Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-02-20
THE NEW BIJOU.
Mr.. Taylor Arranging to Rebuild
the Little Theatre.
SYMPATHY FOR OFFNER.
Salvage of the Ruins Includes the
Body of Snowflake.
Two Big Benefit performances-one Tc-
night for the Players and Another
Wednesday for MIR. and
Mrs. Offner.

A big gang Of men, in the employ of
S. I. Howard, the contractor, was at
work on the ruins of the Bijou Theatre
all day Saturday and another big crowd
of people filled the south side of Front
street, watching the proceedings as the
workmen erected the staging, to shore
up the front wall eff the theatre. Omi-
nous sounds of cracking were heard in
the vicinity of the ruins during the day,
come down in a hurry, so the staging
was erected. The first work of Mr..
Howard and his men will be to remove
the debris caused by the ire. and to
clean up the premises, and it is expect
ed that by the time this is done, R. c.
Taylor the owner of the property, will
have his plans for the new theatre
which is to be erected, fully completed.
Mr.. Taylor George H. Batcheller and
Manager Jules E. Offner had a long
conference regarding the plans for the
new theatre Saturday, but nothing def
mite was done, except that Mr.. Taylor
offered Mr.. Batcheller the first chance
to lease the new house of amusement
when it is done. There was some talk
during the day that an attempt would
be made to fit up temporary place of
amusement, where Manager Offner
could continue to give vaudeville per-
formances until the end of the present
season, on at least until the new house
is finished, but there was nc ground for
The rumor, ct least so far as Manager
Offner is concerned. He says that he
will have nothing to do with such a
scheme, as it would border too much
on the ''nickelodeon' style, and he is
looking to advance instead Of going
backward.
If by any chance, some other party
than Mr. Batcheller should secure a
lease of the new theatre when it is
done, Manager Offner will try to secure
local backing for the erection of an
other ftrst-class playhouse in the city.
His record in building up the Bijou is
so well known to the theatre going
public of Worcester, that ne feels that
he can count on them 70. support in
any future move re may make in this
city He would prefer, of course, to
remain in this city, where his record
is so well and favorably known, but if
he cannot get what he wants, he can
easily secure theatre in some other
city
The place that Manager Offner holds
in the estimation of Worcester people is
shown in measure by the large num-
Der of letters he received Yesterday and
the number of callers that visited him
and Mrs. Offner at their temporary
home with Mr. and Mrs. William ]
Larkin on Silver street. Mr.. Offner was
down town attending to his business.
but the visitors extended their sympa-
thy to Mrs Offner, and expressed
hope that they would continue to be
residents Of this city The letters re-
ceived by Manager Offner were a great
satisfaction to him, as nearly all of
them were from patrons of the theatre.
Who were personally unknown to him,
but who expressed sympathy with him
in his misfortune
While there were many who expressed
sympathy there were others who did
not show to so good advantage on
the morning of the fire, three trunks
containing some of Mr.. and Mrs. Off
ner's clothes were removed to the Office
of Clerk James c. Coffey in the city
hall. During the forenoon Mr.. Offner
opened one of these trunks, and near
the top he found a couple of boxes, each |
containing three pairs of new socks. He
shut the trunk, but the next time he |
L. IL
the two boxes were missing. He saw
the truckman who removed the trunks, !
and asked What he knew about the |
boxes. The truckman said the man who !
took the trunks to Silver street had been |
in his employ for the past IA years, and |
no complaint had ever been made about |
him before, but he would make an in
vestigation. This he did, and during /
the afternoon three pairs of the socks /
- Nv. -,
that the other three pairs would come
back Monday.
The search among the ruins of Mr. !
Offner's apartments was continued yes
terday, and some interesting things were |
The refrigerator was bad /
ly burned on the outside, but when it /
was opened it was found that new
box Of butter and a quantity of meat |
which Mrs. Offner had placed inside /
Thursday was untouched. The butter
had not melted, and the meat was Just /
as fresh as it was when it was put into I
the box. The silver service which used /
to occupy place on a shelf in the din |
ing room. had been melted by the in
tense heat, and instead of the graceful !
lines of the teapot, the sugar-bowl and |
the pitcher, there were simply ''pigs" |
Of silver, worth only their bullion value |
Some of the cutlery and spoons are still
intact, and may be of use when they +
are cleaned. Most OF the orockery and |
china is smashed, but there are odd I
pieces which may be saved
The little white dog of Mr. and Mrs. |
Offner, whose loss they feel so keenly. /
was found lying beneath the window in I
front of which Mrs. Offner was taken.
She had evidently met her death by |
as not a hair on her |
was singed. 1t is supposed that the |
little animal saw her mistress outside /
the window on the ledge while waiting I
for the ladder to be raised to her, and |
she tried to get to her, but could not, |
and was overcome by the smoke.
George f. Fairbanks. the druggist at /
10 Front street, has opened a tempo
rary office in room "a of the Chase build
Ing, but he has done nothing yet about