Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-06-19
FEARFUL SCENES.
Additional Details OF the Great Sunder.
land Disaster-At Least Two Hun
dred Children Now
Supposed to Have Lost Their LiVes-The
Cause Of the Calamity-The Queen
Greatly Shocked.

unhappy comment. The hall has been eur
rounded to-day BY distressed and excited
crowds. The stairway leading from the gal
lery at the top of the landing, at which oc-
CURED the pressure which led to the acct
dent, was from five TO ak feet wide, and the
gallery leading from the door through |
which the children were allowed to psss only
one at a time, which Circumstance is regard |
ed as the direct cause of the calamity, was
fitted with bolt which lodged in hole il
the floor, thus narrowing the passage for TIT |
purpose of facilitating ticket-takipg when
the audience was entering the hall. The |
jsnitor ssys the scene behind The hall door |
was fearful. Some children were fixed up. |
right in the heap and actually gasping for |
breath, 90 great was the pressure of the |
crowd behind them. The majority CT the |
children in the crowd we're under twelve |
years OF age. When the disaster happened |
the janilor and his wife, and several hastily |
summoned by.tanders, went to work immt- |
diately 10 give the sufferers relief. They |
FIRST sent out of the building by the other |
ouswsy the lille ones who were still in the |
further crush. Those who went TO the rescue |
of the sufferers found the work Of removing |
the heap Of
BRUISED, CRUSHED AND sUFFoCATED BODIES |
no easy taSk. Two hundred children were |
| rescued from the Pile, who were practically |
uniniured. Many others were found in aa i
unconscious C ndition, but Of lhese number
were restored and Immediately taken 10 their |
homes Nearly all of those who were dead ,with |
a number whose wounds were regarded as |
fatal, were laid out in the hall, where the /,
local doctors in attendance used every effort I
10 restore those in whom spark Of life could |
be detected. One eyewitness stated that he saw !
lying on the hagstones, short distance from |
the bottom OF the stairs, the dead bodies of |
seven children. Many OF those who came |
to assist in removing the dead and rescuing |
the living were utterly overcome by the diE- |
lressing sight of so many dead and dying |
children.
ADDITIONAL DEATHS.
A number of deaths have occurred since |
the first report, and the fatal list is nov |
placed at 1856. One of the persons who re- |
spouded Immediately TO the call Tor help says
many who 70 lntesred TO assist 10 rescuIng |
the children sickened at the spectacle and He'd |
Mortified from the distressing scene. The res.
cuers' first sfforts were directed toward reach |
ing the children who were apparently alive,
but 80 tightly were the victims ahmed to- |
gether that it was dangerous to drag them |
out Of the helpless m ass, because the effort |
would result in pulling of the limbs of the |
living as well as mutilatiag the dead. They |
therefore proceeded steadily and systematic |
ally 10 lift off the topmost. A few of thqte |
who were beneath had survived, and the r |
moaning and low cries OF pain could be dis. |
tinctly heard amid the excite msut aud cri' s |
of the bereayed parents and friends,w were |
ihr7ngipg the adj scent streets. The disaB. |
ter was referred to in all the CHURCHES in Sun |
derand to-day, and by many of the preach |
ers in London, and prayers offered for the |
parents and friends of the victims.
..r., T7sg9 THE STAIRCASE
from the gallery was a winding one. Both |
the audience and the officials who were 10 |
the hall at the time of the disaster we're un- |
aware for some considerable time Of the ter |
rible tragedy bling enacted at the door. |
They were not informed until Graham, tie |
hall-keeper, who was strolliDg near ty the |
| scene OF the calamity, WAS attracted by the |
groans and gave the alarm. Mr.. Fay, who |
gave the entertainment, was busy packing |
up his apparatus to depart when a ms q |
rushed up TO him snd informed him of the |
disaster, and he Immediately fell down |
speechl,ss in q fiji. Some of the families |
whose homes were go suddenly darkeued lost |
over three children. One man and his vile |
pushed their way into the hall in which lsy !
the bodies of the victims, and without be- |
lraying any emotion began scanning the |
faces Of the dead. Recognizing The face of |
one of his children, the father, pointing with |
his finger, exclaimed, "Fhsl'a one.n Passing |
on, again he recognized another and then a |
third. Staggering in tit of agony, he |
cried,
'MY GOD, ALL Ny FAMILY GONE"
and, overwhelmed with grief, sank to the |
floor. In some homes there are five cAidrea |
dead. Queen Victoria sent telegram to the |
mayor OF Sunderland, expressing her grief |
at the dissster. The children of the various |
Sunday schools also sent kilograms of syn |
pathy. Flags were at half m ast. Ons Sun |
Ay-shool lotes thirty scholars by the catas- |
trophe. Many OF the survivors had their |
arms broken IN the crush; others are puffe,-
ing from broken ribs or the rupture of inter-
nal organs. Graham, the hall. keeper, ssNs |
that children not twenty yards from the door
came pressing forward unaware of the tras-
edy, thus making matters ten times worse
han they really were. The scene inside If !
Victoria Hall during the Identification III |
the bodies battles description, and was fesr-
full in the extfem-. The fac of the dead
/ children wers almost in every case black and |
swollen from snfocatiou, from which many
died. the lips were cracked and parched,
and the noses bleeding, and the parents rush.
ing wildly about would
FALL UPON THE BODIES OF THEIR DEAD CHILL
DREN,
and, with loud wailing and weeping, clasp
the unconscious forms in their arms, vainly |
endeavoring TO note any sign Of life. Many
poor mothers sEooned away at the first sight |
of the dead, while others were wild and all |
most violent in their hysterical grief. The |
act Of removing the dead from the hall to- |
day was the occasion for a renewal of the |
lame ntation and confusion. Many parents |
rushed through the police Gordon appointed |
for the preservation of order, and there was |
a scene of great confusion. One of the wit |
nesses OF the calamity stated to-day that |
for the first five minutes there was a great |
lack OF assistance, and from this cause alone |
there were certainly one hundred lives lost. |
The weather was warm, aud the passage was |
very close, 30 that in short tins after the |
catastrophe horrible, sickening stencil |
game from the pile of corpses at the main |
outlet of the hall. The latest reports to- |
night figure up 1873 desd, and the gravest |
fears are felt that The number will yet be |
shown 20 have reached ,4-L GIlT
AT LEAST TWO HUNDRED.
The aagersess Of the childrentos depart |
frDIn the hall WAS caused by their desire to
rRre5v, the prizes proulised the m.,.- Graham