Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1896-06-06
MIRTH AND MOURNING
MOBILES FEAST-PEASANTRY WAII
FOR THEIR DEAD.
PEOPLE Fell Into Trenches In Their
Mad Rush and Were Ground
to Death.

Moscow, May 31.--The disaster on the
Khodnjnskoje plain yesterday is con-
stantly gaining in proportions as the IN
designations continue. Many additional
deaths of the Injured who were carried
away are occurring, which are only add
ed to the enumeration after some time
1t is said now the fatalities will amount
to between 1000 and 5000 An official
statement this morning places the mum
Der of dead recovered at 1886 and the
seriously injured at 286. But in contrast
with this official statement there are
1892 corpses lying this afternoon at the
cemetery, besides the many dead and
dying that are known to have been re
moved from the Inflated field by friends
Last evening after receiving deputd-
tions the car and czarina attended and
danced at the brilliant ball at the French
embassy. Preparations had been made
on a most elaborate scale for this ball
and it is asserted that $4,000 was ex-
pended on the supper alone. The car
ina was not informed yesterday of the
disaster owing to her delicate condition.
While the dance in the French embassy
was in progress, amid all the accompan-
iments of luxury and gaiety, discOnsolate
friends wandered over the desolate plain
among the dead, suffering and dying,
looking often in vain for their missing.
Identification Difficult.
Today a requiem mass was said in the
chapel of the Kremlin, which the ear
and czarina and all the members of the
imperial family attended. The city is
filled today with grief-striCken crowds.
1t is a striking evidence of the vast null
titude who took part In yesterdays fetes,
that there were large numbers who were
totally unaware of the number of lives
that had been crushed out among them
and who proceeded with their merry
making throughout the day without hav-
ing grasped the fearful proportions of the
disaster.
The work of Identification is most diff
cult, both on account of the large num-
Der of victims and the trampled, torn
and mutilated condition of many of the
corpses. The majority of the killed were
peasants from outlying places. All day
yesterday the full force of police and
firemen worked among the dead, pulling
bodies from the heaps of the killed and
injured and ranging them on the ground,
which was covered for hundreds of yards
with groups of 10 and 20 begrimed ana
distgured corpses, among which the ag-
Onized friends of the missing wandered
in a painful effort to identify them. The
work of carrying the bodies to the Gem
etery. where it is intended TO inter those
who fail of identification, continued al
night and day. This morning the forces
at work on the plain discovered the
mouth of dsused well in the middle 81
the field, the plank covering of which
had given way in the mad rush. In the
well there were 80 bodies, and wedged in
among them and held down by their
weight was found two men alive and evil
IDENTIFY uninjured physically. But the
terror and the hideous surroundings OF
the night had proved too great a strain
on their minds and they were raving ma
MACS. There are many incidents of spe-
cial pathos, one case being that of par
ty of 55 humble peasants who had come
together from a single village for the
merry making at the czars feast OF
this party SIS were killed
Origin of the Stampede.
Various versions as to the origin OF
the stampede and crush are current but
the account to which the most credence
is attached is that the wagons laden with
the 100000 souvenirs which were to bC
distributed among the people were pro
ceeding to the Khodijnskoje plain, follow
ed by a multitude of eager peasants
when the attendants, with a view t
pleasing the people, threw a number o.
the souvenirs among the crowd. Their,
was a wild scramble towards the poin
where they fell and the news spread
like wildtire up and down the throngs O
sxpectant peasants that the distribution
had commenced. This resulted in a head
long. pell-mell rush for the booths whert
the distribution Of souvenirs was to hav,
been made later. The arrangement b!
which 1t was intended to keep the Grove
in order during the distribution WAS ~