Show THEIR AWFUL FATE One Hundred and Fifty People Peo-ple Burned to Death IN A THEATRE AT EXETER Actors and Actresses Lose Their All SonlGhlllinc Sights and Scenes The Frantic Rush The Theatre Horror LONDON September 5A theatre at Exeter took fire this evening during the performance of RomanyRye The occupants oc-cupants of the pit after an awful struggle strug-gle escaped but many of them were greatly injured There was only one exit from the gallery and the crush there was terrific Scores were trodden under foot and suffocated A fire escape es-cape was brought to a window and many inside were rescued Sixty corpses have been removed The mortality is estimated at 100 The fire blazed fiercely lighting up the whole city People were seen flocking to the scene in thousands inquiring in-quiring for friends The scene inside the theatre when the fire broke out was an Sfrful one Some men implored the audience to be calm but itwas impossible im-possible check the frantic rush The theatre hose was brought into use in a few minutes but the water ha little effect on th flames The actors and actresses were taken from the Window with the aid of ladders They lost everything except what they wore at the time Up to the present time 130 bodies have been recovered They are almost unrecognizable The structure burned was the Theatre The-atre Royal It was built after the latest designs and was elaborately finished being considered one of the prettie t n the kingdom There was a full house tonight and everything was all right until the end of the third act at 1030 when the drop fell and in a moment the whole stage was a mass of flames A wild panic ensued Many jumped from the verandahs and windows and wire injured others were rescued with the aid of ladders from the verandahs Thirty injured survivors have been taken to the hospitals The fire burned throughout the night The search for bodies proceeds slowly In many cases every shred of clothing is burned off and the bodies look black and raw There are various reports as to the origin cf the fire It is only certain that flames broke out in the scenery shifters department Tuose who escaped es-caped say that the special exit was properlyi opened The fire brigade arrived ar-rived five minutes after the breaking out of the flames but the efforts of the firemen were without avail There were several thrilling rescues A majority of the victims were men and boys About thirty women were burned When the fire started the drop scene was lowered to prevent draughts Some of the actors openedthe door to escape causing the fire to burst through the drop scene and to ignite he gallery The flames overtook the people who were wedged in an immovable mass and roasted them to death Many who were rescued alive died soon after being brought out of the burning huilding The occupants of the dress circle escaped without serious seri-ous harm A telegram from Exeter at 5 oclock this morning says the fire is under control The people are distracted with anxiety and are standing about the streets in the neighborhood of the theatre in search of friends who attended at-tended lat nights performance The hospitals are besieged by anxious inquirers f frlends Twenty badly burned persons who were admitted to the hospital died a few minutes after they were received |