A BOY'S MAD FREAK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13501, 27 July 1907, Page 2 (Supplement)

A BOY'S MAD FREAK.

FALSE ALARM IX A* THEATRE. In Brooklyn, according to the. New York correspondent, of the Daily Telegraph, * thousand women and children were thrown into panic at a performance at the Gotham Theatre, and another national disaster such as overtook the Iroquois- Theatre, it Chicago, was only avoided by a hair's breadth. During a performance of "The Silver KitiV a foolish boy climbed the escape, owned the door to the balcony, and yelled 'Fire; fire! fire!" " •- ■■-,* As.the boy opened the door a shall of sunlight shot through the darkened auditorium. The matinee audience, which included only a sprinkling of men. thought the flash of sunlight was the reflection of flames in the balcony, and instantly every person in the theatre jumped up and started screaming, struggling, and righting to roach the doors and emergency outlets. Women battled like demons*, the weafcjp being thrown to the Mo. r. and children, .vcu iralcd from their mothers, were trampled underfoot. -The gangway became jammed. Mv. Mai Clarendon, who plays the Silver King. iii!i!:< dial saw how mailers stood, and. advancing to t!v- foot light*, h* stood there, with outstretched arm, a dignified picture, his white stage locks flowing over the collar of his black liiiwiiksp cape . Mr. Clarendon, like. others of the company, had seen the boy open the door, and knowing there was no cause for alarm, thev tried to quiet the frantic women and children, but in the uproar their words were hardly'' heard.. The orehestn started to play, but. no one paid attention to it, and the curUiu was rung down. In the meantime the stampede continual unabated. Women fought with hairpins to reach the doors hi>t. and children were passed over the heads of lhe crowd. Nov. and then someone fainted and hysterical shrieks were heard. In the balcony there wa. another mas* of lighting, m • ''.killing women. They found their way to the lower' floor, blocked by other women who were struggling to reach a- small room off the balcony, where mow than a score of them had left their babies in the hands of the caretaker. At the* shout, of fire the first thought of the mothers had been for their-babies, and while many of them were unable to get to the balcony enough started upstairs to block them. Several women tripped and fell. Fortunately the theatre ha« extra good emergency facilities, and at Ihe first, alarm the; policemen and others opened every outlet, and m within a few minutes, which seemed hours to the struggling mass inside, the pressure was relieved and the panic quieted'. After tho audience had left the theatre the floor looked something like a battlefield. Twelve bushel baskets of torn garments, wrecked hats, baircombs, pieces of whalebone bells, and miscellaneous articles of feminine attire were gleaned. Many who had lost their purses were given their tram fares home. Fortunately the injuries were confined to scratches, > few pin thrusts. and bruises, and none were particularly serious. The boy who started the panic, despite a painstaking search, has not been found. -.'/''" ,'„