ST. LOUIS CIRCLE, BORN IN FATAL FIRE
DEDICATED TO BUILDING NEW CHURCH ITS MEMBERSHIP CONTINUES
ON
By Robert Burlingham
Times Staff Writer
On the evening of March 25, 1885, several hundred worshippers knelt in a plain brick building at the corner of Main and Edward streets. But for the stained glass windows and the steeple with a great iron cross, a passer-by would hardly know it was a church -- in fact, the oldest Roman Catholic church in Buffalo. It was the regular evening service and as the choir intoned the responses, Father Joseph M. Sorg, pastor, spoke stately words of the liturgy.
Probably the last thing in the minds of those listeners to the traditional service was that the church in which they sat had only a few hours of life. Built nearly fifty years before, it seemed as eternal as the religion it housed.
But even as the words of the benediction rang out and the congregation rose to leave, the spark of fate was being kindled in the building next door, the old Music hall.
At least one member of that congregation retains a vivid impression of that memorable night. He is Edward J. White, now custodian of the St. Louis church school, and then a boy of fourteen.
He remembers how the worshippers issuing from the church were assailed with a wave of smoke pouring from the Music hall windows and how intermittent bursts of flame could be seen lighting up the dark interior.
He remembers how one fire apparatus after another clattered and clanged up to the burning building until the entire Buffalo fire department was fighting vainly to control the raging flame.
White remembers too how the population of Buffalo from miles around gathered to view the greatest conflagration in the city's history.
But most sharply-outlined of all, there returns to his mind a picture of two boys climbing the steeples of St. Louis church to get a better view of the fire and a third, himself, attempting to follow after them.
"I was starting to clamber up the steeple after them when I noticed that showers of sparks from the burning Music hall had ignited the side of the church. I immediately gave up my expedition.
"It was only a matter of minutes before the church was a mass of flames. The two in the steeple were trapped. Women in the crowd screamed and men shouted. It was a regular bedlam.
Then a fireman -- I even remember that his name was George Roth, because he became a byword for heroism -- started up the tower after the boys.
"Down on the street fireman and bystanders held a net ready and called to the pair to jump for it. One of them did. He missed. We won't go into the details.
"The other boy, afraid of the jump, attempted to slide down. The crowd gazed breathstruck at his perilous descent. Suddenly his foot slipped. A cry went up as spectators watched his body hurtle through the gaping roof and disappear into the burning church.
"Finally the brave fireman became enveloped in the mounting flame and smoke. He was never seen again. The church burned throughout the night and by morning it was just a gaunt hulk. It was a terrible night. I shall never forget it."
Almost while the embers of the old church were still smoldering, however, there was born an idea in the minds of a dozen very young men of the congregation. This idea was to result in two great achievements for St. Louis parish --namely, the establishment of the oldest amateur dramatic society of continuous existence in the country, and the construction of what is generally regarded as the finest Roman Catholic Gothic church between New York and Chicago.
How the two are connected is revealed by the charter of the St. Louis Dramatic Circle, drawn up in June, 1885. Its primary purpose is the earning of funds to aid in the building of a new church. Its secondary aim, and in reality the more important one, since it has held to this day, long after the magnificent edifice that now stands at Main and Edward streets has attained its full majority, "shall be the diffusion of knowledge and mutual advancement in acting among its members."
* * *
Today, with the 50th celebration of the group's founding planned for next spring, it is well to cast a backward glance over its history and achievements. For the circle has included many prominent Buffalonians in its membership, has played a leading part in the life of the community and still functions with all the spirit and enthusiasm that initiated it.
Only two of the sixteen charter members who organized the circle are alive and active today. They are Mr. White and Fred A. Zorn of 146 Winston road. Included in the group, however, were such names as W.J. Schreck, now Msgr. Schreck, pastor of St. Gerard's church, who was recently invested with the robes of domestic prelate.
President of the original circle was Otto F. Andrle, who became a well-known professional actor, playing leading Shakespearean roles with E.H. Sothern and other prominent actors of the day. The late Edward F. Mischka was elected vice president, with Charles M. Weyand as secretary and Adolph Zeller as treasurer.
Other members included Adam Dory, Albert Zahm, Albert Rose, J.L. Wex, L.J. Roth, Alois P. Andrle, Charles Deck, J.C. Hasenzahl and Charles Bessinger.
The first play was produced in St. Louis school hall Sept. 13-14, 1885. It was the Legend of the Catskills, starring Edward F. Mischka as Rip Van Winkle. Costumes, scenery and stage properties were the work of members, as well as the finished acting of the piece, produced under the direction of Otto Andrle, already an actor of some note.
At this point it is well to inject the explanation that, while women took part in the plays, none was ever admitted to membership. It has always been strictly a men's club, including as one of its chief activities the tapping of beer kegs in monthly social gatherings in the clubrooms. Present members of the circle decline to state whether they attribute the organizations longevity to this circumstance on the ground that an answer might tend to incriminate themselves.
The Rip Van Winkle play, The Legend of the Catskills, was an immediate success and other productions followed in the school hall, the most notable of which was the production of Hamlet in December, 1887, with Otto Andrle in the title role, the present Msgr. Schreck in an important part, George L. Hager, now City Court Judge Hager, as Horatio, and Edward Mischka as Laertes.
Mr. White recalls that the old time audiences were so great that on one occasion the floor sagged, causing a near panic among the seated spectators and scores who availed themselves of standing room. He also remembers how the actors were still cutting their costumes when the curtain was about to rise. Today the palace scene for this production, designed entirely by the members. is still standing on the stage in the club's headquarters on the third floor of the school hall. Other plays produced in the school with great effect during these early years were Joseph in Egypt, Paul Pry, Good for Nothing, Slasher and Crasher and The Bells.
The latter production provided an amusing incident which illustrates the continual problems that beset the actors and their triumphant solving of them. The play called for a horse and, instead of being content with the usual pseudo steed operated by two unsychronized humans, the hardy thespians decided on having the real thing.
The horse was easy enough to borrow in those days before the gasoline buggy, but the problem of getting him up three flights of winding stairs and through two narrow doors was one hard to resolve. After hours of alternating attempts at quiet persuasion and exasperated kicks it was found necessary to tie the animal up, put him in a box specially made for the purpose and carry him upstairs bodily. It took the entire membershipto do it.
With the dedication of the new church in 1889, partly the result of thousands of dollars obtained painlessly from audiences at the plays, the primary purpose of the circle was attained. From then on it was a question of art for art's sake and good fellowship for a similar reason.
The membership of the club increased by leaps and bounds and its patronage grew to such an extent that the school hall was no longer adequate for the productions.
Concert hall, the Music hall, the Teck theater, Shea's theater and the Majestic theater were the scenes of subsequent performances which have been given less frequently but with equal success down to the present day.
Some of the red letter days in the circle's dramatic history have included the tenth anniversary production of The Signal, Jan 7, 1896 in the Music hall, the 20th anniversary production of Paul Revere at the Teck theater May 14, 1905, and the 25 anniversary play Old Jed Prouty at Shea's theater, May 29, 1910.
The last anniversary which was noted with a special performance was the 40th, when the members put on To the Ladies at the Majestic theater May 17, 1925. Since then the circle has produced Turn to the Right, Easy Payments and the County Chairman, all comedies. The last-named was given May 26, 1929 at the Teck theater.
For its 50th anniversary performance next spring the St. Louis Dramatic Circle plans to produce The Dictator, a three act play by Richard Harding Davis.
* * *
One of those who took a great interest in the circle in its early days, though he was never a member, was City Court Judge Hager. Judge Hager got the acting fever early in his youth, eventually playing professionally with stock companies that barnstormed the country. He directed several plays for the circle and acted in others.
Today interest in the club is as strong as it ever was. Monthly meetings are held in the clubrooms, decorated with pictures of former officers and former productions. Beer helps to provide conviviality and many of the members are veterans of the early days, with a store of reminiscences that keeps the ball of conversation rolling.
There is Edward J. White, who as caretaker of the school is in closest touch with the circle and with members who drop in now and then for a chat about the old days. He is 66 now and hale and hearty, picking up hefty boards and tossing them about like matchsticks.
Then there is Frank Diebold, who works for the Erie railroad and still acts in most of the plays, and who joined the circle shortly after its founding. And there is Carl Albert of the Education department in City hall, also a veteran member.
And so the fire that seemed so disastrous that night in 1885 has proved in some respects at least a blessing in disguise. It has certainly brought 50 years of good fellowship to the members of the St. Louis Dramatic Circle and has resulted in some of the best amateur play productions witnessed in Buffalo. The passing of its half century mark will be anticipated eagerly by those who know the caliber of the plays that have always marked its anniversaries.
The Buffalo Times, November 4, 1934
Buffalo and Erie County Public Library