St. Paul daily globe., 1890-12-29

secured. and there "The Great Metropo-
lis" was presented last night. The
Lyceum will he occupied by the attrac
tions booked for the Bijou until the
new house is ready.
A visit to the ruined building yester.
day revealed a dismal aspect. The
center of the tiled entrance floor had
sagged about foot. The doors leading
to the foyer were burned and blackened.
The StairwayS were hidden beneath
mass of clnders and ashes and rubbish.
soaked with water. from which Oozed
tiny rivulets. The pillars supporting
the balcony had nearly all been burned
away and the front had fallen, leaving,
tact. In the gallery the destruction
was worse. The falling roof had car
ried away the front and smashed the
seats. On the right hand. as one en-
tered the auditorium, yawned black
hole, across it the aisle carpeting, ,undis-
turbed, and over the parQuette. or Or
chestra chairs, the debris was piled to
height of several feet. The front of
the stage was swept clean. Proscenium
arch, curtain and drops were all
gone. Rubbish filled the seats from
which stage favoriteS had been ap-
plauded to the echo. Destruction and
deSOlation reigned over all. intensified
by the mOnstrous drop of water on all
sides. Wnile eeverything seemed ruined
beyond hope of repair, a cursOry eXami
nation seemed to indicate that not all
the furniture of the auditorium has been
destroyed. The chairs are buried be-
meath heaps of rubbish and ashes, but
the fire seems not to have touched them,
especially on the north side of the house
and under the balcony. How much has
been saved cannot be told until the de-
brls has been cleared away. Work on
the rebuilding of the house will begin
Immediately, and Mr.. HAYS expects to
have the house ready for occupancy
within month.
Manager Hays was the recipient yes
terday of kilograms of sympathy from
several Eastern managers and from
Manager E. 2. Hilton, of the Pence.
The Bijou theater building was erect
ed in the summer of 1887, and was first
occupied by stock company under the
management of w. E. Sterling. Then
it was called the Peoples theater. 1t
was opened Oct. 80, 1887, the initial pro-
ductlon being ''The DaniteS." Sterling
continued as manager until the spring
OF 1889, when the house was leased by
Kohl u Middleton, j. Il. McCaddOn
being manager. Jacob Lift became
lessee in the summer of 1889, and has
controlled it ever since. When Lift
took II the old name was changed to the
BljUu opera house.
1t was reported yesterday morning.
shortly after the fire. that one of the
memIer of the janltUr'S family, who
occupied rooms on the third floor of the
building, had been burned to death, but
the rumor was false. Mrs. Crawley,
wife of the janitOr, and her two chill
dren, one three ears old and the other
babe i'll arms, were taken by the fire
men from the second floor windows. A
member of the orchestra, named Grace
mel, who had room i'll tile building,
narrowly escaped. He lost good part
OF his clothing and some musical inStru-
mentS. Several of the employees of the
house, partlcul .riy the uSherS, lost artl-
cleS of clothing.
The only physical sufferers were
James Crawley, the janitOr. and James
Ryan, a police officer. Crawley was
badly burned about the face and hands
while fighting the fire. before turning
i'll the alarm. While the theater was
burning it was feared that Romer's
livery barn would go too. While the
contents of the barn were being re-
moved a twenty-pound hitching weight
was dropped on Officer Ryan's foot.
Some OF the small bones were broken.
While on the way to the fire,in response
to the third alarm. Ei CINE No. 9 lost
wheel. The engine Was not otherwise
injured.
rhis is the first theater fire Minneap-
oils has ever experienced. The old
Academy of Music was burned, but that
was but part of business block. This
is the first fire confined exclusively to
the theater.