The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-06-01
GROUND BL00DSOAKED
APPEARS AS THOUGH LIVES OF
DEAD HAD BEEN TRODDEN OUT.

An Immense Throng Continually Passing
Along the Lines of the Dead Seeking for
Some Lost One-More Than One Thous-
q and People Were Killed In the Rush for
the Free Feast in Connection With the
N Coronation Ceremonies of the Gar.
h Moscow, May 31.-The city has not
slrecovered from the calamity of yester-
Rday on the Hodynsky Plain during the
sprogress of the free feast and enter
&tainment in connection with the coro-
%nation ceremonies. The extent of the
1disaster was not exaggerated in the
dtirst reports. The stampede of the
zgreat multitude was a sight not to be
Forgotten Cor its horror. After the
sScrowd had been dispersed by the police
land military the field was strewn with
dead who had been killed by being
Ncrushed, trampled upon or by suffoca-
e#tion. A great number Of children were
#among the victims. In the wild rush
S8of the frenzied crowd they were swept
sRaway from their parents or others hav-
Hing charge of them, and their puny
.Hstrength availed them naught when
sHpitted against the irresistible force of
Mthe surging mob. The instant they fell
sslife was crushed out. But this was
Raalso the case with many adults.
ID No human strength could Withstand
1.-THE mad crush of the crowd, and safety
Scould alone be found in allowing ones
self to be carried forward and back in
THE pulsating crowd, devoting every
3senergy to keeping upon ones feet. The
Hofficials made effort and offered facili-
Saity fo- the identification of the dead
s#but the bodies in hundreds of instances
azare utterly unrecognizable, the faces
;shaving been literally crushed A care
EAful search is made of each body for pa
1spers to establish Its identity, and a rec
s#ord is made of the clothing on each
zAcorpse for the same purpose.
NJ 1t was officially announced to-day
that the total number of victims was
k ,13S. Most of them were Moujiks from
THE provinces. a poor class of people,
S83but among the number were many of
the poverty stricken residents Of Mos
Cow and villages in the neighborhood of
the city The fete was particularly for
sathe benefit of this class, and the middle
class generally held aloof from the en-
or else visited the Plain in
the capacity of spectators.
# The scene in the city last night and
f55to-day has been most painful one.
1.-THE injured and large numbers Of dead
Hswere taken to the hospitals and other
R3charitable institutions, and thither have
Hsgone thousands seeking relatives or
Efriends, hoping that the missing ones
would be found among those who We're
E@pnly hurt. but dreading the worst.
|sFMany affecting scenes We're witnessed
E8when it was found that those who We're
EThought to be dead were still alive,
Es;though often terribly injured.
NH Some times when body was recog-
[nized by a relative, more frequently a
smother whose little one had been torn
away from her, the scene was heart
Erending. The stolid demeanor Of the
Russian peasant would vanish, and the
low, plaintive wailing and floods of
Etears would bear witness to the bitter
[sgrief experienced.
E Far into the night ambulances, fire
ktrucks and other vehicles were engaged
Lin conveying the dead and injured into
Ethe city.
81 The representative Of the United Press
Event to the Plain to-day and saw one
EFFECT Of the rush. The bitches of the
#abandoned earthworks had been filled
Ito the level with the bodies of those
Ewho had been driven into them by the
Ehwful pressure from behind Here
|Ahose who were not crushed to death
&SWere suffocated by the dead and dying
Ehbove them. In the passages between
1.-The booths from which the free food
f|was distributed there were still lying
tthe bodies of hundreds of dead men,
women and children, women and chill
a1ren predominating. Some of the
eorpses were frightfully distorted, and
bn the faces still in death there were
looks Of fear and horror. The sight
WAS altogether a most gruesome sac
The clothing had been torn to shreds
and the bodies were in a semi-nude
condition.
The assertion is repeated to-day that
Iehe police were not on the scene in suf-
iciently strong numbers at an early
hour to handle the crowd. It is a fact
that there were only comparatively
few OF them present at six o'clock in
the morning, at which time the disas-
Ter occurred. There We're 1000 attend
iants engaged in distributing the gifts
of the car to the importunate mob,
Ind to them the calamity is indirectly
attributable.
When the thousands of persons in the
lear began to press forward upon those
n sront and number of the latter
we're crushed against the barriers the
Ihrieks of the injured and the groans
If the dying caused the attendants to
become stricken with terror, they
lreading what afterward actually oc-
urred, the breaking down of the bar
iers by the enormous pressure upon
hem. They threw cups at the strug-
fling mass in attempts to drive them
lack. This led to a wild scramble in
he crowd. The immense quantity of
lquids thus thrown formed sort of
iond in front of the long line of booths
nd rendered the ground slippery and
reacherous, making foothold very
recarious. A great number of persons
Tho might otherwise have escaped fell
the ground, where life was soon
rushed out by the bowling mob
In some parts of the Plain the ground
loks as though it had been newly
lowed This is where it was torn up
b the heavy wood shoes of the peas
hts So great was the rush at the
Dspitals to-day in the search for rela-
FL. Il