NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Thames Star, Volume IX, Issue 3078, 28 December 1878, Page 1

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

(fbom the home news.)

TERRIBLE CATASTROPHE IN A MUSIC HALL. A terrible eataitrophe occurred on Oct. 11 at the Colosseum Theatre, Liverpool, resulting in the death of thirty-seven persons and severe injury to a great many others. The building, which is now used as a music hall, was attended by a crowded audience, comprising between 4000 and 6000 persons. Soon after eight, ■ as one of the. vocalists engaged at tlie place was on the stage singing a comic song, a free fight took place in the corner of the pit immediately under the gallery. The disturbance increased in intensity, and as those who were talcing part in it could not' be seen from every part of the house some excitement ensued, in the course of which some one seems to hare raised the cry of "Fire." Upon this a great, stampede occurred, a rush was made to the doors, and in a few minutes a large number of' people were crushed under foot unable to effect an erit from the building, the doors of which seemed all to hare been closed. Although there are no less than six available exits, the audience all rushed to one leading, into Paradise street, and as the free passage of the people was.interfered with by an upright partition in the centre of the doorway a complete block ensued. Some ;hundreds rushed down from the gallery in precipitate haste, whilst others slid down the pillars on the heads of those in the pit. The police, seeing the shrieking crowd trying to emerge from the,.building,, endeavoured to persuade them to hold back, but in vain. At length something like order was restored, and the people gradually made their way out of the main door as well as by the other exits. The panic, however, had too well done its best, brief in duration as* it was. In a. few moments no less than thirty-seven dead and large numbers of ■ injured had been.carried out into t^e street. As fast as possible after beiug taken out they were placed in cabs dud taken off to the Royal Infirmary, but in. . the necessary interval which elapsed ' every means available for restoring ani» ■ mation were used by the local medical practitioners. Crowds of people followed the cabs to the infirmary, and assembled roarad. the entrance to that institution to watch the conveyance of the bodies in4o the hall. Here they were received by the resident medical officer and assistant surgeons, one gentlesun being told off to ascertain whether there was life in the bodies, and the others recovering those who were pronounced to be still living. The , duties of the latter were unfortunately light* Out of, thirtynine received only, six were living. The others were all dead, and were placed in ft small room in a melancholy array; the faces were in nearly every instance calm in appearance, and the verdiot— o£M~ihm —ae«4ev« mM^^iUi^ :death . had resulted * from' suffocation. Few bore marks of outward injuries, but the torn clothing indicated howsevere had been the struggle in which they had been engaged. .Some ot the injured were taken to the Northern and Southern Hospitals. At the former establishment one was received dead, and at the latter three. The structure of the theatre at the point where the crush took place is intricate. The exit converges into a narrow well, and it was in this that the dead were collected, until they reached a ghastly pile six. or seven bodies deep. The upright partition before referred to imthe centre of the doorway stopped the i passage until one of the men attached to the theatre, having procured an axe, cut ■it away, and so enabled,some of the imprisoned people to escape. A scene of the greatest excitement prevailed outside y the f theatre. The fire-engine and fireescape arrived on the scene, and the firemen joining with the police,-, entered the "building to reassure the people. . The manager, upon the first alarm being given, rushed into the pit from the entrance, and shouted to the audience to rem nin quiet, but his words had not the least c^eot oa tn6 excitfld throng. There does not" »ppe»* t° naTe been the least foundation" for the alarm, which was the result of g *0M ma^ce or 1(*le carelessness. The p™"s oTer» the P^ple who had not left *he theatre remained, whilst others re turned» ,but fc. he *"**: mance was, of co.™ 5 ' stoPP«d' ••**, th* stage and other p.* pfcs °f the bul"m? faken possession *******»»• Most of the Versons injured lV *• **<"* d'sa, s* ter have now so far reared a* to bo able to be removed to theiT howes.—Ho£ a News. Russian . newspapers relate some romantic attachments which have sprung up between Turkish prisoners of war and Russian ladies of various ages in the towns where the former have been detained, leading in some oases to somewhat sensational and rather inconvenient scenes upon the departure of the Turks. At Charkoff a Russian girl, dressed up as a Turk, took her place among the returning Moslems. She was detected on numberi ing the persons conveyed in the oar. At Poltava a young lady of position and j education insisted upon accompanying a Turkish officer with whom she earnestly desired to be married. At the same place the departure' of one railway train carrying, liberated prisoners led to a regular scene, necessitating the inter- / ference of the police and calling for orders which have since been given to prevent similar occurrences in future. A crowd of ladies, young, and old, some only schoolgirls, assembled on the platform aud took leave of the departing Turks in the most pathetic and demonstrative of ways. All embraced, all kissed, some burst into tears,'others fainted away. All this was done in public. The schoolgirls taking part in the display have since been "expelled from their schools.—-Home News.

(Coutimed in Paige 4.i