The Daily Dispatch: March 1, 1861., [Electronic resource]

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Thrilling disaster.

--On the evening of the 22d a very large audience assembled at Crittenden's new hall, in the village of Titusville, to listen to a musical entertainment. About 7 ½ o'clock, after the performers had passed on to the stage, and the concert was about to commence, the floor of the hall, in the second story, suddenly gave way, precipitating two or three hundred persons, men, women, and children, to the floor below, which in turn succumbed to the sudden pressure, and sank to the cellar bottom. A large coal stove upon the first floor was precipitated among a quantity of shavings and other combustibles, and bursting asunder, scattered fire in every direction. Instantly a blaze rose through the opening, grasping at everything within its reach, and a frightful scene ensued. The mass of human beings entangled among the boards, flooring, benches and seats which followed them in their fall, struggled desperately to escape the flames rapidly spreading through the interior of the building, and those who remained above, having sprung to another section of the flooring when the cracking of the timbers beneath them was heard, were obliged to escape from the windows. The musical company were obliged to leave all their effects to save themselves. Several persons were injured, but all escaped without loss of life, a result most astonishing. The building was entirely consumed within fifteen minutes.--Buffalo (N. Y.) Commercial Advertiser.