Birmingham state herald., 1895-12-28
A WILD RUSH ID DEATH Twenty-three People Killed in a
 Baltimore Theater. CRY OF FIRE THE CAUSE
A 1otley Throng Goes Paving Mad With
 /S Excitement.
'dASTLY IS THE SPECTACLE PRESENTED
The Audience Was Composed Principally ofJews, Who Gathered to Witness the Jewish Opera, "AIexan-
 der''-List of the Dead.

Baltimore, Md, Dec. 27.-Twenty- three persons were crushed and trampled to death in a panic at Front Street thea ter tonight. Several others were injured some of whom it is believed will die The United Oriental Opera and Dra- | matic company of Boston, under the management of A. Schongold and Abram Tanseman, was billed to present the Jew ish opera Alexander" and the theater was filled with a motley throng. About 2500 persons were in the house when the orchestra began playing the introduce tory.
 strong odor of gas was noticed in the second gallery of the theater and one of the attaches of the place was seen hunting for the leak with lighted torch. Suddenly a jet of flame flashed out as the torch came in contact with the punctured gas pipe.
 Cries of fire" were heard in the upper galleries, and in an instant the excite ment became intense. Some one rushed to the gas meter and turned off the sup ply, plunging the main body of the house into darkness. The stage jets alone re- mained lighted, being fed through an- other meter
 Instead of allaying the excitement caused by the sheet of flames from the leaking pipe, the turn ing off of the gas and con- sequent darkness only served to add to the confusion. The audience rose en masse and made a mad rush for the ex- it's. The actors ran down to the foot lights and shouted "Sit down. there's no danger" but the excited throng paid no heed to the advice, but continued their wild scramble for the doors. The gas was quickly turned on at the meter, and as the theater again became illuminated an indescribable scene of horror was presented. Men. women and children, crazed by fear, were fighting and struggling in the aisles and on the stairways in their efforts to reach the open air.
 The actors on the stage and few cool4 headed auditors added to the turmoil by | shouting their commands to "sit down. | and cursing those who were most vigor- | ous in their efforts to get out. The struggling mass of humanity made little or no headway for few minutes, as every aisle was congested and every
 door was jammed with frantic Poles and Russian Jews who mainly comprised the gathering Strong men in the rear of the panic-Stricken mob climbed upon the shoulders of those in front, crushing the weaker men, women and little chil- dren to the floor to be trampled to death by those still further in the rear. For several minutes the wild fight conA tinued. Then a few policemen forced a passage way to the main entrance and began dragging forth those who were damned in the doors. A rushing stream of humanity flowed out on Front street until all those who were able to move
 reached the open air. A hurried call for a policeman brought large squad to the theater by this time, and fire alarm
 had also been sent in, bringing some enc zines on the scene.
 The excitement in the street was al-
 most as bad as in the theater, as rela- tives began searching for those from whom they had become separated dur ing the mad rush. Fathers and mothers rushed about looking for their children
 and attempted to re-enter the theater in their search for missing ones. The crowd grew so great that the po- l lice, fearing riot, ordered the fire en- zine hose to be turned on, and in that way the struggling mass was driven back from the theater entrance. Meanwhile officers entered the theater end encountered sickening sight. In every direction were found bodies from which the life had been crushed and trampled. A majority of the victims were young men, girls and children. They were tenderly carried to the front of the house and taken to the city hos pital and the morgue as fast as the ann- balances and patrol wagons could make the trips.
 Great crowds followed the ambulancesl and patrol wagons and stormed the en- frances to the hospital and morgue in their anxiety to learn if their relatives. or friends were among the injured or dead.
 Twenty-three dead bodies were finally taken from the theater. Ten persons. more or less injured, are at the city hos pital. Two of them may die. Several others were taken to their homes in car- riages, suffering from contusions or broken bones. The death list will prob. ably exceed twenty-five.
 At a late hour tonight there had been but fourteen of the dead identified. They are:
 Miss Jennie Hinkle, 21 years old, who was in the orchestra with her brother-in- law. sister and two children Thew reached the door in their attempt to es- cape Miss Hinkle suddenly released her hold on her brother-in-law's arm and sank under the feet of the throng. She was trampled to death.
 Louis Cohen, a 10-year-old boy.
 Jacob Rosenthal, a tailor about 25 years old.
 - Wolff, tailor.
 Theresa Goldstein, years old and her little 4-year-old brother.
 Sarah Rosen, 15 years old.
 Ida Silberman, IA years old.
 Ida Friedman, IA years old.
 Sarah Siegel, 16 years old.
 - Levenstein, 40 years old.
 -Salesburg, 12-year-old boy.
 Lena Lewis, aged 22.
 Amaslx Jissel, 43 years old.
 Wanted Babies Bad.
 Atlanta. Dec. 27.-Two baby lions were
 stolen by a negro today from the Hagen
 beck show on the Midway. The cubs
 were in a basket and the thief thought thev were fancy kind of dog. When ha