PANIC IN A MUSIC HALL.

Western Star, Issue 278, 4 January 1879, Page 7

PANIC IN A MUSIC HALL.

Tfie Colosseum Music Hall in Paradise stree ; , Liverpool, whs on the night of the 11th October the scene of a terrible panic, which resulted in the death of 37 persons and serious injury to manv others. The hah, which was originally a Chapel, has an accommodation for 3000 people, and las; slight it was crammed by an audience which included many boys and girls, the price of admission being very low. At.about 20 minutes p st 8 o’clock a fight in one come ' 1 £ the hall caused some confusion, and in the midst of this some‘no cri> d “ Fire !” The scene which ensued was terrible. Witlmu* | waiting the audience rose en dmxss and I made a rush towards the various exits. There were, Mr Gfoodman computes, between four and five thousand people present, but this is probably an ex 'ggeration. The audience was wha* is called the “ first house,” there being two performances each evening, one cl sing shortly before 9, and tbe other commencing at that hour. At the principal entrance there was a partition, dividing the stream of people entering the pi ce and tak ng their tickets for different parts of the auditorium, and it wa- ar this point that the serious consequences of the false alarm resulted. The people rushed down the stairs pellmell, and beiog stopped in their headlong career by the barrier, were precipitated to the floo'% and, falling on each other were soon a struggling heap. The crowd behind still continued to press on, and it was s,* edify evident that those wh > were underneath would have little chance of life. As a ma'.ter of fact, no less than 37 persons have been killed, and a very large number injured more or less seriously. The mortality would in all probab lity have been greater, hut for the prompt arrival and energetic action of the police, whose ex«rti-*ns were devoted ‘ to the extrication of the injured persons, who were at once placed in cabs and c mveyed to tee various hospitals, A police constable slates that about a quarter past 8, hearing the sound of a whistle when on. duty near the bottom of Lord street, he hast ued to the Colosseum, where lie found another constable at the pay-en-trance trying to lift the people who were s= ill rowdtng on and stumbling on one another. Seeing that it was impossible to get them away without breaking down the partition, he procured an axe and procured an axe and cut away the obstruc ti<m. In this work there was at firsts some difficulty on acco mt of the risk -f iii jii' v, the people lying crowded against, it. It was, however, accomplished, and the crush at the foo ! of the stairs was thus at once relieved The officer also obtained the assistance of several men, who placed ■ hemselves at the foot of the stairs in front of the descending crowd and prevented their further descent, while in the meantime the dead and injured were removed.

When this had been effected, and the persons removed to the hospitals, the police set about ascertaining the extent, of the disaster. It was found that at the Royal Infirmary there were 33 dead bodies, two of them being tho.-v o' women. Three were those of hoys, and the remainder of toe labouring class, strong and able bocied men. At the Southern Hospital there were two bodies, both of men, and at r be Northern Hospital also two bodies, those of men. The number of dea< hs from the calamity is therefore