The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-31

loaded with dead in front of the theatre l that the two large horses attached to 1t were unable to start and the police were compelied to assist by tugsing at the wheels.
 l While the policemen and aremen were carrying out the dead and injured. Win '. Davis, one of tho proprietors of the thea- Ire. was indefati9abie in his efforts to relieve the suffering. He said:
 There was no need. as far as know, of a single one being lost. There were lforty exits to the theatre. The building Is. tre-proof, and if somebody had not screamed Fire, Fire I think that all. Las far as those Killed in the panic are concerned, could nave reached the street I In safety. And of those who were suf- located by the gas. nearly all would have been out by the time the expioeion oc- cugred If order had been preserved in making their escape, As far as we have learned everybody on the first floor ex- cept three. escaped, although some sus- tained bruises and other minor injuries | The great loss of life was in the first and second balconies. These combined seated about 900 persons. The sale of l seats had been good, but was not up to the capacity, and as far as I can esti- mate. the balconies between them held between 750 and 800 people The top bai- cony, where the cheapest seats were lo- cated, was the most crqowded, and it IA I here that the crowd found most difficulty in struggling toward exits."
 ANOTHER STORY AS
 TO THE CAUSE. 1t was declared tonight by the manage | ment of the theatre that the Ire was not caused, by the grounding an electric wire or any defect in the equipment of the | theatre. It started. they claim, by She bursting of calcium light apparatus. The concussion was so great that 1t blew | out the skylights over the stage and aus I titorium This statement of the manage ment Is contradicted by many persona l who were in the theatre and who declared | that before the explosion occurred they saw flames in narrow streak eroppInG along the wall near the upper mart of the drop curtain.
 William C. Seller. tho house hrqman who was severely burned in ttyiHg tt Iiowers ti,e asbestos curtain. describes ths scene upon the stage and the cause oi the fire as follows:
 II was in the wings when heard the explosion and immediately there was Ire | from the stage and. all over the theatre. Looking up saw that the curtain was ablaze and I at once ran for the ire | curtain. I got 1t half way down when | the wind rushing in from the broken slkyIights bellied 1t out so that it caught and we could not budge 1t. With the stage hands I climbed to where 1t was suspended and together we tried to push 1t down. Our efforts were futile and see- | ing that no human power could move that | fire curtain, and that the stage was | mass of flames I turned my attention to | warning the actors and trying to save those who were in trouble, The women were frantic and the men not much bet | ter. I stood at the stairway leading to | the dressing rooms where the chorus were located and kept some of them from going up to get their street clothes. AS | others came down, forced them to leave | fine building. I do not know how they | got out all the girls and men who came crowding down the stairs, for the stage entrance was blocked by mass of flames"
 BISHOP ASSISTS
 IN RESCUE WORK.
 Among the hundreds who rushed to the rescue when the call ol fire was heard on the streets was Bishop Fallows, who happened to be passing the theatre. Without any fear or hesitation he maoe his way through the darkness that was intensified by the volume of smoke that filled the auditorium to the top gallery and assisted in carrying out the victims. It was the presence of the children hundreds of whom were in the audience | and the efforts of their frantic mothers. impelled by their first thought to seek | the safety of their young, that caused so much of the pandemonium
 | Sheriff Barrett and score of deputies | from his office assis ed in carrying out | the injured and in keeping order among the mob of frantic relatives who throng- | ed the streets in front of the burning building, vainly seeking information that no one could give them.
 | T have never before witnessed such a scene in all my life,'' said Sheriff Bar rett, "On all sides were heaps of man gled and charreH humanity. Crazed men | fought to get within the corridors think | ing to find their loved ones among the pile of corpses that filled every available foot of space.
 strong men. with their tear-bllnded | eyes. stod on the sidewalk and called | loudly the names of their loved ones as 1 though there was a chance of the dead | hearing We did all we could to lessen | their grief, but such scenes can never be forgotten in life time."
 Walters and cooks from Thompson s restaurant. which adjolns the theatre on the east, rescued fifteen persons by ra's- ing a ladder from the roof of a shed to a window in the rear of the building around which a mass of screaming women and children were congregated. c. Little. the head cook. mounted to the top of the lad der, an dtold them oJump into his arms. Fifteen women and children did this and were passed by Little down to other men nthe ladder below him.
 THEATRE PARTY'S
 MARVELLOUS ESCAPE.
 One of the marvellous escapes was that made by the members of theatre party given by Miss Charlotte E. Plamondon of Chicago. The party was made up of a number of prominent society persons of this city. Miss Plamondon said:
 ''I could see little girls and boys in the
 orchestra chairs pointing upward to the
 slowly moving line of flames along the
 too of the drop curtain. One of the stage
 hands wearing overalls appeared before
 the footlights and requested the audience
 to keep their seats. as there was no dan ger Eddie Foy then went to the front
 of the stage and commanded the people
 to remain calm. saying that if they would
 keap their seats the danger would be