A little known tragedy at a Cannonsburg Pa Opera house which left 26 dead from a Panicked Stampede

It has been a law for many years  in many states that it is illegal to yell  FIRE in a crowded  theater when it is not on fire. Anti Panic laws as they are known  are in place for good reason after numerous tragedy's resulted in people stampeding to escape a venue and people being crushed to death after some one would yell fire or bomb  etc to get a rise out of the crowd.

This case of a false fire alert played out with deadly results on a warm Saturday evening Aug 26  1911 in the Morgan Opera House  in Canonsburg.
Home to singing greats Bobby Vinton and Perry Como  you would never expect such a tragedy that would tally 26 dead would have played out in such a small town but it did.

The theater was playing several serial features when one of the film strips caught fire in the Projection Booth  and the projectionists quickly where able to remove the flaming film and stomp it out . But in the mean time a young man passing the open door to the booth saw the flames and yelled
FIRE  a panic crowd quickly ran to the single steep staircase  and the pushing and shoving would result in the deaths of 26 men woman and children.
As there had been several well publisied fire tragdys in opera house around the county at that time

https://serendipitychronicles.wordpress.com/2013/10/26/the-ghost-of-grief-impact-of-1908-roads-opera-house-fire-still-felt-today/

This may well have been what set people off in such a panic but we will never know as will we never know the name of the young man who yelled fire when there was not one. 

The opera house would close and be turned into apartments and you would never suspect  such events ever took place riding by it today.

http://canonsburgfriends.blogspot.com/2011/09/canonsburg-opera-house-tragedy.html

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2519&dat=19940619&id=8d1fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=V24NAAAAIBAJ&pg=3123,6165325

http://www3.gendisasters.com/pennsylvania/2467/canonsburg,-pa-theatre-panic,-aug-1911

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/46659

http://query.nytimes.com

https://books.google.com/books?id=Bepp6zrcI0gC&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=morgan+opera+house+disaster&source=bl&ots=SElNm5gCBK&sig=iea8H_hwpzu4AzYrGROUccJ3YEQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjB2Y-G-bPKAhUGPz4KHUzmBdkQ6AEIQTAJ#v=onepage&q=morgan%20opera%20house%20disaster&f=false

The Demon House of Brownsville Road. many in the Paranormal community are questioning its story and finding it hard to believe it happened.

There are many property's around the Pittsburgh area where Paranormal teams have documented  strange goings on.
 However when it comes to the latest home to be publicized as to being haunted their are many in the paranormal community including myself who are calling into question that events as put forth in the book are even true. 

The Demon house of Brownsville road is owned by former County Commissioner Bob Cranmer
and first time I ever heard his named mentioned was on KDKA radio when he ran for the posistiion
of  Allegheny County Commissioner, however several callers to the local talk show from Brentwood where he is from where not very kind in calling him Cram-It  Cranmer and calling him full of Bull and worthless Brentwood  Councilman.
It appears as even all those years ago he was not highly regarded which is why many who remember him as a politician are calling into question the whole matter  of the home being haunted .
The family which occupied the home before him reported no such activity and none of the Paranormal  Teams in the area here  where ever consulted or contacted to verify what happened in the home which brings with it suspicion. If you are going to write a book on a subject the more verification of paranormal the better.

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/south/2014/10/26/Former-residents-of-Brentwood-demon-house-dispute-book-s-claims/stories/201410210213

http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/02/another-hell-house-book-and-website-honestly-this-is-getting-old/

Photo Credit Post Gazette

 Only  the Catholic Clergy was permitted to examine and rid the home of entity's  and  on KDKA when one  Lay person who claims he instructs priests on performing Exorcisms and was witness to the events  was on the radio show  he could not answer basic questions from Paranormal followers who called into the show and questioned him  and was very evasive in his comments .

His  claim he taught about exorcisms  is also being called as baloney by many who are involved in exorcisms  as only the church has the authority to perform a proper exorcism. as noted by the famous Dr. Martin Malachi in his writings on exorcisms So as you can see the whole incident that happened there has more than a few skeptics calling the whole matter into question.  

Why where other paranormal experts  not called  to verify the eveidence

 if all this activity was going on why where no calls to 911 made and why did neighbors not know what was going on and why so long to release any information  at all  about what was going on then put out a book most haunted places have been well documented before any published books are published.

 Yes plenty of questions . Did it really happen until the case is independently investigated and verified  there will always be questions as to its truthfulness. 

Dale Kerstetter Was he a Willing accomplice or a Victim in a $250,000.00 Platinum Robbery in McKean county

It was Sept 12th , 1987 when there was big news out of Mckean County Pa. when a security guard and $250,000.00 dollars in Platinum went missing from a Corning Glass Facility

Dale Kerstetner was working by himself as a Security / Maintenance man in the plant  when he is seen  talking to a masked man who has apparently broken into or was let into the plant by Dale .

a $250,000.00  dollar Platinum Pipe from one of the furnaces would go missing as would Dale
was he a victim of a crime as the above  missing person piece suggests or was he a willing accomplice who was double crossed and murdered. Or was the whole thing a charade  to make everyone think he is dead and gone. $250,000 even then was alot of money but not life changing money and they got no where near that when they sold it on black market so one has to wonder.

The case even caught the attention of Robert Stack and his NBC Unsolved Mysteries program which was in production at the time but to this day there have been no leads .

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/k/kerstetter_dale.html

http://unsolved.com/archives/dale-kerstetter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV7S_vTMCzQ

 Dales if he is even still alive he would be in his 80's  and statute of limitations has long run out.  Surprisingly not much attention has come of this case all these years later.
as with so many cases.