The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-06-01
FEsTIvITY AT MOSCOW CONTINUES
IN THE PRESENCE OF THE
GRIM sPEeTER.
FATALITIES MAY REACH 5000
HEAPS OF THE DEAD YET REMAIN
TO BE ENUMERATED AND DIS
POSED OF.
REQUIEM MASS IN THE KREMLIN
Czarina Visits the Injured-PoIice
Begin an Inquiry Into the Cause
of the Disaster.

MOSCOW, May S1.-The disaster on the
Khcdjnskoje plain yesterday is constantly
gaining in proportion as the Investigations
by the authorities continue. These are made
under difficulties, as the recovery of the VIC
tins was conducted by hundreds Of volunteers,
and many were carried away before they were
enumerated Many additional deaths Of the
injured who were carried away are occurring,
which are only added to the enumeration after
some time.
1t is now said that the fatalities will amount
to between two and three thousand, but it is
impossible yet to ascertain accurately the ex-
tent of the disaster. An Official statement
ISSUED this morning places the number Of dead
recovered at 1886, and the seriously OF fatally
injured at 2S6.
Last evening. after receiving deputations,
the czar and czarina attended and danced at
the brilliant ball at the French embassy 1t
is asserted that s78,e00 was expended on the
supper alone, delicious fruits and vegetables
being brought from the most distant clmes to
add to the delights Of the feast. while France
furnished the costliest and most elegant fla
brics and furniture to set of the beauties of
the palace where the embassy is lodged. The
czarina was not informed yesterday of the
disaster, owing to her delicate condition.
While the dance continued amid all the ac-
compartments of luxury, diseonsolate friends
and relatives wandered over the desolate plain
among the dead and dying, looking, often in
vain, for their missing ones.
Today requiem mass was said in a chapel
of the Kremlin, at which the czar and czarina
and all the members of the imperial family
attended. The city is filed today with
GRIEF STRICKEN CROWDS.
1t Is striking evidence of the vast multi
tude who took part in yesterdays fetes that
there were large numbers who were totally
unaware Of the number of lives among them
that had been crushed out. and who proceed
ed with their merry making throughout the
day, without having grasped the fearful pro-
portions Of the disaster. Even up to a late
hour at night, people refused to believe that
there could have been SO many lives lost.
The work OF Identification is most difficult,
on account OF Mhe large number of victims
and the trampled, torn and mutilated condi-
tion of many of the corpses some of which
crushed quite beyond the possibility. of
recognition, and almost bes sond the semblarce
to humanity. The majority of the killed were
peasants frer outlying ssssr4cts. though the
clothing Of some indicated that they were per-
sons Of wealth and distinction. The bodies
of a number of women clad In silks and fine
linen were among those found.
All day yesterday the full force of police
and firemen worked among the dead, pulling.
bodies from heaps of the killed and injured
and ranging them on the ground. which was
covered by hundreds of yards with groups of
ten and twenty begrimed, blood-stained and
disfgured corpses, among which the agonized
friends of the missing wandered in painful
effort to identify them. The work of carry
ing the bodies to the cemetery, where it is
intended to inter those who fail of identiica-
ton, continued all night and today. This
morn Dy the forces at work on the plain
discovered a disused well In the middle of the
field, the plank covering of which had given
way in the mad rush Of yesterday morning.
In the well there were thirty dead bodies
and wedged in among them and held down by
their weight were found two men, alive and
comparatively uninjured physically. But the
terror and the hideous surroundings of the
night had proved too great 9 strain on their
minds, and they were ravitlg maniacs.
There are countless incidents of special
pathos, one case being that of a party of
fifty-f1ve humble peasants who had come to-
gether from q single village for the merry
making at the cars feast. OF this party,
fifty-three were Killed in the crowd.
CAUSE OF THE HORROR.
Various versions as to the origin of the
stampede and crush are current, but the
account to which the most credence is at
tached is that the wagon laden with the
500, 600 souvenirs which wereto be distributed
among the people was proceeding to the
Plain, followed by multitude of eager peas
ants, when the attendants, with a view to
pleasing the people, threw a number Of the
souvenirs among the crowd. There was a
wild scramble towards the point where they
fell, and the news spread like wild fire up
and down the crowd. The throng of ex
pectant peasants thought that the distribu-
ton had commenced, and they rushed head
long pell nell, for the booths, where the
distribution of souvenirs was to have been
made later. The arrangements which it was
intended to make to keep the crowds in or
der during the distribution had not been
completed at that early hour, and the force
on hand was powerless to stem the tide of
the crush of humanity. What added greatly
to the gravity of the disaster was the cir
cumstance that these booths were surround
ed by bitches. The foremost persons in the
on coming crowd fell PROSTATE in these
bitches, and the people following speedily
trampled them to death. Others stumbled
over their bodies and met the same fate.
And so the horror grew.
There were no Englishmen or Americans
among the victims
A large portion of the dead are women
and children.
The car and czarina today after attending
ed by the scenes of suffering they witnessed.
lin, paid visit to the injured survivors in
the hospitals, passing from cot to cot, and
addressing words of sympathy and comfort.
Both of the imperial pair were deeply affect
the requiem mass In the chapel Of the Krem-
A judicial inquiry has been opened into the
causes of the disaster, and an effort will be
made to fix the responsibility
The bishop of Peterborough preached a SER
mon in the English church on. the sorrowful
event, and collection was taken in aid of
( the sufferers, which realized about $500. The
Duke and Duchess of Cohnaught were pres
ent, the duke being the personal representa-
tive of Queen Victoria at the coronation.
The scene at the celebration OF divine service
at the cemetery today was most impressive,
some $4,000 persons being present. The ma
iority of those were seeking missing rela-
tives in the mortuary chambers, and their
grief and despair were indescribable.
Nor ron rxxrSur ArnNE