Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1896-01-03
Awful Panic In A Theatre.
"a KILLED AND MANY IN.
JURED.

luclCCllNO Boo JUL IVA ohb O. AOO''H'
cry Of fire at the Old Front stree
theatre tonight twenty -four peopl
we're killed, two fatally lnjare(
and ten more seriously hurt. Vi
to one o'clock this morning bu
thirteen of the dead have heel
identified.
Almost all the victims are o
Polish nativity and Hebrew ex
traction and many Of the injured
were taken to their homes by
friends, rendering it almost i'm
possible to get a complete list a
this tine. The theatre, which was
probably the oldest in the city
was filed from pit to dome with
people who had assembled to lis
ten to Hebrew opera, which has
been given 10 the old house twice
week tor some time past.
At s o'clock the sale of tue seats
was stopped because there were NO
more seats. General al mission
tickets were sold however, and IT
is Supposed that there were at
least 5000 people IN the bouse
when the curtain went up. Ten
minutes after the curtain rose one
of the attendants went mp TO the
second tier to light gas jet which
appears to have extiDguished. AS
he turned the cock and applied the
match, the light flared up and it
was seen that there was no tip to
the burner.
The let was we'll down to the
stage on the left side of tho house
in plain view to the greater part
of the audience, bat as the flare
showed against the wall some one
in the gallery shouted "Fire, fire,
fire."
In al instant there was a mad
scramble for the door in which the
whole audience took part.
The vanguard of the terror
stricken multitude rushed for the
entrance on Front street pushed
by the bowling sbrieklng mob be-
hind them, there those in the fore
most rank were compelled to turn
to the right and to the left to reach
the double entrance way, built in
the form of storm doors. Passing
through these doors they reached
flight OF steps, leading from each
door downward to a landing from
whence a broad stairway OF mode
rate height would have carried
them into the street and to safety.
The steps leading from the door =
ways are but about five feet high,
bat the landing at their base is
narrow. Down these the frighten
ed people hurled themselves In the
trightful 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 from the right and the other
from the LETT, reached the landing
they met,
T1ere was a brief struggle and
then some one lost his or her foot
ing, and fell. 10 a moment the
crowd pushed and crow ded upon
their PROSTATE forms, and others
began to stumble and reel until
they Tell prone upon the floor under
the myrlads of feet coming like a
horde of frightened buffalOes from
behind. In less time than it takes
to tell it. the landing was packed
twenty or thirty deep with the
panic stricken multitude and the
hundreds behind them we're stTug-
bling over them to reach the
street.
The tum lit attracted an i'm
mense crowd from the outside
many of whom tried to gam en-.
trance to the theatre thus adding
to the confusion. A dozen police
men also attracted by the shrieks
OF the frightened crowd hurried to
the scene and using their clubs on
those outside pushed through the
door and to tue writhing mass On
the landing. Among tie first TO
reach them was Officer j Kelley,
whose beat is but block away.
Forcing his way IN thrOpgl the
main door he grasped a piir Of
arms and pulling with all bis
might dragged a woman from uu.
der the surglng crowd. A glance
at her face showed that she was
past slI human aid, dead fom
sufiocation. Again he reached la
to the mass of humanity and pull
oil out boy about seven years
old.
lie too, was dead, also from
suffocatlon, with scarce a bruise
upon his body. The other officers
by this time reinforced by a dozen