New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-06-01
nrATHS REACH NEARLY 1900
-,pr.RENDING SCENES IN AND AROUND
MOSCOW.
from TIE PROVINCES THE VICTIMS OF
-ur cALAMITY-ATTENDANTs WHO WERE
m DISTRIBUTE THE FOOD SAID TO BE
,xDrRECTLY RESPONSIBLE.


Nav 31-The city has not yet re-
"'SV ..on, tire shock occasioned by the fright
e,,,,tv that occurred yesterday the
iu' ,.svv Plain. The extent Of the disaster was
hO'. ..,cgerated in the first reports As said in
no' 1' a,.nat,hes yesterday the representative of
'.-'..a press was an eyewitness of the stam-
". =, tho ~reat multitude Of people gathered
- >. tse plain estimated TO have numbered fully
.a vna ooo and the sight was never to be for
sotten for its horror
..,ar the crowd had been dispersed by the
linn and military the field was strewn with
y. dsad who had been killed by being crushed
.-.rn,ed upon or by suffocaton A great num-
-. ~ children were among the victims. In the
.r, rush Of the frenzied crowd they were swept
.,ov from thei' parents OF others having charge
:, ,tsm. and their puny strength availed them
~.rvbt when pitted against the Irresistible force
:, tho surgng mob The instant they stumbled
"a ,su life was crushed out Of them. But this
-.s also the case with many adults. No human
,,,.ngth could withstand the mad onrush OF
-. rrowd and safety could alone be found in
.uouing ones self to be carried forward and
hack In the pulsating crowd, devoting every
energy 10 keeping upon ones feet
The officials made every effort and offered every
..c,,y for the identification Of the dead, but the
,,s,,, In hundreds Of instances are utterly un-
,.pgnlzabe. the faces having been literally
.,,,Aed out Of all semblance to humanity.
c,rsful search Is made Of each body for papers
"a establish It's identity. and a record s made Of
,he clothing on each corpse for the same purpose.
THE STATUS OF THOSE KILLED.
7. was officially announced this morning that
the total number Of victims lbs. Most OF
them we're Moujiks from the provinces. poor
class o. people but among the number were
many Of the poverty-stricken residents Of Moscow
and villages In the neighbOrhood Of the city. The
f,e was particularly for the benefit Of this class
o. the population. and the middle class generally
held aloof from the entertainment or else visited
the plain in the capacity OF spectators.
Although the official report places the num-
Der Of dead at 113S It is highly probable that the
enact number OF victims will never be known
The vce-Mayor reckons that 1856 persons were
killed and 2S6 seriously. perhaps fatally. injured
TIE official accounts however, do no; Include
many dead and injured who were removed by
friends.
The scene in the city last night and to-day has
been mos; painful one. The injured and large
numbers Of the dead were taken 10 the hospitals
and other charitable institutions. and thither
hav, gone thousands of persons seeking relatives
or friends hoping that the missing ones would
be found among those who Were only hurt. but
dreading the worst. Many affecting scenes were
witnessed when II was found that those who
were thought 10 be dead were sill alive, though
often terribly injured.
Sometimes vixen body was rec gnized by
relative more frequently q mother. whoFr little
ore had been tom away rom her end its young
life crushed out, the scene was heartrendiag.
The stoid demeanor Of the Russian peasant
would vanish and tn low, plaintiye wailing and
foods Of tears would bear witness to The bitter
grief experienced
REMOVING THE DEAD.
Far into the night aubulances. FIRE trucks and
otker vehicles were busily engaged in conveying
the dead and injufe4 into the city.
The representative Of the United Press went
again 10 the plain today and saw one Of the
effects Of the mad rush The bitches Of the
abandoned earthworks on the plain had been
filed to the level with the bodies II those who
tad been driven in,o them by the awful pressure
from behind Here ihose who were not crushec
TO death were sunoc3ted by the dead and dying
above them. In the Iassag-s between the booths
from which the free food was distributed there
were still lying the bodies Il hUrdreI is Cf dead
men. women and children women and children
prNdofninating. Some Of the cOrpses were frigh;-
idily distorted and on the faces still IN den IN
there were looks Of fear AMI horror The cloth
Ing had been torn u shre1s. and the bodies were
IN semi-nude condition
TIE assertion is repeated to-day that tho po-
lice were not on tho scene I'm sufficiently strong
numbers al an early hour 10 handle the crowd
u Is fact that there were only comparativeV
Few Of them present 81 o'clock In the morning.
occurred. There
then about 1000 attendants engaged In distrib-
utng the gifts n the Gar to the impcrtunaie
MOB. and to them the calamity is indirectly at
fribuable
THE SCRAMBLE FOR FOOD.
When the thousands Of persons in the rear
began 70 press forward upon those In front and
anumber of tie latter were crushed against the
oarriers the ehrieks of the injured and the
esoans of the dying caused the attendants 10
oecome stricken with terror. they dreading what
uHerward actually occurred-the breaking down
VI 'ne barriers by the enormous human pressure
sson them. Ir fear of their lives they thre"
.n'psands Of the memorial cups, filled with
ml no, peer, etc. az the struggling mass or hn-
,nsnig In attempts to drive them back. This
.sana wild scramble in the crowd. The I'm
.nsnse quantity Of liquids thus thrown formed
TT 1T N pond in front Of the long line Of booths
em. su rendered the ground slippery and treacner-
oua making foothold very precarious A great
lumber Of persons who might otherwise have
escaped thua fell to the ground. where life was
'oon crushed out Of them.
a. IN some parts OF the plain the ground looks az
.Eougn IL had been newly plOughed. This is
.nsre II was torn up by the heavy wooden shoes
.ne peasants in their wild excitement.
90 great has been the rush Of visitors at the
"osptais today In search Of missing relatives
I u iriends that the WORK Of the dOctOrs and ply
saashs was seriously interrupted. This after
~Woou therefore. the authorities gave orders Tor
e transfer OF the unclaimed bodies TO the Vo-
Cemetery
@'ume TO enable them to be Identified. II possible
AUTHORITIES BLAMED BY THE MOCJIKs.
The feeling OF the Moujiks was very bitter
against the authorities whom they held had not
'.Sen sufficient precautions 10 guard against an
s"air such as occurred. AS a matter Of fact
no"ever. the authorities were in nowise to blame
~ was Impossible fer them to foresee that such
great multitude would be present at such an
saliy hour, but at any rate the precautionary
measures adopted would have been sufficient had
40. 40. the people become frenzied. After the dis
Of mil nd ma