The Somerset reporter., 1892-08-11
FIRE EXPERIENCES.
KATE CLAYTON TALKS ABOUT HER
MANY NARROW ESCAPES.

She says That She l. in Reality "a Cow
ard Whenever She Hears the Cry of
"Fire, Tir.,"-uer Escapes Have Been
Due to Extreme Goodness.
For over fifteen years Kate Claxton
has been pursued by peculiar form of
III lnck. In spite of the little womass
pluck. which has made her heroine of
! vcral fires and "A dozen or so of panics,
NE rather sfrinks from the subject, and
/, is with difficulty that she can be per
kuaded to tell of some of the escapes
from the flames that She has had.
Her experience at Harris theatre.
when the cry Of fire caused panic, is
only one of the several through which
She has passed since $50. the year of
the celebrated Brooklyn fire. .ihe had
Just been dragged from the stage by La
Fruchard, the hag i'll The Two Or
phans, when a reporter sought her out.
The excitement Of the false alarm had
left her nerves little shattered, she ex-
planned. When reference was made to
her apparent GOODNESS she said that her
manner showed nothing of what she
really felt.
Il was very much wrought up. No
one can tell what that cry of fire meant
10 me. | had begun to think that my
evil genius had forgotten my existence,
il seemed SO long since the last panic.
| was in an exceptionally good humOr,
and was sitting on the steps of the plat
form when the stampede began. As is
always my first impulse, rushed to see
the flames. | did not doubt that the
building was ablaze. At one glance,
however, | Jaw there was no danger,
except that which comes with every
panic.
''You know, she said, that dread
ii panic worse than | do fire. My ex-
,lerirnce has been that more people are
crushed to death in their efforts to get
ont than are eyer burned alive. The
escapes | have made, which some seem
to think almost miraculous We're the
result Of GOODNESS and presence of mind.
When the cry Of fire is given | never
allow my impulse to run with the crowd
to govern me. imperil my life some
what in order to seek ont the danger
and choose the best method of escaping
from it. Often. il seemed to me after
ward had | followed the mad rush
for the main exits | would never have
escaped.
81 try TO impress everybody with the
same idea. First view the situations
and figure up the chances for escape.
When the Southern hotel in st. Louis
was burned, for instance, at which time
twenty-seven lives were lost. | never did
any of the remarkable feats which have
been attributed to me. The story is
generally believed that rolled down the
burning stairs i'll wet blankets. The fact
was staid in the burning building I'M
til had discovered a safe means of es-
cape. The fact that | was one Of the
last to get ont caused dozens of reports
to be spread.
My reputation It's a fire fend began
the second year | acted III The Two
Orphans | was playing in Brooklyn.
| had thrown myself ON the straw bed
to sleep. had closed my eyes, and for
this reason did not discover the fire at
first. When | was awakened and or
dered to get up | saw the fire creeping
along the top of the theater. Every one
remembers the fatal ending Four hun
bred persons We're burned or trampled
to death, among whom We're three of
the company. The next year, 1873, |
was caught i'll the st. Louis fire, Ever
since then have been considered fore
runner of fires.
81 can only account for the numerous
false alarms and panics from the fact
that there are always some superstitious
person in the audience who, believing
me to he followed by an evil genius,
shouts fire at the slightest provocation.
More panics have been caused by fights
in the streets and alleys than in any
other way. just short time ago there
was panic in La Crosse, Wis, caused
in the identical way as the one here.
Another panic, which came near being
a disaster, was caused by a street fight
in front of the Owens opera house, in
Charleston, S. G. When one starts it is
impossible to check it. | have tried
screaming to the audience, but it only
makes it worse. My presence often
seems to check IA stampede. At the close
of the panic here made up my mind to
have me big sign printed with the
words, 1T is only fight.
'Of all the theater panics | have been
in only three were caused from fire.
Several times the flies have been ahlaze
without any one in the audience know
ing it, | have become morbid on the
subject of fire, and no matter how late
at night it is, if an alarm is sounded |
always dress and go. When the Fifth
Avenue theater. in New York, burned |
was present and watched 1t to the end.
If had been seen it would probably
have been said that my presence caused
it. do not deserve the reputation of
being brave i'll fires, for | am Il great
coward, SO great one that it often en-
ables me to seem self sustained. After
such fright am left completely I'M
nerved louisville Courier-Journal.