Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1883-06-18
4 Veritable Slaughter of the In
nocents in Sunderland, Eng.
Nearly 200 Children Killed in a Panic
Dreadful Sequel to Conjurer's
Entertainment.

| ing. From the details thus far received it
appears that an entertainment had been given
| 10 Victoria Hall by conjurer. which was at
tended almost altogether by children Sew
eral thousand were in attendance. The ac-
cident " hich was so direful in its effects &C.
CURED at the close of the performance. The
body of the hall had been entirely cleared a
its occupants, when some 1900 of the little
ones came rushing down stairs from the
gallery. At the top of the first flight of
stairs there was door which opened only 20
inches, and thus but only child was permit
ted to pass through at time. At this point.
while the mass of children were pushing
| forward one of them fell and was unable to
rise, owing to the others crowdlng on. The
| result was that great number were pushed
| down, trampled on and suffocated. The
scene was terrible, and no effort could stop
the mad rush Of the frightened children.
They came in pell NELL, though strangely
without much shouting. and l7S of them
were knocked down and suffocated by others
trampling upon them. The greater number
of the bodies, which were badly nangled
from the trampling, laid seven or eight deep.
Many of the victims, and others who were
not killed, had their clothing torn from their
bodies, and this, together with the bleeding
bodies of the unfortunates, shows the terri
BILE nature of the struggle. The ages of the
| l7S children known to have been killed
| ranged from to II years. The excitement
| in the town when the news of the disaster
spread was terrific. Great crowds of people
rushed to the scene, until at least 10000 per-
sons surrounded the hall. The feeling was
so intense that the authorities ordered out the
| 6Sth infantry to preserve order. The work
of getting out the bodies of the victims was
begun Immediately. They were laid out in
hall, and the parents of those killed were
admitted for the purpose of identifying the
bodies of their children. Most heartrending
scenes transpired while the work of identi-
fcation was in progress. The mothers of
the dead children constantly uttered piercing
shrieks, and many of them tainted on dis
covering the bodies of their little ones.
LONDON, June II.
The terrible calamity that occurred Satur-
dav evening in Victoria Hall, Sunderland, is
the subject of universal unhappy comment.
The hall has been surrounded today by dis
tressed and excited crowds. The stairway
| from the gallery, at the top of the landing OF
which occurred the pressure which led to the
accident, was from five to six feet wide, and
the gallery door through which the children
were allowed to pass, only one at a time,
which circumstance is regarded as the di-
rect cause of the calamity, was fitted with a
bolt which lodged in hole in the floor, thus
narrowing the passage way for the purpose of
facilitating ticket taking. When the audi
ence was entering TIE hall the janitor says
the scene behind the gallery door was fear
| full. Some of the children were fixed up
right in heap and actually gasping for
| breath, so great was the pressure of the
| crowd behind them. The majority of the
children in the hall were under IL years of
| age.
| When the disaster happened the janitor and
his wife and several hastily summoned by
ISLANDERS went to work Immediately to give the
sufferers relief. They first sent out of the
building, by other exit ways, the little ones
who were still in the hall; by this means
avertihg fears of a further crush. These
who went to the rescue of the unfortunate
sufferers found the work of removing the
heap of bruised, crushed and suffocated bod
les no easy task. Two hundred children
were rescued from the pile practically un-
injured. Many others were found in an un-
conscious condition, but of these a number
were restored and Immediately taken to their
homes. Nearly all those who were dead,
with a number whose wounds were regarded
AS fatal were laid out in the main hail. where
local doctors in attendance used every effort
to restore those in whom spark of life
| could be detected.
One eyewitness states that he saw lying
| on the flagstones short distance from the
stairs the dead bodies of seven children.
Many of those who came to assist in remov-
ing the dead and rescuing the living were
| utterly overcome by the distressing sight of
so many dead and dying children.
A number of deaths have occurred since
the first report, and the fatal list is now
placed at 1856. The rescuers first efforts
were directed towards rescuing the children
| who were apparently alive, but so tightly
were the victims jammed together that it was
| regarded dangerous to drag them out of the
helpless mass lest the effort would result in
pulling off the living persons as well as the
mutilated dead. They therefore proceeded
steadily and Systematically to lift off the top
most. A few of those who had survived were
beneath and their meanings and low cries of
pain could be distinctly heard amid the ex-
element and cries of the bereaved parents
and friends who were thronged the adjacent
streets. The disaster was referred to in all
the churches in Sunderland today and by
many of the preachers in London and prayers
were offered for the parents and friends of
| the victims.
| The staircase from the gallery was wind
ing one. Both the audience and the offiials
who were in the hall at the time of the dis
aster were unaware for some considerable
| time of the terrible tradedy that was being
enacted at thej door. They were not in
formed until the hall keeper, who was stroll
| ing near the scene of the calamity, was at
tracted by the groans and gave the alarm.
FAY. who gave the entertainment, was busy
packing up his apparatus to depart when a
man rushed up TO him and informed him of
the disaster and Immediately fell down
speeches. in a fit.
| Some of the families whose homes were
so suddenly darkened lost over three chill
| dren. One man and his wife pushed their
way into the hall, in which lay the bodies of
| the victims, and, without betraying any
emotion, began to scan the faces OF the dead.
Recognizing the face of one of this children
| the father, pointing with his finger, ex-
| claimed, "That's one" Passing on again he
| recognized another and then a third. Stag
gering in fit of agony he cried, my God,
all my family gone" and overwhelmed with
grief, sank to the floor. In some homes there
are five children dead.
Queen Victoria sent telegram today to
the mayor of Sunderland, expressing her
grief at the occurrence of the disaster The
children of various Sunday schools also sent
telegraphing sympathy. Flags were at half
mast. One Sunday school loses 80 scholars
by the catastrophe.
The scene inside Victoria Hall during the
Identification of the hoflies hafY3as dosc,;,