THE VIENNA TRAGEDY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LVI, Issue 6488, 13 December 1881, Page 5

THE VIENNA TRAGEDY.

♦ THE BERG THSATEK. Thanks to the courtesy of Herr Gottraschek, formerly one of the celebrated Austrian band, now a member of the Montague-Turner Opera Company, we are enabled to supply our readers with some very interesting details respecting the Bang Theatre, which on Thursday night last was the scene of -the fearful calamity that cost so many hundreds of people their lives. Herr Gottraschek is intimately acquainted with the theatre, and it may be as well to state that he entertains great doubts as to the reliability of Beuter’s telegram which appeared in yesterday’s issue, and thinks the loss of life most hare been largely exaggerated. 'l'he city of Vienna is surrounded by a circular belt or re«y, somewhat similar to the Christchurch belts, but of course very much wider. This belt serves as a promenade for the citizens, and is also a species of Botten Bow, used extensively for riding and driving. It is on this belt, to the north of the city, that the Beng theatre is erected. It cost upwards of 3,000,000 gulden or florins, and was in the hands of a Company, who used it solely for the purposes of comic opera. Its seating capacity is between three and four thousand, and the elegance and comforts of its appointments are unsurpassed. It was without doubt the leading theatre in Vienna. Owing, however, partly to the enormous expense attendant on such a huge concern, partly also to the fact that most, if not all, the shareholders possessed free seats, the Company went bankrupt and was wound up. A fresh Company was then formed, a Director appointed, and it was to fhi« new combination that the theatre belonged when the terrible disaster happened. The house, which is constructed after the manner of the Opera House in Paris, has means of exit by eight large folding doors about lOf tin length, well distributed over the building, and these doors are mcer closed during the performance, but are always thrown wide open. Attached to the theatre is an efficient corps of Are police, 23 strong, who are permanently stationed in the building, and the appliances for fire prevention are held in readiness for any emergency, so that by simply turning a cock, water may at once be thrown ail over the building inside and out. The ioge, or dress circle, is situated upstairs, and is flanked by a promenade looking out over the reng, so that probably the few fortunate ones who were able to escape cremation by jumping from the windows, were occupants of this part of the house. Moreover, the stage on which the lamp is said to have fallen, is shut off from the body of the house by an iron vorhang or drop, which can bo let down at a moment’s notice, thus completely isolating the stage from the body of the theatre. Nothing, therefore, seems simpler than to have dropped this curtain directly the lamp fell, and so prevented the spread of the fire. Again, the knowledge that no more than 800 or 900 people were in the building at the time of the accident, would naturally lead one to infer that it was a very “ thin" house; indeed, it would scarcely seem 'more than having SOO in our own Theatre. This, as Herr Gottraschek points out, would certainly not lead to the idea that many were suffocated or trampled under foot the only feasible conclusion one can draw from the fact that but 60 out of the 800 odd people survived. Altogether, the meagre accounts of the disaster which Beater has given us appear somewhat paradoxical ; and, with these data before us, we shall look forward with some curiosity for further and fuller information. [Since Herr Gottraschek supplied us with the foregoing particulars we have received another telegram increasing the catalogue of victims to the appalling number of 917/J