The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1896-05-31
A HUNGRY HALF MILLION
Gathers to Feast in the Cars
Honor
THOUSANDS AXE CRUSHED
u Their Desperate Attempts to Reach
the Food
Multitude Rearranges the Tables and
Proceeds to Bat

mutSSuoo Hearfongeo tno oDIeo ana
Proceeds to Eat
Associated Press Special Wire.
MOSCOW, May S0-A panic resulting
from the great crush of people at the
popular fete here today In honor of the
coronation of the car caused the tramp
ing to death of many people. including
woman delivered of a child during the
excitement.
In anticipation of the grand display
and popular banquet on Khodiknskje
plain, tens of thousands of people began
hocking towards the Petovsky palace.
in front Of which the plain Is situated,
this morning. In fact. thousands reached
the ground last evening and camped
there or in the immediate vicinity, in
order to make sure Of good positions to-
day.
On the plain long lines of rough tables
thanked by rougher benches had been
erected. 1t was first arranged to accom-
modate 400, 900 people, but in view of the
immense crowds assembled in and about
the city at the coronation fetes extra
tables and benches were erected and
every effort made to provide a meal for
the 100000 people. To feed the multi
tude an army of cooks and walters was
gathered together. The army bake
house was taxed to its utmost. Five hun
dred thousand mugs. each bearing the
portraits of the car and cZarina, were
ordered for presentation to the people
taking part in the banquet. Thousands
Of head of cattle. trainloads of provi-
slons and shiploads of liquid refresh
ments were sent to the plain, and this
morning all was in readiness for the
gigantic feast.
In anticipation Of the assembling of
the immense crowd and the possibility
Of disorder, strong force Of police was
detailed for duty on the plain three
miles outside the city on the road to ST.
Petersburg. Several detachmentS of
infantry and cavalry were stationed in
the vicinity to support the police, should
such a step be necessary.
BY dawn today the mass of peasants
about the tables was really enormous,
and all desperately hungry. having fast
ed nearly twenty-four hours. The police
did everything possible to keep back the
crowd, but suddenly the mass pressed
forward. swept everything before them,
overturning tables and benches. tramp
the life out Of a great number. The ex-
act number Of people killed has not been
ascertained, for the police and military
eventually succeeded in restoring order
and took away the dead and injured.
Preparations were made to proceed with
the banquet as If nothing unusual had
happened.
A THOUSAND KILLED.
MOSCOW, May 30.-At 10 a. m. the
official report places the number killed
at 1858, but later reports from the scene
Of the disaster say that $500 bodies have
been recovered.
Among the dead were ladies evidently
Of high rank, dressed in the finest silk
and adorned with the richest jewels
The police barracks, to which the bod
les Of the dead were taken by the au-
thorities. are besieged by persons beg
The scenes at the barracks are terrible
IN the extreme. The remains of the
dead will be conveyed to the cemetery
where is large morgue located.
The disaster as now explained. was
due mainly to the absense of the police
who had not arrived at SO early an hour.
Fully two hundred thousand persons Of
all grades of society had gathered to-
gether on the plain at the time the dis
aster occurred. Only about a thousand
attendants were in charge and they
seemed to be unable to control the mob.
sembled hundreds of thousands. all NOV
ing toward a common center, they toss
ed the packages and presents into the
midst of the crowd. This seemingly
precipitated the panic, since scramble
to obtain the gifts ensued and the hollow
piece of ground near the center formed a
death trap for thousands. The build
ings on all sides of the plain where, by
the way. Napoleon once concentrated
his troops before moving upon the city,
are in many cases being used as tenn
porary hospitals, and the soldiers have
been rendering great services in remov-
ing the dead. Further time must elapse
before accurate figures as to the number
actually killed and the number of per-
sons who are the victims of the disas-
ter. and those who are only suffering
from injuries, Is ascertained. But there
Is no doubt that the official estimate of
1000 victims cannot be far from right.
This may be said to have put an end
to all coronation festivities certainly so
far as the general public is concerned
The disaster occurred between 5 and
o'clock this morning. 1t was intended
the banquet should commence before
noon but the immense throng which had
gathered became so dense that the at
PENDANTS were overpowered and thrown
to the ground in the mad struggle which
commenced for food and the gifts, and
many OF these attendants are among the
dead. The police made desperate eff
forts to control the people. but all their
attempts proved futile, and men, women
and children were trampled upon by
hundreds, the shrieks and groans of the
victims being heard from afar.
For a time the officials In charge of the
banquet lost their heads entirely. The
crowd seemed to have gone mad with
rage and excitement, shouting, cursinE
and yelling as they pressed onward over
9 path strewn with dead and dying hui
man beings. Eventually, however, some
snow OF order was restored by the troops
ana nremen were hastily summoned,
ana then the latter began the work of
extricating the dead and injured, rang
ing them on the ground in gro1)s of ten
twenty and thirty at every hundred
yaros or So and the dispatching to the
Guy as speedily as possible military
transport wagons. furniture vans, feed
wagons. etc. the injured, giving prefer
snce at nrst to the women and children
some terrible, heart-rending scenes
were witnessed among the survivors
who were seeking relatives among the
victims. The latter were mostly meas
ants. and few of them have as vet been
identified. Many of the heads were
srsmpled Into shapeless jelly.
80 Immense was the concourse of tho
plain that hundreds of them were NIT
aware for some time that disaster had