Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-02-17
The CIseInnatf Opera-H o,..

p
esxGmAr. oAsa IA.
The allegory Of " The Grea, p.
1as been upon the stage of RoI;sone
Opera House FOR the psst ~
under the auspices OF me Cipcin.a.gi s
lief Association. The prnceesas .au IL
be applied to the relief OF the .,s .
poor OF the city. The performss. ntflag
bering nearly 900 children - -, nun
from the public schools Of The asss
as the object was . worthy one 80 sae
who took part children OF old res ia ssose
the city, vast audiences were n,s1a q
each presentation Of the aIieyp,. =
weather this afternoon being NJ, he
and there being ne session OF h Vpan9s
schools, the matinee audience paoak
part was composed Of women and ~
dren. About1half-past two O'Clock . Say
the great house was densely packed ana ~
thousands OF children among the ana. u
were at the height Of the;s
joyment, some boy in the gallery th,on
mischief or ignorance, raised tie e.e
fire as the red light from the oolorsS
used in the piece flashed on, fror a
wings. Every inch Of the thea,er . ~. =
cupied, and the dense crowd was prss.,
and surging about the Staircase -
front of the doors. Some one in -
dience took up the cry of fire. and ~
re-echoed from near the door bv se,r,
who caught glimpse Of red rlare q.
the stage. There was an imrnedis,s
for the front doors. A child was puas
down the steps and screamed. Imn1
ately after man thrust his arm tbr.s
window, and the scream and the y
was enough 10 SCI the panic In full y
The scene was a terrible one in IN :
row vestibule leading TO the street =
people in the rear, mad with fear. me-
upon those In front, shouting and =.
ing. Men, terrier stricken, struck do.'
helpless women and children'in frm,
climbed over their heads to the ton o.
staircase, and precipitated ihesss
upon the screaming and bleeding mas.
children and women in the hallway
The scene in ard about the One,
House after the accident was heart rs,s
ing. The news of the catastrophe sp,sSS
like wildfire over the city, and from =.
cry direction came people hurrying !
the scene until the squares were ime..s
able.
There are MANY conflicting stories AZ !,
the origin of the panic. The buiIdin.
was filled from parquet to gallery with
dense mass, which not only filed an a.
seats and aisles, but crowded the stairw,v,
and hundreds were outside seekipgto c.s
admission. Behind the scenes were ~
school children, who were TO take psr i
the performance. When the false alan,
was given the audience became nan,
stricken, and rush was made fs H.
stairways Some are said to have lesre5
from the balcony upon the crowd below
The lower circle of the house is but a fsv
steps above the level Of the street but h,
steps are narrow, and soon became BLOCKED
by the surging crowd inside he
house. Multitudes were pressing for he
doorway, and in the panic women
and children were overthrow and
trampled TO death by the panic-strickn
crowd. The scene beggars description
The alarm rapidly spread Throughout liz
city, and those who had wives or childrr
there hurried forward to their rescue. /
few heroic men placed themselves ner
the doorway and endeayored TO asur
people there was no danger, and an eH6
was made from the stage to check the MAJ
career of the affrighted audience. br
quiet was not restored until nunAr
were trampled to death and many series
ly injured. Those able to walk at ma
made their way homeward; those more
seriously injured were taken to the Ninth
Street Station House and to the CommG
cial Hospital, and the dead were gathers
in one of the offices of the Opera Hoas
Up to nine O'Clock tonight the following |
had been reported:
KILLED AND INJURED.
Mrs. Alfred White and her son Har,
aged twelve; Mrs. Nancy Clark, repora
to have died from heart disease, caused b. |
excitement; August and Fred. Loesh, /
two brothers, ages eight and ten; HATE
Leslie, age twelve; james Crowley, ar
seven; Anna Mai Rienzi, of Alton, H.
who was visiting friends here; Miss Fer |
onica Massatt, age twenty-five; Mrs.
Henry Kessler, suffered a, severe concus.
sion of the brain and is reported dead this
evening. One unknown woman dead.
Among the injured are Fred. Strasburg,
Miss Pumphey, Master Harry Bliss and
child named Coddington.
LATER.
The following additional particulars Of
the disaster have been learned: Carr
Uhl had the base of her skull crushed
and collar-bone broken; Mrs. Anna Flood
was hurt in the breast seriously. Mr..
Lyon was injured internally; and Ms
White, who was killed, had FIVE chidren
with her, one of whom was killed, an
other, the youngest, was found clasped
her arms uninjured.
Mrs. Rienzi, OF Alton, was in the gu
lery, and was either pushed over the ralt
ing, or jumped to the floor below, striking
on her head.
CINCINNATI. FEB