The Colfax Chronicle

The Burning of Theaters.

Dr. Choquet, in a work recently published in Paris, gives the following figures as to the theaters burned since 1750, in periods of ten years: From 1750 to 1760, 4 theaters burned; 1760 to 1770, 8; 1770 to 1780, 11; 1780 to 1790, 13; 1790 to 1800, 15; 1800 to 1810, 17; 1810 to 1820, 10; 1820 to 1830, 32; 1830 to 1840, 30; 1840 to 1850, 54; 1850 to 1860, 76; 1860 to 1870, 103; 1870 to 1880, 169; 1880 to 1885, 174. The writer follows up these statistics by giving the number of victims. From 1750 to 1760, 10; 1760 to 1770, 4; 1770 to 1780, 15; 1780 to 1790, 21; 1790 to 1800, 1,010; 1800 to 1810, 37; 1810 to 1820, 85; 1820 to 1830, 105; 1830 to 1840, 813; 1840 to 1850, 2,144; 1850 to 1860, 241; 1860 to 1870, 104; 1870 to 1880, 1,217; 1880 to 1885, 628; total, 6,573, or an average of 48 per annum. The most calamitous of these disasters were those at Capo d'Istra, in 1794, when 1,000 persons were killed; St. Petersburg, in 1836, which resulted in the loss of 800 lives; Canton, in 1845, which had 1,670 victims; Brooklyn, in 1876, with 283; Shanghai, in 1871, 120; Tientsin, in 1872, 600; and lastly the Ring Theater, Vienna, which had 450 victims. — St. Louis Globe-Democrat.