St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-04-29
Nine People Perished in the
Central Theater Fire at
Philadelphia.
Two Men, Four Women and a
Boy Known to Be Under
the Debris.
Gymnast LoPella Died in An
Effort to Rescue His
Wife.
Threatening Walls Prevent
Recovery OF the Remains
or the Dead.

/ PHILADELPHIA April 2s-ln all prob
| ability seventh victim must De added
10 The list OF those who persisted in the
Central theater fire last evening. The
| parents of Samuel Wallace. a boy OF
| fifteen. today reported to the police that
their son left home 10 attend the per
formance which ended so disaStrousiy.
and mp 10 this time has failed 10 return.
| Diligent search has been made at all the
hospitals and other places, but no trace
of tlIe Lad ram be found. and IL IS be-
iieved his body lies beneath tie ruins
OF the theatrr.
As s0On as il became n0ised about
this morning that a number of persons
were buried under the walls OF the
theater the crowd sUrged forward
| against tie police Tires IN an effort 10
! get close 10 the serne. Although u was
reported last night that several mem
brrs OF the company had been killed. ii
WAS huped that they would eyen.u-
ally turn up alive aud well.
When, however. six OF the cOTn-
/ paHy had nol made their appearance
this morning. the fear that they had
met their death in the flames began TO
| grow into certainty. Manager Yale,
OF the DEVILS Auction" company,
until 10 o'clock persistentIy refused to
| entertain the idea that they were dead,
! bnt persisted in the belief that They
would be found in some of the neigh
boring houses.
The Actors Giyea Up.
! But when at that hour no tiiings OF
| any OF the missing actors had been
learned. Mr.. Yale reluctantly admitted
that they must have persisted. He
said that at the time the IRE broke out
| there were about seventy people III all
! behind the curtain. The dressing Rooms
/ were beneath the stage III tl;e rear Ot
| the thrater Two starways. one upon
| the right and one on the left OF the
| basement. led directly to doors that adj
/ mitted to alleyways ia the rear of the
| theater.
Al tie members of the company were
| IN the dressing rooms when the alarm
! OF fire sounded throughout the house.
! All those who sought safety by the left
/ stairway reached The street unhurt. At
! this time the left side OF The stage WAS
! still untouched by the fire. but the right
! was already mass OF flames. The Call
4 vas grease and paint of the scenery was
1 ike SO much oil before the advance OF
1 the tiames, and great volumes OF heavy.
! sitting smoke were rolling over and
underneath tile Stage.
| 1t Is Mr.. YatefS belief that the unfor-
| tunate men ana women who are sup
| posed 10 be beneath the ruins ran to-
] wards the staI way that led up into the
I fire. Finding their escape cut Off. they
! probably became confused and blinded
/ and chuked 10y the smoke, failing gasp
| Ing on the stalrs M in the paSSageway
beneath the stage. Their fate then can
! he only too we'll surm ised as IL was but
| il few minutes after the whole stage
| Was ablaze.
People Who Persisted:
THOMAS LoRsLLA. dancer and grotesque
| artist. tt@E
FLORA LoRzLLA. his wife. coryphee.
VINCESTcINA CnfTTERN. premier danseuse
one OF the Chittetu sisters, Italian dancers.
FAScmoE CoSYRRs, Juvenile character, Chi
cago
SARAH GOLDMAN coryphee. Chicago.
WILLIAM NJ BROOKS, leading man. Phila-
delphia.
Thomas Loretta, the gymnast, met his
| death in all heroic attempt To save the
| life of his wife. When the fire broke
out lie easily made his escape from the
! dressing room and reached the street IN
safety. He supposed that his wife pre-
! ceded him and was safe. Not
finding her in the street. he re-
| turned 10 the all-yway leading
! into the rear of the theatrr. IL was
| filled with smoke aud the flames were
beginning tn break ont 0f the roof OF the
! theater Turning 10 friend he said:
! an see if she Is safe If 1t costs me my
| life" Without needing the rem0n-
strances OF those standing about hin. he
| plunged into the dark. smoke-iilled alley
and disappeared from view. lie was
| true to his word about seeking his wife.
| though he met death Oh the
way and lies Buried beneath the ruins
with her. No attempt al reSculng the
| bodies has been permitted as yet, owing
| 10 the dangerous condition of the ruins.
| A single corner of the Times annex
| wall, eight stories high. everhangS the
scene III threatening manner. and all
| traffic OH the three neighboring streets
has been stopped TO avoid
Possible Catastrophe
through the falling OF the wall. which
| is very shaky. Men are at work on the
debris in front of the Times annex
night and day. and the dangerous wall
| will he pulled down by them. Then the
| work of saving the bodies OF the dead
| can begin. None of the injured have
| died and all are reported tonight as
| doing well.
The Times tonight will be printed on
| the Records presses. The Times loss
| Is found to be much smaller than was
| at first anticipated, owing to the con-
! struction of the annex building, which
| was designed to save the valuable
| presses in the basement in case OF fire.
| Double arches were built about the
| machinery, and 1t was found this
morning that thay had sustained the
| weight of the hundreds OF tons of de-
bris. and the presses and other mi
chinery valued at 100000 had escaped
4 with comparatively little damage. The
| building, valued al $4,000, IS total
| wreck. with fixtures which cost SAC, 900.
lit will be at once REBUILT" said MIR.
| Mclaughlin today, ''and think on the
| same Plan" The Times was insured
for $4,000 in large number of CON-
| panies.
William j. Gilmore, proprietor of the
| theater, was much overcome today by
the tragedy which has taken place at
his house. He has been in receipt Of
kilograms from theatrical managers all
over the country Offering him
sympathy. The board of directors OF
the Academy of Music this morning
rendered Mr.. Gilmore the use of the
theater for benefit for himself and the
company. While declining the offer on
his own behalf, MIR. Gilmore accepted
gratefully for the company. The theater
will be rebuilt at once.
Two More Missing.
| Two additional missing are reported
| tonight, making nine people who can
| not be accounted for since the fire. The
last are George E. Thatcher, machin-
| ist, and Frederick Ampher, twelve
| years old, of Manayunk, who left home
| to attend the Central theater last night
l and failed to return since.