Evening star., 1921-11-28
; KILLED, 79 HURT,
IN THEATER FIRE
Crowd Panic Stricken When
New Haven Motion Pic.
ture House Burns.
INCENSE BELIEVED CAUSE
twenty-five Yale Students Among
1njured-Heroic Rescues Made.
Two Dead Unidentified.
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
NEW HAVEN. Conn.,. November 2s.
Three lives were lost and seventy
nine persons were more or less Sc
oriusly injured when fire broke out in
the Rialto Motion Picture Theater
here last night 1t is possible that
further search Of the ruins of the
playhouse will add one more name to
the list of dead. as r. II. Perrigo of
this city has not been seen since the
fire was discovered and the panic
stricken crowd surged toward the doors
Of the theater His son was among the
injured.
Fifty-eight persons who were either
burned or trampled by the crowd
which stormed toward the exits when
the flames swept into the theater from
the stage were in hospitals today.
Twenty-one who were taken to hos
pitfalls when the fire was raging were
given treatment and were sent to their
homes. Twenty-Five of the injured
were Yale students. All will recover.
it is declared.
Two Bodies Unidentified.
Only one body. that of Timothy ].
Hanlon. fifty-eight. had been identi-
fled this morning. 1t was believed he
was trampled to death, as examination
of his injuries showed his neck was
broken.
Two other bodies taken from the
theater were burned SO badly that
Identification was impossible. One
was the body of an elderly woman
and the other was that OF a young
man, apparently about twenty years
of age.
Coroner Mix began an official in
quiry into the disaster today.
Incense Likely Cause.
1--WE are inclined to the belief" he
said. that the fire might have been
kindled by incense burned during the
photoplay being shown at the Rialto.
This play, The Sheik. was being
given an oriental setting. and incense
was being burned on the stage. 1t
may be that the flames caught some
draperies and dropped on to the stage
of the theater."
Lawrence w. Carroll manager of
the theater. and James Carter. his as
sistant. who were detained by the
authorities after the fire, were later
released upon their own recognizance
to appear at the coroner's hearing.
The playhouse was crowded at 1880
o'clock, and preliminary features of
the entertainment were being COM
pleted when the fire was discovered.
Sparks were seen dropping down in
'front.' of the silver screen upon which
the picture was to be projected. There
was a shout of fire" and panic
bclLtU tue CTOWu
Rush for Main Entrance.
In an instant there was rush for
the open air. but it appeared the most
of the people tried to get out of the
main entrance. instead of using the
emergency exists at the sides of the
theater. Many cool-headed persons
attempted to restrain the crowd.
shouting there was no danger, but
their work was futile, as was that
f,f he rob rk~, lit
play for some minutes after the first
alarm was given. Those who tried
to stem the human tide were swept
away in the 'exow which crushed its
way toward the doors.
Many who had seats in the balcony
of the theater leaped over the rails
and fell on the heads of the strug-
Cling people below.
Several children in the crowd
poured toward the exists of the
many cases injured while trying to
lift them above the press about them.
The theater building was a frame
structure. which burned like match
wood. Yale students were active in
the work of rescue, dashing into the
burning structure and assisting the
people to safety
No Student Missing.
A check-up of students in Yale Uni
versity was under way during the
morning to ascertain if any one was
missing. The body of the young man,
which is at an undertaker's, is be-
lieved to be that of a city man. No
student had been reported as missing.
Evidence brought out thus far in
the inquiry tends to prove the asser-
tion of spectators that flame from an
incense pot ignited something close to
the drop curtain. which was made of
inflammable material. 1t is said that
stage employees tried to extinguish the
slight fire, but it got away from them.
The burst of flames which went out
into the house may have been caused
by a draft of air from back stage.
Police Captain Cohane, who, with his
close to panic. He said the conditions