The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1881-03-31
TERRIBLE CREMATION.


The Theater at Nice Consumes am0 lSs
Persons Perish in the Flames.
A Paris dispatch date March "a, says: ''The
italian Opera-house at Nice was destroyed by
fire last night. Ali efforts to put down the
flames were of no avail. The fire commenced
during the performance of an opera, which was
Lucia di Lans,nern,oor. 1t is feared that about
100 persons have been lost in the building, in
cluding men, women and children.
SIT has been ascertained that the cause of the
fire was leak in the gas pipes behind the
scenes. The leak was caused suddenly in some
way unknown, and allowed great volumes of
gas to escape This ignited, before the leak
was discovered, from the rear stage lights and
the explosion which followed at once set all the
scenery and infammable material on the stage
ON fire, and, before the audience recovered
from their first horror, the entire building was
in flames.
ITO add to the calamity some one turned the
gas off in his efforts to stop the fire, and then
q terrible panic ensued. The audience became
frantic, and in endeavors to escape all sought
personal salty, and the weaker and women were
remorseless1y knocked aside and trampled upon.
Prima Donna Donadio was miraculously saved
by friends. Many of the actors and chorus
were burned to death. The city is in a state of
the widest sorrow and excitement.
'Sixty-three bodies have been recovered
from the ruins. 1t g feared many more lost
their lives"
A dispatch from Nice says: "a majority of
the victims belong to the working class.
Shortly after the fire began, the gas exploded
and the house was thrown into complete dark
| ness. A scene of terror and dismay ensued
! which beggars description. A detachment of
sailors from squadron in the harbor arrived
on the scene and displayed great gallantry in
rescuing the people and combating the fire,
which was subdued toward 10 o'clock.
"Strakosch, the impressario, was slightly
hurt. Signora Blanca Donadio, one of the
leading artists, made her way from the stage
to the street safely. One whole family Of five
persons and another family Of three persons
are known to have persisted. Many persons
were trampled to death in the stampede to get
out of the theater. 1t does not appear at pre-
sent whether any Americans were among the
| victims. The sole occupant Of the stage when
| the explosion occurred was seen enveloped in
| flames. The exits of the theater were very
narrow and badly arranged. As the curtain
was down, the public were unaware of
| the danger until the gas exploded,
| when the smoke became suffocatingly thick
f, The people tried to throw themselves from the
small windows near the roof of the theater.
| Most of the artists were in their dressing
| rooms, and were aware of their danger, but it
! was too late. Choristers rushed along the mar
row passage in the darkness, many presumably
| too much disabled in the crush to escape. The
basso, tenor, and baritone must have been suf-
focated. Their bodies are probably under the
| ruins. The parts of the theater most filled
were the upper galleries, and as the distance
from them to the doors was long, and by mar
row corridors and stairways, the people in the
galleries had the greatest difficulty in escaping
| ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY BURNED.
A later dispatch says: "The audience was large
and in panic hundreds being thrown down
and trodden under foot Those who endeav-
ored to extricate the people hopelessly jammed
between the doorway and the passes, de-
| scribe the scene as terrible. The shrieks of the
wounded mingled with the cries of those in the
| galleries, whose every means of escape was cut
off. Nine. Donadio, the prima donna, was
saved, but the tenor, basso, baritone, and a
number of the chorus singers were burned.
Up to midnight $50 bodies were extricated from
the ruins. The man who escaped from the up
per galleries by jumping declares that, with
perhaps a dozen exceptions, every person in
his part of the house was burned"