FIRE AT DRURY LANE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 193, 9 May 1908, Page 10

FIRE AT DRURY LANE THEATRE.

PARTIAL DESTRUCTION. '■ I ' r ' £30,000 DAMAGE DONE. A fire broke out on the morning of March 25 at Drury Lane Theatre, London. Thanks to tlio fireproof curtain, it was confined to that part of tho building behind the proscenium, but this sect-ion was 'burned out, the damago do'no being probably to the extent of about £30,000. At tour o'clock the fireman went his rounds and found everything secure. There wero no lights in the building save a few solitary ga3 jets safely guarded by wire notting. Half an hour a policoman in tho street noticed ,an unusual light showing through a window in an upper story, and alarnied the fireman who -was on duty in tho,stage ontranco box. Almost immediately (tames shot through the roof, the. fireman promptly lowered tho fireproof curtain, andi tho polico' officer gave tho alarm.

, A 'BRIGADE CALL. At 4.37 news of tho fire was received at Southward (as well as at Theobald's Road), and the firemen, On mounting their engines, distinctly saw the flames from the building. For miles around London tho, glare wa's visible;'. and the -' rapidity with l which the :fire spread is sl>jwn b'ytlio fact , that when' the first engino arrived, at 4.42, tho roof wasblazing furiously.' A brigade .call .ivas given ; the •streets surrounding Drury; LahiJ .rang continuously for almost a quarter'.of an'hour with the clanging of bolls as : engino after engine rolled ;up; and at the .end of that time a'force of 30 steamors v and 200 firemen was at work. 'J?ho strenuous work of tho brigado- was, however, of little avail, for the flames had .got hold of the stago and its inflammable contents with ■ a thoroughness that defied tho efforts of the firemen. Tons of water wore hurled on the flames from .every available point, firemen directing _ the hoso pipes from the roof of the-building; half a dozen hoses wore directed from tho dress circle -on tho iron curtain, which had become red hot, and steps ivo'ro taken to preserve the. adjoining property, consisting mainly x of tenement houses anil warehouses. THE THEATRE SAVED. . In. this direction the! firemen were supremely successful, and ,when> at., six o'clock, the oflbcial " stop " was-: whistled,.from engine .to engine, was..apparent:; that. a' remarkable pieco of rescue'..work had-, been 'accomplished. . ; One half of the theatre had been saved —so completely,- that it' would havo .been ' possiblo for' that portion to ; bo opened -to . tho public—but the othor half_ was in ruins, and as much a memory' as is the Drurv Land' that Noll Gwynne ! know. No-other building was damaged. Such is tho story of tho Drury Lane fire of 1908. -The, universal verdict is that, butfor tho fact of tho iron curtain being lowered just at -the .right moment, tho wliolo building must have been gutted. But for this safety screen/.--the - flames must have spread.to tho nothing could' have saved the .theatre;.;from .complete destruction. This fact'is- instructive, in view of the terrible loss ...of, lifo which frequently occurs as.'.the. result' 1 rfj-gailic:.• Had tho ,fire occurred 'during Va ; perfp'rhianco, tho entire, audience, if. thoy ,had their heads, could have left-the;building;in-perfect safety.;/,.; ',

" OLD DRURY." "Tho National Theatre,"-as tho late," Sir Augustus Harris loved to call it, is .as old, aecoifdnig to Leigh -/-Hunt, as the \time of Shalcespoaro. ' "It was then called,-jtho Phoenix; was a •'private'.' or I select ."house, 1 .-.like"' 'that of Bliiclcfriars;, and -haqllMty^ji.'cockpit,-:'by ; which it was 'also .designated. Phoenix , generally:iihplies tliatVa stroyed' by,,.firo, a. common, faVWith theatres}' but ■-the 7. wo: bbjir of the'-presoiit opo'^Mhb I 'destructioniof .'if by a Puritan mob,./ This ;took place in tho ;> year ; lGl7, in -tjib'.tirilo-.of.il.attos I."- •• \;Tho. great, parallel recalled. ,hy the fire' on March "25, however,. is tho'-'dbstructioii' ofold. Drury LanoTheatre, in February, 1809, on a Friday in Lent, when there had beon 110 performance. i-Tho manager at the timo was -Sheridan: V. He .was in tho House'"'of;. Commons when tho fire broke , out, and so* groat was the /interest it- excited that a motion, was miido ; to' ' adjourn. . Sheridan,■ however,.saidthat whatever might bo.the extent of .tho 'Calamity ho 'jviis part prop.riotor- r . r .']ic ,li<>pp(l ; it'would not' in-' tcrfore with.tho of the, country.", -. ■', r: ;;.v The rebuilding.'Of,''thb;;theatre was carried out',-'on a,-splendid scaled-how ■ well it was done is shown by A the, way in which the st-Out old walls resisted tho flames—ilnd .reopened with a prologue >by Lord Byron in -1812. ; Tho occasion is permanently-associated with English literature by tho fact that the "Rejected Addressos," of. Horace and James Smith were inspired by it. - The directors had offered a premium for tho best poetical address to be snokeii at tho rgpnoning, and the witty brothers.' wrote thereupon . their i sories, each item of'whioh was supposed-to bo the contribution' to the theatre's competition of some ;leading writer of the day!; Tho best, -known is tho parody; of Walter l Scott, describing the actual lire at Drury Lane, with its reminiscence-of Marmion:—V , " What arothoy: feared on?! Fools—'od rot 1 .

'oinl" • ; ... ' - . ;y" ;Wero tho• last words -of /.'■'..Tlie .geographical allusions ;in the'<vorse6 may appropriately be ! '. ' ' » Andilo! where Catherine Street extends;.,.'. A fiery tale its lustre lends - - ■ To every \vind6w pane; -. Meux's now'browhovtse shows the light, Rowland Hill's chapel, and the height Where patent shot they sell: Tho tennis court, so fair and tall, Partakos tho ray, with Surgeon's Hall, . Tho ticket porters' house of call, . Old Bedlam, closo by London Wall, Wright's'shrimp and oyster shop withal, And Richardson's Hotel. Nor theso alone, but far and wide,- . Across the Thames's gleaming tide, To distant fields the blaze was borne,; «. ~ , And daisy white and hoary thorn In borrowed lustre seemed to sham. The rose or red sweet Wil-li-am, To those who oil the hills around Boheld the flames, from Drurys mound As from a lofty altar rise.