The daily gazette. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1874-1883, 1883-06-18
ANOTHER FATAL PANIC.
NEARLY TWO HUNDRED CHILL
DREN KILLED.
THE FATAL CRUSH ON THE STAIRS
One Hundred and Eighty-six Children
TrampIed and Suffocated to Death-Dis-
tressing scenes of Grief.

LONDON, June ia terrible calamity,
involving the death of 17S children, oc-
Cured ID the town of Sunderland, in the
county OF Durham latL evening. l. ap-
pears thar an Prter annent had been given
III Victoria Hail by a cunjurer, Which was
attended almost altogether by children, sew
oral Thousand beingin attendance. The ac-
cidcnt which Nsh direlUl in it, effects oc-
Cured at the close OF Tie perform nee. The
body OF the hall had been entirely cleared
OF Its occupants when some 1900 Of the
little oncs ct.rus rushing down stairs from
the gallery. Al the top of the drst hgh of
stairs there was door which opeued only
| 20 inches, and thus only one child was per-
mitttd 10 pass through at time. AT this
| point, while the mass of children were push
| ing forward some of them fell and were un-
able to rise, owing to the others crowdlng
on The result was that great number
| were pushed down, trampled on and suffo-
Gated.
The scene was terrible, and no effort could
stop the wild rush OF the afrighted children.
They came on pell NELL, though, strangely,
without shouting, and soon 17S of them
were knocked down and suffocated to death
by others trampling upon them. The greater
number of the bodies, which were badly
mangled by the trampling, laid seven or
eight deep. Many of the victims and others
who were not killed had their clothing torn
from their bodies, ard this, together with
the bleeding bodies of the unfortunates,
shows the terrible nature of the struggle.
| The ages of the l7S children known to have
been killed ranged from four to IA years.
The terrible calamity is the subject of
universal comment. The hall has been sur
rounded to-day by distressed and excited
crowds. The stairway from the gallery, at
I - l.. e IL
sure 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 at time, which circumstance
| is regarded as the direct cause of the ca
lamity, was fitted with a bolt which lodged
in a hole in the floor, thus narrowing the
passageway for the purpose of facilitating
ticket-taking when the audience was enter
ing the hall.
The janitor says the scene behind the gal
lery door was fearful. Some of the chill
dren were upright in u heap and actually
gasping for breath, so great was the pres
sure of the crowd behind them. The ma
jority of the children in the hall were under
IL years of age. When the accident hap
pened the janitor aud his wife and several
hastily summoned bystanders went to work
Immediately to give the suffor relief.
They first sent out of the building by other
|
the hall, by this means averting the fears of
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
suffocated bodies no easy task. Two hun
dred children were rescued from the pile,
none of whom were seriously, If at all, in
jured. Many others were found in an un-
J conscious condition, but of these number
| oatO mi dfafo fol 20.
their homes. Nearly all of those who were
dead, with number whose wounds were re-
garded as fatal, were laid out in the main
hail. where the local doctors in attendance
used every effort to restore those in whom q
spark of life could be detected. One eye
witness states that he saw lying on the flag
stones, short distance from the bottom
of the stairs, the dead bodies of seven chill
dren. Many of those who came to assist in
removing the dead and rescuing the living
were utterly overcome by the distressing
sight of SO many dead and dying clildren.
ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SIX DEAD.
number of deaths have occurred since
the first report, and the fatalities are now
, placed at 1856. One of tine persons who re-
, sponded Immediately to the call for help
, says that many who volunteered to assist in
rescuiug the children sickened at the
, spectacle and fed Mortified from the dis
! tressing scene. The rescuers' first efforts
: were directed toward reaching chi .dren who
were apparently alive, but SO tightly were
the victims jammed together that it was re-
: garded as dangerous to drag them out of the
!. helpless mass lest the effort should result in
: pulling OFF the limbs of living children al
well as mutilating the dead.
. They therefore proceeded steadily and
systematically to lift off the topmost. A
/ few of those who were beneath survived, and
q their means and low cries OF pains could be
, distinctly heard amid the excitement and
q cries OF bereayed parents and friends who
/ were thronging the adjacent streets.
"a The disaster was referred to in all the
n churches in Sunderland to-day and by many
!, of the preachers in London, and PRAYER
10 were offered for the parents and friends o
"A the victims.
n The staircase from the gallery was wind
70 ing one. Both the audience and the off
,r cials who were in the hall at the time of tn
disaster were unaware, for some consider
able time, of the tragedy that was being en-
D acted at the door. They were not informed
y until Graham, the hall keeper, who wa
70 strolling near by the scene OF the calamity
y y vas attracted by the groans and gave tn
- alarm.
II Mr.. Fay, who gave the entertainment
> was busy packing up his apparatus to de
:, part, when man rushed up and informe,
,t ,e down speechless in it
~ SEARCHING FOR LOST ONES.
as Some of the families whose homes wer
lg so suddenly darkened lost over three chi
re dren. One man and his wife pushed thei
hl way into the hall in which lay the bodies c
At the victims, and, without betrayiug an
emotion, began to scan the faces ofthe deat
I'd Recognizing the face of one of his childre
m the father, pointing with his finger, e1
h. claimed, "That's one." Passing on agai
he recognized another and then thirt
e- Staggering in a fit of agony he cried, an
let God All my family goneP' and, ovel
by whelmed with grief, sank to the floor. 1
1, some homes there are five children dead.
", Queen Victoria sent telegram to-day {
lie the Mayor of Sunderland expressing he
grief at the occurrence of the occurrence {
th the disaster. The children of various Sur
Il day schools also sent kilograms of sympathy
I'll Flags were at half mast, One Sunda
no 1o school loses 80 scholars by the catastroph,
nS Many of the survivors had their arms broke
in the crush. Others are suffering frol
he broken ribs or rupture of internal organ
yye Graham, the hall keeper, says that childrt
ii' not 20 yards from the door, came pressir
forward unaware of the tragedy.
,ra TO-day's City Court.
1r- Since Saturday morning at o'clock on
! Az La a.