Zenith Royal 755 battery leak

[radiodayz]

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this in a public forum, but I need some help...
I have a Zenith Royal 755 large AM portable that I've had for a year or two. It always worked fine, but I noticed a few days ago that the batteries were getting weak. This morning, I put six fresh C cells in it, turned it on, nothing. I had to leave for work, but I resolved to check on it later. When I returned a few hours later, the battery tube was warm to the touch and fluid was sizzling and oozing out. I quickly removed the batteries. I probably had installed them with the wrong orientation, I guess; they're supposed to be loaded with four facing one direction and two the other, but I must have screwed up somehow. Anyway, what should I do know? Is there any hope it can be restored to operating condition? I don't think any critical components were damaged.