The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1877-01-09
DESPERATE STRUGGLE FOR
LIFE.
EBeartrend ing Scene In The city OF
. ChiIrches--Taies by Men Who
Were Inside the Burning Play
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The description given by persons who
we're in the gallery OF the Brooklyn
Theater at the. time of The disaster isl
heartrending and horrible. Alfred A
Jones gives the following account Of tue
scene: [ wasiseated next to the front
row, hut, seeing that something was
wrong on the stage, | moved up to the
entrance of the tier. While my back
was turned silrieks were heard, andilhei
mass of people infthe gallery arose in
wild confusion I cannot describe the
scene asgit vas They were climbing
over seats, gripping each other by the
clothes, and struggling frantically to get
aheai of one another. l saw one man
smash fellow in the face who would
not Yield to him in the passage, and "a
big, powerful woman, tore her way
through and came toward me with
SCARCELY any clothes on her back, and
with blood streaming from her nostrils.
Two decent.looking boys got together
in the front row, and saw them clam
bering over the seats and squeezing their
bodies through the crowd One Of them
was thrown down and the other turned
and called him wildly by name. / got
down among the first that escsped, and
didn't wait to see what happened. .5.;.
A tall, stout man, who said he was a
truckman, gave a very vivid description
of the scene when the uproar began,p
be said, Il was seated in the aisle, about
the middle Of the gallery, and three or
four seats from the front. / never saw
anything like it.. All the people in The
gallery seemed to be crowding one on
top of the other There were men there
who seemed perfectly frantic. The yells
and ,shrieks / shall never forget to my
dying day. "My wife is down stairs =
one man cried out, ''let me get her out y
"We're all safe if you'll only be order
ly y another cried Atthe same time,
however, he was making the most siren
uous exertions to get through the throng
The weakest went down one after an
other, and the strongest rushed reckless
lyi over them Iconld actually hear tue
bones cracking as the men jumped on
the writhing, struggling, helpless mass
beneath them. The cries that ascended
amid the uprosr were heartrending. --i'
c"'My God have mercy on me, one
voice repeated several times. 6 One man
managed to crawl from heap of pros
trate bodies, but the struggling throng
rushed against him, and he spun round
towards me and fell almost at my ifeet,9 /
tried to lift him, but he groaned once OF
twice and gave few gasps,. and all was
over. When l saw it was to be life or
death, l made for the door. All I've
been telling took place in few seconds,
but there is picture in my mind | could
not paint. When Igot out walked
Philip Wanser was among Inv
last to get out of the gallery He gives
the following account of the calamity;
II got in from the row near the stage.
/ saw the fire from the very first. AS l
lookedsup to the gallery the scene wa,
the most terrific that one could imagine
Men and boys were tearing one over
another, and the shrieks and oaths were
awful. One man clambefed up the heap,
was spun round aud round on the heads
of the throng, and flung withoa crash l
could distinctly hear against the back OF
the gallery. Every one was for himself,
and men seemed tosbecome wild beasts.
They were threatening and, tearing one
another with their hands. Seats were
piled with PROSTATE human beings, and'
as successful strugglers forced their way
over the gasping forms that lay gali
around, ,pethers who had abeeng crushed
to insensibility fell as they lost the sup
port of the living. :Thereswas nothing
for It but for mvself, and some others
who had waited, to- walk ;nvers the piles
of bodies'onthe floor They were slip
perry with blood. d HandsHand. feet were
protruded here and. there,Ywhich showed
that life wss still in some OF: them. BY
this time the smoke was densen and the
noise and shouting from the lowerspar,
of the 7beuseIwas terrible, 4 and some
others managed to get to the stairway,
and we went down in mass-how !
couldn't tell you 37All this ! have beer
describing took placeiin less than two
minutes Que man who got out in, the
crowd just before me showed me his
arm. which had been bitten almost to
the bone -
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