The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-05-31
MANY KILLED AT MOSCOW.
THE Crush At THE FREE FEAST
ENDS N FATALITIES.


Men, Women and Children swept on
Their Feet and TrumpIed To Death.
others Actually Squeezed 20 Death
by the Fearful Pressure Of the
CrOwd-Half "a Million People in
the jam.
Moscow, May So.-The popular fete Of
the coronation ceremonies at which be-
tween 10000 and 5Oo0o people were fed
and mdulged In all sorts of merry-making
was held to-day. Hodyorsky Plain. oppo-
site the Petronsky palace. was the scene
Of the first fatalities that have marked the
coronation festivities. This free feast
which has always been the popular feature
Of coronations. has hitherto been the oc-
casion of a great deal Of crowding and
good-naturcd fighting for places on the
part Of the hundreds OF thousands Of
guests OF the. city. but no such gathering
was ever Witnessed on the Hodyorslly
Plain - that which assembled to-day.
The crowds, which began coming long
before daylight finally become SO dense
and so eager to obtain access to the free
food and beer. and the free amusements,
that they could not be controlled. Men.
women and children were thrown down
and trampled upon and were either badly
injured or killed. while others had their
lives crushed out Of them by the fearful
pressure OF the vast crowd The police
and military finally succeeded IA scatter
ing the multitude so that there was no
further danger. when it was found that
number of persons had been killed
The feast was held i'm the presence Of
be-
guests who occupied seats In a large pa
Vilion. especially erected ana deliberately
decorated for the occasion.
The great Hodyorsky Plain. whoreon Ma
poleon massed his troops before marching
into the city Of Moscow. IS nanked ON the
sides by the exhibition buildings and the
Moscow race course. and extends indch-
nltely INTO the country. Upon IL, besides
the mu-llude of people who enjoyed the
hospitality Of the city in eating, drinking,
and induiEing I'm all sorts of games and
Witnessing various performances, were
encampld vast army of soldiers. consist
ing Of eighty-three battalIons Of infantry,
thirty squadrOus of cavalry, seven sOt-
Mas Of cOssaCks and fourteen batteries Of
artillery, which the emperor viii review
ON June z, the last day OF the festivities.
The part of the plain devoted TO the fcs-
uNltes was directly I'm front OF the palace.
This wide grass-COVered space was en-
closed with venetian masts hung with
bunting. flags and shields. bearing tho
arms Of the various cities and provinces Of
Russia, and within were booths, tables,
open air theaters, merry-go-rounds cir
cuses, SWINGS etc, almost inuumerable.
Surrounding these were hundreds Of wood
en- booths filled with food, such as bread,
cakes, sausages, meat pies caViaTe, etc,
and in each booth was an immense cask Of
malt liquor or mead, the food and drink
pelng free 70 all who chose TO come and
Throughout the night there was a con-
slant stream of people making their way
to the plain in order to be In the fore
front when the food and presents should
De ready for distribution, and so dense
mass of humanity as had gathered there,
even in the early hours OF the morning,
was never before witnessed in Russia.
While the crush was most intense and the
curses, shrieks and howls OF pain were at
their hight, an unknown woman was de-
ltvered of a child on the field, and the
mother and infant were trampled to death.
Everything progressed smoothly until
the distribution Of the food and gifts be-
to crowd forward. but the police and sol
diers checked them and for short time
there was comparative order:
Soon. however, the crowd in the rear
again became impatient and surged for
ward, despite every effort to hold them
back. Barriers had been erected in the Vi
elnity Of the booths to prevent excessive
crowdng and under ordinary crcum-
stances these would have been SUFFICIENT
for the purpose The people in the front
were swept against the barriers, where
the enormous weight of the surging mass
in the rear was thrown directly against
them. Mad with pain and fright, the peo-
pie who were crushed against the barriers
struggled to get away, but their attempts
were fruitless. Suddenly the barriers gave
way, and with rush the immense throng
swept forward. Hundreds OF men, women
and children were thrown down. and to
stumble and fall meant death or serious
injury, for no power could check the
crowd many of whom were IN a condi-
ton of panic The authorities were help
less and for a time the scene batled de-
scription Many persons We're killed by
being crushed against the barriers before
they gave way, and a great number met
their death by being trampled upon.
The extent of the disaster was greatly
underestlmated at first. This evening II
was learned that the loss Of life win ex-
ceed j., 100. Some reports place the num-
ber Of dead as high as $500.
The czar has ordered q donation OF 1000
roubles to be paid to each family that has
lost a member.