DESTRUCTION OF THE SURREY THEATRE BY FIRE.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 5, Issue 265, 15 May 1865, Page 3

DESTRUCTION OF THE SURREY THEATRE BY FIRE.

On Monel a v night, shortly before twelve o'clock, a fire broke nut in the Surrey Theatre, and in less than half an hour the whole fabric was wrapped in flames, which soon reduced it to a mass of ruins, with all the multifarious properties and sccner? which it contained. Fortunately, when the lire first made its appearance the audience had thinned considerably. Theaudiencewasauordinaryonc in point of numbers, and by no means so large as those that had flocked into the theatre, during the Christmas holidays. The last scene of the pantomime was being performed, when, it h said, a part of the ceiling immcdialely over the largo chandelier, by which the building was principally lighted, caught fire, and a feeling of alarm immediately took poscssion of the audience that remained. At this crisis Mr Green, the stage manager, .presented hhngelf in front of the proscenium, and implored the people for t!>eir own sakes to leave the theatre in an orderly manner. They could see for themsclvee that it was the ceiling alone which had at tiiat time caught fire, and he appealed to their reason that it must burn upwards, and that there was am, 1 ■ time for theta to. leave the building nuiujured, if they.only did so iu a calm and collected maimer. The’audience, on the whole, it is said, followed this very sensible advice, and were so enabled to leave the place unhurt. Immediately over the ceiling was the carpenter’Bishop, and this, with its inflammable contents, having caught.fiw, the.

whole building was speedily in a blaze. Though the night was calm the flames raged with amazing fury, defying all efforts to arrest them. Most metropolitan readers know that the theatre was situated at the southern end of the Blackfriareand within a quarter of a mile of the Elephant and Castle. Externally it was not calculated jto attract much attention, and could accommodate probably from about- 2,000 to 2.5C0 people. Moat of the pantomi mists made their -escape in the grotesque costumes in which they had been performing, and took refuge in a house opposite. Little, if any, of the movable property in the building could have been saved, so rapid was the progress of the fire. When the roof fell in, which it did shortly after midnight, the flames shotj into the air to a great height, l ighting up the •.metropolis for miles round, and attracting people to the spot from all directions. Steam fire-engines and others were soon at work, but. to no purpose except to save some of the adjoining property. The theatre itself is reduced to a complete ruiu.