Connecticut western news., 1896-06-04
TRAMPLED TO DEATH
AN APPALLING DISASTER AT THE
 GEARS CORONATION.

GEARS CORONATION. The List of Dead May Reach Three Thou sand-pItiful Scenes In Connection With Rescue of the Injured and Removal of the Dead
 Moscow Jnne 1.-The disaster on the Hodynsky plain, caused by a panic among the vast crowd in attendance nt tho free feast given by the cEar, Is constantly gain ing in proportions as the investigations by the authorities continue. These are made under difficulties, as the recovery of tho victims was conducted by hundreds of volunteers and many were carried away before they were enumerated Many ads ditional deaths of the Injured who were carried away are occurring, which are only added to the enumeration after some time.
 It is now said that the fatalities will amount to between 2,o00 and LOGO, bus it is impossible to ascertain accurately the extent of the disaster An official statement places the number of dead re- covered at 1886 and the seriously or fa- tally injured at 2s6. But in contrast with this ofrioial statement there arc l, 2S2 oorpses lying at the cemetery, besides the
 
 have been removed from the i'll fatod field by friends.
 Mass For the Dead.
 A requiem mass was said on Sunday ia a chapel of the Kremlin, st which the czar and ozarina and all the members of tbe imperial family attended.
 The city is filled with grief stricken crowds. It is a striking evidence of the vast multitude who took part In the fetea that there were large numbers who wero totally unaware of the number of livca among them that had been crushed out and who proceeded with their merry mak. ing throughout the day without having grasped the fearful proportions of the dis aster.
 Thousands of persons arc crowdlns to the Hodynsky plain searching for rela. tives and friends The work of identiflcs- ton is most difficult both on account of the large number of victims and the tram pied, torn and mutilated condition of many of the corpsos. some of which arc crushed quito beyond the possibility of recognition and almost beyond scmblanoe to humanity. The majority of killed were persons from outlying villages, though the clothing of soms indicated that they were persons of wealth and distinction. The bodies of a number of women clad in silks and fine linen wero among those found.
 Tho full force of police and fromen arc caring for the dead, pulling bodies from heaps of the killed and injured and rang ing them on tho ground which is covered for hundreds of yards with groups of 10 and 90 begrimed, hloodstained and dsng- ured corpses, among which the agoniEed friends of the missing wander in painful effort to identify them. The Injured who .4. taxsm from thirst and the fever caused by their unattended Injuries.
 The forces at work on tho plain disoov- cred the mouth of disusod well in the middle of tho field. tho plank covering of which had given way In the mad rush of | yesterday morning. In the well there were 30 doad bodies, and wedged in among them and held down by their weight were found two men alive and comparatively uninjurcd physically. But the terror and the hideous surroundings of tho night had proved too great a strain on their minds. and they were ravins maniaos. origin of the Disaster. Various versions as to the origin of the stampede and crush arc current, but the one to which most credenoe is attached is to tho effect that the wagons laden with the 500, 900 souvenirs which were Co be dis tributed among the people woro proceed ing to tho Hodynsky plain, followed hy a multitude of eager peasants, when tho at tendants, with n viow to pleasing the peo- pie, throw a number of the souvenirs among the crowd. There was a. wild scramble toward the point where they fell.
 The nows spread liko wiidnre up and down the thronRs of expectant peasants that tho distribution had commenced. | "A. .E. N.x. A.. .ll for tho boo ths where the distribution of souvenirs was to have been made later The arrangements which it wss intended to make to keep the crowds In order dur ing the distribution had not beon com. pleted at that early hour. and the force | on hand was powcrloss Co stem tho tide of the on rush of humanity.
 What added greatly to the gravity of th. disaster was tho circumstance that thess booths wore surrounded by ditchea The foremost persons In the onooming crowd foll prostrnte m thcse ditohcs. md tho peo. | pie following speedily tramplcd them to death. Others stumbled over their bodles and met tho same fnte. And SO the horror grow. The pressure was SO great upon th, sides of the booths from the struggles Of | the mass of mad humanity that they gave way, and hundreds of people were forced into them through the broken walls. One mounted Rondarmo near the booths was literally crushed Co death, together with his rearing and plunRing horse There were no English people noi Americans among the victims Many Of those who came for the coronation had al. ready loft the oity, and in any event tour ists attended the fete only in the nfter noon. tho disaster occurring in the fore noon. Very few of the victims. 10 is an. nounoed. belong Co the we'll to do clssses. Nearly all are moujiks or peasants. and a large proportion of the dead arc women | and children.
 The ozar and ozarina after attending tho requiem mass in the chapel of the Kremlin, paid visit to the injured surviv. ors in the hospitals, passing from cot ts cot and addressing words of sympathy and comfort Both of the Imperial pair wore deeply affected by tho soonos of suffering they witnessed.