The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-06-07

ROOM In the meanwhile the crow
from New York, which was at I'll
foot of the steps, got blocked. Me
ut the head of the New Yor
crowd, fought their way back, lea,
ing a clear space at the foot c
the steps. The shouting and crowC
ing from the Brooklyn side increase,
1t was utterly ineXplicable. Peopl
In the advance guard of the Brookly
throng were pushed, in spite of then
selves, towards the steps. The
seemed to have horror of going owe
the steps, although the flight is onl,
five orsix feet high. They locked arm
and pushed furiously back agains
the thousands coming steadily owe
from Brooklyn. In "a few minutes
at points just above the steps, ther,
was slow yielding to the frightfu
pressure from behind, and the front O,
the crowd was forced nearer and nearer
to the edge of the steps. Women anc
children were screaming fer help, ant
men were shouting confusedly. I'm.
brellas and p raSols were thrown over
the rails at the side by people who
needed their hands to fight
their way out of the
desperate crowd. AT last,
with a single shrek that
cut through the clamor of thousands
OF voices, young girl who lost her
footing on the perilous edge fell head
long. She struck the pathway at the
foot OF the steps and layfor mo-
ment, then raised herself on her hands
and would have got up, but il
another moment she was buried
by the bodies of others who
fell after her. She was
dead when they got her out more
than half an hour afterwards. The
men Sprang upon the rails at the side
and waived the crowd back from the
New York and Brooklyn sides, but
people continued to crowd on towards
the steps. No police were in
sight. Every minute the excitement
grew worse. Men in the crowd lifted
their children above their heads to
save them from the crush. People
were still paying their pennies at both
gates, and swarming in. At last the
people at the New York end of
the bridge understood what was
happening, the gates were closed
and word sent to Brooklyn to close
the gates there. Messages We're sent
to police stations. but before any out
side help came the bridge police, as
sisted by citizens, impressed two gro
GERS wagons into ambulance service.
They were loaded up with the dead
and dying and driven off the bridge.
followed by crowds of distracted men
and women. AS the wagons came
out on the streets they We're obliged
to stop to allow a brilliant
band playing music to pass up Chat
ham street. Twelve dead bodies had
been laid in the basement of
Chambers street hospital at six
o'clock. Two of the dead were iden-
titled as George Smith, of ~ Watt
street, and Ellen Riordan, of 36 Mont
gomery street. Among the injured
were +. +. Dale, 70 Henry street;
Thomas Riordan, 81 Montgomery
street; Mrs. Charles Vogler.
30 West Twenty-siXth street; Minnie
Smith, 1858 Houston street; Ella
Regur, 90 Horatio street. Among
the unconsc GUS were two unidenti-
fed men and women, a boy and girl.
1t was not until the dead wagons
Otlb bfldU GUG DuDllC
knew anything of the catastrophe.
The wagons were followed off by
women crying for their children, and
by men crying for their wives. Sew
eral women were half naked, and
many had on only rags. One woman
had both her shoes torn off
and almost all were bareheaded.
There were hundreds of them
and crying. Their faces
were white, and in many instances
were covered with dust and dirt
Mrs. Edward o. Colburn, Of 1877 South
Eighth street, Brooklyn, came out
into Chatham street leading little
boy with each hand. She had
lost her husband in the throng.
He had taken their youngest child
with him. While she was talking to
a reporter of the Sun, on Chatham
street, her oldest daughter. a girl
nineteen years old, ran up to her, cry
ng, "Where is father - The mother
answered she did not know. Mrs.
Colburn said it was an awful expert
ence. 81 saw one woman fall backward
rom the steps. AS soon as she fell she
was jumped upon by men who were
forced after her. They trampled her
20 death. l was pushed up against
he railing and turned round and
'ound when the crush occurred. /
was twenty-five yards from the
steps, and walked towards them.
[ noticed a jam on the
steps and stood watching the immense
5hrong. A man got on the iron work
and beckoned to the crowd to go
back. He was not policeman. |
saw no policeman there. | heard a
scream and several other screams fol-
lowed. The crowd surged and /
Jumped over the fencing. The jam
conferred on the steps. s went along
The stone sides ami walked along and
hung on the railing with one hand.
Just as got up on the no. tn side of
the fence, the crowd swayed toward
New Y ork and threw girl down on
the right hand corner. She went
over sidewise and fell on her face.
Then four men and women fell
On her. The crowd cried
away. for Gods saker l have been
used to handling small gangs of men.
[ yelled for them to get over the rail,
and pulled a man over. got him
over, and the woman next to him,
and after hard struggle got them
so they stood along the iron work. In
5he meantime the throng was
At the scene of accident the tide
was from Brooklyn, as the New York
entrance was closed to all but re-
porters and those engaged in carrying
off the dead and wounded. 1t was
not until q quarter of six that squad
Of police were sent on the bridge and
the crowd was thinned.
A Terrible Storm.
CINCINNATI, May 30.-Reports are
still coming in of the storm Monday
night up the Miami valley. Some
thing like cloudbUrst occurred,
driving people off of first floors by the
flood. At Freesport the bridge across
the Miami was torn from it's piers
and wrecked. Stubs Touring mill
was unroofed. In Shelby, Decatur
and Bartholomew counties, Indiana,
the destruction of barns, fences,
timber, outho lseS, and growing
crops is almost unreasonable,
yet not a single person was hurt. In
Butler county, Ohio, a family near
Westchester was badly injured by
falling walls. A great number of
barns were unFoofed, and two or
three dwellings demolished. AT Lam
caster, Indiana, w. r. Williams, wife
and child, and the four Crafts broth
ers were killed by timbers falling, and
several others were injured. Various