The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-05-31
TRAMPLED TO DEATH
A Terrible Panic at the Popular
Feast Near Moscow.
IN HONOR OF CORONATION
Estimated that Nearly Three
Thousand Perished.
A NEWBORN INFANT KILLED

I he Scene ReSe emDted a Battlefield
Except People We're TrampIed
to Death Instead of Being
Shot Down.
Moscow, May 3O.--A terrible panic,
resulting from the great crush of peo-
pie at the Popular Feast here to-day in
honor of the coronation of the Gar,
caused the trampling to death of many
people, including woman who was
| delivered of child during the excite
ment.
In anticipation of the grand holiday
ard Popular banquet on the Hodynsky
| plain, tens of thousands Of people be-
! gan tr1oping towards the Petrovski
palace in front of which the plain is
situated, during the earliest hours this
morning.
| In fact 50 much interest was taken
| in the open air banquet that thousands
reached the ground last evening and
| camped there or in the immediate vi
cinity during the night in order to
make sure of obtaining good positions
to-day. The majority Of these peonle
came on foot, but some came in the
oldest kind OF vehicles, country carts
and turnouts Of the most primitive de-
scription, and others Travelled ON horse
| back.
On the Hodynslly or Khodijnskoje
plain (it is written both ways), long
lines of rough tables, tlanked by rough
er benches. had been erected. In the
| distance, these Lines of tables looked
like immovaible regiments of soldiers,
or trenches of some extensive series of
! Notifications.
1t was at first arranged TO accommo-
date 100000 people, but in view of the
immense crowds assembled, in and
about the city for the coronation fetes,
extra tables and benches were hastily
erected, and every effort was made to
provide seating room and a hearty
meal for 100000 people Twice thar
| number was desirous of taking part in
the feast but the authorities decided
that there must be limit to the num-
ber to be entertained, and so the figure
was fixed at 100000.
To feed this multitude an army of
cooks ard walters was gathered To-
ccthcr the army bake houses were
filled to their utmost capacity, and
100000 mugs, each bearing portraits of
the Gar and Czarina, were ordered
and manufactured for presentation to
the people taking part in the banquet;
thousands of cattle. train loads of pro-
visions and ship loads % liguid re-
|freshments were sent to the Hodynsky
plain during the week and this morn
ing all was in readiness for the gigantic
meat.
In anticipation of the assembling
of an immense crowd and the possi-
bility of disorder, strong forces of
police were detailed for duty on he
plain which, like the Petrovsky palace
1T fronts, is some three miles outside
of this city and on the road to st.
Petersburg. In addition several de-
tachments of infantry and cavalry
were stationed in thc vicinity in orfer
to support the police, should such
a thing be necessary.
BY dawn to-day the mass of peasants
about the tables was really enormous
and they were all desperately hungry,
some of them having tasted, by choice
or necessity, for nearly twenty-four
hours. The police did everything pos
sible. to keep back the crowd. but sud
denly the masses, controlled by, some
ineXplicable impulse or impatient 10
get at the food, pressed forward swept
everything before them and overtmn-
ed tables and benches as if made of
grass, trampling thousands under
foot and crushing the life out of a
great number of people.
The fate of the infant, who was
born during the crush. is not definitely
known. but il is believed to have
shared the fate of its mother.
The police and military eventually
succeeded i'm restoring order. carted
away the dead and injured and pre-
parations were made to proceed with
the banquet, as if nothing unusual had
happened.
Owing to the extent OF the disaster.
and the fact that the plain was sur
rounded with troops, rendering APP
proach to the scene of the disaster.
impossible for anybody except a Rus
sian official or physician, long time
elapsed before the full extent Of the
disaster became known. AS time
wore on and the ambulances of the
army were kept busy transporting
wounded to the hospitals of the city
and to the temporary hospitals formed
within the military lines, it began TO
dawn upon people that the extent of the
disaster was very much greater than
at first supposed
The vast plain, enclosed with Vene-
tian masts hung with bunting and
bearing shields upon which were the
arms Of all the cities and provinces OF
Russia. the gayly decorated booths.
open air theatres, carousals. provi-
sion stands and liquor depots, where.
in the part of the plain where the dis
aster occurred,were crushed out of eX-
istence,and in their places was a scene
which resembled. according to the des-
criptions furnished by physicians who
had been allowed on the plain, thai
Of the battlefield trampled to
death instead of being shot down.
As the day wore on, the Russian Of
fcials admitted that the victims num-
bored several hundred. This evening,
bulletin was issued say that the
government officers regretted to be
compelled to announce that the vic
TINS of the disaster numbered about
one thousand, but by 1O:30 o'clock to-
night the news from the scene OF the
disaster was to the effect that $500
bodies had then been recovered.
Everywhere the most profound grief
is manifested. In public places where
groups are gather together, all are
discussing the calamity eye-witnesses