Cinematograph Tragedy.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 14043, 29 October 1909, Page 4 (Supplement)

Cinematograph Tragedy.

FALSE CRY CAUSES PANIC. r ■- RESCUE OF CHILDREN. A cry of "Fire!" caused a stampede of children at a cinematograph entertainment at Southsoa on Saturday afternoon (August 14th), and in the mad' rush down the staircase of the hall one boy was killed and' eight other children were injured. The names of the victims are: — The Victoria Hall, in which the disaster occurred, belonged to a syndicate managed by Messrs F. and fl. Andrews. It is used as a permanent place of exhibition of cinematograph views, and on Saturday afternoons the performance is mainly one for children, - who are admitted to the gallery on payment of Id each. The films are well shown by a continuous current supply of low voltage manufactured on the premises, and the operating chamber is over the entrance to the ground floor, at the far end of the building, and immediately beneath the gallery in which the terrible panic occurred. When the performance began there was nn audience consisting almost wholly of children who had excitedly paid pennies to get in. In the gallery there were about 200 youngsters. who enjoyed the first nfttnre immensely, making the hall echo with their .shrill cries and lanohter. While the second picture was being thrown on the screen there was a slight mishap, such as occasionally occurs during a cinematograph entertainment. An electric wire fused, and the film snapped and caught tire. There was a momentary flare, speedily extinguished by the operator with buckets of water and a blanket, which are always ready to hand in case of an emergency. The chamber is fireproof, and there was not the smallest cause for alarm. It was a woman's Bhrill cry of "Fire!" that set up the disastrous panic and caused the fatal stampede. ' The attendants found it impossible to quell the panic until it was too late. The band continued to play in the hope of reassuring the young audience, but the T cornet played (Mr Hartt, who is champion of swimmer of Hampshire) - rose and played loudly, "Oh, oh, Antonio." This had a good result, many of the children returning to their seats and taking up the words of the song. But the stampede for the door had begun, and a balustrade near the exit gave way under the pressure, and a number of screaming children tumbled on to others below. For some moments there was a heap of children inextricably mixed, arms ahd legs waring in. the air.. t It was here that the boy Graham was fatally injured. The breath was almost crushed out of him. When the hall kid been cleared and the police were searching the place they found the poor little fellow dying. He- was carried into an adjoining room where he expired. The disaster might have been infinitely more serious had it not been for the exertions of the uniformed attendants in the gallery, who managed to get a hundred of the panic-stricken children to. go ont of the emergency exit in an orderly manner. One of the first to attempt to lib-erate-the-little ones was Stoker W. Oakley, of H.M.S. Revenge, and he was assisted by Mr Charles E. Bruere and Colonel Turner, who hail been watching a cricket match on the United Service officers' recreation ground opposite. They had heard the screams of the terrified children, and rushing upstairs found them crowding at the top eight or ten deep. "It was impossible for them to get down," said Mr Bruere. "It was pitiful to hear them scream, and we pulled several of them down one after the other, but as quickly as we fid so the gap was filled by the childen _who were crowding behind. They were crying, 'Save me, save me!' and we told them .they had nothing to fear.

"There ought to have been somebody to prevent thein cniehing behind. We got as many of them out its we- could, perhaps forty to sixty. I asked someone to go for a doctor, as two of the girls were in a state of collapse, and these we sent to the hospital in a xab." Six other' children were also sent to the hospital. Meanwhile the tire brigade had been called out; but for the strong force which was speedily on the scene there was nothing to do. The police had no easy task in controlling the excited crowds which thronged near the hall. Parents and relatives of those who had been attending the performance clamoured for information as to the safety of their little ones, and it took some time to spread the assurance tbat the casualty was a comparatively small one. The Ball was absolutely cleared in a ouarter of an honr after the first alarm had been raised. Dr Conner rendered first aid to the injured children before they went sent to the hospital. Mr Linsdell. manager of the company running the show, interviewed by a Press representative after the nccnrrence, said emphatically that but for the cry of "Tire" raised by the woman there would have been no catastrophe. He pointed ont that the rnt break was extinguished by the operator within a few moments of the accident to the machine which occasioned it, and that there was praetK cally no danger*. "It is quite easy." he remarked. "to clear the hall* in the ordinary way within about three minutes, but nnfcrtnnately the fright of the little ones and the screaming which was set m> had a.contagious effect on the audience generally, and rendered it impossible at once to qneli the stampede. There were in the gallery at the time of the alarm three or four of the male employees of the comnany, who repeat-. edry assured the children that there was no danger, and who did_ their trtmost to prevent a rnsh which necessarily wonld be accompanied by serious risks." The dead hoy was at first believed to- be Percy Scott, of Taylor's-conrt, Portsea, but yesterday he was identified as John Henry Graham, of 43 Clarence-street, Landport. He was a bright and intelligent lad, 11 years of age. It was thought that all the occupants of the gallery had been rescued when the poor child was discovered nnconscious huddled up against the wall near the emergency door, where the crush took place. , This door is on the opposite side of the gallery to the entrance staircase, and opens to iron stairs, constructed on the outside of the building, leading to th<> street below. The

emergency exit had a passage way leading to it from the side and back of seats, from which it was separated by a low partition on the balustrade, and so severe was the rush, when it coenrred, that this wooden structure was completely broken .way, the whole of the occupants of the gallery making: a desperate effort to reach the «xifc door, which someone had opened when the alarm was raised, Jetting a blaze of sunlight into the fSjrkened hall.