The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1904-05-08
PANIC AVERTED
BY THE POLICE
Big Audience Escaped Injury
While FImaes Reared Above.
DISCOVERED IN Time
AND POLICE CAPTAIN THREAT.
ENED TO CLUE TO DEATH
ANY MAN WHO STARTED
A STAMPEDE.

= y wv '~@e-s
New York. May With the top
floor of the office building over Proc,
tors one Hundred ana Tweaty-nfth
street theater blazing fiercely, and
with the thulding roar Of half doz-
en- fire engines in the street, 500
persons in the audience tonight reach
ed the street safely and without in-
jury
Fifteen reserves and 12 plain
clothes men from the One Hundred
anl Twentysixth street station reach
Cd the theater before the audience
| learned of the FIRE ana closing in and
around the audience, marshalled them
/ forth from the burning building with
/ a celebrity ami ease that was largely
! responsible for the lack Of easuali-
ties The many exits to the theater
also aided materially.
! Rushing into the center aisle, fol-
lowed by half dozen of his men,
Captain McNally called out. Slowly.
/ ubH 1 tNAils 1 u tllD Aitt HlNA httu "
/ death who starts TO run"
A theater audience in New York
has rarey verged SO closely upon q
panic The terrifying noise outside
the door, the sitting smoke that
crept through the building and the
sense of danger would have stamped.
| cd them In a moment. but the clear,
/ keen tones of the police captain chill
ed them It was typical New York
crowd, and the situation was grasped
| in minute.
Some one laughed The danger was
over in that moment, and from that
time on there was little fear of n rush
from the place,
Ii was a clear demonstration that
New Yorks greatest safeguard
against a theater panic Is the char
acter Of the people Of the city.
Near the center aisle at the rear OF
the house stood Brooklyn man. VINO
also killed the terror of the crowd
w G. Lowrey, Of No. 2GG Carrolton
avenue. Brooklyn. was one of the
first men IN the place to realize the
danger Of a stampede from the place
and, slipping quietly around To the
rear of the house, he took his station
| there and "jollied" the crowd out OF
tho place by his side, calm-eyc1 and
absolutely mafrail stood his wife,
smiling at the hurrying men and wo-
men racing for the entrance, and as
4 they saw her they became ashamed
of their hurry and assumed an air Of
nonchalance that may have been al.
tifclal, but was good enough for all
purposes
In box Harry Brunell cautioned
the audience against the danger OF
rushing from the building lie is the
Rouse manager AT the first alarm of
/ danger he hal dropped the asbestos
curtain. had slammed into place auto
matically the great iron doors cutting
/ of the stage from the auditorium and
4 directed the crowd to the various ex-
I its
There We're u exits in all AMI there
wac no delay According t. the
watches Of some the house was emp
/ tied in two minutes, while others say
! that three minutes We're required
The actors also played their parts
and played them well Paul McAnis.
ter the leading man Of the stock com.
pany, came out before the asbestos
curtain and aided BunelI ana the pa
/ lice in quieting the audience.
There cant be any danger ne
called ont "you can see the honse
fireman isn't worried and he drag
ead the fireman out upon the stage
The fireman adlel hts assurance to
those Of tine actor. but his o1sy. grim
and unaffected air oi ehagrn at the
haste Of the au lieBce did more than
anything elise 10 brine them to sense
ii their uEseemly hurry
II was said by the employees Of tie
I tousc tonight That within 30 secon's
after the worl had been carried to
/ Harry BruneIl that the builling was
/ Burning the stage had been isolated
ff8m She auditorium. while the entire
tbeater proper was already separated
Hom the burning floor by brick waits
q foot thick
/ N1 less than others itd lue orches.
+ ira leader deserve credit Staining
~ his place, whirling his baton he
calleI forth such q rendition OF "Be.
della" as even Wager would have
+ appreciated I'd ~ -BedelIa, with
fire engine acsrnpaHiment. but it
served its purpose The aulienee.
! hurryine from the place. anew that ss
j long a. the earnest worker in charge
oi the orchestra kept 30 the hilarious
Rhirl Of the song there coutInt be
much danger and. although they
eouldnt see him. they knew be vas
/ there
The crowd left the theafer 70 see a
fhr0ng OF people surrounding the
I place. six Ere engines and a truck at
work. aud Gordon Ct policemen
/ keeping back the crowd. while from