Evening journal., 1892-04-28
THE LOSS ONE MILLION.
Flames Devastate a Whole
Square in Philadelphia.
PANIC IN THE CENTRAL THEATER

PANIC IN THE CENTRAL THEATER
wild stampede Tor Life in which
Many People Are Iuiurcd-Taegart'
sunday Times building. Pouiscn's Hotel
and the Central Theat-r harmed.
PHILADELPHIA. April PA million doll
lars gone up In flames aud smoke and near
" an entire square consumed IS the record
of the ire aend's work in Philadelphia last
night. The territory devastated by the
flames is bounded on tho north by SAMSON
street. on the south by Walnut street on
the east by Eighth street and on the west
by Ninth street In tha block were tho
Central theater, now a sm0idering ruin,
and the historic old Walnut Street theater,
which was not reached by the FIRE The
Times annex. which stood directly in the
rear OF the Central theatar. wherc the
flames originated is also in ruins In nidi-
tion TO The Times, which occupied two
floors and the basement che buiiding was
occupied by number Of business houses.
whose loss will be heavy Taggart's sun
day Times aud Pousou's hotel, which stand
on Walnut street above The thoaler are
badly gutted and the loss will be heavy
All the buildings on Eighth street between
Walnut and Sansom are badly damaged by
fire, smoke and water, a. are those fronting
on Walnut street
The Loss ~ ,ooo. 900.
VA careful estimate places the entire loss
at over 81 900, 900, and it s eid that the in.
surance win not reach s400,00O. The fire is
Que Of the most sensational which has ever
visited this city. AT 5 o'clock Gilmore's
Central theater, the most popular variety
theater in the city. was crowded, the at
traction being The Devils Auction" While
the orchestra was playing tho overture
stage hand was startled by he discovery of
frs in the flies. A sky border had swung
against one Of the border lighta. and in an
instant a sheet Of fame swept over the
stage. The inhammable scenery caught ike
tinder, and almost before tho alarm could
be given the stage was a mass ct fire.
A wild Ru.h for Lifo.
Half dressed chorus girls and acton, made
a wild rush for life and sought to reach the
street Those on the stage essily escaped,
but those iu the dressing rooms undcr aud
above the stuge had hard struggle for life.
| As they rushed from their 1rcaaing rooms
they We're met at every turn by the flames
and many had narrow escapes A number
of the women tainted and were carried into
the street almost at the cost of their lives
and those Of their rescIers All Of them
lost everything except the coatumes which
they had on at the moment the are started
Ia the front Of the house. the irHt warn
ing received was from tho crier on tho
stage, which was followed by burst OF
smoke and there was d wild rush for the
door. Men, women and boys were borne
down aud crushed 10 The door in the light
70 reach safety. In the top gallery Che rush
was the worst az the staircase leading
down 20 the street is narrow and lortuous.
AT the Walnut street front werp improved
fire escapes and hundreds rnachod che street
by them. Hundreds mors wore, however.
trampled under foot, crushed and bruised
into insensiblity and left lying in the burn
ing theater The police and firnmen brought
out those who had been inIured aud left To-
| perish.
Ambulances from the Jefferson, PenusyI
| vauia, Hahuemann and University hos.
pitals carried about 40 injured 10 the hos
pitals. In an incredibly short time the rear
OF the theater was a mass of soothing
flames, which shot high into The air
Directly In the rear of the Central theatet
and fronting on SansOm street was the
eight story Times annex, separated from
the theaier only by few feet of space A.
the flames shot up they burst through the
windows and the building was doomed
When the alarm was given the whole force
Of The Times was At work, hut every one
escaped
The Times editorial rooms were elegantly
fitted mp and a valuable library occupied "a
/ scot ION of tho N..r E,a~,rNIt.... l..
up by the fire
Panic Averted 40 the wstnat
At the southwest corner of The snuare az
Ninth and Walnut is the historic old Wal
nut Street thenter. where a large audience
had assembled to see a comedy When the
alarm was given Business Manager Simpson
decided instantly 20 have the announcement
made that no performance would be given
and to dismiss the assembage with the.
assurance that tickets would be redeemed
Manager +. H. Price, of the comedy COM
pany, wishing to avoid panic, announced
that on account Of the continued illness OF
one of the actors no performance would be
given. The audience left the theater ia or
der and no accident occurred
From the Central theater and The Times
building the flames spread 70 Poulson's res
taurant, and for time it looked A. Il the
whole square would 60. SAMSON street ~
narrow, and from the burning Times annex
the flames swept across and vet fire to the
store Of $. NJ Wanamaker a Co, which
fronts on Chestnut street. The flames IN
Wansmakers were finally eKtinguished, but
not until considerable damage had been
done The Times annex, however, could
not be saved, and by n O'Clock Was a mass
OF ruins
scenes al the firs
In 'The Devils Auction" company we're
forty people-eighteen men and twenty-five
women. The stage manager Of the COM
pany reports that all are accounted for
The rush down the fire escapes was thrill
ing. Like rats the men and boys OF the
galleries rolled and tumbled down, with an
occasional clutch at a rod or support to stay
their fight. Many fell with but very few
pauses in their journey and landed on the
sidewalk with broken limbs and other in
juries. II is miraculous that 40 one wa
killed. The following IS partial list OF the
badly burned and injured:
John McConley, Harry McCioskey. Robert
McGroarty, Abram Mulock. James Pigeon
Joseph Prettyman. Rand Patterson, Frank
Robinson, Cannie Ridley, James Rics, Patrick
Sweeny, james Scanlan. Charles 5harkey
Joseph Silver. John Ward, CHARLES Worden
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