The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-06-21
Slaughter of the Innocents.

saturday evening III Victoria Hall, at sun
derland, England, is the subject of uni
versal comment. Several thousand chill
dren had gathered there to enjoy an enter
tainment. There were |, 200 children in
the gallery and they came rushing down
the stairway after the performance was
over. At the top of the first flight Of steps
was door only partially opened. But one
child could pass through at Il time. At
this point one Of the little ones stumbled
and fell. Then othersfell and the children
above pushed upon them. In u moment
the stairway WAS filled eight and ten deep
with bodies. Before they could be rescued
202 children had been trampled to death OF
sutfocated. The clothing was torn from
many of the victims. The news brought
thousands of people to the scene and the
greatest excitement prevailed. AS quickly
us possible the stairway was cleared and
the bodies of the dead were laid out in the
hall. While the work of Identification
was going on the most heartrending scenes
TRANSFERRED.
Monday the hall was surrounded by dis
tressed and excited crowds. The stairway
from the gallery, at the top 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 ut a
the direct cause of the calamity-Was
fitted with bolt which lodged in hole in
the floor, thus narrowing the passageWay
for the purpose OF facilitating the ticket
taking when the audience was entering
the hall. The janitor says the scene be-
hind the gallery door was fearful. Some
of the children We're fixed upright in Il 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 twelve years OF age.
When the accident happened the janitor
and his wife and several hastily summoned
byStanderS 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 ayerting the fears Of a further
crush.
Those who went to the rescue OF the un-
fortunate sufferers found the work of re-
moving the heap OF bruised, crushed and
sutfocated bodies no easy task. Two hun
bred children were rescued from the pile,
none OF whom were seriously, if at all, in
jured. Many others were found in an I'M
| conscious condition, but of these q number
were restored and Immediately taken to
their homes. Nearly all of those who were
dead, with a number whose wounds were
lCSdIucu IdUttl, WCI6 ltbluOuU III ulC HILL
hall, where the local doctors in attendance
used every effort to restore those in whom
a spark Of life could be detected. One
eyewitness states that he saw lying Oh the
flagStOneS, a short distance from the bot
tom OF the stairs, the dead bodies of seven
children. Many of those who came to as
Sist in removing the dead and reScuing the
living were utterly overcome by the dis
tressing sight of SO many dead and dying
children.
A number of deaths have occurred since
the first report, and the fatalities are now
placed at 2O2. One of the persons who re-
sponded Immediately to the call for help
says that many who volunteered to assist
in rescuing the children sickened at the
spectacle and fled Mortified from the dis
tressing scene. The rescuerS first efforts
were directed toward reaching children
who were apparently alive, but so tightly
were the victims damned together that it
was regarded as dangerous to drag them
out of the helpless mass, lest the effort
should result in pulling off the limbs OF
living children as well as mutllatlng the
dead. They therefore proceeded steadily
and Systematically to lift off the topmost
A few of those who were beneathsuryived,
and their means and low cries OF pains
could be distinctly heard amid the excite
menu ana Cries OF DeredVeu pdI6llGS ttllu
friends, who were thronging the adjacent
streets.
The staircase from the gallery was a
winding one Both the audience and the
officials who were in the hall at the time
of the disaster were unaware for some CON
siderable time of the terrible tragedy that
was being enacted at the door. They were
not Informed until Graham, the all-keeper.
who, strolIing near by the scene of the ca
lamity, was attracted by the groans and
gave the alarm. MI. Fay, who gave the
entertainment, was busy packing up his
apparatus to depart when q man rushed
upto him and informed him of the disaster
and Immediately fell down speeches. in ait |
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 betraylng any
emotion, began to scan the faces OF the
dead. Recognizing the face of one OF MS
children, the father, pointing with ms
finger, exclaimed s'That 5 one. Passlng |
on again he recognized another, and thena |
third.