The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-12-21
DEATH BY FIRE.
Burning OF the Ring TheateS at Vienna,
Austria-Over 700 Llyea Reported Lost
Terrible and Thrilling scenes.

d
Terrible and Thrilling Scenes.
VIENNA, Austria, Decembere Q.
The WeiRer Algsmeine ZeittHg, whose Offices 4
are exactly opposite the Inflated Ring Theater,
gives graphic account Of the catastrophe, Of 4
which the following Is an extract: t 9-'9l
"we write with death in our hearts, unable !
70 find words TO describe the pain which we :
suffer. A terrible calamity befeIl our city
last night. The Ring Theater, formerly
known as the Opera Comique, is in ashes, and /.
hundreds Of human beings are victims Of the |
catastrophe. Nothing like This horror has I
ever occurred Before in this city. -Al
'.At ten minutes to seven the fire broke out. I
The theatcr was pretty well filed, but happily l
not entirely crowded. considerable number |
Of people were still In the dressing rooms, and
= dense mass of carriages occupied the Schalten |
Ring. It had Just commenced to snow, and in !
the auditorium Of the theater there was the
usual hustle before the commencement Of .
performance-people walking up and down
looking for their places, and the noise Of turn
ing down seats was heard on all. sides. The
boxes were still empty, but the balcony and
galleries were well filed. On the stage
everything was in . state OF &C
tivity and hustle, the workingmen re-
moving scenery, etc. Onenbach's comic
opera, (" Les Counties D,Honman," was to be
performed for the second time. Some of the
singers and actors bad already. taken their
places on the stage in costume, but, q large
number were still in the dressing rooms In the
hands OF the costumers and hair-dressers. The
overture had not Jet begun How the fre
commenced cannot yet be definitely stated,
and probably II viii never be known. Accord
ing TO one version the scenery was ignited BY
spark from electric machinery. According
to another, sworkmanl with an alcohol lamp
caused the disaster. The, former version Is
the more likely one. Director Helemes-
berger, who stood upon the stage, was the
FIRST to notice the hre. A moment after the
'sfies" were wrapped In flames and the net
work Of wood, ropes and canvas was. burning
like tinder. The people on the stage were
stupefed with feAr at drst, and they speedily
took to flight In most terrible confusion to-
ward the ladies' dressing-rooms, on the left Of
the stage, where . small !stairease led to
Hohenstaufen Strasse In . moment the cur
tain new up and . draft blew It hither and
thithsr untIl, Ike . fiery tongue, it darted
back and forth from the auditorium to the
stage. The dre then became master Of the
Ring Theater. 40 4' 'H3l5HAl5 Hiti
4" FireI irei the Ring. Theater Is on nrei'
was the cry that went from mouth TO ear.
On Ring Strasse the flames were already
bursting through the roof, and cries, such as
Vienna never heard before, filed II. They
seemed not Ike the cries Of human beings,
but sach awful accents as can be heard only
in death struggle. The scene was indescrib-
able, all those inside the fated building
pushing their way toward the street, which
was crowded at all points. The audience
from the thester struggled and crushed each
other, and confusion reigned supreme Sud-
denly cries were heard from the windows of
the theater leading to the Ring. The balcony
over the entrance was soon emptied, and the
cries Of those at the windows and Of those
within the theater were awful, and sweIled
louder and louder The mass Of people in the
street was growing denser constantly"
The following is the narrative Of Herr Lind
man, IN actor engaged In the theater: .sIt
was Gas, and the second signal had been
given to the actors that in quarter Of an
hour the performance would begin. I was in
my dressing-room, and on hearing the alarm
rushed on the stage and found myself in a
sefof flames. A violent draught Of air rose
and q perfect column Of fire seemed to rush
against the curtains, which It quickly pierced.
Then a stream of fire poured into the theater
and up to the galleries. only heard single
horrifying scream-a single cry Of unspeak-
able terror and fearful despair" q -. 81
He then described the scene Of the member,
Of the chorus flying to reach the doorway and
escape from the fire.
Inspector Nitzoe escaped from his dwelling
In the upper story. He describes the fearful
scene in the auditorium rs follows: The
| people lay there in heaps, and many In the
strangest postures. Some had their hands
stretched out imploringly, and there were 9th
ers whose nails were driven into the flesh ir
pain and despair.n 9..s,I I'll - .vbsB4.
A lady who was in the third row Of the par
quette at the time Of the disaster says: al
was Just about to take out my opera-glasI
from its case, when suddenly / remarked
that the curtain was driven out 1yiolentl,
towardme. A sheet Of hre poured out i'm
mediately after over the seats. 1 graspei
my friend by the arm and hurried toward tn,
central entrance, but in moment all tn,
lights were extinguished, and we were in com
plete darkness. Only by keeping . firm holt
of the railing were we. enabled to grope on
way down the stairway. Suddenly, to m,
horror, L found that my friend no longer cluni
to me. screamed out her name, and, to m.
delight, was answered. She caught hold o
me again, and we were crushed out through
the darkness with the living mass Of fugitive
and saved" .,........,s.. 80 b., -...
LATER-EvESISa- :, 80, ,..i
Researches show that the upper gallery mus
have fallen into, the pit, where the only re
mains found are small frsglnepts Of bones
Beyond doubt 500 gallery; tickets had beei
issued. Only 100 OF these are known to hav
jumped from windows, and competent Judge
fear the loss Of life viii be found to be full
700.
The number of persons actually reporte
missing Is 600. 1900.
In regard to the origin Of the fire, the su
perintendent OF rMachiuery statesT that th
scenery became liEniteds as lthsl lamps fNsr
being lighted by the electric current.
All the performers except three OF the che
rus were saved.
Few persons are aware Of the yari
ations that each day take place in thei