The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1883-06-22
DEAD BODIES IN HEAPS.
Appalling Carnage in a Man-Trap
at Sunderland, England.
A Panic in a Public Hall Results in
the Dsath of Nearly 200
Children.
Scenes During the FPightful Crush
Which Killed the UnfoPt-
unateS.
tCable Dispatch from London.l

About 200 children were crushed to death
in Sunderland. County Durham, the evening
of the 10th An entertainment had been given
at Victoria Hall by q conjurer There was
an audience Of several thousand, consisting
almost wholly of youngsters. After tho
performance, and when the body of the hall
had been cleared about |, 200 children camo
rushing down from the gallery. The door
at the top of the first flight of stairs opened
only twenty inches-merely enough to allow
one person to pass at time While the
little ones were hurrying out one lost his
footing, fell, and was unable to rise. Those
following were trpped Then the children
dashed forward pell-mell. Those in front
were being suffocated and trampled upon;
those in the rear became frenzied, and
pushed forward with the energy of despair.
The scene was appalling. All efforts TO
stay the mad rush were fruitless Many Of
the victims had their clothing torn from
their bodies. The ages of the children
ranged from to IA years They lay seven
or eight deep on the stairway. The number
of injured Is estimated at 30
The excitement in the town was intense.
Great crowds rushed TO the scene, until %
600 persons surrounded the hall The author
tiles ordered out the Fifty eighth infantry to
preserve order The work Of removing the
bodies began Immediately. AS soon Us the
great heap they were laid out in the hall
The parents OF the victims were then adj
mitted to identity the remains Mothers ut
tered pirceing shrieks and many tainted
on discovering the bodies of their little
ones
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 press
ure of the crowd behind. When the disaster
occurred the janitor and several others were
hastily summoned. The bystanders went TO
work Immediately to give relief to the suf-
ferers. They first sent out of the building
the little ones still in the hall. thus averting
q further crush. Those who went to the
rescue found the work of removing the
heap OF bruised, crushed and sutfocated
bodies no easy task, and 20 children practi-
cally uniniured were rescued from the pile.
Many others were found unconscious, some
OF whom were restored
An eyewitness says he saw lying on the
flag-stones, a short distance from the bot
tom of the stairs, the dead bodies of seven
children. Many of those who came to as
sisU in removing the dead and rescuing the
living were utterly overcome by the dis
tresslng sight of so many dead and dying
children
The rescuers' effort were directed toward
reaching those who were apparently alive.
SO tightly were the victims damned together
that IL waS regarded as dangerous to drag
them out OF III helpless mass, lest the effort
would result in pulling of the limbs OF liv-
ing children, as well as OF the mutilated
dead They therefore proceeded steadily
and sys Jematically to lit on the topmost A
few o. those beneath had survived and their
meaning and low cries of pa N could be dis
tinctly heard, and mingled with the cries Of
bereaved pare nts and friends, who were
thronging adjacent streets
MIR. Fay, who gave the entertainment,
was busy packing up his apparatus TO de-
part when man rushed up TO him and in
formed him of the disaster. He imne-
date ySfel down speechlezs
One man and hi vile pushed their way
into the hall in which lay the bodies OF the
victims, and without traying any emo
ton began TO scan the faces OF the dead
Recognizing one OF his children the father,
pointing with his finger, exclaimed: Il hat $
one" Passing on again he recognized an
other, and tn thrd. Staggering III tit
o. agony he cried: My God All my fam
lily gone" And overwhelmed with gIief he
sank to the floor. In some homes there are
five Ct ildren dead
a lad was sitting on the railing near Muir
ton street crying E aM7ser by INQUIRED the ne
was in the place there, and when ! was
coming out boy that was diving bit my
hands, and that's him." he added, pointing
to the corpse of a child lying near.
The scene inside the hall during the
Z
ton as the faces of the dead were black and
swollen from sufiocation, of which many
died. Many lips were cracked and bleeding,
and parents, rushing wildly about, would fail
upon the bodies of their children and with
loud wailing and weeping, clasp the uncon-
scious forms in their arms, vainly endeavor-
ing TO note any sign of life. Many poor
mothers swooned away, while others were
wild and almost violent In their hysterlcal
grief.
The removal Of the dead to-day occasioned
renewed lament alton and confusion Many
parents rushed through the police Gordon,
and caused u wild confusion The weather
was warm, and the passageway very close,
so that a short time after the terrible
catastrophe a horribly sickening stencil
came from the main outlet.
One Sunday school loses thirty scholars by
the catastrophe. Many OF the surviv had
their arms roken in the crush. Others are
suffering from broken ribs or the rupture
of internal organs. The hall-keeper says the
children not twenty yards from the door
came pressing forward, unaware of the
tragedy, thus making matters ten times
wore 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 ter
ribe tragedy being enacted at the door.
They were not informed until Graham, the
hall keeper who was stroling near by the
scene of the calamity, was attracted by pite-
GUS cans and then gave the alarm.
The eagerness of the children to depart
from the hail was caused by their desire TO
receive the prizes promised them. Graham
throws the blame of 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 May
or of Sunderland exr ressing her grief at the
disas er. The children of various Sunday
schools also sent kilograms OF sympathy.
The flags were a. half-mast.