The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-12-15
AN AWFUL CALAMITY.
Four Hundred People burned to Doaih in
Austria.

EIENNA, Doc e--.i !. M.
Yesterday was fete day in V enna in
| celebration of the feast OF the tinmacu
| late Conception, but IL ended win pub
| lie calamity unparalleled in tho history
| OF Vienna. fow minntes before soven
and before tho commencement of the
| second performance in Vienna OF OfTen-
| bach's latest work, LESS Contes
d'Hoffmann,' the Ring Theatre former
| ly known as the Opera ComiQue on the
Schotten Ring, tho second finest theatre
| in tho city, opened in 1873, was discover
ed to be in flames. The fro quickly
| spread, and in ten minutes all the citv
| for miles a-n"iid the theatre was stepped
| in lurid glow, the reflection of the burn
| ing pile. Seven o'clock is the hour for
the commencement of plays Mt Vienna
theatres, and it was feared that tho loss
| OF lfo would DO vast. Light snow fell
during the afternoon. 1t was known
| that all the theatres would be crowded.
Fortunately the catastrophe happened
some minutes before seven The gaile-
| ries wero already crowded. while but few
| people had appeared IN .ho boxes AMI
| only about score OF people had taken
their places in tho parquet. Little can
yet be gathered as TO tho origin of the ca
| tastrophc. The people who escaped have
but dim idea Of what really happened,
and the widest rumors prevail.
THE FIRST SCENE
Those who were among the audience
say that suddenly the curtain was raised
and tho fire discovered raging on the
stage, and that the usua! strife for life
by those III tho upper galleries com
menced. Many sprang from tho upper
| most gallery and were killed, while of
those who remained 1t is impossible to
say how many lost their lives Death
appears to have been due to suflocation.
At present hundreds of sanitary litters
| arc being carried toward the theatre by
swift footed men. who then bear away
their burden of tho dead. Company on
company of soldiers are still arriy ing on
the ground to relieve other companies.
who have been assisting tho firemer in
their duties. At eleven O'Clock the in
81 10 of tho theatre was quite gutted, only
the beautiful front OF tho theatre being
loft standing. The four statutes OF the
MUSES. and tho gildod angel with the
trumpet crowning the front were then
ground of flames vet unsubdued. In
this theatre Adelina Patti generally sings
when In Vienna, and Sarah Bernhardt
recently concluded her engagement and
was engaged to play there again in Janu-
ary. Herr tanner, formerly director OF
tho Grand Opera, is director CT tho Ring
Theatre.
THE DEATH. OIL.
AT one o'clock il was discovered that
tho death roll OF the Ring Theatre ca
tastrophe was much larger than at first
rumored. An American physician, who
had Just returned from visit to the
a Allgemene Krank enhaus, told me that
he had seen eighty eight men and forty
four women laid out in that institution
alone. Their faces were black aud their
tongues protruding, with froth issuing
from their mouths-all the symptoms or
suffocation. When he l.. the kranken.
haus at midnight they were still carry
ing in the dead. He described the sight
as horrible in the extreme. Friends were
striving to identify friends, and relatives
their relativee. Women were rushing
about almost crazy from fruitless search
BY two O'Clock 2l0 bodies had been taken
out of the theatre. 1t was thought that q
hundred more were still among the
ruins. Reports up to two O'Clock were
ofthe dead from the third gallery alone.
whore ninety ooTpsus were round in one
mass. The fourth gallery had not vet
been searched. 1t appears that the men
who had charge of the iron screen ghich
should be let down in case of fire, thus
dividing the stage from the auditorium,
deserted their posts when the fire broke
out.
FouR HUNDRED BURNED.
1t ia probable that the death list will be
fully four hundred. The latest reports
say that the crowds in the galleries
pressed in their despair toward the doors,
and. crushing each other, prevented most
of the number from escaping. Tho
smoke and fumes completed tho work of
death within five minutes after The first
alarm had been given. The firemen are
sti II a. work with torches searching the
lower parts OF the house. At present IL
Is considered unsafe 70 enter tho upper
most gallery, whore the dead lie in great
masses. Half OF Vienna win be in
mourning to-day for their friends and
relatives. I believe no Americans are
among the dead, though Ii Is possible
that como OF the medical students who
frequent the cheaper places IL the Vienna
theatres may be among them.
ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
The Ring Theatre. formerly the Comic
Opera House, where Sarah Bernhnrdt
recently performed. took fire at seven
o'clock at night, just before the begin
ming OF the opera lies Counties d'Hof-
man." The fire was caused by tho fall
of "a lafnn on fba Stoora Tho hOue6 y-na