CLUB FIRE STAMPEDE

Hokitika Guardian, 16 November 1929, Page 3

CLUB FIRE STAMPEDE

■'. K . NEW YORK, October 1. Early tins morning when the festivities at the Study Club, Detroit, were jjt their height a fife broke out in the building, causing a . panic among 130 ui'ter-theatre diners and the 40 employees which resulted in 16 persons losijjg thfih lives, ..Fifty were injured, some critically, . .I’ie Study. Club’s dining-room is on the second storey and was decorated with filmy tapestries pressed into shape with the. aid of kerosene. In the soft light tfld orchestra was playing a jazz dance tune; when near the door a burst of "flame shot up and in a moment' swdpt along thfe flimsy decorations.

A few men . arid women got down the .'stairs before the way was blocked by the flames, but in their panic they formed such a wedge, in the door that police arid firemen were forced to hurl them into the street. Others reached the roof, from which many jumped in fright,' suffering broken legs and other injuries. A dozen persons dropped safely .into nets held by the firemen. Fully 30 persons sought escape by .crowding into the tiny dressing-room, firemen found them .there in a hefip ‘unconscious, with several dead at the bottom of the pile. fauns Kanta, a sandwich hoy at the drib, said.: • Everyone went wild ; women screamed, men yelled, and everyone was tearing ground the room., knocking oyer ariyihing that got in their way. I: ran towards the dressing-room with a lot of others. We were so tightly packed, that/-we could hardly move. ■ ,Then we shut the door and we could hear the flames outside. I lay down on .the floor and people began trampling Vo.n me, I heard a woman ,next me cal-. ■lyig, “Rose, Rose, we’ll die together,” and I think she did die.