Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1875-03-04

sprang to their feet, and with one ac>
cord made rush for the doors and
windows in their terror. Father Cur
ran sprang forward and endeavored to
still the panic which naturally ensued.
In his efforts to quell the dreadful
panic which prevailed he was ably sec.
onded by Fathers Flynn and Carroll,
but the entreaties of the priests had no
effect and men, women and children
rushed headlong for the door, strug
Cling in the greatest terror to gain exit
from the building. Unfortunately the
main doors of the church on Duane
street were closed and locked, and
only one of the side doors, that on the
cast side of the building, nearest TO
Chatham street, was open. This door
way is not over six or seven feet wide,
and towards this means OF exit the
rush of the terror. stricken multitude
tended. Leading from the eastern
gallery of the church to this doorway
IS steep and narrow wooden stairway,
and as the accident occurred On the
eastern gallery, the people who made
for this stairway were even more panic
stricken than those in the main body
of the edifice. 1t was soon choked up
and the two streams Of people those
coming from the body of the church
and those rushing from the gallery
met at the foot of the stairs, and COM
plete blockade resulted. A dense
mass Of humanity filled the narrow
space to the open air, and battle for
life ensued. The weak, as was to be
expected, had to give way to the strong
and several women and children who
were in the middle Of the crowd fell at
the foot of the stairs, and were crushed
and trampled upon by those behind
in their efforts to save themselves.
1t was at this point, and during this
fierce contest for life, that the majority
of the killed and wounded received
their injuries.
THE SCENE INSIDE THE CHURCH..
When the crowd was nearly out a
company of fremen and policemen
forced their way in. They found the
aisles Uttered with sleeves, cloaks,
coats, hats, and rags tom off in the
struggle, and found also a few men
around the insensible bodies of a
woman and boy who had tainted in
the press, and others assisting those
who had been too much injured to
walk. The roof overhead broken
through, and the almost entire absence
of debris upon the floor, sent them to
the east gallery at once There they
found few heavy timbers from the
roof lying among the remnants of the
pews, and the whole northern two
thirds Of the gallery strewn with bro
ken and splin,ered boards, bricks, slate
and mortar, all wet by the drenching
rain. One woman lay under a beam
with her leg broken, and under another
timber man was crushed fatally, but
still breathing.
From the first point reached by the
falling debris, along the gallery and
down to the doors, an irregular line of
bodies was found. In some few the
fe was extinct others were SO badly
hurt as to be unable to move, while not
few were found in state of syncope
the result of fright The debris was
light enough to admit of the easy ex
trlcation Of the twenty or more who
lay unable to move. The large force
OF police and firemen made short work
of carrying out the dead and injured.
AS has already been stated, five per-
sons were killed outright and twenty.
six seriously wounded, whilst many
others were slightly wounded