The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II, Part 116

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345

USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II > Part 116

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This, however, was but the beginning of the end, for black volumes of smoke began to roll from the burning scenery of the stage into the body of the house, almost totally shutting off the light of the gas, and depriving those in the house, for a few mo- ments at least, of air to breathe. The scene at this moment was one which beggars description. The actors had rushed from the stage to save themselves, and having managed to escape the clutches of the flames, met again in the street in their stage cos- tumes and congratulated one another. The unfortunate and terrified people in the dress-circle and gallery were rushing pell-mell toward the one door which gave egress from each, and through which only two or three persons could pass at one time. The house was filled with smoke, and the air was almost stifling. Men shouted and rudely jostled delicate women in their efforts to reach the doors. Strong men shed tears, and women and boys screamed with fright, a large number fainting away and

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being trampled under foot by the rushing mass. Thus far the audience had seen very little flame, but the stage entrances and the scene doors having opened, a strong current of air was let into the rear of the building, which drove the flames out from the stage-enclosure, and as they licked up everything in their path, the whole interior of the building was lighted up with the lurid glare. Many of the unfortunate people who had, up till this time, preserved their equilibrium, now broke forth with heart- rending cries for help. A few there were among this mass of terrified and struggling humanity who made noble endeavors to prevent their unknown companions from crushing one another to death, but fell suffocated under the feet of those whose lives they were endeavoring to save. The flames roared and crackled as they rushed upward toward the dome, and the hot, blinding and suffocating smoke poured down mercilessly on the poor unfor- tunates, whose efforts already showed signs of weakening. All this, it must be remembered, was only the work of a few min- ntes, and still the devouring flames mounted higher and higher. Three alarms had been rung in quick succession, and the en- gines could be heard nearing the vicinity. The streets were filled with a throng of excited people, who ran hither and thither, calling aloud the names of dear ones, whose voices could not be heard in answer. Many were hatless and coatless, their garments having been torn from them by the pushing and jostling of the crowd.

The police of the First Precinct, under the command of Ser- geants Eason and Cain, were on the ground within three minutes after the breaking out of the fire, and did very effective work in quieting the fears of the populace. These gallant men, divest- ing themselves of their outer garments, rushed into the burning building and, pushing their way on beyond the main corridor, ascended the stairs leading to the dress circle, and assisted a number to escape. On reaching the top of the staircase, how- ever, the blinding smoke forced them to retreat. They did not give up the gallant fight, however, and returned again, this time ascending the stairs leading to the upper gallery, where they found a mass of people, and were compelled to use their clubs to prevent them from trampling one another to death. Inside, meanwhile, the flames made rapid progress, and had forced their way through the roof, which had become one sheet of seething flame. The cries of the doomed auditors for help could no longer be heard, and the stream of people that had hitherto poured forth from the burning building was rapidly diminish- ing. An awful hush fell over the multitude, for it was well known that there were still hundreds of people within the burn- ing structure. These victims, in their terrible haste to reach the street, became wedged together in a short turn in the staircase, and thus prevented those from behind from escaping. Frantic in their terror, those in the rear having more room than those ahead of them, jostled and trampled upon one another, and it is thought that very many were killed in this way. The volume of flame which issued from the roof, and shot upward into the air, rapidly increased, and soon the entire upper part of the building was one lurid sheet. In less than twenty minutes after the sounding of the first alarm, the mansard roof fell in with a crash, carrying with it to the cellar both the upper gallery and the dress circle, with their freight of human beings. By this time the entire Fire Department was on the spot, and numerous streams of water were being poured into the burning building and upon the adjoining houses, to which the efforts of the fire- men were directed, in the hope that these, at least, might be saved. Before the falling of the roof, some of the inmates en- deavored to get through the windows, but so far as known, only one succeeded, and he jumped to the roof of the station-house. Another, who was immediately behind him, only succeeded in catching hold of the sill of the window, when the smoke and flame forced him to relax his hold, and he fell back into the burning cauldron beneath, to share the fate of those who had not succeeded in getting even so slight a chance of safety. Soon

the major portion of the Johnson street or southerly wall fell, crushing beneath it a brick house and covering the street with debris. A few minutes later, the easterly wall fell, and the Brooklyn Theatre was a heap of smonldering ruins. Some of the three hundred unfortunate people who had suffered such a terrible death might even now have been left in a condition to be recognized by their friends, but the gas burnt fiercely, light- ing up the scene and sending a cloud of white steam into the air. Hardly an hour had elapsed from the time of the breaking out of the fire before the building was totally demolished, and the flames well under control. Streams of water were kept pouring upon the ruins during the remainder of the night, and it was decided that at daylight the search for the missing ones should commence. Mayor Schroeder, Commissioners Jourdan and Vyhnn, were present during the conflagration, directing the movements of their subordinates.

A few minutes after four o'clock in the morning, they reached the box-office and found the first body. It was that of & large woman, and was lying face downward. Even at that hour many of the most experienced firemen were of the opinion no great num- ber of persons had lost their lives. A few hours later, however, when daylight began to break, all doubt had vanished, and the terrible reality was revealed. The smoke and steam were still ascending in dense volumes, but an occasional puff of wind blew aside the clouds, and the horror-stricken firemen saw the bodies of the dead who had fallen through from the gallery piled up in heaps. Chief Engineer Nevins at once assigned & com- pany of firemen to remove the dead. From the front entrance on Washington street, for a distance of about thirty feet, the floor remained unburned, and at this point the work of removing the bodies was commenced, and they were piled in a heap in the entrance-way. Hardly any were recognizable except by their clothing. At this time, the extent of the calamity was not fully known, and the crowd outside could be numbered by hundreds. An hour later, when a large force of undertakers had arrived with wagons, and the bodies began to be removed to the Morgue, the excitement knew no bounds. The police force was doubled, but for a time it seemed as if the excited crowd would break down all barriers and rush bodily into the ruined theatre. The half-burned and broken glass doors were pulled partially to- gether, and a group of sturdy policemen was stationed in the gap, with orders to allow no person to enter. This course en- abled the firemen to pursue their dangerous work with a little less peril to themselves.

The floor, with the exception of the portion just inside the entrance, had fallen into the cellar, and it was at this point most of the bodies were found. The second bend in the stairs lead- ing to the top gallery, was immediately over the corridor. When the gallery gave way, it fell into the cellar. In order to get out the bodies, it was found necessary to have a large ladder, the top of which rested at the entrance to the corridor on the ground floor and the end on the smoking ruins. The rungs were hastily covered with boards so as to make a gangway for the passage of the undertakers' men, For hours the firemen worked down in the smoking ruins, amid the still burning beams of the floor and galleries. A stream of water was kept constantly playing into the cellar. As the work progressed and the smoke became less dense, the undertakers' cases were pushed down along the gang- way, and the bodies placed in them and decently covered before being taken up. Many men who anxiously strove and even fought to obtain an entrance, turned sick when they had looked once on the ghastly heap of the dead. Passing down into the ruins among the firemen, the sight was complelely appalling. One's powers of thought and speech were paralyzed. Even the firemen, used to similar scenes, moved about swe-stricken and silent among the heap of dead, pulling aside the debris wherever possible with their hands, without resorting to the implements of their craft. In one place the bodies of twenty persons, most of them young and of the male sex, were found closely wedged

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THE DRAMA, OPERA, MUSIC AND ART.

together, lying over each other in layers. They were not much burned, but so blackened and bruised as to be beyond recogni- tion. About noon, the body of officer Patrick McKearon, of the Sanitary Squad, was taken from the ruins. He was detailed in the gallery of the theatre, and died in the performance of his duty. But of the four hundred persons in the gallery, not more than one hundred escaped. The stairway was very narrow, and had s tortuous bend just over the entrance to the main corridor. At seven o'clock, December 6th, all the bodies which had fallen through this passageway when the gallery gave way, had not been recovered.

As soon as it became too dark for the men to see what they were about, calcium lights were procured and placed at different points among the ruins, and with their light, no difficulty was experienced in continuing the work. In order to give more light st the entrance, the burner of a street lamp on Washington street, directly opposite, was broken off, and the heavy stream of gas Was lighted. It gave out a brilliant flame about eighteen inchee high, illuminating the street from one end of the block to the other. The flooring of the lobby of the theatre was the only part of the whole, which had not fallen through, and on the further end of this another calcium light had been placed in such a manner, as to throw its rays down into the space between the side wall and foundation wall of the partition, dividing the lobby and the auditorium, where the greater number of the bodies were found. On the east side of the ruins a third cal- cium light was placed, its light falling directly upon the anterior portion of the auditorium, where a large number of ladies were also discovered. About a quarter past seven o'clock, the space between the side wall and the foundation wall of the lobby par- tition above mentioned, was completely cleared, and the labors of the firemen were directed to the debris in the auditorium. The scene, as viewed from the gap in the main wall in Johnson street, was singularly weird. The bright glare of the lime-lights threw the broken and rugged edges of the walls and arches into strong relief, and the black and grimy figures of the firemen, as they raised the bodies and bent over the coffins, was a scene long to be remembered.

The scenes at the Morgue in the market on Washington street, with thousands of persons viewing the charred remains, and identifying the bodies, were indescribable.

As the bodies were taken from the ruins of the burned theater, they were placed in undertakers' wagons and ambulances and conveyed to the Market House. The first loads of fire-blackened and disfigured bodies were taken to the City Morgue on Wil- loughby street about six o'clock, where they were placed in coffin-like boxes, kept for the reception of the hospital dead. There was then no supposition on the part of those who brought the first dreadful load of dead, that there was to be so great a demand upon the accommodations of the Morgue as afterward proved to be the case. But another and another load followed quickly upon the first, until more than eighty bodies had been strewn upon the marble floors. By eight o'clock, every spot of available space had been occupied by the charred and ghastly remains. The Morgue has but one dead-room in which bodies are usually displayed for recognition, but the entire first floor of the building in which the Morgue is situated, was devoted, on this occasion, to the exhibition of its horrible occupants. The crowds that collected by thousands were permitted to enter, after satisfying the officers on duty that they came not from idle curiosity, but for the purpose of identifying, if possible, missing relatives or friends. Many came provided with passes, but some who did not hold them, were allowed to enter, after pleading with tears to be admitted.

Two actors stifled and burned while endeavoring to escape. - At the moment when the fire was first discovered, Mr. Murdock was before the curtain playing with Miss Kate Claxton. As soon as the panic occurred and a general rush was made to escape, Mr. Thrope, the stage manager, saw Messrs. Murdock and Bur-

roughs rush to their respective dressing-rooms, which were on the same side of the stage, immediately in the rear of the upper right-hand box, as viewed from the auditorium, and con- sequently furthest from the stage-door. The dressing-rooms were arranged in tiers, approached by a narrow stairway, which led up to the painter's bridge which spans the stage. Mr. Mur- dock's* room was on the second tier, and Mr. Burroughs't on the third. Changing their clothing, their stage-garments being very scanty, and collecting what valuables they could, they made an effort to descend together, but during the time thus occupied the flames had made such headway, that when they made their appearance, the stairway was one sheet of flame. All chance of escape in this direction was now cut off, and the unfortunate men were compelled to beat a hasty retreat. There was still one chance left-they might effect their escape from the other side of the bridge, and thither they hurried ; but the hungry flames were doing their work here also, and the young men were now surrounded entirely by fire. Alone on the burning bridge-cut off from all aid-their sufferings must have been intense. Whether they made the frightful leap into the burning mass be- neath them, or remained upon the burning bridge until the last, meeting their fate as only men can, will never be known.

* Mr. HENRY S. MURDOCK was engaged in the cast of "The Two Orphans " as Pierre, the cripple, and was the sols support of his widowed mother and two sisters. Mr. Murdock was born in Boston, Aug. 5, 1845, and was con- Bequently in the thirty-second year of his age. He received his education in Philadelphia, and made his debut at the Arch Street Theatre in that city, in the winter of 1864. During the season of 1865 he fulfilled an engagement at the Boston Museum, and from there he went to Cincinnati, where he performed at Pike's Opera House until its destruction by fire on March 22, 1866. In this case he narrowly escaped with his life, and lost his entire wardrobe in the fire. He next went to San Francisco, where he played with John Mccullough at the California Theatre. He remained there two years, 1867-8. He then performed short engagements at Washington, Balti- more, St. Louie and Pittsburgh. In 1872-3 he played at the Arch Street Theatre, Philadelphia, under the management of Mrs. John Drew, taking the parts of " Fop and Walking Gentleman," and upon one or two occasions played leading parts. The season of 1873-4 he spent in Chicago, and acted at Hooley's Theatre, under the management of Mr. Fred. Williams, of Bos- ton. He resigned his position hefors the close of the season, to support Miss Clara Morris at the Academy of Music in the same city, then under the management of Mr. C. R. Gardner. During his engagement with Miss Morris he made a decided hit as Armande, in the play of " Camille." At the conclusion of his engagement in Chicago he returned to Boston, where he remained one sesson, after which he commenced his engagement with Messrs. Shook & Palmer, when he played the part of Sandy Morton, in the play of "Two Men of Sandy Bar," at the Union Square Theatre, New York City. From there he went to the Brooklyn Theatre, on October 9, 1876. Mr. Murdock, whose real name was Hitchcock, was a nephew of Mr. James E. Murdock, the eminent tragedian, and a hrother of Frank Murdock, the author of " David Crockett." He had a brother in New Orleans, also an actor, whose etage name was William Wallace. Mr. Murdock was an ac- complished and educated gentleman, and a rising actor. During his en- gagement in Boston, he played ench characters as Charles Middlewick, in the play of "Our Boys," and Harry Spreadbear, in "Sweethearts." He gave much satisfaction in Brooklyn in his interpretation of Eustace in "Con- science," Charles Surface in "School for Scandal," and was giving a good rendition of Pierre, the cripple, in the " Two Orphans," at the time of the fire. He was a good vocalist, and an amateur artist. He had been suffering from scistica for some time, and the malady [had given him considerable pain, during the six weeks previous to his death, causing him to limp painfully at times. He occupied apartments at 53 Concord street, Brook- lyn, where his uncle, Mr. Henry Murdock, resided.

t Mr. CLAUDE BURROUGHS made his first appearance on the stage at the Winter Garden, New York City, in 1865, playing in " Hamlet" with Edwin Booth. At the conclusion of his engagement with Mr. Stuart, who was then managing the Winter Garden, he came to Brooklyn, where he played light comedy parte in the Park Theatre, then under Mrs. Conway's management. Upon the opening of the Union Square Theatre, New York City, hy Messrs. Shook & Palmer, Mr. Burroughs was engaged to play light parts. His first appearance at that theatre was as a Reporter in " Agnes," the first piece pro- duced in the house, and he had been in the cast of nearly every play produced there. Upon a few occasions, when not playing in New York, he accepted engagemente in Brooklyn. He was the Fop in "Atherly Court," the Fop in "Jane Eyre," Maxime in "Ferrol," and a very clever representative of Talbot Champneys in "Our Boys." At the time of his death he was playing Picard, the valet, in the "Two Orphans." He was but twenty-six years old, and unmarried.

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

The bodies of the two actors were found together, and it waa apparent that they had died at the same time-perhaps when the Johnaon atreet wall of the theatre fell, thereby depriving the atage of its support.

Fortunately all the ladies engaged in the second and previous act had left the theatre as soon as they had performed their parts, and so escaped any danger.

ACTION OF THE PUBLIC AUTHORITIES .- In response to a call from Mayor Schroeder, a special meeting of the Brooklyn Board of Aldermen was held at four o'clock, Wednesday, December 6th, 1876. The Common Council Chamber was filled with citizena. who took a deep interest in the proceedings of the Board. The roll having been called, and considerably more than a quorum of the aldermen having responded to their namea, Alderman French, the President of the Board, called for the reading of a special meaaage from Mayor Schroeder. The docu- ment waa as follows :

" MAYOR'S OFFICE, Dec. 6, 1876.

To the Honorable the Common Council :

GENTLEMEN,-I have called you together to-day to deliberate and take action concerning the terrible calamity which has be fallen the people of this city, in the burning of the Brooklyn Theatre last night. It is impossible at this hour to estimate the number of human beings who have periahed in the conflagration, though already over one hundred have been exhumed. From such observationa as I have been able to make among the ruina, I do not think the relatives and friends of the dead will be able in many cases to identify the bodies of those whose loss, under circumstancea of such horror, must be mourned with unequaled grief. For this reason, it seems to me, arrangements, should be made by the public authorities for the burial of the unrecognized dead, in a manner becoming a sympathetic and Christian people. To this end a committee should be at once appointed, and our merchants and tradespeople ahould close their atores on the day of the funeral, and participate in the obaequies. If, in addition, it ahould transpire that many homes have been deprived of their support, by the loss of a father, brother, husband, or son, the at- tention of our churches and charitable institutions and our wealthy citizens should be promptly called to the fact, in order that neither the reality nor apprehension of immediate want may be superadded to an affliction in itself almost inaup- portable.

Respectfully, FREDERICK A. SCHROEDER, Mayor."

At the conclusion of the reading of the Mayor'a message, President Fisher arose and, after a few feeling words, presented the following resolutions :

."Resolved, That a committee of nine be appointed to take into consideration the duty incumbent upon the municipal au- thorities, in view of the recent destruction of the Brooklyn Theatre, and the calamitous results flowing therefrom.

Resolved, That there be a special meeting of this Board at two o'clock, P. M., Thursday, the 7th inst., to receive report from said committee and take action thereon.

Resolved, That said committee be authorized to confer upon this aubject with other organizations, official or other- wise."

These resolutions were appropriately aeconded by Alderman Murtha, and unanimously adopted, and President Fisher ap- pointed the following Aldermen as members of the committee called for : Aldermen Fiaher, Burnett, Black, Murtha, Arnot, Rowley, Acker, Donovan and Guthrie.

Alderman Fisher announced that the Board of Supervisors had met earlier in the afternoon, and had appointed a committee composed of Supervisora Strong, Sexton, Curran, Harman, Brown, Ryder and Byrne to confer and co-operate with the committee of the Board of Aldermen. He proposed that the committee, of which he was the chairman, should meet in the Common Council Chamber immediately on the adjournment of the Board.

A motion that the Board of Aldermen should hold a apecial meeting, December 7, at two o'clock P. M., was carried.

THE NUMBER THAT PERISHED .- Two hundred and ninety-five human beinga were known to have perished in the flames of thia ill-fated theatre. One hundred and ninety-seven of the

bodies were identified and taken away by their friends, and the ninety-eight unidentified bodies were buried by the city.

Immediately after the calamity, a Relief Committee of 250 of the firat citizens of Brooklyn commenced their earneat work to asaist the afflicted relatives of the dead. All of the theatrea of Brooklyn and New York gave benefita, which were liberally attended, and over $40,000 waa obtained by the united action of the committee, and the dramatic performancea. The number of people who received aid from the fund was between five and eix hundred. In some cases there were aa many as five and six in one family. The higheat amount paid to any one family was $20 per week, which waa the case of a widow with eight children. The fund lasted over a year.

To do justice to all of the good citizens who showed their deep aympathy and took an active part, would require mora apace than here allotted. His Honor Mayor Schroeder, the members of the Common Council, and many of the first clergy- men of the city, including Henry Ward Beecher, did them- selves lasting honor. Actors and managers of theatrea every- where through the country did nobly, and gave another evidence of their proverbial disposition for deeds of charity.

THE FUNERAL IN COLD AND STORM .- At two o'clock on Saturday, December the 9th, the gleam of bayonets was reflected from the struggling sunshine that peeped out now and then between the broken, dark storm-clouds.

The military were arrayed along Schermerhorn atreet. The head of the procession was nearing the point of establishment of the right of the line. At Flatbush and Fulton avenne junc- tion it halted for ten minutea while the disposition of the various parts of the procession was perfected. The Twenty- third Regiment, that had marched up in hollow square forma- tion, opened and rested at "order arma," while the Forty- seventh Regiment passed through and took the right of the line. Then the hearses and undertakers' wagona were broken from a single to a double column, and the Twenty-third Regiment was placed as a guard of honor, surrounding that portion of the mournful cortege. Then the march was begun, and the boister- ous cold winds bore fitfully the strains of the saddening dirge played by a full band of sixty pieces, with the procession follow- ing, at funeral pace and slow, in the following order :

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The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II, Part 116

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co Number of Pages: 1345

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345