Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1908-01-23
NEARLY ITO DEAD
HAVE BEEN FOUND
IN THE RUINS OF THE BOYER
TOWN OPERA HOUSE.
FEW CAN BE IDENTIFIED.
Tank Containing Coal Oil Was Upset,
the Oil Caught Fire and in the
Rush to Escape Scores of
Lives We're Lost.

Boyertown, Pa. - When nightfall
on Tuesday put stop to the
work of recovering the dead from the
ruins of the Rhoades opera house,
where Monday nights holocaust oc-
CURED. the official roll of victims num-
bered 167. Whether any more bodies
are buried beneath the ruins cannot
be positively stated, but it is the be-
lief of those who had charge of the
work that all of the dead have been
removed and that the total list of vic
tins will not go above ITO. The ratio
of women and girls to men and boys
Is about nine to one.
The bodies were so badly burned
that there was little to describe them
by and not half the victims will ever
be identified
The opera house was located on the
second floor of a three-story brick
building.
There were about 250 persons
packed in the room, most of whom
were adults. The number of children
present was small Later about 65
persons, all local talent, were on the
stage giving a performance of the
Scotch reformation. The entertain
ment was nearly over when some
thing went wrong with the calcium
light apparatus that was perched on a
small platform near the front en-
trance of the building and at the back
of the audience. The light was in
charge of H. w. Fischer, of Carlisle
Pa, and he says a rubber tubing
slipped from one of the tanks. At any
rate there was kissing sound which
~ In, h.
their heads to see what it was.
Hearing the Kissing sound and the
slight commotion in the audience, one
of the performers raised the curtain
from the floor. In front of the cur
tain and serving as footlights was a
tin tank perhaps eight feet long, three
inches wide and three inches high.
1t contained coal oil and about 10
lights. In raising the curtain the per-
former accidentally turned this tank
over and it fell to the floor within a
few inches of those in the front row.
Rev. Adam Weber, pastor of st.
Johns Lutheran church, for the ben
eft of whose Sunday school the en-
tertainment was being given, tried to
pick up the tank with the assistance
of others, but before they could do so
the oil flowed out and caught fire.
Then came the cry of Fire" and
what followed would be impossible to
accurately tell. Every eyewitness says
that the audience rose en- masse and
the one impulse was to reach the
front door. All attempted it. but few
got out The seats in the center of
the hall were of the folding variety,
screwed to the floor, while those
along the sides of the hall were loose
chairs. In the scramble to get out
many persons fell over the chairs and
were never able to regain their feet.
Those who did reach the front en-
trance found it jammed with people.
One of the double doors had been
bolted shut so as to better enable the
ticket taker to take up tickets. Not
more than two persons could pass this
door at one time and after the first
half dozen got through the narrow
passage it became clogged with the
struggling mass of humanity. Men.
women, boys, girls and chairs were
tangled up in solid mass that no
one from the outside was able to dis
entangle.
In the meantime someone discoy-
cred that there were fire escapes on
each side of the building and dozens
made their exit by those avenues of
escape and gave the alarm. The fire
bell was rung and the whole town
went to the rescue. All this time the
flames from the oil tank were creep
ing toward the mass of people who
were fighting to get out. The noise
was terrific and few heard the cries
of those who found the fire escapes.
Some of the bravest who had gained
the fire escapes pulled dozens from
the struggling mass and directed
them to the sides of the building.
While the people We're fighting to
get down the front steps the calcium
light tank exploded and fire was
spread over the entire mass of peo-
pie. This added horror was more
than the rescuers could stand and in
order to save their own lives they
were forced to flee down the fire es-
capes. On the front steps outside the
door men pulled to open way for
the wedged-in people, but not more
than half dozen were rescued in this
manner. The explosion of the calci-
um tank and the flames from the front
of the stage, which had by this time
reached the struggling people. made
further rescue impossible The en-
tire interior of the building was one
seething furnace.