The morning call., 1890-05-03
FILLED WITH GHOSTS.
The Brooklyn 1heater to Be Torn Down
Because Il is Haunted.

NEW YORK, May "A house is to be,
demolished in Brooklyn because it is be-
lieved to be haunted. 1t is large and
handsome theater, but its reputation for
ghosts is such that no profit can be made out
Of 1t for amusement purposes. So the own
ers have decided to tear it down. An auc-
ton sale of its interior fittings will be held
next week. Immediately afterward the
walls will be razed, and during the summer
commercial building will be erected on
the site. This is a delayed and curious con-
sequence of memorable disaster.
BROOKLYN THEATER HORROR.
About fifteen years ago the Brooklyn
Iheater was burned with loss of over 500
lives. That event can hardly have faded
from the minds of American newspaper
readers anywhere, but to Brooklyn people,
so many of whom were bereaved by the
loss of relatives, aud all of whom were
Mortified by the catastrophe, it remains u
vivid recollection. A fire started on the
stage while 1.-THE Two Orphans" was being
performed. and the flames spread almost
lnStantaneously through the scenery to the
lnflammable ceiling of the auditorium The
people in tine parquet escaped easily, but
Tor those in the two galleries the exits
We're so quickly closed by fire that compar-
atively few got out The building was en-
taken. amid the most shocking scenes,
the charred remains of the dead. Only a
small number OF the bodies were Identified.
and The remainder were buried together IN
Greenwood Cemetery, where q monument
Is inscribed to their sad memory.
NEW PLAYHOUSE.
The theater had been owned by stock
company composed of half dozen Brook
lyn politicians and office-hoiders, and,
strangely enough, they decided to build an
other playhouse on the same ground.
Against this course they were advised by
those VINO believed that under the awful
circumstances the site was not any longer
suitable for theater, and that on business
as well as sentimental grounds the enter
prise was ill-advised, The dominant man
In the company was the late Judge McCue.
ricn and vigorous man, who would not be
convinced OF any impropriety in rebuilding
the theater. SO it was done. Although the
second structure was entirely different in
looks from its predecessor, and had its en-
trance on another street, it occupied the
same space. 1t was very handsome house
at first, luxurlously fitted up, and valued
altogether at $500, 600. At that time its only
rival in Brooklyn was the shabby and anti
Quated theater long identified with the late
COnways, most famous in American theat-
ricals aud perSonages of considerable con-
sequence in Brooklyn.
SAID TO BE HAUNTED.
There was no reason-other than the
holocaust-why the new Brooklyn Theater
should not gain a fashionable and prosper
Gus vogue. But it did not Every effort to
sustain 1t as an elegant resort failed. The
finest performances did not draw paying
audiences. People dislked to 60 for diver
sion to the place where the great tragedy
had occurred. Next, the house was devoted
to somewhat lower grade of theatricals,
and the management endeavored to popu-
lariZe 1t; but here the same difficulty was
encountered, and, besides, stories of ghosts
got afioat. IL was told that the spirits Of
the burned 500 haunted the premises, and
these tales were sufficient to keep folks
away. Two years ago, as last and des-
perate recourse, the theater was turned into
q ten to-fifly" house. That is, its prices
were cheapened to the lowest extent, and
1t catered to the cheap multitude. The
failure has been as decisive as before, and
now demolition, as described, has been
decided upon by the owners.
GHoSTLY ACTORS.
All through the unfortunate career of the
rebuilt theater, the ghost stories concerning
1t have increased in number and positive
ness. At first they indefinitely narrated
that spOoks frequented the auditorium at
night after the performances were over,
and there were folks who declared that they
saw phosphorescent lights through the win
dows. A little later a janitor gave up his
job because, as he averred, lie had en-
countered several of the dead members Of
the COMPANY WHICH Uau performed there
on the night of the fire. On one occasion,
so he said, he entered the house after the
departure of the audience, and saw the
stage occupied by these ghostly actors, who
were going through with scene of "The
Two Orphans"
DOOMED TO DEMOLITION.
The man was drunkard, however, and n
liar even when sober; so his acquaintance
attributed his yarns jointly TO alcohol and
invention. But they got into circulation
nevertheless and are now part and parcel
OF Brooklyn tradition. But the crushing
and final ruinOus belief engendered by
superstiti0us dread arose during the past
winter 1t was declared. nobody knows by
whom at first. but by great many later on,
that every gallery seat was nightly occu-
pied by the ghost of the person whose life
had been lost there in the fire. These dis
embodied spirits, according TO this cOnceit,
were usually impalpable alike to sight and
touch and did not hinder the living pur-
chaser Of the seat from sitting in it; but
the 10-centers were not less sensitive than
the 81 80 folks had been, and they found
that they really could not enjoy themselves
seated in chair compOsitely with a ghost.
Thus it came about that the dime parts OF
the house, so much depended upon in
cheap-priced theaters, had been very
sparsely occupied. That dealt the final
IL