The New York herald., 1921-11-28
8 DEAD, 60 HURTIN
THEATRE FIREPANIC.
Continued from First Page.

Wiser said that he thought the audi
epce at the Rialto tonight had more
Yale men in II than usual. on account OF
the popularity of the picture.
One of the seriously hurt in the New
Haven Hospital is Miss Mabel Moran OF
Is Bank street, Derby, Conn. Another
Is Allen Keith, a Yale student, Of South
port, Conn Five other Yale students
are in the New Haven Hospital, but
are not seriously hurt They are Louis
A. Lincoln OF Mansfield. Mass. ; Gordon
Renneg Of Cincinnati, Norman f. Hook
of Pottsville. Pa. Hale L. Cullom of
Nashville. Tenn. Walter Crafts of Mon
treal Grace Hospital had listed as in
jured two Yale students, II. f. Doolit-
tie of Spokane, Wash, and w. Nicklas,
address unknown. One OF the most seri-
ously hurt in this hospital is Harry
Floyd of New Haven
At the Yale Infirmary il was said that
several students had reported there ior
treatment for burns and bruises ana
cuts Their names were given as ID. A.
Cooke, Honolulu; Stanley NJ. Cooper.
New Britain. Conn. u. NJ. DeCamp OF
Cincinnati, William Fl. Forsythe, OF
Milwaukee, Malcolm II. Frost OF Law
renee, Mass. w. L. Funnel of stamford
Conn. r. L. Tulloch of Orange y. )"
John L. Coates, Jr.. of Little ROCK,
Ark. John G. Easton, V. b. Lamp ana
U. p. Moore. addresses unknown.
Among those who told of their eX-
neriences during the fire was Louis
Goodman of New Haven. who Went 10
the theatre, with Everett Case and Harry
Asher. Goodman said that the hames
svept through the theatre almost IN
twinkling. ;,
II do not know what started the fire.
said Goodman. "A woman had finlshed
singing and the film was being shown.
7 saw a little smoke and light, whlch
l thought had something to do with the
production Then l saw a piece OF plaH-
ing material fall from the top Oh tne
stage 1t was small, but 1t was lol-
lowed almost at once by burst OF IRE
The protector box was in the paicoiiy
close by where / sat, so the fire did
not come from that. Some one yelled
Fire! Instantly people got UP ana
started for the main exit, without SEEM
ing to try TO get to those on the sides
| "Asher Case and myself stood up ana
! then slowly walked down the stairs Az
the foot / was thrown down, and others
were piled uDon me. | began TO lose my
breath and then suddenly the load light
ened and / was picked up and carried
out BY brave men who had been helplhs
people out The front entrance was
clear regained my feet and ran pack
to be of aid
"There was a great heap of hats and
coats inside the door and / clawed over
these, thinking that some one might DC
underneath The flames were sweeping
through the theatre and l ran out. l
escaped with burns and cuts on my race
and loss of my hat. 1t did not seem 10
me that many sitting in the front seats
could have got out"
Morris Kennedy, who was the motion
picture operator, said that he had no
idea at all how the fire started. Ken
nedy declared that as soon as ne saw
that there was a fire on the stage ne
stopped the picture, threw all OF the
switches within reach so that he could
turn on as many lights as possible, and
left his booth. He escaped 10 the stree'
without being injured.
The authorities have evolved three
theories that might account for the fire,
but have no direct evidence to substan-
tiate either. One is that the flames were
caused by the incense which burned in
pots on the stage. during the prologue,
| another that there was an explosion OF
some sort in the cellar. and the third
is that the fire started from crossed
electric wires.
The Rialto Theatre was formerly Col
! Iege Street Hall, and before that 1t was
| the Plymouth Congregational Church
Yale University used the hall for many
years as a place for lecture courses and
the music department Of the university
gave concerts in il. The graduation ex-
ercises of the medical department were
also held there. IT was remodeled by
former Senator Harry Leonard. who
| eased ii TO Blacks New England Syn
| dicate Circuit. which began the opera
| ton of motion picture house.