The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-05-31

however, all the police were not on
duty. Several detachments of infan-
try and cavalry were stationed
in the vicinity. in order to support the police
should such a step be necessary. BY dawn
to-day the mass of peasants about the tables
was really enormous and they were all des-
perately hungry, some Of them having
tasted. by choice or necessity, for nearly
twenty-four hours. The police did everything
to keep back the crowd, but suddenly the
masses. controlled by some inexplicable i'm
pulse. or impatient to get at the food. pressed
forward. swept everything before them, and
overturned tables and benches as If made
of grass. trampling hundreds under foot and
crushing the life out OF great many people.
The old and weak, naturally, suffered the
most. The exact number of people killed is
not ascertained as this dispatch is sent, for
the police and military eventually succeeded
in restoring order and carted away the dead
and injured, and preparations were made to
proceed with the banquet as If nothing un-
usual had happened.
NOT ENOUGH POLICE.
The disaster, 1t is now explained. was due
mainly to the absence of the police. who
had not arrived at so early an hour in the
morning at the scene, where the festivities
were scheduled to take place. Fully 100000
persons of all grades of society had gath
cred on the plain at the time the disaster
occurred. Only about thousand attend
ants were in charge, and they seemed to be
unable to control the mob. Hoping to lessen
the pressure of the assembled thousands.
all moving towards a common center they
tossed the packages and presents into the
midst of the crowd. This seemingly pre-
cipitated the panic, since scramble to OBJ
tain possession of the gifts ensued, and the
hollow piece of ground near the center
formed death trap for the thousands.
The buildings on all sides of the Kho-
dijnskoje plain. where, by the way. Ma
poleon concentrated his troops before NOV
ing upon this city. are in many cases being
used as temporary hospitals. and the SOL
diers have been rendering great service in
removing the dead and caring for the
wounded. Further time must elapse before
accurate figures as to the number actually
killed and the number of persons who are
victims of the disaster. but who are only
suffering from injuries, is ascertained; but
there is no doubt that The official estimate
of 1,1SS victims cannot be far from right.
The disaster has put an end to all corona
ton festivities, certainly so far as the gen.
eral public is concerned.
1t was intended that the banquet should
throng which had gathered around the sheds
where the mugs were to be presented and the
food distributed became so dense that the
attendants were overpowered and thrown
to the ground in the mad struggles, which
commenced for food and the gifts, many of
these attendants being numbered among the
dead. The police made desperate attempts
to control the people. but all their efforts
were futile, and men, women and children
were trampied on by hundreds. the shriel1s
and groans of the victims being heard afar.
For time the officials in charge of the ban
quet lost their heads entirely. The crowds
seemed to have gone mad with rage and ex-
citement. shouting. cursing and yelling as
they pressed onward over a path strewr
with dead and dying human beings. Event
ually, however, some show Of order was
restored by the troops and firemen. who
were hastily summoned to the scene. and
then the latter began the work OF extricatine
the dead and injured. ranging them on the
ground in groups Of ten, twenty and thirty
at every hundred yards or so and dispatching
to the city as speedily as possible in the mil
itary transport wagons. furniture vans, food
wagons, etc., the injured given preference
at first to the women and children.
HEARTRENDING SCENES.
Some terrible heartrending scenes were
witnessed among the survivors who were
seeking relatives among the victims The
latter were peasants. and few of them
have as yet been identified. They were ly-
| ing in heaps, as they had been extricated
| during the afternoon, their crushed, blood
| stained and horribly distorted faces up
| turned to the scorching sun. Gray haired
men and women lay alongside children and
| sturdy men, all crushed as If beneath heavy
| rollers, some of the heads being trampled
into shapeless jelly. The passages be-
| tween the various booths became the scene
| of the widest struggles. Here 1t was that
| the most were killed. Despite the best eff.
forts of the Cossacks and of the police
who unfortunately arrived too late to be OF
great service. the crowd constantly In.
creased. II was a long time before the
Khodijnskoje plain could be cleared enough
| to allow the work of rescue to proceed
Many OF the injured were conveyed to the
various hospitals, which were soon filet
to overflowing. Hundreds of persons who
were wounded, however were removed te
/ their own homes or taken to private resi-
dences. Most of the victims were womer
and children.
! So immense was the concourse of peopl,
| on the plain that hundreds OF thousand
| xvara NOT aware for lone ts,,o .h.& z.s