FIGHTING FOR LIFE. THE BOYERTON HOLOCAUST.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 41, 18 February 1908, Page 3

FIGHTING FOR LIFE. THE BOYERTON HOLOCAUST.

FURTHER DETAILS. Ametk-an papers to hand to-day contain further particulars of the terrible scene in the Boyerton Opera House (Rhoadcs's) on 15th January. The roll of victims numbered 167. COLD HINDERS THE FIREMEN. ' It was almost daylight before the flames were extinguished and rescuers were able to enter' the ruins to -remove the dead. The morning- was bitterly cold, and by the time the benumbed and exhausted firemen began the. tas>k, of, disentangling the mass of burning beams and twigted , iron the entire ruins were coated with ice, ■ and there was danger of the walls failing. The work was sloav at first, and it was 7 o'clock before the first body was removed. The bodies were so badly burned that there ,-waa little to describe them by, and not half of the' victims will ever be identified. ' SMALL" HALL CROWDED. So far as can be learned there were about 425 persons packed in the room, most of whom were adults. The numbor of children present, was small. There were about . sixty-five persons, all local talent, on the stage, who were giving a performance of "Tho Scottish Reformation." The entertainment was nearly over, the audience waiting for the curtain to go up on the last part, when the fire started as described in The Post last night. ACCIDENT STARTS PANIC. The light was in charge of H. W. Fischer, of Carlyle, Pa., and he -frays ■ a rubber tubing. slipped, from one .of the tanks. At any -rate, thore was ;a loud hissing sound, "which caused many in the audience to turn their heads in curiosity to see what it was. There was absolutely no panic up to this time, and nothing probably would have happened if on© or lnpTo of the performers behind - the curtain had" 1 not been curious .to learn what was causing the noise, and so accidentally upset the tank. Rev. Adam A. Weber, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church, fot the benefit of whose Sunday-school the' entertainment was being given, tried to pick up the tank, with tho assistance of others, but before they could do so the oil poUred out and caught fire. Then came the inevitable cry of "Frre." ' STAMPEDE FOR TEE DOOR. Eyewitnesses ejy that ■ the audience rose en masse, and the impulse. was to reach the front door, but few got out. The seats in tbe centre of the hall were of the utual folding- variety, while those along the' sides of tbe hall, were' loose chairs. The people who did reach tho front entranr,©, found it jammed. 'One of the double doors had been bolted shut, so ab to better enable the ticket-taker to take up tickets. Not more than two persons could pass this door at any time, and after the first half-dozen got through the narrow passage ,it became clogged with the struggling ,mass of humanity, men, women, boys, girls, and, chairs were tangled up in a" solid massj ttiat no one from the outside was able to disentangle. FIREMEN BECOME DRUNK. While the flames were r being checked some of • the Boyer'town firemen and others who were assisting them made frequent trips to near-by saloons, with the result that toward .morning some of, tho men became unruly. There were frequent fights among themselves and with, the PittStown ' firemen. At one time, it looked- as though the two fire companies would- become involved in a 'free, fight)- and it was only .the good wprk <>f the State police, wjio had been summoned from their barracks at Reading to assi&t the town, ' that a more serious .affray . did' not occur. ' The conditions became so serious that Burgess Kohler ( at' 5 o'clock ill' tho morning, iisucd an order* to ail saloon-keepers ]uthin.the ijoroijgH to Mose. their place's. The order was promptly complied with. - STORY ,OF , A" SURVIVOR. , Dr." J.K. Evan's, TSurgess 'of Malvern, .who supervised -the removal l"J the bodies on behalf of the coroner, said he did not believe that 10 per cent, of 'the victims ' would ever be identified. .In nearly eyery case the upper portions of lha bodies were burned away, and in a groat many instances the" Wer parts of the bodies were not touched. Reuben ,W. Stover, one of those who escaped the flames,' in- speaking of ,the fire to-day, said: "Everybody 'seemed to have lost control ■of themselves. The flames first consumed the • scenery, and then came to the crowd like • a great wave, and the suffocating smoke dropped men, women, and children in its path. The flames did the rest. It was v pitiful sight, and i will . carry the recollection as long as I live. Once the crowd began to fight its way to the doors, no power on earth cdizld have saved all the lives, but had the ,m.en not lost control of themselves the loss of life would have been small." , Dr. Frank' R. Brunner, of Washington "township, is belisved to have perish cd. t>r. Brunner stood- high in the medical councils of tho State. He was a ' frequent writer for the press, and for forty years was a power in Democratic politics. Tho monetary loss will amount to 75,000 dollars.