Omaha daily bee., 1895-12-28
'TRAMPLED TO DEATH
Twenty-Four People Killed in a Panic in
a Baltimore Theater.
MANY OTHERS INJURED, TWO FATALLY
Building Was Crowded When Some One
Shouted Fire.
PEOPLE MADE A MAD RUSH FOR THE EXIT
Were Piled Up Several Deep on a Narrow
Landing Near the Door.
PEOPLE MADE A MAD RUSH FOR THE EXIT
POLICE SOON CLEARED The PAsSAGEWAY
Stampede Was Caused by u Gas Jct
FlnrinG Up. Giving nm Appear
Rncc of II F~irc-Thosc In the
House UninJured.

FOOLISH cry Of fire at this old Front Street
theater, tonight twenty-four people were
killed, two fatally injured and ten more
seriously hurt. Up to 1 O'clock this morning,
but thirteen Of the dead have been identified.
Thsy are:
LEO COHEN, aged %, 25 North Front
street.
JENNIE HENzLE, aged IS. 2os Albemarl
streete.
JACOB ROSENTHAL, aged 10. 2e6 AL
bemarl street.
NORRIS MALICIOUS, tailor. aged 30.
LOUIS AMOSKI. aged is.
LOUIS LENENSTEIN, aged 2S.
GABRIEL BERNSTEIN, aged l..
THERESA BERNSTEIN, aged 5.
IDA FRIEDMAN, aged II.
SUSAN ROSEN, aged Is.
LENA LEWIS, aged %.
aged 10 (boy.)
WOLF, aged rs (man.)
The others are at the morgue awaiting
Identification.
The injured at the city hospital are:
Mrs. %Friedmann, aged %, crushed.
Mrs. Goldman, aged 40, badly crushed.
Mllda Goldwait, aged 16, COMMISSIONS and
shock.
Morris Schaeffer, crushed.
Jacob Goldstein, aged 20, crushed.
Abraham Rosenthal. aged so, crushed.
Unknown boy, aged 20. will die.
'hhoN WuHidl, dSeu 20, VIII Gle.
Unknown man, aged %, seriously hurt
about the body.
Unknown boy, aged 1G, seriously injured.
Almost all Of the victims are of Polish
nativity and Hebraic extraction, and many
OF the injured were taken to their homes
by friends, rendering 1t almost impossible
to get a complete list at this time. The
t%heater, which is probably the oldest In the
city, was filled from pit to dome with peo-
pie who had assembled to listen to a Hebrew
opera. which has been given In the old house
twice a week for the past month.
The ticket office recefpts show that over
2,1CO tickets had been sold when, at 8 O'Clock,
the sale Of seats was stopped because there
were no more left. GenSral admission tickets
were sold, however, after this, and 1t is sup
posed 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 $500, the density of the crowd
may be imagined. Ten minutes after the
curtain arose, one of TIE attendants went
up to the second tier to light a gas jet which
appeared to have been extinguished. AS he
turned the cock and applied a match, the
light flared up and it was seen that there
was no tip on the burner. The jet was we'll
down toward the stage on the left side Of
the house, in plain view of the greater part
Of the audience, and as the glare from 1t
showed against the wall some one in the
gallery shouted Fire, Fire, Fire"
MAD RUSH FOR THE DOOR.
In an instant there was a mad scramb
for the door in which the whole audience
took part. The vanguard of the terror
stricken multitude reached the entrance on
Front street., pushed on by the bowling,
shrieking crowd bshind them. There those
in the foremost rank were compelled to turn
to the right and to the left to reach the
double entrance way, built in the form Of
a storm door. Passing through these doors,
they reached a flight of steps leading from
each door downward to a landing, from
whenc5 a broad stairway of moderate height
would have carried them into the street and
to safety.
The steps leading from the doorway are
but about Ave feet high, but the landing
at their base is narrow. Down these the
frightened people hustled themselves in the
~frightful struggle to reach the 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 on
the left, reached the landing they met. There
was a brief struggle and then some one lost
his or her footing and fell. In a moment
the crowd, pushed with irresistible force
from the rear, crowded upon the PROSTATE
form and began in turn, to stumble, reel, and
presently fall prone upon the floor, under
the scores Of feet coming like a herd OF
frightened buffalo from behind. In less time
than it takes to tell 1t the landing was
packed twenty to thirty deep with the panic
stricken multitude and the hundreds behind
them were struggling over them to reach the
street.
POLICE TO THE RESCUE.
The tumult attracted an immense crowd
from the outside. many of whom tried to
gain entrance TO the theater. thus adding to
the confusion. A dozen policemen, also at
tracted by the shrieks of the frightened
crowd, hurried to the scene, and using their
clubs on those outside, pushed through the
door and to the writing mass on the land
ing. Among the first to reach them was
E. j. Kelley. Forcing his way In
through the main door he grasped a pair OF
arms, and pulling with all his might, dragged
a woman from under the surging crowd. A
glance ct her face showed that she was past
all human aid, dead from suffocation. Again
he reached into the mass of humanity and
pulled out a boy about 7 years old. He, too,
dead, also from suffocation, with scarcely
A bruise upon his body. The officer was by
This time reinforced by a dozen of his fellow
o~ficers, who dragged cut the PROSTATE ones,
passing them to those on the sidewalk. Am
Dulances carried the dead to the morgue and
The wounded TO the city hospital, wherever
In many cases the slightly injured
and In a few cases those who were badly
lurt. were taken to their homes by friends.
When the magg nm the landing had haan
cleared the frightened mob inside were Qui-
tied down sufficiently to enable the police to
clear The theater. Then It was found that
here had been no danger, and that not a
soul would have been injured had the audi
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