Another theatre has been burned down, in the usual way
and with the usual appalling results. On the night of the 20th inst , while the Baguet Theatre of Oporto—a house for comic opera— was crowded to the roof, some scenery was moved too near a gas. flame. The canvas caught fire, the flames spread, the audience saw them, and in a moment there was a wild stampede. The gas went out, the roughs in the upper galleries trampled down the weak and the women—even, according to the Daily News, using knives to hack their way through the press—and as the doors were too narrow, crowds were suffocated or trampled to death. There is, of course, the usual outburst of defensive lying. At first only 10 were said to be dead, then 80 were admitted to have been killed, then mention was made of 108 bodies, and by-and- by we shall know the truth, which is probably that 250 persons have been slaughtered by ignorance, carelessness, and cowardice gone savage. Nevertheless, no theatre in Europe will be rebuilt, because of the expense ; and we shall record at least one similar catastrophe before the close of the year.
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