The Forrest City times., 1909-02-19
OVER 300 PERISH
 IN THEATER FIRE
AMERICAN CONSUL MooREAEAD AT ACAPULCO, MEX, REPORTS
 NO AMERICANS DEAD.
MANY CRUSHED AT THE EXITS
Occasion in Honor of Governor Caused House to Be Packed, and Ex- eeutive May Be Among
 the Victims.


 than 300 persons were killed in the fire which destroyed the Teatro Flores at Acapulco is the fear of per sons here who have friends in the Pacific coast seaport. Every effort is being made to obtain definite news from the stricken city. but the destruc- tion of the telegraph office there has made communication slow, and only | one definite estimate of the dead has reached the Mexican capital. This estimate places the number of victims of the fire at 2S3, but it was sent out before the ruins of the the ater had been fully searched
 No word as yet has been received from relief parties that started yes terday to aid in caring for the bodies of the dead. II is from the members of this party that it is expeced more definie news of the disaster will be sent to Mexico City.
 Such dispatches as have already been received say that the victims of the disaster include some of the best known families in Mexico, and it is feared that a number of Americans lost their lives
 Since the production given in the theater was in honor of Gov Damian Flores of the state of Guerrero, it is believed that both Moorehead and Hummel were guests, and it is feared that they may have been injured or killed. Efforts to communicate with them if alive are being made Theater Is damned. The fire occurred Sunday night The theater had been gaily decorated. In the rear of the building there was moving picture machine When the performance was about half concluded a film in the machine took fire The flames reached a portion of the bunt- ing used in decorating and in a flesh the whole interior of the theater was | blazing
 With a cry of fire a man in the rear | of the house rushed for the exit The crowded theater was instantly panic stricken and madly pushing and fight ing human beings blocked the en- frances and the aisles. Crushed at Exits. Many, it is reported. were crushed in the rush for the doorways. Some were knocked to the floor and were trampled upon. Others, unable to get out. were sutfocated and many were burned
 No estimate of the number of in jured has been made. but it is said that the number is large, hardly any one in the theater having escaped without injury.
 Governor in Peril.
 Gov. Flores himself. seated in private box as the guest of honor, was was severely burned before he made his escape. It is said that three of those in his immediate party were killed
 Efforts to identify the dead today are proving futile Many of the bodies are burned to crisp, others are mu- tilated and trampled upon until iden tification is impossible. The dead crowd the undertaking rooms of the city. and many bodies are laid in rows in the business section.
 Noted as a Seaport.
 Acapulco is a seaport of Mexico on the Pacific coast in the state of Guer- rero; latitude 16 degrees 50 minutes north, longitude 99 degrees 5S minutes west. It has a noble .and-locked harbor with a depth of water from 125 to 1S0 feet, and is about 200 miles south-southwest of the City of Mex ico. 1,637 miles from San Francisco and 1886 miles from Panama.
 Acapulco ships hides. cedar timber and fruits to San Francisco The pop ulation in 1900 was 1892
 It is the chief port of call for steamers plying between San Fran cisco and South American ports. The remarkable tunnel or cut known as Abra de San Nicholas forces a pas sage through the rock mountains and admits cooler air into the heated harbor.