Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-07-05
THE GRAND OPERA HOUSE.
DsstFuctiun Of q Beautiful Theatre
ly he FHs Fisat.
pRer. rRoMwELI,s HEAVY LOSS.
Damage to Visiting theatrical Or
=aniystf5RS and Others.

fire.
From Monday 60 Thursday even
ing was occupied 10y the engage
meHt Of the "Feld by the EneHy'
company, White F-7doy and Satur
d. tcre 70 lie taken by
the performances Of BOucicault'.
"hIter Dark On Thursday even
ing. abOutlI O'Clock. the curtain
went down on the programme, and
the audience retired. The baggage
and sce-eJy OF the ''Held by the
E1emy'' company wls packed up,
and the trunks and boxes were piled
together near the west door; at the
same time a considerable ccrti0n OF
the After D1Ek" c6mpany's ef-
fleets were brought in, to be placed
in POsition soon as room could be
made for them.
| The stage carpenter, desiring to
unite in the celebration OF the
Fourth, was working TO get the new
scenery in. In the frst -',t~1ucU next
10 the curtain --so humber ofdrops.
and ~ The assistance of others
: Ekcse were placed in position, and
the men had removed to number
three entrance 20 place the drops 81
position there. In number one the
border lights are ggite close TO the
drops, and at abort 1880 O'Clock one
! Of tire mer On the stage saw 4 drop
take 81 rom the lights. He called
. - the men in the flies to cut the
ropes down quick, and they made
the attempt. Their knives were
not sharp enough for the rapid work
needed. and they got only two OF
the blazing curtains down before
they had to jump for their lives. In
I an instant mOre the flames began 10
+ spread TO the adjoining scenery
and il scented that the whole place
was seized 10y the blaze almost Ike
a flash.
When the FIRE wa discovered the
3 men seized the small hose that was
/ in the building, aud turned 4 Stream
ofva,er on the fire, lGt il appeared to
have no effect. The whole thing
i had happened sc quickly that no
alarm had tsen given TO the outside.
I The -iun who came down from
THE tiies rushed for the door and out
B into the alley on the west side OF
! the building. There they shouted
Fire and ou' c. them fastened
westward, and the other TO I tcle-
I phone across the street, and both
( sent in messages 10 the fire depart
ment.
At this time there was an UproaT
/ in the street. The lattice WORK OF
/ scenery over the Stage hal formed
as it were = grste-hOttOm for the
furnace, lnjo which a fierce draught
vas drawn. and flames from which
seized the roof and shot 10 the out
{ side.
The hose cart from the fire de-
partment was there in a very
brief space Of time, but the whole
interior was n blaze, even tine audi
tOrigrn being Tapped in the flames.
4 stream was turned on, but il was
only n 4 drop 10 the great torrent
that was necessary 20 quench the
Jury % the deyOuTiug monster. The
building was very difficult one in
which 10 fight fire. ami this the men
soon discovered.
One stream played for a time on
the place, there being some delay in
getting OF more. Il probably made
little difference in this instance, Is
the opportunity was not afforded for
effective work. There was, however. /
q good deal Of manipulation Of the 1
hose. and turning OR ami of Of /
water AZ improper times, that /
would have been avoided 10y !
good management. Several streams |
were brought into play from the I
hydrants and two fire steamers, !
sometimes on the fire. sometimes on I
The solid brick walls. sometimes on |
the unhroken windows and doors l.:
front. and sometimes in fine spray 1
on the roof. There was some COM |
plant because the iiremen did not I
break in the front doors and win 7
dows. but IL Is doubtful whether TINS I
course would not have had 4 dam I
aging effect.
The flames shot up far into the .
air, and could Toe seen from nearly I
every part Of town. The heat was I
intense. and FOR a time there was
some danger OF the fire spreading 10 /
other buildings. This, however, |
was prevented by the firm I
brick walls, and the free use
Of water, 10y the owners Of
the surrounding structures. People !
at a distance OF seventy to eighty (
rods saturated the roofs OF barns aud |
| houses 20 insure safety. In the early /
stages OF the fire there were several |
explosions. which caused a rumor 10 |
start that the flames had COmmuni- |
Gated 10 4 gun anu ammunition ]
store near 10y, but they were caused |
by the materials used in Prof. |
Cr0mwell's exhibitions. and which |
had been left temporarily IN the |
building.
The firemen kept the fire from en-
tering the rooms on the first floor |
in the front Of the building, 10 any |
material extent, yet the effect OF |
the intense heat and the condition |
OF the remaining portion Of the /
structure rendered this part useless. |
The roof burned for a long time, the
flames slowly creeping up the cupo- |
Ia. over which fiosted the Star and |
Stripes. The water was thrown |
there many times. but only delayed |
the progress Of the fire on the out /
side-the timbers within were 4
doomed. and il was with a pang Of |
regret that, at three minutes after /
a. N. on the Fourth, the vast null
titude vino were watching the scene. I
beheli the roof with the flag still /
flying 90 down with a crash into
the burning mass below. From this
time on the firemen had control
over the flames, SO that neighbOring
places were not in danger. II took
several hours, however, TO quench
the burning embers, and when
this was dome there was nothing
but ashes. a few charred tinbers,
and twisted iron rods left, besides
the walls, Of the entire theatre pOT-
ton Of the building.
a few minutes after the fire
started Mr.. Daniels, the stage car
penter, was engaged with others in
endeavOring to check the flames. In
his anxiety he ventured too close to
the burning drops, and when the
pole Of one was let down through
the burning Of rope, it struck him
on the head, infiicting a severe and
painful injury. Even after he was
hurt he tried frantically to save
property until he had 70 he prevent
ed. He was taken home to receive
the attention that he needed.
There was considerable censure
passed on the action of the police
for refusing to allow any persons TO
enter the building and save property
10y carrying 1t out. 1t is the height
of fOolishuess on the part Of officers
10 stDn the saving Of nrOnerty hy !