The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1876-12-14
DEATH IN THE FLAMES.

New YORK, Dec. 6.-The fire In the
Brooklyn Thcater last night was at
tended by an c opalling loss Of life, and
1t is thought Tia t not less than two hun
bred persons were killed in the rush to
the exits, or burned to death, being un.
able to escape. The fire broke out dur
ing the performance Of the last scene
Of the Two Orphans" in which Miss
'C~laxton, who plays the part Of the he
roine, was on the boat-bouse floor. In
five minutes moro the audience would
have been dismissed, and there would
have been nothing more serious to
record than the destruction Of property.
The house was about two-thirds filed,
those below sitting well forward toward
the stage. For those in the family cir
Gle, dress circle and galleries
there was no way TO es-
cape except by Washington Street.
THE PANIC STRICKEN PEOPLE
rushed pell NELL towards and down the
stairways, and the main exit became
Immediately choked up and a scene of
terror, confusion and distress cnsued,
which beggars description. Just above
the landing place Of the stairway a
woman in the crush had her foot push
ed between the bannisters and fell.
The crowd behind, forced forward by
the terrified people still further behind,
fell over her, and piled on top of each
other four and five deep.
The police from the station.house
next door were promptly at the scene,
but, owing to the ann in which
the people were piled upon the top of
each other and massed together, they
could extricate comparatively few, and
these were all bruised, bleeding and
MANNED. The ilremen got to work on
the ruins shortly after daylight this
morning. They succeeded in getting
as far as the fall Of the dress-circlc,
where they found a great number OF
bodies. Immediately began the work
of removal, and up TO ii o'clock 20
bodies had been removed, and what
appeared to be 90 or 80 more were seen
in the basement, into which they had
been precipitated by the falling Of the
burning floors.
ORIGIN OF TuE FIRE.
Kate Claxton, at the preliminary in
quiry of the Fire Marshal, said: GA
the beginning of the last act, just as
the curtain went up, | heard a rumbling
hoise on the stage, and two minutes
after | saw the flames. The fire seem.
ed to be all on the stage. Mrs. Farren,
myself, Mr.. Studlcy and Mr.. Murdoch
were on the stage at this time. We
four remained there and cndoavored,
as best we could, to Quiet the audience,
and prevent a panic. / said to the peo'
Pile, Be quiet; we are between you and
the fire; the front door is open and the
! passages are clear Not one of the
; audience jumped on the stage. The
flames we're then coming down on us
| | ran out and jumped over several PEG
ple."
. Mr.. II. S. Murdoch, after endeavor
] ing to calm the fears of the panic strick
: en- people, went to his dressing-room t.
!! get his clothing and must have beer
suilocated.
ESCAPE OF STAGE PEOPLE.
0 Actors and actrescc2 escaped from
o the stage into JOHNSON Street. J. w
. fhorp, stage manager, states that tn,
o fire occurred in this wise: A drop wa
ignited from a border light by SOM
=, means inexplicable, as one was gua"de'
% from the other. He Immediately direct
ed the stage carpenter, Weaver, an
two supernumeraries, to endeavor t
o extinguish the flame, but the difficult
was to reach the part on fire. Tn
stage carpenter with the supernumera
" ries cssayed to effect the object by low
ering the drop, and in so doing adde
fuel to the flames. The scene, the las
In the play, embraced a cciled apar'
81 ment, and the instant the burning dro
0 came in contact with it the intlamm;
BILE ceiling served to spread the exis'
% ing flames in q flash, as though powde
% had previously been scattered aboutth
scenery. The entire properties were
U a blaze. The usual avenues of escap
20 were thus summarily closed at the res
70 and an exit, if at all possible, had to
az 81 made by way Of the box entrance. Al
10 except pei haps one or two, thus e
20 capped.
NV SCENES OF HORROR.
Wagon-loads of rough boxes wei
Q brought in front of the theater. an
e, - corpses are placed in them and cove
ed with tarpaulins and carried to Il
Sc morgue.
d, The scene grew more terrible evei
It. minute. Men and women were crowdt
g, around the station house and theat'
en- entrance, making inquiries for misslr
4. friends. In some instances whole far
lilies have persisted.
n u, The bodies present every form of co
wv t~ortion, just as they stiflened in the
. last agony, when the floor gave wa
be and they plunged down in blindir
cal smoke and flames. Arms and legs Il
bent and twisted in every way. Han
are clenched and reached out, as
,o grasping for help.
'oo The Post says that about II O'Clock
oaO horrible discovery was made. In t
600 midst of what was the lobby Of the tt
alter lay an immense pile of rubbis
OCO smoldering beams, fragments of girdt
and other things. This heap was ne;
' SoS ly opposite the principal entrance to I
auditory of the theater. Beyond it "
COO another heap, marking the place wh'
coz the stairs leading to the gallery fl