Omaha daily bee., 1883-05-31

bleeding trcsf, aud ell around the
forms e the y updpd, moet OF them
anomalous, lYipg bss.Ga tho walls.
Every now AID agatu q ifaatic mother
would rush In irqujrlng for ,omo one
lost. There were bono 20 srawerher,
for tho revival of the tnseuaible ocou-
pied all thoughts, The Jiogle Of the
ambulancJ bells ADDED 60 the confu.
siop, "a wagon after wagon tore up
e. the door and burgeors descended.
A perfect stream of Unconscious forne
were borne to the station on stretch
srs, 40 the ambulancss wero filled and
driven away.
''THRY FoUGH LIRE DEMONS"
II was walking along the bridge
towards the New York entrance
said a man who held a young girl,
who was crying bitterly, by the haad,
when l heard shouting and scream.
ing 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 suppose
the people thought the bridge was
coming down; anyway they fought,
screamed and yelled like demons.
Children and women were Knocked
down and trampled upon and l was
borne irresistably out. Then l found
this little girl, who had lost Ter
friends and here we are safe, thank
God!"
Tho little girl said her name was
Flora Davis, 80 Lewis street.
Il BLOCKADE.
81 went on tho BRIDGE" said Chss.
Bllgh, 30 Third street, Brooklyn, Sat
about four o'clock, and Is l was ap.
preaching the river span I found my
self unable to move either backward
or forward. Women and children COM.
mepced screaming. Hundreds of men
climbed with great difficulty on to the
beams running over the railroads and
made their way to the carriage way,
Many let themselves drop through
between the beams and were caught
by, those beneath. A number of wo.
men also escaped this way. The pc.
lice and others helped to pull out the
dead and dying and they we're laid on
the roadway until the ambulance came.
The shrieks of children on the path.
way were blood curdling; they cried
Help, help Save me, for Gods
sake!' but where we were we could do
nothing"
II CAUSE OF THE TRAGEDY.
Mr.. S. Martin, superintendent of
the bridge, was seen by a reporter a
few minutes after the accident. He
said: Five minutes before word
come to my office about the catas-
trophe, I received an answer to my
inquiry that everything was going on
smoothly on the bridge and pedeatri
ans we're moving along quietly. |
certainly have no idea what caused the
horrible tragedy, as various accounts
have reached me from four distinct
sources. 1 hear, however, that the
panic war brought about
BY GANG OF PICKPoCKETs.
New York policemen had warned
us that thieves and bunko men were
working on the bridge, but as none
of them were identified we could do
nothing. AS soon as 1 heard of the
crash, l ordered the road ways thrown
open and people are going across that
way now
The Sun extra says; "There was a
crush at the steps at the New York
approach of the Brooklyn bridge this
| aftarnncn A mania flnual a-l al
last fourteen persons were killed and
many wounded. The crush began
shortly before 4. At that hour there
were thousands of people upon the
bridge, most of them coming from
Brooklyn, The cir was clear and
brisk and the people rapidly walking.
As crowds approached the shorI
flight of steps, these In front pushed
back for fear they would be preclpi.
tsted over the steps, q distance OF
about ak steps. These people in
drawing back from the steps made
the nucleus of the jam, for the thou
sands behind them pushed on I'M
needing. Almost instantly the PEG.
Pile began to shout, "Stsnd back" and
"Glve US room!" Nashville the
crowd from New York, which was at
the foot of the steps, got blocked.
The men at the head of the New York
crowd fought their way back, leaving
a clear space at the foot of the steps.
The shouting and crowdlng from the
Brooklyn side increased. 1t was ut
terly ine1pllcable. the people In the
advance guard of the Brooklyn crowd
were pushed toward the steps. They
seemed to have a horror of going ovel
the steps, although the flight is only
five feet.
THEY LOCKED ARMS,
and pushed furiously back against the
thousands coming steadily over from
/ Brooklyn. In a few minutes, at 9
point just above the steps, there wat
a slow yielding to the frlghtful pres
surs from behind, and the front of the
crowd was forced nearer and nearer tc
the edge of the steps. Women and
men were screaming for help, ant
men were shouting ~confusedly. I'm
. brellas, parcels and canes were thrown
+, over the rails by the people, who
a needed their hands to fight their way
out of the desperate crowd. At last
with a single shock, that cut through
2 the clamor of q thousand voices, q
1 young girl who had lost her footing
!, fell headlong, and struck the pathway
at the foot of the steps and lay for .
moment. She raised herself on he
hands, and would have got up, bat Ii
another moment she was
BURIED FOUR DERP
under the bodies of Others who fol
over the steps alter her. Sno wa
dead when they got her out more thai
half an hour afterwards. The mel
sprang up-n tho rails at the side an
waved the crowds back from New