The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-06-01
CRUSH OF HUMANITY
The Fatalities Will Amount to b.
tween 1000 and 5000.
MANY PATHETIC INCIDENTS
A Pellmell Rush Of Peasants to the
Place Where Souvenirs We're
to Be pistributed-1he he Czar
Danced All Night.

tNhouiJhshoJc pain yesterday Is cOn-
stantly gaining In proportion as the
investigation continues. Many addi-
tional deaths Of the injured who were
carried away are occurring. which are
only added 10 the enumeration after
some time. 1t Is now said that the ia
talities Will amount to between 1000
and 5000. An official statement this
morning places the, number of dead
recovered at 1886. and the seriously
injured at 2s6. But In contrast with
the official statement. there are 1.2s2
corpses lying this afternoon at the
cemetery. besides the many dead and
dying that are known to have been re-
moved from the Inflated field by
friends
Last evening. after receiving deputa-
tions, the czar and czarina attended
and danced at the brilliant ball at the
French embassy. Preparations had
been made on the most elaborate scale
for this ball. and II Is asserted that
$4,000 was expended on the supper
alone. The czarina was not informed
yesterday Of the disaster owing to her
delicate condition. While the dance
In the French embassy continued amid
all the accompaniments Of luxury and
gaiety, disconsolate friends and rela-
tives wandered over the desolate plain
among the dead. the suffering and the
dying. looking. often In vain. for the
missing.
To-day a requiem mass was said In
the chapel Of the Kremlin, which the
czar and the czarina and all the MEM
bers Of the imperial family attended.
The city is filled to-day with grief
stricken crowds. 1t Is a striking evil
dence Of the vast multitude who took
part In yesterdays fetes. that there
were large numbers who were totally
unaware Of the number of lives that
had been crushed out among them. and
who proceeded with their merrymaking
throughout the day without having
grasped the fearful proportions OF the
disaster The work of Identification Is
most difficult. both on account of The
large number of victims and the tram
pied, torn and mutilated condition. OF
many Of the corpses. The majority OF
the killed were peasants from outlying
places
All day yesterday the full force Of
police and firemen worked among the
dead. pulling bodies from heaps of the
killed and injured and ranging them
on the ground. which was covered for
hundreds of yards with groups OF 10
and 20 begrimed and disfigured corpses.
among which the agonized friends of
the missing wandered in a painful ef-
fort TO identify them. The work Of
carrying the bodies to the cemetery.
where II Is intended to inter those who
fail of Identification. continued all
night and day.
This morning the forces at work on
the plain discovered the mouth Of q
disused well in the middle of the field,
the plank covering Of which had given
way in the mad rush. In the well there
were 30 bodies and wedged In among
them and held down by their weight
were found two men alive and evident
ly unhurt physically. But the terror
and the hideous surroundings OF the
night had proved too great a strain on
their minds and they were raving ma
MACS. There are many Incidents of
special pathos. one case being that Of
a party of 55 humble peasants who had
come together from single village for
the merrymaking at the cars feast.
OF this party So were killed.
Various versions as to the origin Of
the stampede and crush are current.
but the account to which the most
credence Is attached Is that the wagons
laden with the 100000 souvenirs which
were to be distributed among the peo-
pie were proceeding to Khodijnskoje
plain. followed by a multitude of eager
peasants, when the attendants. with a
view to pleasing the people. threw q
number of the souvenirs among the
crowd. There was a wild scramble to-
wards the point where they fell and
the news spread like wildfre up and
H. -
ants that the distribution had COM
menced. This resulted in a headlong.
pellmell rush for the booths where the
distribution Of souvenirs was to have
been made later. The arrangements
which it was intended to make to keep
the crowd In order during the dlstribu-
ton not being completed at that early
hour, the foce on hand was powerless
to stem the tide of the crush Of human
ity. What added greatly to the dlsas-
ter was the fact that these booths were
surrounded by bitches. The foremost
person In the incoming crowds fell
PROSTATE in these bitches and the peo-
pie following them speedily trampled
them to death. Others stumbled over
their bodies and met the same fate.
And so the horror grew. There were
no English people or Americans among
4
the victims.
Everywhere in the city are excited
groups Of people discussing the disas-
ter, the significant proportions OF
which all have at last come to realize.
| The streets present some saddening
contrasts in the coronation decorations
very few of which have been removed
and the gaily dressed populace who,
| having escaped with their friends, con-
tinue their holiday merriment, while
every few yards men are carrying cof-
/ fms on their shoulders. The police and
a force of soldiers with fixed bayonets
have been keeping order all the day
at the cemetery. where an unending
stream of people have been passing all
/ day. All day there were most affecting
scenes, relatives and priests praying
here and there beside the dead ranged
upon the grass surrounded by still
larger numbers OF the unidentified
dead. People came on the ground look.
| ing for missing ones. only to find other
relatives engaged in dressing the bod
/ les OF the lost, while others were sit
ting. sobbing and apparently helples:
beside their dead.
The czar and czarina to-day. after at
tending requiem mass in the chapel OF th'
Kremlin. paid a visit to the Injured sur
yivors in the hospitals. passing from co