Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-01-07
Vienna s Ring Theatre Disaster
Is Second on the List.
In the Brooklyn Theatre Fire of 1879
2O4 Persons Lost Their 1jycs
.--Thc Paris Dnzaar Cal.
amity.

y.
None OF them compares in point of loss
of human life with the horror in which
the audience Of the 1roquois Theatre in
Chicago was overwhelmed. After each of
tho worst disasters there has followed a
great wave of public sentiment demand
Ing the enactment of new laws designed
to make such culamitics impossible in
TIL" future.
Closest approaching the Chicago horror.
among similar disasters which have hap
pcncd in this country, was the Brooklyn
Theatre fire of December .. 1S16. when 2g4
persons lost their lives. Tho play was
"Thc TWO Orphans" given under the
management OF Shook 4 Palmer. by Il
company of New York players. Kate Clax-
ton being the star. This fire began it was
believed, from perforated border"
catching FRI from one of the border
lights. It burned for several minutes, and
the audience, seeing the flames through,
the openings in the scenery, had become
uneasy.
Miss ClaNtou was about To attempt to
assure them. when q burning brand tcli
upon the matched roof of the bolthouse.
which WAS the central object of the stage
setting instantly huge pillar of flame
rose from III" himsN iLatcrial The cur
tain was lowered. huecd ont over tie
reads Of the terrified throng. and burst
into flames. which ran over the ceiling.
and the panic WAS at its height among
the one thousand persons who composed
tho audience.
Scores were thrown down and tramulc.l.
hut most OF thos" in th, rar,luct escaped.
but tor those H. the gallery there was no
hope. Most of these wcr" YOUNG m"ii and
boys. They crowded into a staircase, and
at the turn h"cHmc wcdgcd tightly. and
thcr" they stood screaming till the stairs
fell. carry Ing them down to death below.
The irem'n helped p"opl" from thc wiz
doWs to the roof OF Dictcr's Hotel. next
door. Others were taken out alive from
'ht cellar through y sidewalk opening.
Others appeared at IT.. windows ana fell
back into the flames ia the sight OF The
huri iiird crowd. Many of thos" p,nnCl
in the gallery threw themselves ever the
rail for Il moments roSrit" from the heat.
ana were Killed hv tn" fan
'ritc theatre stood in WASHINGTON street,
moi far from Tie present bridge terminus.
and he'd been erected q, Il hrst-class
house. and Was rnnSd"rc ! safe. As Ancii-
can th"Htr"S went. but investigation
showed thai tho lirc-tigh,ing apparatus
WIS sadly deficient. and the employees
were wholly unframed for such an cmor-
crucN. Among tn" actors who wcic Kill, Il
w"r, II. s. Murdock and Claude Eur
rouGhs. vino were faNorites Of the time.
Miss tlaNton escaped through the audi
4 lriurn. gaining the street over the neals
of tn" audience. a tcw months after
ward she wHS caught H. hotel tre III ST
Louis. in which q score or more were
killed OF the doad in thu Brooklyn
Th"atr" nr. only III wore idcntiod. the
rest being Hurled in common circular
grave in Greenwood cemetery hy the city.
where q monument was raised to mark
their resting plar" A. Il c"nS"qucnc" of
tho fire. Whom Il Gals" alarm was raised
in ST Francis \avicr's Church. in Nov
YORK. several weeks lator. the conGr, ga
I liz, Il nd Coy W.r
crushed out in the struggle t. reach the
cutter air
The BrouNlyn Theatre tire lei to the
raesap" of many Laws in many states
dc. cird to make places Of popular as
son hiagc safer.
THE RlNG THEATRE DISASTER.
Another catastrophe which shocked the
world vas the burning uf the Ring thea
tr., in Vienna. DoCcinhrr :. ISL Tn" thc'l-
tire had been known as the comic Opera
House ard most of the great European
artists played there. shortly hofor" ia"
fire Sarah I'cruhardt hal hllrd Il Ions en-
gagcmcu: there.
The lire started at $50 o'clock. II WIS
{ ln losing If the Feast uf the lmInaru-
late t.Hrcutipn. ana many of tho poorer
people had nnc,et there to cclobrHt" the
end of that fcaS 81. TN" piece which We
To he produced was Les C"rtes '!oh-
man" The hous" VS. tol"rahly full when
tho lire WAS first ,""u The buildiug was
one of the htndsumrSt in Europe, having
i've. ii built in lN75. It's interior was clah-
ornc'y decorated with papicr mach" and
LIGHT wood. which fed the tire when II
had gained hchGWtH. TN" rHusc ~ the
ir. Was never fully known. ono "Xpana-
ton VS. that Il carclc>s workman hchlnd
the scores had dropped AN oil lamp; the
other that tnc blaze had started in some
no, ri al
'fhc early reports said ihat tn" loss of
life had been 200 persons. Tho list was
aftcrward swclled to 800 mlssinG but
again reduced later to about $50 dead
and Gl7 unaccounted for. Early IN tn"
of the caus" of the fire II
was shown that the fourth gallery must
have fallen into the pit. 1t vas n long time
after the fire had actually started that the
peoplc in the auditorium became aware of
their danger. II was only when the flames
burst through the curtain that the au-
uicnce began 10 rails" tn" cry az "''lre!
and made for the doors Immediately df-
ter the audience began to rush from the
building something went wrong with the
electrical apparatus and III" lights went
ont The audience was thus left Ia strug-
gle in the darkness for fully tea minutes
for the exits
No one whose duty it was Ia notify
the fire department had III" presence of
mind to do So.
When at last the tircmou arrived they
sDread nets and blankets below the win
dows and as many as ten an twelve ut
a time jumped into them. Unfortunately,
there were no windows opening out upon
the street about the top gallery and tho
persons ND there were left either To perish
in the galleries or to jump into the burn
Ing, pit below. There followed an eXplo-
sion which fastened the destruction of
the building and cut off the escape of
many.
AMERICAS EARLIEST THEATRE
HORROR.
First of American theatre ire horrors
WAS that at Richmond on December 2G
1911. II was II gala performance and the
house was crowded, there being not less
thar 600 persons in the audience, among
them the governor of the state. George
William Smith; his slaff. and representa-
tives of many Of the most prominent fam
lilies of the Old Dominion. The theatre
was burned to the ground ana - pcrishcd
Governor Smith himself being among the
dead
CARISRIHE'S TRIAL ny FIRE.
Europe had another awful theatre fire in
the last century. when the Grand DuCal
theatre at Carlshruhe was burned during
a performance about 1AS, with the loss
of about 100 lives. The house had been
newly decorated, and the blaze was start
ed i'm Main view. of the audience hv tho