Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1896-06-04
A PANIC IN MOSCOW.
$500 PEOPLE THOUGHT TO HAVE
BEEN TRAMPLED TO DEATH.
A Sad Ending of tho C1nr's Great Banquet
Tho Police Absent Mt the Time
Ali Festivities Postponed
Details OF tho Horror.

Ali Festivities Postponed-
Details of tho Horror.
Moscow May 3l.-A terrible panic, re-
sulting from the great crush of people at
| the popular feast here to-day, in honor of
the coronation OF the car, caused the
tramplng 20 death of more than 250o peo-
! pie.
In anticipation Of the grand holiday and
popular banquet on the Hodynsky plain,
tens of thousands Of people began troop
! ing toward the Petravsky palace, in front
of which tho plain Is situated, during the
earliest hours this morning. In fact so
much interest was taken in the open mir
banquet that thousands reached the ground
yesterday evening and camped there or in
its immediate vicinity during the night, in
order to be certain of obtaining good posi-
tons to-day.
on the HodynskY or Khodijnskoje plain
long lines of rough tables fanked By rough
er benches, had been erected. 1t was at
first arranged to accommodate 4OO,OOO peo-
pie, but In view of the immense crowds as
sembed in and about this city for the
coronation fetos, extra tables and benches
were hastily erected, and every effort was
made to provide seating room ana n
hearty meal for 10000 people.
Twice that number were DESTROYS OF taxi
ing part in the feast, but the authorities
decided that there must be limit 10 the
number to be entertained, and so the fig
ure was fixed at 100000.
To feed this multitude n small army Of
cooks and walters was gathered to gether;
the army bake houses were taxed to their
utmost capacity and 100000 mugs, each
bearing portraits Of the car and czarina,
we're ordered and manufactured for pre-
sentatlon to the people taking part In the
banquet.
The disaster occurred between and 7
At. . ftttp 1rI
banquet should commence before noon.
but the immense throng which had gath
cred around the sheds from where the
mugs were to be presented ana the FOOD
was to be distributed became so dense
that the attendants were overpowered and
thrown to the ground in the mad struggle
which commenced for food and the gifts,
many of these attendants being numbered
with the dead.
The disaster, II was explained later,
was due mainly to the absence Of the
police, who had not arrived at so carly an
hour in the morning at the scene where
the festivities were scheduled TO take
place. Fully 1900 persons OF all grades
Of society had gathered together on
Khodjinskoje Plain at the time the dis
aster occurred. Only about a thousand
attendants were in charge and they seem
ed to be unable to control the mob Hop
ing to lessen the pressure of the assem-
bled hundreds Of thousands, all moving
toward a common centre, they tossed the
packages and presents into the midst OF
the crowd This seemingly precipitated
the panic, since scramble to obtain
possession Of the gifts cnsued, and tho
hollow piece OF ground near the centre
formed a death trap for thousands.
Tho vast plain inclosed with Venetian
masts hung with bunting and bearing
shields upon which were the arms of all
the cities and provinces of Russia, and
the gayly decorated booths. open-air thea
tres, carousals and liquor depots and pro-
vision stands in the part Of the plain
where the disaster occurred were entirely
crushed out of existence, and in their
place was n scene which rescmbled, ac-
cording to the descriptions furnished by
physicians who had been allowed on the
spot. the carnage Of a battlefield severely
fought, with the exception that the vic
| Tins were mostly poor men, women and
children, and that they were trampled
to death instead of shot down.
The car and czarlna, when informed OF
the disaster, were much distressed, and
SENT additional physicians to the scene TO
care for the injured and issued instruc-
tons that full report of the tragedy is
TO be made, in order that the distressed
| families may be relieved.
| AS this Is tho first serious accident re-
ported since the festivities commenced 1t
| has attracted much attention and has cast
n gloom over the city.
! The French ambassador. the Count de
Monticello, was scheduled to give n ball
at the French embassy this evening, but
| this feature OF the celebration was aband-
oned, although n very large sum of money
had been spent upon the preparations.
| France being greatly DESTROYS of testify
ing TO her friendship for Russia by maxi
ing a display upon this occasion which
| would pass into his lOry,
All OF the festivities have been post
| poned. and nobody thinks or tafs OF any
thing but the fearful calamity which has
changed the scenes of rejoicing to scenes
of the deepest woe.
The building on all sides of the Khodij-
nskoje plain. where, by the way. Napoleon
| concentrated his troops before moving
upon the city, are in many cases being
used "a temporary hospitals, and the SOL
ders have been rendering great service In
I removing the dead and caring for the
| wounded.
| Among the dead were ladies'. evidently
Of high rank, dressed in the finest silks
and adorned with tho richest jewels. The
police barracks to which the bodies of the
dead were taken by the authorities are be-
siegcd with personS searching for friends
and relatives. The scenes at the barracks
where the process of Identification Is going
on are terrible in the extreme. The re-
mains of the dead will be conveyed during
where a large morgue Is located.