Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1895-12-31
MAD RUSH TO ESCAPE
FALSE ALARM OF FIRE CAUSES A
PANIC IN A THEATER.


PANIC IN A THEATER.
Audience Caught In Crush at the
Doors and Twenty-seyen Killed-Harm-
less Defect in a Gas Burner the Cause
of the Catastrophe.
BALTIMORE, Dec. 29.-In senseless
panic, caused by defective gas burner
and foolish cry of fire at the old Front
Street theater, ~ people were killed, 2
fatally injured and 10 more seriously
hurt.
The theater, which is probably the
Oldest in the city, was filled from pit to
dome with people who had assembled
to listen to Hebrew opera, which has
been given in the old house twice a
week for the past month. The ticket
office receipts show that over 2,70O
tickets had been sold when, at 8
O'Clock, the sale Of seats was stopped
because there were no more left. Gen
eral admission tickets were sold, how
ever, after this, and it is supposed that
there were at least 5000 people within
the walls when the curtain went up on
the first act. AS the capacity of the
house is less than 9 500 the density of
the crowd may be imagined. Ten min
utes after the curtain rose one of tho
attendants went up to the second tier
to light q gas jet which appeared to
have been GXtinguished.
No Cause for the Panic.
AS he turned the cock and applied q
match, the light fared up and it was
seen that there was no tip to the bur-
ner. The jet was well down toward
the stage on the left side Of the house,
in PLAIN view of the greater part of the
audience, but as the glare from it
showed against the wall some one in
the gallery shouted, Fire, fire, fire.
In an instant there was mad scram-
bic for the door, in which the whole
audience took part. The vanguard Of
the terror stricken multitude reached
tho entrance Oh Front street, pushed on
by the bowling, shrieking mob behind
them. The steps leading from the
entrance are but about five feet high,
but the landing at their base is narrow
Down these the frenzied people hurled
themselves in the
Frightful struggle to Reach Open Air,
and to escape the certain death they
thought was behind them AS the
crowds from the two doors. one on the
right, the other Oh the left, reached the
landing, they met. There was a brief
struggle and then some one lost his
footing and fell. In a moment the
crowd pushed with irresistible force
from the rear, crowded upon the pros
trate forms, and began in turn to
stumble and reel, and presently to fall
prone upon the floor under the thou
sands Of feet coming like herd Of
frightened butfaloes from behind. In
less time than it takes to tell it the
landing was packed 20 or 30 deep with
the panic stricken multitude, and the
hundreds behind them were struggling
over each over to reach the street.
Police to the Rescue.
A dozen policemen, attracted by the
shrieks of the frightened crowd, hur-
ried to the scene, and, using their
clubs on those outside, pushed through
the door and to the writhing mass on
the landing. The officers dragged out
the PROSTATE ones, passing them to
those on the sidewalk. Ambulances
carried the dead to the morgue and the
wounded to the hospitals. When the
mass on the landing had been cleared
the frightened mob inside were Quoted
down sufficiently to enable the police to
clear the theater Then it was found
that there had been no danger and that
not a soul would have been injured
had the audience remained seated.
Twenty-four Already Dead.
Nine bodies were taken to the morgue
all of them dead from suffocation.
OF those taken to the city hospital Is
are dead Two more will probably die
before morning and 10 are desperately
hurt. The confusion at both places is
indescribable and so far but - of the
dead have been identified. AS has been
stated, all the dead and injured are
Polish Hebrews, and few Of them have
friends or relatives who are able to
speak the English language sufficiently
well to make themselves understood.
The dead are Of all ages, from mere in
fants to grey headed men and women.
All were killed or injured in the terrific
crush OH the fatal landing, not a cas-.
ualty having happened inside the house,
although the crush there was tremen-
dous.
MORE THAN SIXTY MISSING.