The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-11-15

panic developed quickly, IL reached the
peak Of terror and excitement quickly
and It subsidized just gs Qttckiy Two
minutes before the first taln wlsp OF
smoke curled through the crack IA the
floor the crowd--most of & women and
small @chlldren-was sitting watching
in huge enjoyment the SCREEN antics Of
i famous comedian. Then % saw the
wisp of smoke. small and thia and color
less, to be followed by others until the
Whole auditorium was f!led. The ffrst
few bits of smoke attracted little atten-
ton. Very few persons nocced them
but one woman who did told what hap
pened
Woman First IL Detect smoke.
Mrs. Josephine Derosa of l1G Cherry
street was sitting about the middle Of
the house with her seven -year-old son.
She smelled the smoke. because one OF
the thin streams Of Il curlcd upward
from the floor almost under her chair,
She asked an attendant what was the
trouble. what caused the smoke
Its nothing to be alarmed about ne
vaplied 1--WE are starting q fire in the
basement and the smoke comes irom the
furnace"
The explanation satisfied Mrs Derosa
and she settled back in her seat TO enjoy
the picture But in n second or so an
other wisp OF smoke crept from the floor
and curled slowly upward. Il got into
the nostrils OF Mrs. Derosa's small son.
He coughed. Then others in the house
coughed. There were uneasy STRINGS
everywhere and whispers and mutterings
of anxiety. But still there was no panic
Almost everybody In the place knew by
this time that there was smoke present.
because they could smell Il, but as yet
nobody was alarmed But the coughing
and the stirring became greater and
more persistent Mrs Derosa again
asked the attendant and received the
same answer.
why don't you make an announce
ment?" she said she asked. People are
beginning to get nervous
The attendant made some reply which
she did not understand. aud walked
away. No announcement was made
and when the STRINGS and the cough
ing became more pronounced than ever
Mrs. Derosa turned to the woman sit
ting next to her and said.
1--WE had better get out Of here
The neighbor agreed. They gathered
their wraps together Mrs. Derosa tooN
her son by the hand. and started TO
rise 10 her feet But II was at that in
slant that someone-a man IN the hsck
OF the main fioor-shOuted Fire At
the srst shout the coughing and the
stirring ceased. The crowd sat as If In
spelbound horror and terror, For an
instant there was dead silence, aud in
that instant q cool head, = burst Of
music. or a laugh would have Quieted
the crowd. paved the way for an ex-
PLANTATION OF the smoke and averted the
tragedy
But there was no music, there was no
cool head. there was 10 laugh. For
what seemed TO be a long time there
Was nothing but silence that was broken
only by the whirr OF the projection
machine in the booth above the gallery
as the operator projected the film.
second "Fire!'' Cry starts Panic.
Then another voice. this .lue m the
gallery, shouted Fire" u was re-
Yeated from the auditorium. and in an
, instant the whole theatre from the
rafters of the ceiling 10 the planks Of
the ground floor was mass OF struG-
Cling men and women, pluaglns ana
kicking. crazed with the desire for
safety and forgetful OF the children who
cried and were tramnled undcr foot
There was hardly a minute between
the time that Mrs. Derosa suggested C.
her neighbor that they leave. and te
time that they rose 20 their feet. but II
seemed TO her. she said that every per-
son in the house leaped from their seats
ut the same time. Mrs. Derose, pushing
her son in front OF her, tried 90 hurry
howard an exit but she was knocked
down by man and the boy was torn
from her grasp She would not leave
without him, and she could not find him.
although she dropped to her hands and
knees and rislSed her life crawling about
the floor underneath the heavy, pounding
feet feeling about with her hands to see
IL she could find the body OF the child
She couldn't find him. 80 she sat in =
seat and let the struggling mass of me1
and women plunge by her. She though
the theatre was on fire, because BY this
time the smoke had become very thick
everywhere in the building and had even
begun to pour in small streams through
tho doors into the street She was Kicked
and trampied and beaten, and her cloth
ing half torn from her body, but she
still was sitting IN the auditorium wher
the crowd had gone and the fireman mad
come.
Later she fo-nd her son, without =
scratch. sitting on tho curb with .
crowd OF boy friends, telling his expert
ences and waiting for his mother. He
told her that he had managed TO Keep
MS feet and had been pushed ahead OF
the crowd and through the exit into the
street.
Victims PILED fn Gallery stairs.
Mrs. Derosa was asked y she saw
ANYTHING that happened in the gallery
where sat all the children who We're
killed and injured. She said she looked
nm there once. after she had heard the
crash Of breaking furniture and the terri
bic cries Of the kicked and beaten chill
aren but she could not see anything ex-
cepting mass of men and women and
children pulling and clawing on the gall
lery stairs.
They seemed 10 me 20 DC tangled,
she said The first ones seemed 10 be
lying on the floor, and others kept pilng
UP on top Of them All the time They
made terrible sounds.
One OF the tragic features % Tho panic
is tho fact that had The crowd IN the
gallery thought 10 use all % the thrcc
exits every one there probably would
have escaped without serious Injury But
they didn't think
Every one IN the gallery made a rush
for the centre stairway The one idea
seeming 10 be TO reach the main ioor
Two Of the gallery exits were used by no
enc but the centre stairway was piled
! high with the dead and injured
The police gave the namee " the dead
1f,flIvr, uu follows TnaapN : grt,Nn ~t1t