Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1883 — A CHARNEL-ROUSE. [ARTICLE]

A CHARNEL-ROUSE.

Destruction by Fire of a Theater on the Shore of Lake Como. The Corpses of Forty-Seven People Taken from the Ruins. [Cable Dispatch from London]. Forty-seven persons were burned to death, and about forty seriously scalded or otherwise injured, while witnessing a puppet show in Dervio, a village on the shore of Lake Como. The performance was given in a small hall over a tavern. Ninety men, women and children composed the audience A Bengal light was used to represent fire. Bp arks from this Ignited a quantity of straw and firewood in the adjacent room. On perceiving the flames the showman shouted “fire,” but the spectators thought the cry was merely a realistic detail of t£e show, and remained seated. Cries of lire were soon raised outside the hall' The audience thinking an affray, had arisen in the street, barred the dobr leading from the hall They did not discover their mistake until the flames burst into the room. After the fire had been extinguished, fortyseven charred corpses were found near the table, including the bodies of the showman and his wife. The greater number of tlw remains are those of women and children. The wounded were hurt by leaping through windows. A child was flung out of a win* dow by its mother, and fell upon a pile 6f straw. This is the only one present in the hall not hurt Dervio is a charming little village on the borders of Lake Como, very sequestered and picturesque. It is about six miles north of Bellagio, a charming seaside resort muoji frequented by English and American twists, and about thirty miles north of Corftp. Most of its inhabitants are simple country peasants, fishermen and wpod-chon 7 pers. The population is about l,OiX\ The puppet theater was a loVy stone building, containing but one room about 20 feet wide and 35 feet long, and could hold about £ 0 persona There w>s gallery, and the performances given thetd were generally marionette exhibitions, which appeared to please the country folk more than would the playing of a tragedy or the music of an opera The companies that are in the habit or exhibiting these marionettes consist generally ot’ four or five people who Impersonate by means of little wooden figures the characters of Arlecchino, Pantalone, Brighetta, Miss Colombina and Dr. Balanzone. While the puppets are being worked by means Of little str rugs, the actors behind them speak in the different Italian dialects. Such a little town as Dervio is visited by the strolling players about two or three times a year, especially in the summer months, and their stay is generally from four days to a week. The exhibitions are generally given in little rooms adjoining summer gardens and beer saloons.