The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1876-12-15

At q late hour tonight 2SS bodies have been
recovered.
The city authorities were. In session to-day
10 make aTrang ements for interment In Green
wood Cemetery OF the dead not identified.
The Times SAYS that Fire Marshal Ready,
who has made an exhaustive examination Of
the circumsta attending the fire, Ia of
opinion that At least $50 persons perished in
the flames.
Further Details of the Horror-THies and
scenes of Character Beyond Por-
trsyaI.
Telegram 10 Chicago Tribune.l
Most OF you in Chicago, and almost all In
New York. have Witnessed the Last scene IN the
1.-Two Orphans that OF the boat-house
scene. that closes in on all Sides d low roof
manufactured Of canvas, heavily painted, with
great doors In the rear, through which gend-
armes ut the critical moment break to rescue
the two sisters. Doubtless this brief descrip-
night at IL o'clock on the stage Of the Brook
Ign Theater. II was the same scene which hss
travelled all over the country in what Is known
rs the Union Square company.
The curtain had just risen on this scene.
-Four or five actors, Including Miss Kate Clax-
t sSs T blind pS orphan the part B. ssSSs ss
who played the part of Frouchsrd,
Mrs. Farren, and one or two others, alone
occupied the stage. The wind was blowing
strongly from the west, to which the rear or
stage entrance to the theater faced, and per-
sons entering at the stage-door enabled the
wind to blow one OF the 'fiies" against gas
| Jet, which ignited IT, The scene -shifter, sta
| toned about the stage in what Ia technically
called the - flies, Immediately cut away the
burning scene, as instructed to do on such oc-
casons, and permitted it to fall, as they
thought, on the stage floor. The actors had
been alarmed by the burning fly, and were
gazing upward, giving the audience something
| of warning of what was coming, bat, as they
saw the burning fly cut away, they quoted
the audience with gesture, and they also
became quiet. Contrary to the expectations,
however, of everybody the part of the
burning fly cut away fell, not upon the
stage, but upon the painted CANVASS
which represented the roof Of the ship house,
and instantly it Was in blaze, rs though 1t had
followed silent explosion, and in a minute
more the whole upper part of the theater was
in flames. Composed. asst was, of oombustible
material, it spread with the utmost rapidity,
and broke through the roof, alarming not only
all Brooklyn, but all the lower part of New
York, the newspaper offices instantly emptyipg
themselves Of reporters. The actors on the
stage Immediately fed, after seeing the extent
Of the disaster, and most Of them escaped.
Miss Kate Claxton, knowing OF a secret or
underground entrance, connected with the box
Office, fled under the stage and thence under
the auditorium to the box Office. drag
/
Farren, and two or three other actors.
The majority, however, escaped by the
back entrances Of the theater. of which there
were two or three. All succeeded in escaping
except II. s. Murdoch and Claude Burroughs,
who were lost in their rooms, where they were
dressing, remote from the entrance, and prob
ably unwarned. Where their bodies lie now, a
great gas-jet five feet high is burning, where
a meter was, and probably hardly any Of their
bodies will ever be discovered. The actors es-
Gaping threw the back entrance threw wide
open the doors, and the west wind rushed 10
with fury, driving the smoke and flames toward
the auditorium, in the lower or dress circle, as
it is called. There were only $50 persons in
this quarter, besides the ushers and police.
Almost all Of those escaped. One or
two handsomely dressed women have been
discovered among the ruins. In the
300 persons, and Of these probably fifty
persisted. In the upper tier or gallery. there
were 408 persons two-thirds Of whom fell VIC
Tins to the flames. The dress circle and par
quette opened on the level Of the street. Per-
SONS on this lower floor early discovered the
flies" to be on fire. They could see what
those in the gallery were utterly unable TO per-
ceive, and were consequently warned in sd-
vance. Those in the second gallery also, were
warned early, Miss Claxton rushing to the
front OF the stage and informing them that the
theater was on fire. They had only one broad
staircase to descend. This opened into wide
lobby, thirty feet wide, and from thence their
escape to the street was easy. But the stair
way from the top gallery, which was crowded
on this occasion. was narrow and circuitous.
From the third floor to the second il was wide
enough to enable five men to walk abreast.
On the level of the second floor there were
twenty feet of level walk along the front Of
the lobby and first story. Thence there was r
narrow stairway where, probably, three men
could walk abreast, leading to the street
When the great mass Of people, mainly young
men and boys, in the gallery rushed down the
upper stairway from the third to the second
door they encountered q volume OF smoke
driven in from the rear doors OF the
theater, which had in the meantime been
opened as have described, and on this land
ing numbers Of them fell down, and others
toppled over them, until their accumulated
weight broke down the stairway, and they were
precipitated over the balustrsde into the lobby
of the second floor, distance of probably if
teen feet. This mass of human beings were
thrown at once, with violent shook, upon the
floor OF the lobby, broke it through and the
mass were preciptated, two hundred Of them,
| one upon another into the cellar OF the build
ing. The stairway fell in upon them, and they
burned until nothing was left but their charred
remains, which the fremen have been all dsy
taking out Of the ruins / know not what
could add that would give any clearer idea OF
how the disaster occurred.
|