, 1876-11-07
Terrible Accident at d San.Frans
cisco Chinese Theatre.
A Panio During tho Performance
Nineteen Cinnamon Trampled
to Death.
Ghastly Sights Among tie Dead and
NYounded...Cnuse Of The
Catastrophe,


which has occurred III tho Chinese quarter Tor
many day. The entertainment at this theatre
lnst evening Mas given benefit To nne of the
most popular of Tho actors WIN perform At tho
theatre, und The housc was crowded frnn the
ls,tton Of the pit TO tho outcrmost rcccsses Of
lie gallery, every bench being occupied. In tic
nc1gltIorlood Of 8 TOO tncn had crowded into the
pacc, quito number OF Chinese females being
present, but only two or three white meu. At
nbout II o'clock, while the drama At present
running there was being p'ayef,
sMALL rlHE
in somo mating in tue cutlery. whEeh had caught
by tic sparks from a cigarette Or cigar In the
hands Of some careless Chinatnnfi, was dlscny.
cred. The man who made this startling tI,seor-
cry, regardless Of the consequences, cvch II lie
atcly In his own tongue, wltieh everybody un-
stoul to mean destruction and death by
burning. Tho utmost confusion. prevailed
and pantc ensured. The large number Of CHI
the dsor ~hiic those packed in the gallery dl,l
the same. Some twenty-five Or thirty tnen from
the lower part Of tho house rcacfed The door
tlrst, and wcsc almost simultaneously over
whelcd By the frightened Ut, er"s5 sNrglg dowt,
and each abuut twelve feet high lY stx vide.
wcre c1osel4 but tic
Of yellow humanity poured unrn tho atairh,
through them without attelnpting 70 open
either, nnd the consequence was that tho fore
must cruyi, nbuut thirty II, number, were
scarcely out before the stairway broke md tho
massive dopr fell upon and crushed them to
es 9 o,,,lere wtoa Viii tog a"n Of eoss.
1ucnccs. In tho meantime the premature l}rc.
which had made no hcadway, was sltmmanly
4uenchcd by q Christian Chlilaman. natnrd
Adam Quinn, who, besides stamping upon 1t.
ftxftIrfH 10 nat roll IN NTH
upon tllc stagG were entirely Ignorant Of the
rause Of tho panic, ami did not stnp 10 inquire
concerning IL but continued With their perform.
ancc, which lad tic effect OF staying many Of
the frightened Chinese who were
TRAMrL1sa EVERYTHING DOWN
In their efforts to effcCt M Gxit The passage OF
the dcnfc crpwtls through the entrance aud the
hcart-rcnllng nhrieks ii the crushed u1id dying
Jackson strret, who Immediately cndcavorcl to
ttfcct nu entrance into the theatre md sent to
tic police station for assistance. Officer duff
leld apcettl OIL Jacks0n street, was one Of tho
stricken tide flowing out Of the doorway, and he
WIS Obliged TO use Ills club vigorously before he
could stop single man IL hts why. Hall-a-doz.
Gil stslwart policemen from tho watch which
was just nt'o,it to leave the station for duty on
their respective bcats, rcpatrel quickly to tho
scene, and thu combined ciTurts Vi d dozcn Of.
1ecrs were necessary to stop the outgoing Cliff
ncsc. The work was accomplished by knocking
Eevernl Celcsials about. anA the remainder, re-
altziuB that the danger III the theatre, wi,ascrer
and a. 49, ''N ''''fpseA' 's'' ''e'> W '''' ~''"N
CHECKED THEIR FRANTIC COMPANIONS.
By tlIis time Capt. Douglas With dozen more
policemen arrived, with largo crowds Of white
inen. who, hcarlng tho alarm, fIad rushed tn tho
spot. The railing Of the etntrway leading from
the gallery to the lover flour had given way, and
several of the frightened fnc.l Ind fallen down,
only to ba sr''shesl n''drr foot BY their equally
tcrFor-strtckcn companions. The tide having
been checked, the utitcers ratsc1 the prostrntcd
1oor md removed the deud and dying fron.
boncatl It. b,nc were stone dead, wht!c all
under 1t wcrc more, or lcsa injured. Nineteen
werD conveyed to thc street dead md seven
others whu were rupsliy lying.
THE BODIES
were ranged nlouE the sidewalk. The entrance
to tho thrutrc, hull nbout turty feet in lengtl,
hy como twelve IN Width occupied IN une side by
n couple of Chinese lrl.lt vcldgrs, waa cleared
away, alul tho pnric-striclsc1, audience allowed
To pass ont. The News 0f the accident etlread
like w1ldfttc, nlld ever thlnlsaud Chinese, men
ana wo%cn tron, & n @ tS T., Of ,oeh,n Chia,ntoWsn, ",
cntrt: length of JacIiaon street, between kearny
md Dupont waB completely lined with h4li-
nude Celestfals, cuzIhS with blanclicd tatrs nt
cacl body ah It WIS carriu1 out into tic strect:
Ono etaIwast Cll!namnn, weighing ahont 10
pounds, WIS brought Ult and fahl upta, tlIe
walk, hlR clothes turn md Ills body laceIutcd by
thc many feet that tal
TItAMpI.ED HELESTLEaaff OVER HIN.
llis faee was black with Buffucution and the
crimson fluid was running IN rtreaW from As
Hose and cuss. Lifc lad not yet left him, but
in l!is living agot,Irs lle wrltl,cl and cr.wlc.l
ubout tie p0ytu,e,t, swngn. his tarc arms IN
tito dir, AM! sirIesnR tur tue rclirf that y,,ulI
not conc. At lie right OF the doorway, allsl at
tJe foot of the fur Or five *tcfs t,,yu the
tllcntrc tluor to tl.r loor of The hnilwny, Is II
stairway descending tuto dirk nlfcy. Severn!
of tho furcnlDst Chinese Of the crowd thut wcrs
cr,lsl,el up,lur the ul iing tour had bccn pre-
giultotet lppn these Rtatrs, AMI tWu vera
brought IN viii, broken li,,t,s Unr WIS plntctl
Of tho frnnt ctt rance liz sitting posture nsalst
bux OF irut, anil tile utlier,
ruUNG MAN or Hun DEuREE,
WIS takou Into III lfunl Cl,uy's-tts manager
uf TIC thratrc-ollfre, A few ,,u,llr,.ts }atrr
l)r. Stiyrrs, thu city md county nvsiuiau, mr.
rived and cxa,,llncJ him. As tI,e unfortunate
fellow ay 4lI,l,,, !uY urf,ch royrrrI will mat
ting vi oiIr side Of tl,u r,ou, lie was turning
over and uycr md Eroanil,t. III ngo,y. Az tue
fucior fclt lis ,urt,s to ASCERTAIN til; ,Iuture III
Ills Injuries, he yelled, "Oh, IN, M; INT In
huri, u ii fcariuc thut his cxcrl,r}atg agolltes
yrr.a tu hn in.rrasl,l. T,g uIhcr mai, sullu.
wilut ,ur wln, Ind l,ren rlarct, near lilo door
way, klt Il, staliA silence, IFS ,ue lace, u,,Itr
tic il, ,krrnr rays VI u g,ts lct, Regarding Tie