and he spun round
towards me and fell almost at my feet.
! tried to lift him, but he groaned once
or twice and gave few gasps, and all
was over. When saw it was to be life
or death, made for the door. All I've
been telling took place in few seconds,
but there is picture in my mind ]
could not paint. When / got out ]
walked over bodies three or four feet
deep" ....-.-,a
Philip Wanser was among the very
last to get out of the gallery. He gives
!, the following account oft caiamity:"l
got'in from the row near the stage. / Isav
the fire from the very first. As looked uT
! to the gallery the scene was the most ter
! rife. that one could imagine. Men ant
boys were tearing one over another, ant
T the shrieks and oaths were awful. On,
: man clambered up the heap, was spul
round and round on the heads Of tn
D throng, and flung with afcrash coul,
e distinctly hear against the back of tn
e gallery. Every one was for himself
: and men seemed to become wild beasts
n They were threatening and tearing on
n another with their hands. Seats wer
D piled with PROSTATE human beings, ane
# as successful strugglers forced their wa
!. over the gasping forms that lay a
e around, others who had been crushed I
e insensibility fell as they lost the SUI
+ port of the living. There was nothin
~ ioA ~ ous 'oA ySSAiy anu soihc othei
D. who had waited, to walk over the pill
n of bodies on the floor. They were ELI
perry with blood. Hands and feet we
protruded here and there, which sho,
l ed that life was still in some of ther
a. By this time the smoke was dense, al
a the noise and shouting from the low
'e part of the house was terrible. I al
'e some others managed to get to the stai
way, and we went down in a mass-ho
a. I couldn't tell you. All this ha
"' been describing took place in less TIL
We two minutes. One man who got out
40 the crowd just before me.skowed ME
'ai arm, which had been bitten almost
eh the bone" s.= X
l's =.
he An act of civillity performed abe
er. four years ago, in Columbus, Ohio,
on lately met with handsome reward.
by correspondent thus tells the story: &C
sit cold, rainy morning, an old gentlem
it with cane in each hand, and basl
up on his arm, was going up an alley
act tween Town and Rich streets. ]
ma. pavement was one sheet of ice, and 81
ter denly the old gentleman's feet few fir