The fire was extinguished in two hours, afler little remained of the building but its smoking frame.
The proprietor of the theatre, examined by the police, said that the fre was caused by an overturned candle in the green room, at the back of the stage but this has not yet been confirmed.
Thirty houses flanking the theatre were also gutted.
The fire began at 740 o'clock in the evening, when the theatre was packed with spectators, drawn by special New Year programme.
The large number of casualties, ccording to the police, was caused fas much by the rapid spread of the fire as by the panic, which gripped the mob the moment the flames began to lek the stage settings.
"A. strong wind handicapped the work of the Manchurian and Japan-'The city, within a few ety, Tying with rilles of the Korean border, has @ population of 155,000—Domel.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.