St. Paul daily globe., 1893-06-22
ALEX o. DEAN,
EUGENE REYNOLDS,
CHARLES SMITH,
CLARK MAPES,
-. ALDRIDGE,
JAMES GLENDENNING,
LESLIE GLENDENNING.

The greatest CONSERVATION lmme-
diately arose. The rain continued fall
ing in great sheets, and the bodies of
the dead were soaked through before
they could be removed. AS soon as pos
sible Rirgling brothers and their en-
ployes did everything in their power to
alleviate the condition Of the wounded.
The dead were taken down town and
laid out On the floor of the engine house,
where they were, with the exception Of
one boy, identified in a few minutes
after their arrival. The new,as relatives
identified their dead. was distressing.
Que elderly gentleman, the father of
young Dean, a
Handsome and Intelligent
young man, who was so suddenly taken
from life, tainted and was carried out of
the engine house moaning. Women
were present looking for relatives.
Happily none of them recognized any
of the dead as theirs while the GLOBE
reporter was present. The clothing of
some of the dead was torn in shreds,
while others presented no external evil
dences of fatality except the awful
stare and fixed, rigid features. The
number of wounded is estimated all the
way from ten to thirty. Most of them
were taken home as soon as possible,
and are now doing we'll. The pres
ence of mind of the Ringlings and
their employees alone prevented a stam-
pede, 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. Al Ringing,
master of ceremonies in the circus
proper, thinks there were three distinct
bolts of lightning. The first shock no
body felt. The lightning went right
down the pole. The second shock
caused the fatalities, and the third
knocked down thirty of the circus
horses. A carriage was passing the
tent at the time, and man, a boy and
woman with boy in her arms were
Thrown to the Ground.
The father rushed around to the cook
tent looking for his boy, the water al
this time being up to his knees. Great
pools of water formed at the circus en-
trance, and some of the stricken, who
were helped aud dragged outside. were
dropped, in some instances, face down
wards in these pools of water. When
your reporter saw the dead bodies in
the engine house afterwards, he
noticed that the clothing of all
of them was saturated as if
they had been pulled out of the
river. Mr.. Ringing rushed through
the connection tent after the stroke and
around to the main entrance, where he
saw number of the bodies Of the dead
and injured lying in the water and on
the ground. He thought at first that
one of his brothers was among the dead.
as there was one body of gigantic pro-
portions among them. Happily this
fear proved unfounded. Relieved to
some extent by this knowledge
he gave his attention to the
aid of the wounded and the
resuscitation of those who he thought
were not fatally injared. He worked |
for some time around the entrance of
the tent, freely offering any facility in
the compapy's power to alleviate the |
suffering. All the Rlnglings did |
everything in their power, and are
highly commended by the citizens. |
Among the incidents was the
Twisting of Buggy
to pieces from the seat by bolt of |
lightning. None of the occupants were |
injured. Many people were more or
less injured by others being thrown |
violently against them. The dead, ex-
cepting in one Or two instances. were
not apparently seriously burned or
scorched. One young man Named
Dean, who Was thrown to the |
engine house. was still alive. When
the reporter entered the doctors were |
working over him. His eyes looked