OPERA HOUSE FIRE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2810, 22 January 1908, Page 19

OPERA HOUSE FIRE.

ANOTHER AMERICAN HORROR. MANY PERSONS KILLED AND. INJURED. TSTEW YORK, January 14." A fir© caused by an explosion of the~ cinematograph apparatus in the Hhodee ; Opera "House, Boyerton, Pennsylvania, 1 killed 80 people and injured 100 others. The explosion caused a panic. The i audience of 700 persons, chiefly women | and Sunday school children, rushed the | stage, overturning the lamps, which set fire to the scenery. Part of the floor collapsed, precipitating scores into the basement. Within five minutes the theatre was a •roaring furnace, and the staircases were choked. '" • ' Mounting piles of bodies sft high, many jumped from the windows. The fire apparatus was out of order. January 15. The majority of the victims belonged to N the most prominent families of Boyer- ■ ton. Their children were participating in j a play entitled "The Scottish Reformation." The coroner is of opinion that the entrance tp the theatre was too narrow. Oil lamps were used tor footlights, and a cnild on the stage overturned one. A • great number of the people became frenzied as the flames on the stage approached, men beating down women and children in their efforts to escape. Many, parents sacrificed their lives in endeavouring to save their children, several rescuers,' dashing into the ouilding who did not return. Tuere have been 167 bodies recovered, and this is believed to be the total number -killed. Inquiry shows that a pipe connecting the calcium light with a hydrogen tank behind the audience slipped off' the connection, and made a hissing sound, causing a panic. The tank did not explode until the flames reached it.