The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-05 00:00:00

The Dreadful Accident at Dundee,

(From the Edinburgh Courant)
Detailed accounts of the dreadful accident which
occurred at Dundee on Monday evening are given
in the local journals. From the Dundee Courier's
report of the catastrophe we make the following
extracts .

" The hall at which the accident occurred is situ-
ated underneath the Bell-street United Presbyterian
Church. It is entered by a door in the south end
of the building, which is reached by a broad stair
consisting of 16 steps. In front of the door there is
a large porch, and there is a space of about six feet
between the door of the porch and the bottom of the
stair. The performances were announced to begin
at a quarter to eight o'clock ; but, as the entertain-
ment is a very popular one, there is always a very
larget4e*nce,,....By about half-past five the people
had commenced to gather, and by half-past six a
large crowd had assembled. By about a quarter to
seven the street in front; was almost completely
blocked up, and it was estimated that there were
more present than would have twice filled the hall.
Mrs. Springthorpe in consequence resolved to open
the gate, and as the policemen who are on duty lit
the hall had not arrived (this being three-quarters
of an hour before the usual time of opening), she
called in the hall-keeper and several of those in her
employment to assist in maintaining order. The
usual practice on similar occasions had been for the
gatekeeper partially to open one half of the gate, so
that only one or two people can gain admission at a
time. Between 40 and 50 people were admitted in
this way, but so great had become the excitement
among the mob outside that the men at the gate
were overpowered, the half of the gate held partly
open by them was dashed completely back, the
other half of the gate was burst up, and the dense
mass rushed headlong down the flight of steps before
mentioned. The young and the weak were soon
knocked down and trampled under foot, and the
strongest men were dashed with great force to the
bottom of the stair. Loud cries for help and groans
and yells of pain rent the air, but still the immense
mass surged onwards. Strong men were carried off
their feet and launched headlong above those who
had preceded them, but still there was no cessation
of force from behind. Those in charge of the hall,
seeing the awful scene which was enacting before
them, shouted to the multitude above by all that
they held sacred to stand back and prevent the
wholesale loss of life which they saw must inevitably
take place. Those who were mingled in the crowd,
and who retained their consciousness, joined
earnestly in the appeal ; but the excited mob disre-
garded their every entreaty and pressed onward.
Those at the extreme edge of the crowd, indeed, re-
garded these appeals as a mere ruse to keep them
back ; and each being apparently determined to force
his way, whether the hall would contain them or not,
the appeals passed unheeded. Thus, although
those in front, who saw the awful tragedy, had the
will to render assistance, they had not the power.
The stair was completely jammed, and a mass of
people, groaning,shreiking, and expiring, were piled
at the bottom to a height of nearly three feet. Nor
could anything be done to relieve the unfortunate
sufferers until Mr. Cooper, the keeper of the hall,
rushed upstairs by the back entrance, and with great
difficulty made his way through the crowd, and after
a very great effort succeeded in closing the gate.
The police-constables on duty in the hall had by
this time arrived, and the utmost despatch was used
in sending for doctors to take care of the wounded,
and conveyances to remove them from the scene. A
strong detachment of police also arrived soon, and
lined the streets in front of the hall. Meanwhile
the most-piteous calls for help were being raised..by.
those lying helplessly at the bottom of the stair, and
jammed between the railings. Steps were accord-
ingly taken to render them assistance ; but there
was no one to direct and few to lend assistance.
Messrs. Butler and Willoughby and the constables
in the hall, as well as a few of the audiencewho had
assembled, did everything in their power, and even
those who had escaped comparatively unhurt ren-
dered aid, but the work proceeded but slowly, and
was greatly retarded by the extraordinary conduct
of some of those in the hall, who loudly demanded
back the money they had paid for admission. And
the task was a most melancholy one, for from a
large number of those who were underneath in the
writhing, struggling mass of humanity on the
ground, the vital spark had by this time fled, they
having died from suffocation, but there were others
who were still alive when extricated, but who ex-
pired in a few moments afterwards. One young
man stated to us that he will never forget the con-
vulsive grasp with which one young woman seized
him by the neck when he disentangled her, but ere
he had proceeded many steps her head fell back,
and she was a lifeless corpse. The wounded were
conveyed to the ante-rooms of the hall, but they
were soon all taken up, and to add to the disas-
trous consequences of the accident medical aid
could not be obtained for the sufferers. Dr.
Smith, Murreygate, was the first to arrive at
the scene, but seeing that there were so few to
render assistance in relieving those who were alive
and in danger of being suffocated at the bottom of
the stair, he considered his exertions could be of
more service in this way, and thus the wounded
were left uncared for for nearly half an hour, and
there can be no doubt that several lives were lost
from want of immediate attention. By about half-
past seven o'clock this melancholy task was ended,
and some 12 or 14 dead, wounded, and dying men,
women, and children were lying in the lobby of the
hall, while the whole of the ante-rooms were occu-
pied, and several dead bodies were lying in the hall.
A considerable number of those who were taken out
first were sent to the infirmary or to their houses in
cabs ; and about this time Drs. Gibson, Langlands,
and Cooper arrived, and rendered every assistance
in their power. The scene was one of the saddest
description ; many of the relatives of those who had
been in the crowd had obtained an entrance to the
hall, and the loud wailings and lamentations of the
women, with the deeper but more subdued grief of
the men, as they discovered their friends and rela-
tives were truly heartrending. Four boys, of whom
hopes were at first entertained, died shortly after
being conveyed to Mr. Cooper's house; and a boy
and a girl, who were taken to the ante-room in life,
died subsequently.
" The wounded having thus been cared for atten-
tion was turned to the dead, and the bodies were all
taken into the hall with the view to identification.
We understand that most of those who had formed
the first rank of the crowd, and who had thus been
precipitated to the bottom, were dead before they
were extricated, having evidently died of suffoca-
tion, as they were not much bruised, and in few
cases were their bones broken. One boy, named
John Holland, was got lying insensible at the top of
the stair. He was put into a cab and conveyed to
the Infirmary, but he expired on the way. Three
children were found dead, jammed against the rail-
ing three or four steps from the top of the stair.
The dead number 20 in all—viz., 12 males and 8
females.
" The news of the disaster spread through
the town with amazing rapidity, and those whose
friends had intended visiting the concert crowded
into the hall. The first body identified was that
of a boy named Patrick Swiney, and the
sorrow of his mother, a poor Irishwoman, was dis-
tressing to behold. But her cup of grief was not
yet full, for in another corner of the hall lay her