Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-10
rs CHILDREN DEAD IN MOVIE
THEATER FIRE AND PANIC
Continued from First Page.)

NOHtIuucu lIOIil II lESl IdSGt
had gone to the theater unaccom-
panied. They ranged in age from 5
to 16. Most of them had received
their parents permission to go, but
one father declared that he had for
hidden his child to attend the show.
Ameen Lawand. 81, owner of the
theater, was taken to detective head
quarters as a witness for the inquest
and was allowed his liberty on $500
bail. Three members of his staff, all
SyrianS, were held overnight La
wand was not questioned at head
quarters and made no statement.
Most of the children who lost their
lives in the tragedy were French.
Canadians. and there WAS comment
on the irony of the fact that h p
theater was named for the great
F'Tench-Canadian statesman and for
ner premier, the late Sir WilfriG
I1auIier.
The whole tragedy was encom-
passed within an extremely brief
space of time. 1t is estimated that
barely 10 minutes elapsed between the
first cry of fire and the removal OF
the first victims from the fata! Jam
on the east stairway.
Three i'm Family Die.
The orchestra ceiling beneath the
balcony was badly damaged, while
the floor of the balcony was burned
through in spots. The ceiling at the
back of the balcony was also dam
aged by the flames, and the glass IN
the windows fronting on st. Gather
inc street was shattered. The lower
floor suffered damage by water.
The family of Octave Quintal of
2103 Joliet street lost three of its
members in the fire. Sylvia, aged 3,
was attending her first movie show.
She persisted with two brothers
Adrien, aged IA, and HlldeSafde.
aged 9.
Constable Albert Boisseau of tn"
Tetreauville Station also lost three
children, The constable was off duty
at the time, but was near by and went
to tile scene of the fire a short time
after its outbreak. He assisted In
removing the victims. lie knew his
son had gone to the theater. After
several bodies had been laid out in
front of the building, to be placed IN
the morgue wagon, the constable rec
ogniZed one of them as that of his
son. Later, when all efforts to locate
the other two children failed, he went
to the morgue and found the bodies OF
the other two children. The three
were Germaine, 10; ROLAND, II, and
Yvette. s.
Fireman Finds Son at MOrgue.
One of the most pathetic figures
in the coroner'S court was Alpheda
Arpin, burly fireman, his eyes swol-
len from crying. Arpin was at the
fire station when the alarm sounded.
He knew that his little son CASTOR,
aged six and a half was in the
burning theater, having been taken
there by a cousin.
Arpin did gallant work at the hre,
but, although his efforts had been
for other fathers. he did not find
his own boy until he sought him at
the morgue.
Proceedings in the court were stop
ped for a few minutes, when Mon
signor Lepailleur of the Church OF
the Nativity addressed his parish
toner's. telling them that they could
bring bodies to the church at any
time and that he had arranged 10
hold a free service Tuesday morning.
AS he spoke. the voice of the Old
priest shook. He knew most of the
little victims.
The scene in the courtroom was
tragic, the bereaved parents await
ing their turns to give Coroner
Mcmahon the information necessary
for the issuance of death certificates.
Grief Fills Room.
The small whitewashed room, with
its rows of plain wooden benches, It's
unshaded windows, framing squares
Of the damp night outside. was in
pathetic accord with the bleak faces
of it's occupants.
Stunned by the force of the blow
they had suffered, they stood silent
and red-eyed, until the suppressed
sobs of a woman huddled on bench
or hysterical cries rising from the
morgue below awakened them from
their stupor.
To hide their emotion, some of the
men lit cigarettes. while others with
less control wiped the tears that
flowed freely down their cheeks.
She was but IA. Such a lovely
girl. And yours?-two of them? On,
my Godw