The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1908-01-16
1877 Known Dead in Theater Fire.

work of recovering the dead from the
ruins of the Rhoades opera house at
Boyertown, Pa, where Monday
nights holocaust occurred, the Off
cial roll of victims numbered 167.
Whether any more bodies are bur-
led beneath the ruins cannot be pos
itively stated, but it is the belief OF
those who had charge of the work
that all of the dead have been remov-
ed and that the total list of victims
will not go above no. The ratio of
women and girls to men and boys is
about nine to one.
The inhabitants of the little bor-
ough in the Berks county hills are
stepped in grief. The calamity is ter
rible when it is realized that the
population of the place is about q,
500. Its enormity has paralyzed the
town, and the people are going about
dazed. They do not realize what
has happened and c2nnot believe that
the loved one, friends, or acquain-
tances were lost in the awful panic
and fire.
1t is safe to say that everybody
in the place either lost one or more
relatives or was intimately acquaint-
ed with those who died in the fire.
In several cases whole families
were wiped out If ever a commun-
ity was truly in mourning It is the
town OF Boyertown Pa.
1t was almost daylight Tuesday
morning before the flames were ex-
tinguished and rescuers were able to
enter the ruins TO remove the dead.
The Rhoades opera house was To-
Gated on the second floor of three
story brick building The first floor
was occupied by national bank and
several stores and the third floor was
used for lodge rooms.
So far as can be learned there were
about 425 persons packed in the room
most of whom were adults. A num-
Der of children were present. There
were about sixty-hve persons, all 10
cal talent, on the stage, who were
giving a performance of 'The Scot
fish Reformation"
The entertainment was nearly over,
the audience waiting for the curtain
to go up for the last part, when
something went wrong with the cal
cium light apparatus that was perch
ed on a small platform near the front
entrance 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 tube slipped from one of the
TANKS AT any rate there was loud
kissing sound, which caused many
in the audience to turn their heads
in curiosity to see what it was.
There was absolutely no panic up
to this and probably nothing would
have happened if one or more of the
performers behind the curtain had
not been curious to learn what was
causing the noise. Who he or they
were probably will never be known
Hearing the kissing sound and the
slight commotion in the audience,
one Of the performers raised the cur
tain from the floor In front of the
curtain and serving as footlights was
a tin tank eight feet long, three
inches wide, and three inches high.
1t contained coal oil and ten lights.
In raising the curtain the perform
er accidentally turned this tank over
and it fell TO the floor within few
inches of the persons in the front
row.
The Rev. Adam A. Weber pastor
of St Johns Lutheran church, for
tie benefit of whose Sunday school
the entertainment was 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 inevitable cry Of
fire." and what followed has been
impossible to accurately tell. Even
witnesses say 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 usual folding variety,
while those along The side of the hall
were loose chairs In the scramble
to get out many persons fell over
the chairs and were never again able
to regain their feet
A Comparative Study.