The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-12-26
HUNDRED YEARS
. SINCE FATAL FIRE
Centennial of Richmond Theatre
Disaster to Be Conlmcmo-
rated Tonight.
sEvENTY-FoUR LIVES LOST
Special Services Arranged in
Monumental Church, Begin
ming at Tomb.
sEvENTY-FoUR LIVES LOST

About the sacred spot, where lies
the dust of the seventy four victims
of the great test disaster In the history
OF Richmond, tho services in comment
Grafton of the Tooth anniversary of
that event Will begin at s:15 Tonight.
Around the monument which stands
over the common grave of the dead.
in the portico of Monumental Episco-
pal Church, Will assemble the Governor
the Bishop of Virginia and other
clergy. with the church choir, while
the first stanza OF the professional
hymn is sung. Then the march to the
chancel Will be taken up.
one hundred years ago tonight.
while the old Richmond Theatre was
crowded with q distinguished assem-
blage of the men and women Of the in
FAINT city and the STRIPPING Common
wealth. full of the Christmas spirit
and bent on aiding favorite actor.
who was receiving benefit, was
sounded the alarm of fro which swept
tho scene of gaity into one OF unut-
terable horror. Reason gave way to
panic, and men and women fought and
Struggled to gain the way to the open
air.
And what toll of death. George
William Smith. sixteenth Governor of
Virginia: Abraham B. Venable, prcsi-
dent of the Bank of Virginia and form
er United States Senator; Lieutenant
James Gibbon, United States Navy, a
hero and prisoner of the Tripolltan
War of 1903. and other men we'll known
In the city and State, were found to
be among the dead.
All In One Grave.
The remains were mainly unrccoS-
nizable, and at the instance of mass
meeting of citizens, held at the Capt.
tol on the next day. 1t was determined
to bury them all in one grave, and
there to build memorial which should
portray tho event forever. There for
century they have lain-"thc power
full of the earth. the wise, the good,
fair forms and hoary secrs OF ages
past, all in one mighty sepulchre, wait
Ing the resurrection at the last day"
And during all these hundred years the
worship of God has gone up as sweet
incense and the lifting up of hands and
hearts as evening sacrifices, In the
place where pleasure was once sue
ceeded by horrors unspeakablc.
Rt: Rev. Robert n. Gibson. Bishop
OF Virginia, will conduct evening
prayer att the centenary observance
tonight. AS stated, the procession
Will form about the stone monument
anu then proceed to the chancel. Gov
ernor William Hodges Mann. the fifty
second executive OF Virginia as an In
dependent Commonwealth, will speak
for the State, recalling the events Of
that day and the achievements of more
recent times. Mayor D. C. Richards IN
Will be the next speaker, for the city
OF Richmond. with 10000 people a CEN
fury ago. and 10000 now
Wnnt Endowment Fund.
Inc Monument Church Endowment
Fund" Will be the subject of the adj
dress of Rev. 7. w. Morris. D. D., rec
tor of the church. He will explain
the plan OF raising $4,000 by 1914. one
hundred years from the dedication Of
the church. The proposition is the
frequent one of the downtown church,
whence residents have moved to newer
scenes. and have their homes perhaps
a mile or two away. Always such "a
church Will he largely visited by
transient visitors, and always It has n
struggle for existence unless suitably
endowed.
The choir has arranged fo- special
music for the occasion
Among tho worshipers in Monu-
mental have been names which stand
out In the history of tho nineteenth
century. BENJAMIN Watkins Leigh.
william Writ, George Hay, John Mar
holders. Lafayette has worshipcd
there
Monumental can never move, but
must always work out the destiny and
do the work of a downtown church.
Hallowed by the presence OF the tElst
OF a century agone, buildcd as pcr-
petual monument to their memory,
freighted with the songs and prayers
OF countless thousands. It is further
held by the mandate of the city and
state whose people within few DAYS
after that fateful night of December
20; 1911, set apart the ground on
solely for the public worship of Je.
hovah. forever and forever.