Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-04-29
DEAD IN THE RUINS
Philadelphia Theater is De-
stroyed BY Fire
,wFUL RESULT OF The BLAZE
TX lives Lest ard Fsty Or Ma.- Pes.
ssas iaiuEst-Fle TiFnss o1s~
Alzo Ezned-

PzmAnELPHIA. Aprn - The most
sensational fire that has visited this
city IA years broke out Wednesday
night "a the stage OF the Grand Central
thester. and before IL WAS got uadsr
eoAtrol aeariy st.coo. Goo worth Of prop
ertY Rad be<a destroyed, iRcladiag the
ZAazsize sigss-s.orv annex ouilaiag oe-
sEgsed 81 TIA Tszaes aosx.pspsr.
tle theater was Usuzlly devoted %
zflety performances, eat this week a
spectaealar probation. Tia Devil >
AUrtion. Was on the stage just be-
fore o'clock. while the stage hands
we're lowering fren ths niss portion
Of the sestin. Tor tho nrs: scene. 1t be-
e4-as sntaagied IN the border lights
air Lisss Lsst-
u Is ncw known that six members Of
me Devils Auction" company lost
tAeir lives IA ths IRE. The fifty-two
persons who were burned and injured
GIs al doing well aud win probably re-
cover, though number Of them ara
likely . carry their scars 70 the grave.
The list of dead u as follows:
Ias Victims
Thomas LorelI2. gymnast Ald one Of ne
EsTI-zs. klcfencs LSsella, lis wife aad one Of
re eeryraees; Vt-eezina Chtiten. prenaiers
s4nssuss; Sarah Goieen. corychee: Fsnenon
ssnysr, tie ''iatshEs'' OF t1s show: William
h brooks. heavy lcRl
Mar Die.
At the Jefferson hospital three Of the
Injuries which VII. result fatally. They
inhaled the danes and the surgeons
have no hopes OF tae.r recovery. The
three are: william Gumnoy, john ouin.
ney and Fred Eyara
The Building soon II . Blaze.
In an instant the fimsy canvas was q
mass o, flames tongues Of Ore shot
up 10 the roof and blazing scenery fell
70 the stage and In short space Of sime
the entire rear portion OF the thsster
was mass OF FIRE. The production
requires the services Of large num-
Der of chorus girls and ballet dsneers-
These stood in the wings and along the
stage in seansy attire waiting fer the
performance to begin. They were
thrown into . panic and rnshed about,
scarcely knowing which way 70 turn to
Pants IN the Aadieacs.
During the panic behAng the scenes q
sssas Of even more intense excitement
Wa being enacted before the footlights.
Tsrsunateiy. the house was only par
tS>13y Allied The audience had Just
settled down N their sc ats, awaiting the
beginning Of the performance. when
they were startled By the fash that came
when the seoaery caught The next
minute . bright white fame shot
through ths curtain and the audience
realized tbss they were face To
faes with thst most awful oi
sis~atioas-a tAester ere. Everybody
started - the exits. The weaker
ones we're borne down and erusD.,d
unAss foot ono individual, maadef.td
md hsutalixsA by sxeitsment. drew q
peslAs4- lsaifs and with u cut his way
thss~9A the mass Of people. Half q
csasE OF more people were found =,
she hssptts2 who had been vic
shns Of bis frenzy. None Of their
wounds. however, were Of q
msss than painful character. This
man vs. one Of the frst to reach th<
ssde~slk. Men and boys fell on the
stsirways leading from the galleries
and were sruissd and scratched under
the hsels Of those following them. In
eli dfty-tws persons were cared fer II
the two hospitals near the theater.
ssoss Of VIVID Excitement.
The wficst cxcitsmcns prevailed or
ths s4resls. Ballet 9sris in gauze and
tishss rushed bareheadsa around. al
NEST all Of them Ia q hyssericai cendi
csse- Tho fire spread with marvellous
rasissky and By the sime the FIRE APP
husf1srs wss a mass Of flames
foooaing away up above the
rear Of She theater was The
Tines annex building, occupied or
the seventh ioor BY The editorial force
sRd a she eighth by The composing and
steres.7Pisz ferces An alarm wa.
promptly given aud all the occupants oi
tao binding got out IN safety. The
arst. seccna, taird and fourth floor,
we're occupied BY De<oskeno 4 Hether
iEg.er. art-nstsl workers. Their plant
was cas OF THE most valuable Of il,
kind IN TIE country.
clearss ost the Tfsses oxies.
The wind was blowing in direetisr
90 carry the flames TO the newspaper
kel&izg aad ia few inmates the lat
tcf structure was % Gre. By &c ths
crsles int,gi5r lad been burned CIT
AZ sest hea.r TIE IVES. wail aud
pa-siea - tne eas: we'll fell
zee fsrUser crushing ia large por
ton ef she sne-sssry power house O
ne PhiiaSelphi& Traction csapany
Which eenszlasd the two i1ucuss
epztnes Which propelled .he cer.panv'i
street sars ever too lower section o
the esfr Ehe east wall crushed th.
fsvF -sserr kuslSing occupied ev Ham
MA a tsssnSer. manufacturing
je7seisrs. sud portions If sew
s-el h~s'aisxs s-Ic-~ 81 Eighth street
TIE froas YAH fiiea sansprn street
WITH bricks .ra sson. ant sse--v-d the
saisstsvs Opposite. In the cellar yer,
Ne ne~ presses Of the Times. tae pride
81 sWHer FTsax MeL.aga alan. These
srs raiaed seTsnd Faysir. the reof 81
she rsclscs heusr -as burned and The
suasing soaked nth water Abevs
ths Grand Central n Niath sad Walnut
streets stances tas historic Walnut
ksrsss tAsster Sydney EesenseiS'
sew play. "Ens~inssies. 10 helms
srodsssd shfs week sad tie heuss va
NsIl tiled There wss great DANCE
shat tafs house vssia catch aT~
The rsrformssce wss thsrefor'
stepped ssa the srSisnce auissiy dis
missed Il vss feared also tia