Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-06-22

Panic Aycrtcd by the Goodness OF the Pro-
prietors-Tarec of the Victims Children
-Frightful Disaster in n Russian Church
The Trampied Corpses Number 1876
and the Dreadful Tale Not All Told
Holocaust at Duluth.
ST. PAUL. June 22-During a severe
thunder storm at River Falls, Wis, just
over the Minnesota line, lightning struck
the center pole in the menagerie of King
ling Bros. Seven people were killed In
stantly and quite a number injured, none
of the latter fatally.
Following are the killed: O. A. Dean;
j. n Glendenning clerk of Oak Grove;
his son II years old; Aldridge, II years
old; Clark Napes; Eugene Reynolds,
carpenter; son of Wallace Smith, Il years
old
The greatest CONSERVATION Immediately
arose. The rain continued falling in
great sheets and the bodies of the dead
Were soaked through before they could be
removed.
The Dead soon Identified.
As soon as possible Ringing Bros. and
their employees did everything in their
power TO alleviate She condition of the
wounded. The dead We're taken down
town and laid OUT on the floor of the en-
gine house, where they were, with the eX-
ception of the unknown boy, identified
in few minutes after their arrival. The
scenes as relatives identified their dead was
distressing. one elderly gentleman, the
father of young Dean-a handsome and
intelligent young man - tainted and
was carried out OF the engine honse moan
ing. Women were present looking for re-
latives. Happily none of them recognized
q h..f- h.. c1. l.
ing on some OF the dead was torn in
shredS, while others presented no external
evidences of ile fatality except the awful
stare and fixed. rigid features.
\ w, sc Disaster Averted.
The number of wounded j. estimated all
the way from ten TO thirty. Most OF them
Were taken home soon as possible, and
are now doing well. The presence of mind
of the Ringiings and their employees pre-
vented Il stampede, which undoubtedly
would have been attended with still greater
fatality The crowd was held in check
and the dead and wounded removed as
soon and as quietly as possible.
Three Bolts of Lightning.
Al Ringing, master of ceremonies in the
circus proper, thinks there were three
distinct bolts of lightning The first shock
nobody felt; the lightning went right
down the pole. The second shock caused
the fatalities and the third knocked down
thirty of the circus horses, y carriage
was passing the tent at the time and a
man and boy and woman with baby
in her arms We're thrown to the ground.
Great pools of water formed at the circus
entrance and some of the stricken who
were helped and dragged outside were
dropped in some instances face downward
in these pools of water
Incidents of the Disaster.
Among the incidents was the twisting
of a buggy to pieces by bolt of lightning
None of the occupants was injured Many
people were more or less injured by others
being thrown violently against them.
Eugene Reynolds, young carpenter,
showed for few moments after apparent
death flush of apparent health. Then the
features relaxed and, like his fellow-un
fortunates, he became livid evidence of
the awful destroying power of the bolt
that sent so many to a final account.
The Three Little Corpses.
All the killed We're in the full flush of
health. The three children presented pa
thetic spectacles stretched out on chairs
and on the floor. They were all bright,
sturdy little fellows, dressed in holiday at
tire The spectacle was the most sadden-
ing and heart-breaking ever looked upon in
River Falls