The record-union., 1896-06-01
bitches Filled Level With Bodies Of the
Dead.
Victims Trampled Beyond All Hope of
Recognition.

Wants to Declare Madagascar a
Colony and Abrogate the Treaty
With Us.
MOSCOW, May 31-The city has not
yet recovered from the shock occa-
stoned by the fearful calamity which
occurred yesterday during the progress
o. the great fete feast and entertain
ment in connection with the coronation
ceremonies, given at the expense of the
Car to whoever desired to partake.
The extent of the disaster was not ex-
aggerated in the first reports. AS stated
in dispatches yesterday by the rep
resentative of the United Press, who
was an eyewitness OF the stampede of
the great multitude, it was a sight
never to be forgotten for its horror.
After the crowd had been dispersed by
the police and military the field was
strewn with the dead who had been
killed by being crushed, trampled upon,
Of by suffocation. A great number of
children were among the victims. In
the wild rush of the frenZied crowd
they were swept away from their pa
and their puny strength availed them
naug'ht when pitted against the ire
sistible force of the surging mob. The
instant they stumbled and fell, life
was crushed out of them. But this was
the case also with many adults. No
human strength could stand the mad
on-rush of the crowd, and safety could
alone be found in allowing ones self to
be carried forward and back in the pull
sating crowd, devoting every energy to
keeping upon his feet.
The officials made every effort and Of
fered every facility for the identifica-
tion of the dead, but the bodies in hun
dreds of instances were utterly unrec-
ogniZable, the faces having been lit
orally crushed out Of all sernblance to
humanity. A careful search is made
of each body for papers to establish its
identity and a record is made Of the
clothing on each corpse for the same
purpose.
1t was officially announced this morn
ing that the total number OF victims
was 1,136. Many of them We're Moujiks
from the provinces, poor class of peo-
ple but among the number were many
of the poverty-stricken residents OF
Moscow and villages in the neighbor-
hood of the city. The fete was particu-
larly for the benefit Of this class of peo-
pie, and the middle class generally held
aloof from the entertainment or else
visited ii in the plain capacity Of spec
tators.
The scene in the city to-day and last
night has been a most painful one. The
injured and large numbers of the dead
are taken to the hospitals and other
charitable institutions, and hither have
gone thousands of persons seeking rel
aJtives or friends hoping that the miss
| ing ones could be found among those
who were only hurt, but dreading the
worst. Many affecting scenes were wit
messed when 1T was found that those
who were thought 10 be dead were still
alive, but though often terribly injured.
Sometimes when body was recognized
by relative, more frequently mother,
whose little one had been torn away
from her and its young life crushed out,
the scene was heart~ending. The stolid
demeanor of the Russian peasant would
vanish and the low, plafntive wailing
and floods of tears would bear witness
to the bitter grief experienced.
Far into the night ambulances, fire.
trucks and other vehicles were steadily
engaged in hauling the dead and in
jured into the city.
The representatives of the United
Press went again to the plain and saw
some of the effects of the mad rush.
bitches of abandoned earthworFs of the
plain had been filled to the level with
the bodies of those who had been driven
into them by the awful pressure from
behind. Here those who were not crush
ed to death were suffocated by the dead
and dying above them. In the passages
between the booths from which the free
food was being distributed there were
still lying the bodies of hundreds Of
dead men, women and children, women
and children predominating. Soma of
the corpses were frightfully mangled,
and on the faces, still in death, there
were looks of fear and horror The
sight was altogether a most grewSone
one. The clothing had been torn to
| shreds and the bodies were in a semi
nude condition. The assertion is re-
peated to-day that the police were not
on the scene in sufficiently large num-
bers at an early hour to handle the
crowd. 1t is a fact that there were only
comparatively few of them at 6 a.
m, at which time the disaster occurred.
| There were then about a thousand at
| tendants engaged in distributing the
| gifts of the Car to the importunate
mob and to them the calamity is in
directly attributable.
When the thousands of persons in
| the rear began to press forward on
| those in front and the latter were
| crushed against the barriers, the cries
and groans of the dying caused the at
tendants to become stricken with ter
ror, dreading what actually occurred
| the breaking down of the barriers by
| the enormous human pressure upon
them. In fear of their lives they threw
| thousands of the memorial cups. filled
| with mead. beer. etc, at the struggling
mass of humanity in attempts to drive
them back. This led to a wild scramble
in the crowd. The immense quantity of
| liquids thus thrown formed a sort of
pond in front of the long line of booths
and rendered the ground slippery and
| treacherous, making a foothold very
| precarious. A great number of per
sons who might have otherwise es-
| capped thus fell to the ground, where
| life was soon crushed out of them by
the bowling, frenzied mob.