Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-06-16
CRUSHED TO DEATH.

which a large number of people have lost
their lives. The ROW of the footway
for passengers is the cause of the horror.
The majority of the dead are so far unidentl-
fed. At about -four o'clock the long line Of
people On foot in the center walk of tho
| structure going from and coming to this city
thickcncd, swelled and stopped in its mo-
ton just at the stairs leading from the
concrete roadway to the bridge proper.
Strong men and feeble women, manhood
and infancy, were wedged together in that
fearful pressure of the crowd, which ex-
tended miles, u might say, o. either end
of the line. 1t was remorseless, fearful,
stupid force that held its victims as immov-
able as the stone foundations Of the bridge
jtself. The stoppage lasted nearly an hour,
during which time scores Of people tainted.
To relieve the jam, the bridge Off
Gals removed some of the iron paling
a few feet frsm the stairway OH
the New York side, when, Of course, those
unfortunate enough to be near by, and weak,
fainting, at the death, as they were, i'm
mediately fell h~elter-skelter, heels over
head, down on the Jagged, gravelly road be-
meath a mass Of bruised, discolored human
flesh. Scores were tramplcd upon instantly,
and to stumble was death. Men were
dragged out of that heap Of helpless hui
manity with faces blue as indigo and the
life blood trickling out of their nostrils;
children and women, pale, disheveled and
dead.
The roadway OH either side of the walk
was strewed with the dead and dying, a pitt
able sight, and yet it is said no efforts were
made by the bridge officials to stop the PEG
pie coming on the bridge. The dead and
dying were carried off in wagons, carts, etc.,
improvised on the moment for service, and
it was n long time before the police
arrived and anything like order was
restored or al ambulance appeared.
Meanwhile teams were rushing both
ways at full gallop over the roadways-
why, no one could tell-threatcning the
limbs and lives of those on foot who we're
attempting to help the unfortunate victims.
Men shouted themselves hoarSc: Clear the
way!" The wagons ratified over the rough
stones and the men and women crying in
all directions made it q Bedlam indeed. A
party of men in uniform did some service
at the spot as volunteer police to check the
vulgar al d.curious.
Following is a list of the dead and injured
obtained shortly before midnight from the
hospitals and stations:
DEAD.
J.E. Busha Bazzerano, forty-fivc years, No.
zoe Plymouth street, Brooklyn; William II.
Craft, aged sixty, Grand, street, New York,
leaves q wife and four childrcn: Maud Craw.
ford, aged thirty-ive, of West Thirty-scvcnth
street, near Broadway: Sarah Hennesy, aged
twenty-five, of No; 1870 Washington avenue;
La Ling, aged sixty, Brooklyn; James O'3rlen.
aged nf,,y.tive, No; SIS Laight street. leaves a
wife and four ehildrcn; Ellen Riordan, aged
Smith, aged fortS.four, of No. AZ Watts street:
Mrs. Emma Sherwood, aged thirtyiivc. Bridge
port. Conn.,; Margaret Sullivan, aged thirteen,
OF No. ll5 Monroe street; unknown boy, aged
fourteen.
Following is a partial list of the
wounded:
Frank Barrett, No. 10 Mott street, legs and
left arm broken. His little boy and his mother
we're with him. Otto bischotr, No: els East
Sixth saxpa' street. En leS broken 1oH and badly injured Lin in
No: l5sS Pearl street: Charles Ebcrwein, No.
81 East Fiity,fourth street; leg crushed. I.
No; AS East Sixth street; chest injured AND
ti[ght eye badly crushed rus 5 Thomas ?a Keerdon.
cry street; injured about the head. Bern.
hard Reichers,, cigar-maker, No 1856 Delaney
street; severely. Nina Schmidt, No; s5s Hon.:
SA ~AAc. SSIILSs Nv. 40 1t. NI IA ,
place; slightly injured in the chest. Lizzie
Iierney, aged eighteen, st. Marks avenue,
Rogue; severely injured. John Keller, West
Farms; missing. !gnacio Antepara, No. 1872
Seventh avenues; bruised. Annie Goldstein,
80 Ss;a s. d East B%road 4 vG,;nd head lad, b n% u in Il y rec:
folk street; bruised on the head. arms and
legs. Albertina Bohnet, No. l3a Division
street; last seen to fall with her baby in her
arms when the crowd rushed over her. The
baby was found, but the mother is missing.
The scene in the City Hall Police Station
was simply terrible; women screaming and
wringing their hands, men with torn clothing
and bleeding faces, and all around the forms
OF the wounded, most of them unconscious,
lying beside the walls. Every now and
again a frantic mother would rush in inquir-
ing for some one lost. There were none to
answer her, for the revival of the insensible
occupied all thoughts. The iangle of ambu-
lance bells added to the confusion rs wagon
after wagon tore up to the door and sur
geons descended. A perfect stream of UNI
conscious forms was borne to the station on
stetchers as ambulances were filled and
driven away.
II was walking along the bridge toward
the New York entrance" said a man who
held a young girl, who was crying bitterly,
by the hand, "when l heard a shouting and
screaming suddenly arise in front of me.
Then l saw hats, sticks and hands stretched
aloft, and with one scream the whole dense
mass surged and swayed toward the gates.
l supposed the people thought the bridge
was coming down. Anyway, they fought.
screamed and yelled like demons. Children
and women were knocked down and tram
pied upon, and 1 was borne irresistibly out
OF the entrance. Then l found this little
girl who had lost her friends, and here we
are-safe, thank Godr,
IT went IN the BRIDGE" said Charles
Bligh, of No. so Third street, Brooklyn, sat
about four O'Clock, and as l was approach
ing the river span l found myself unable to
move either backward or forward. Women
and children commenced screaming. Hun
drcds OF men climbed with great difficulty
onto the beams running over the railroads,
and made their way to the caraiage-way.
Many let themselves drop through between
the beams, and were caught by those be-
meath. A number Of women also escapedin
this way. ! escaped this way myself.
The police and others helped pull out the
dead and dying, and they We're laid on the
roadway until IN ambulance came. The
shrieks of the children OH the pathway were
blood-curdling. They cried: Help! Helpl
Save me, for Gods sake!' but where ,yo