THE VIENNA TRAGEDY.

Evening Post, Volume XXII, Issue 150, 28 December 1881, Page 3

THE VIENNA TRAGEDY.

THE RING THEATRE. Thanks to the courtesy of Herr Gottraschok, formerly one of the celebrated Austrian Band, now a member of the MontagueTurner Opera Company, we (Lyttelton Times) are enabled to Bupply our readers with some very interesting details respecting the King Theatre, whioh was the soene of the fearful calamity that cost so many hundreds of people their lives. The city of Vienna is surrounded by a circular belt or ring, somewhat similar to the Christohnroh belts, but of oourse very much wider. This belt serves as a promenade for the citizens, and is also a species of Rotten Bow, used 6xteneiTo!y for riding and driving. It is on this belfc, to the north of the city, that the Ring Theatre is erected. It oost upwards of 3,000,000 gulden or florins, and was is the hands of a company who used it solely for the purposes of comic opera. Its seating capacity is between 3000 and 4000, and the elegance acd comfort of its appointments is unsurpassed. It was without doubt the leading theatre in Vienna. Owing, however, partly to the enormous expense atteadnnt on Buoh 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 wa«i to this new combination that the theatre belonged when tho terrible disaster happened. The houso, which is constructed after the manner of the Opera House in Paris, has means of exit by eight large folding doers about 10 feet in length, well distributed over the building, and these doors are never closed during the performance, but are always thrown wide open. Attached to the theatre is an efficient corps ef fire police, 25 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 all over the building inside and out. The' loge, or dress circle, is situated upstairs, and is flanked by a promenado looking out over the ring, so that probably the few fortunate ones who were ablo to escape cremation by jumping from the windows were occupants of thia part of the house. Moreover, the sta^p on. which ths^lamp is said to have fallen is shut off from the body of the house by an iron vorhang or drop, which can be let down at a moment's notice, thus completely isolatingthe 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.