DREADFUL ACCIDENT AT THE BOWERY THEATRE.

BY FRANCIS COPCUTT.

JEREMIAH CASSANDER JONES, or as we always called him down-east. 'Kasy,' a six-feet-two cousin from New-Hampshire, to whom I had been showing the 'lions' about town for the previous week, expressed a desire to see the far-famed Bowery Theatre before he left; and as the place was terra-incognita to myself, and I had heard of and wished to see the arrangements for preventing its being for the fourth time destroyed by fire, I acceded; and that we might have a good opportunity of examining the hydraulics, we put ouselves and a dollar into the hands of the box-keeper a half hour before the curtain rose, and told him our wishes. He promptly took us over the building, and explained the mode of 'throwing cold water' on any undue warmth that the house might exhibit.

Connected with the large mains through which the Croton water passes down the Bowery is a six-inch pipe in front of the theatre; this pipe runs under ground to the inner wall which separates the boxes from the lobby, and up through that, and hidden in it, to the gallery or fourth tier; from this pipes of two inches diameter are led in every direction where they will be of use in case of fire: thus, two of them are carried from the main or upright pipe under the floor of the first tier to the front and lower edge of the box, where they separate, and are carried round the entire circle, and being gilded and burnished, form in appearance a merely ornamental moulding. At the distance of every few feet are brass apertures about one and a half inches long, just sufficient to give direction to the water, and having a one-inch bore. The jets on the sides of the house pointed toward the second tier on the opposite side, while those in the centre of the circle pointed toward the orchestra and stage. The same arrangement was made in the second tier, and the pipes carried round just above the gas brackets, gilded and with similar openings to those below, the side jets pointing toward the third tier opposite, and those in front toward the stage and orchestra. The pipes round the third and fourth tiers were the same, only pointing in different directions; the centre opening pointing toward the proscenium and private boxes, and those on the side pointing partly toward the dome, and partly toward the door-openings opposite, at the back of the boxes. Each pipe as it reached the end of the tier toward the stage was turned round and carried to the lobby, where it ended with an opening to play the entire length of the passage. We understood that a similar arrangement had been effected for the stage, fed by other apparatus from the back street; but we had no time to examine that before the play commenced.

In the six-inch pipe in front of the theatre was a huge stop-cock, the. iron head of which protruded just above the side-walk, and could be turned by a loose crank-handle, which was kept hung up just inside the pit door, so that in case of fire it could be had at a moment's warning. This stopcock turned, and the house would be flooded. I have been thus particular, for the better understanding of the harrowing scenes about to be described.

Having satisfied our curiosity, we sat down in the 'dress-circle;' a distinction arising probably from the fact that those occupying it generally had coats and hats on, while in other parts of the house coats, hats and vests are often dispensed with.

The hour of performance being at hand, black spirits and white, blue spirits and gray, began to pour into the pit; some in red shirts, some in striped, some with suspenders, some without; but all noisy and all in good humor. In the boxes came pretty Jewesses from Chatham-street, pretty milliners from the Bowery; Short Boys,'huge-fisters,'' Bowery Boys,' eastern 'Young America,' in all its glory of misshapen beards, greasy hair and large cravats; and above all was the gallery thronged with our 'colored brethren,' of all shades, from whity-brown to jet-black.

The orchestra began playing; the audience was silent, save the gentle crackling of peanut-shells; the music ceased, and the curtain rose, showing a favorite actor on the stage: a short spasmodic burst of applause peculiar to the place, consisting of cries, 'cat-calls,' whistling, etc., followed; and the play proceeded. It was the 'Lady of Lyons:' and this reminded me of an incident at the 'PARK' many years ago. Young Kean was playing Claude Melnotte,' in his usual masterly manner; had married Pauline, repented of the trick, taken her to his mother's cottage, and confessed what a bad boy he was; and as she stood sobbing with her hands covering her face, undertook to tell the history of his love:

KEAN: My father died, and I, the peasant born,

PROMPTER:

KEAN:

PROMPTER:

KEAN:

Was my own lord: then did I seek to rise

From out the prison of my mean estate,

And with such jewels as the exploring mind

Brings from the caves of knowl dge, buy my ransom
From those twin-twin-twin

เ

And the prompter cried glory,' and Kean cried 'glory,' but nothing came of it: the dream had departed: he struck his forehead, as if he would punish the bump of memory; then turned to the audience and said: Ladies and gentlemen, I beg to apologize for this sudden lapse of memory, which to me is entirely unaccountable.' He then began the paragraph again, and went through it without a blunder. I felt, during those few moments, that purgatory would have been a relief: and I never saw a play for months afterward with any satisfaction; for at every hesitation in an actor, I expected to hear something about the 'twins' or 'glory' spluttered out.

'Kasy' was soon absorbed in the performance, and while his ears and those of the groundlings were being split, I will mention what was passing outside.

'JIM, do you want a check?' said a red-shirted vagabond to a long, round-shouldered, over-grown boy. 'Yes,' said the latter, catching at the

check, slipping it quietly into his pocket, and looking around to see who was watching him. The next moment he went to the pit entrance; but the door-keeper was too sharp for him, and turned him away with some indignity. Jim returned, brim-full of wrath, to his companions, venting curses against the whole establishment.

'Jim,' said one of them, in a deep whisper, 'duck 'em!'

Drawing them closely round him, and glancing at the same time from side to side, to see that no one was near, he explained :

'You see that square bit of iron in the walk? Well, turn that and every one on 'em in the house will be ducked. It leads to pipes all over the place, to be set a-goin' in case of fire. My brother Bill works in the theatre, and he told me so.'

'How can we turn it?'

'The crank is inside, over the pit door. I'll take the check and make

a muss with the door-keeper, while you climb up and get it down.'

'Kasy,' said I, 'you must remain alone if you wish to see the play out. With this heat, and tobacco, and gas-atmosphere, I am becoming too unwell to remain.' Kasy left his seat, and we sauntered out on the balcony in front of the theatre. Looking over the railings, we saw several boys rush from the pit entrance, and hurriedly cross the street, followed by others who joined them on the other side. After hesitating a moment, to see if they were pursued, they walked down to the corner, crossed the street again, and came up on our side slowly and compactly in a body. "They have got the crank,' said Kasy, in a hoarse whisper, grasping

my arm.

"What crank?'

'Why, the crank he showed us in the pit, to turn on the water in case of fire.'

I looked and saw the handle half hidden among them: then with a general impulse, and a mutual wish to see the result of the mischief that was evidently brewing, we rushed across the balcony and lobby, down stairs as fast, and into our places on the first tier, too much absorbed in our anticipations to notice the hundred black looks with which our noise was greeted by the surrounding throng. The rouged fellow on the stage, who was doing Claude, stood behind a chair, and from his organ ground

out:

'IN that dark hour, when thy disdain made my
Whole soul a chaos, and passion turned to wrath
Resembled hatred most, in that very hour

The avengers found me, a fitting tool for their revenge:

Thou hast trampled on the worm-it turned and stung thee.'

'It turned and ducked thee,' said Kasy, 'I am afraid will be a better reading; and we pressed our hats tightly on our heads, buttoned our coats to the chin, and screwed our courage to the sticking-point:

WHAT was the slight of a poor powerless (check-taker) girl
To this most foul revenge?'

And suddenly over the whole house there went a rushing sound like a cataract, or whirlwind, or letting off steam from a dozen engines! A

moment, and all that immense area was filled with sparkling drops, as if the goddesses painted on the dome had been showering down millions of sparkling diamonds, interspersed with rainbows, forn ing a scene of enchantment that would rival our wildest imagining of a sea-nymph's palace. Another moment, the gas was extinguished, and all was utter darkness! And from that dense and frightened mass of beings went up a wild and universal scream of terror and despair, that made the huge dome tremble, and for the time drowned the roar of the rushing water. Another moment, and every man, woman and child, from pit to dome, was drenched, as if he or she had been plunged in the current of the river. Yet the first idea of all was fire, and as that horrible scream partially subsided, 'Fire! fire! fire!' resounded from all sides. A general rush was made for the doors, over seats, benches, partitions, and the bodies of those who had fallen or were knocked down in the excitement; and bonnetless, skirtless, bleeding and drenched, they appeared in the lobbies; but a new terror awaited them, for as the gas still burned there, and the water was dashed along, the impression seized them that the fire was there also, and many rushed back and screamed in utter despair; some called to Heaven for mercy; 'Mother!' 'Jane!' 'John!' 'Father!' and so on, resounded from all sides, in wild cries; and still the blinding, rushing water poured down in foam and spray, like the whirlwind-storm of the tropics.

At

'Kasy' and I had run back to 'see the fun:' we now felt as if we were half guilty of the whole catastrophe, and trembled at the scene. first it required all our strength to keep our feet against the 'crush;' but as that passed, and we recovered the use of our faculties, we ran among the people in the darkness and dashing water, and tried to explain; but it was like talking to maniacs. We then turned our attention to those who were trodden upon, but the furious water almost blinded us, and we had to grope about the boxes to find them.

In the lobbies the scene was still more deplorable. Some of the gasjets were still burning, and streams of water were playing in all directions. Every human being was drenched; and muslins, silks and calicoes clung to the persons of the wearers as if they had been bathing in the surf of the ocean. Hatless, dressless, coatless, bonnetless, they were screaming, swearing, pushing, crushing toward the street.

Outside the excitement was equally intense. The impression that the Bowery was on fire had already spread around the neighborhood. Firemen were attaching their hose to the hydrants; and in a few moments, to add to the confusion, they also were playing into the darkness, where there was already water enough to extinguish a dozen actual fires; while the few persons who really knew or guessed the cause were looking in vain for the crank, or running about the neighborhood to awaken sleepy blacksmiths and plumbers!

In the gallery the scene was horrible. At the first rush the narrow winding stair-case was 'chocked' up with human beings, piled in all shapes and angles up to the very ceiling; a suffocating, groaning, dying mass; while for those behind them there was no means of egress save jumping into the pit, which was certain destruction. A rope was at length found that some carpenters had used in repairing the dome. This was tied to the railing, and the end lowered in the darkness, amid the