The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1876-12-07
HORRIBLE HOLOCAUST
Burning Of the Brooklyn Theatr

Burning Of the Brooklyn Iheatre-
Immense Loss of Life.
Brooklyn, Dec. 6.-The fire in the
Brooklyn theatre, last night, was at
tended by appalling loss of life, and it
is thought that not less than three hun
dred persons were killed in the rush to
the exit, or burned to death, being un-
able to escape. The fire broke out
during the last scene of the "Two Or
phans." In five minutes more the au-
dience 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 filled, those below sitting well
forward toward the stage. For those
in the family circle, dress circle and
galleries there was no way of escape ex-
cept by Washington street.
Panlc-Stricken people rushed pell-mell
forward and down the stairway. The
main exit became Immediately choked
up, and scene of terror, confusion
and distress ensued which beggars
description. Just above the landing
place of the stairway woman in the
crush had her foot pushed between the
banisters and fell. The crowd behind,
forced forward by terrified people still
further behind, fell over her and piled
on top of each other four and five Deep
Police were promptly at the scene,
but owing to the manner in which peo-
pie were piled upon top of each other
and massed together, they could extri-
cate comparatively few, and those were
all bruised, bleeding and MANNED.
The firemen got to work on the ruins,
and shortly after daylight this morning
they succeeded in getting as far as the
dress circle, where they found, at about
IL O'Clock, horrible spectacle. In the
middle of what was the lobby of the
theatre lay an immense pile of rubbish,
smouldering beams, fragments of girders
and other things. This heap was near
ly opposite the principal entrance to
the auditorium of the theatre, and be-
yond it was another heap, marking the
place where the stairs which led to the
gallery fell. Under the heap first men-
toned dead body was found, and the
firemen diligently prosecuted their
search in this direction. With much
labor some of the heaviest timber was
removed, and horrible sight was re-
vealed. Beneath that mound corpses
lay in rows, heaped one upon the other.
packed together with fearful solidity,
which told of the great pressure to
which they had been subjected. How
many lay there, or what their sex or
age, no man could tell, and at noon
only guesses could be made.
The actors and actresses, with the
exception of Harry Murdock, who was
burned, escaped from the stage into
johnson street.
w. Thorp, stage manager, states that
the fire occurred in this wise: A drop
was ignited from border light by
some means. He Immediately directed
the stage carpenter and two supernu-
meraries to endeavor to extinguish the
flames. The men essayed to effect the
object by lowering the drop, and in so
doing added fuel to the flames. The
scene embraced ceiled apartment, and
the instant the burning drop came in
contact with the inflammable ceiling it
served to spread the existing flames,
and in n flash the entire properties
were in blaze. The usual avenues of
escape were thus summarily closed at
the rear, and an exit was made from
the box entrance. Up to O'Clock p. m.
245bodies had been taken from theruins.