St. Landry democrat., 1883-06-30
TERRIBLE CALAMITY.

Eighty-six Little Children Meet Death in
Horrible Manner.
LONDON. June IS.
A terrible calamity, involving the death OF
1856 children, occurred in Sunderland,
County of Durham, Saturday evening.
From the details received it appears that en-
tainments were given in Victoria Hall by a
conjurer, attended almost altogether by
children, several thousand being in attend
close of the performance. The body
of the hall had been entirely cleared
of occupants, when some 1900 of the
little ones came rushing downstairs from
the gallery. At the top of the first flight Of
stairs was a door which opened only twenty
inches, and thus but one child was per-
mitted to pass through at a 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
crowding. The result was that great
number were pushed down, trampled Oil
and suffocated.
The scene was terrible. No effort could
stop the mad rush of the affrighted children.
They came on pelI-mell, though, strangely,
without much shouting, and soon one hum
dred and eighty-six were knocked down
and suffocated to death by others trampling
upon them. The greater number of bodies,
which were badly mangled from trampling,
lay seven or eight deep. Many Of the vic
tins and others who were not killed had the
clothing torn from their bodies. and this, to-
gether with the bleeding bodies Of the un-
fortunates, shows the terrible nature of the
struggle. The ages of the one hundred and
eighty-six children known to be killed
ranged from four to fourteen years.
The excitement in the town when the
news of the disaster spread was terrible.
Great crowds rushed to the scene, until 20, 900
persons surrounded the hall. The feeling
was so intense that the authorities ordered
out the Sixty-eighth Infantry to preserve
order. The work of getting out the bodies
began Immediately. They were laid out in
the hall, and the parents of those killed
were admitted to identify the bodies OF their
children. There were most heart-rending
scenes while the Identification was in pro-
gress. The mothers of the dead children
constantly uttered piercing shrieks, and
many tainted Oh discovering the bodies Of
their little ones.
Mr.. Fay, who gave the entertainment,
was busy packing up his apparatus to de-
part when man rushed UP to him and ill-
formed him of the disaster. He Immediate
iy fell down speechless.
One man and his wife pushed their way
into the hall in which lay the bodies Of the
victims, and without kstraying any emotion
began to scan the faces of the dead. Rec0g
nizing one of his children the father, pointing
with his finger, exclaimed: "That's one"
Passing on again herecognized another, and
he cried: MY God! All my family gone!"
the floor. In some homes there are five
children dead.
A lad was sitting on the railing near Muir
ton street, crying. A passer-by inquired
the cause Of his grief. "Why, sir" said
he, IT was in the place there, and when I
was coming out a boy that was dying bit
my hands, and that's him." he added, point
ing to the corpse of a child lying near.
The janitor says the scene behind the gal
lery door was fearful. Some children were
fixed upright in heap, and were actually
gasping for breath, SO great was the pressure
Of the crowd behind When the dis.
aster occurred the janitor and eey-
eral others were hastily sunni
moned. The bystanders went to work
Immediately to give relief to the sufferers.
They first sent out of the building the little
ones still in the hall, thus averting further
crush. Those who went to the rescue found
the work of removing the heap Of bruised,
crushed and suffocated bodies no easy task,
and two hundred children practically unin-
jured were rescued from the pile. Many
others were found unconscious, some OF
whom were restored.
One Sunday-school loses thirty scholars
by the catastrophe. Many Of the survivors
had their arms broken in the crush. Others
are suffering from broken ribs or the rup.
ture of internal organs. The hallkeeper
says the children not twenty yards from the
door came pressing forward. unaware of the
tragedy, thus making matters ten times
worse than they really were.
The staircase from the gallery was wind
ing one. Both the audience and the officials
were in the hall at the time of the disaster,
and were unaware, for some time, OF the
terrible tragedy being enacted at the door.
They were not informed until Graham, the
hall-keeper. who was strolling near the
scene of the calamity, was attracted by
piteous groans, and then gave the alarm.
The eagerness of the children to depart |
from the hall was caused by their desire to
receive the prizes promised them. Graham
throws the blame for the calamity upon the
man connected with the entertainment, who
it appears fastened the door half open, in
order that the prizes might be given to the |
children one at time while leaving.
Queen Victoria sent telegram to the |
Mayor OF Sunderland expressing her grief at |
the disaster. The children of various Sum |
also sent kilograms Of SYM
pathy. The flags were at half-mast
General Crooks Indian Campaign.