The Coconino weekly sun., 1896-01-02
THEATER PANIC.
Awful Scenes in a Baltimore Play
House.
.,,,, Of a False Alarm of Flre-.Twenty.
,our Persons Crushed to Death and
Many Others Injurea-Build-
Ing Packed Full.

BALTIMORE, Nd, Dec. 2s-In a sense
lass panic caused by q defective gas
hurner and foolish cry of fire, at the
old Front Street theater, last night,
>. neople were killed, two fatally in.
;nred and ten more seriously hurt. Up
10 one o'clock this morning, but four
~ the dead had been identified.
Almost all the victims are of Polish ma.
tivity and Hebraic extraction, and
many of the injured were taken to
their homes by friends, rendering it
almost impossible to get a complete
list at this time.
The theater, which is probably the
oldest in the city, was filled from pit
10 dome with people who had assem-
bled 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 2,7OO
tickets had been sold when, at eight
o'clock, the sale of seats was stopped
because there were no more left Gem
eral admission tickets were sold, how
ever, after this, and it was supposed
that there were at least 1000 people
within the walls when the curtain
went up on the first act. AS the ca
pacity of the house is less than $500,
the density of the crowd may be imag-
ined.
Ten minutes after the curtain rose,
one of the attendants went up to the
second tier to light gas jet which ap.
t. tch A., r..
turned the cock and applied a match it
was seen that there was no tip to the
burner The jet was we'll down to.
ward 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 n mad
scramble for the door, in which the
whole audience took part. The van.
guard OF the terror-stricken multitude
reached the entrance on Front street,
pushed on by the bowling, shrieking
mob behind 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 flight of
steps, leading from each door, down
ward to landing, from whence q
broad stairway of moderate height
would have carried them into the
street and to safety. The steps lead
ing from the doorways are but about
five 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 doorss
one on the right, and the other on the
left, reached the landing, they met
There was brief struggle, and then
some one lost his or her footing and
fell. In moment the crowd, pushed
with irresistible force from the rear,
crowded upon the PROSTATE form, and
began, in turn, to stunt BILE, reel, and
presently to fall prone upon the floor
under the myriads of feet coming like
herd of frightened buffalo from be.
hind.
In less time than it takes to tell it,
the landing was packed go or 30 deep
with the panic-stricken multitude, and
the hundreds behind them were strug-
Cling over them to reach the street.
The tumult attracted an immense
crowd from the outside, many Of
whom tried to gain entrance to the
theater, thus adding to the confusion.
dozen policemen, also attracted by
the shrieks of the frightened crowd,
hurried to the scene, and, using their
clubs on those on the outside, pushed
through the door and to the writhing
mass on the landing. When the mass
on the landing had been cleared, the
frightened mob on the inside were
Quoted down sufficiently to enable the
police to clear the theater. Then 1t
was found that there had been 10 dan
ger and that not a soul would have
been injured had the audience but re-
manned seated.