The Savannah morning news., 1901-07-25
IN STRUGGLING HEAP
500 MEN AND BOYS WENT DOWN
WITH BLEACHERs AT BASE
BALL PARK.
SEVERAL WERE INJURED.
ONE MAN HAD HIS ANKLE FRAC-
TURED BY THE FALL.

BIeachers Were Crowded by Spec
tators of the Game Between Macon
and the Chathams-Great Excite
ment Caused by the Collapse of
the Stnnd-Many Rushed to the As
sistance of the Mass That StruS-
gIed From the Wrecked Bleachers.
Game Resulted in Victory for
the Invincible ChRthnms by
Score of to O--Chathams and Au-
gusta Team Play This Afternoon.
The game of baseball at the Bolton
Street Park between the Chathams and
the team from Macon was interrupted
by a serious accident. The bleachers
tators went down in the debris. 1t
was a miracle that many were not
hurt, for the bleachers were rather
high and the fall of those who occu-
pied the topmost seats was from
distance that might have been expect
ed to produce more than bruises. 1t
did, in fact, but the most serious in
jury was that which befell one man,
who had his ankle fractured. Two 9TH
ers were rather badly hurt. and quite
number sustained bruises. Two BIZ
cycles were beneath the bleachers, and
they went to wrack and ruin.
So successful have the Chathams
been in their games and so we'll do all
the colored population and many of the
white baseball enthusiasts like their
playing that the game drew the larg-
est crowd of the season. There were
1850 tickets sold. The grandstand was
pretty well filled, and there was little
room left on the bleachers. Men and
boys only made up the crowd on the
bleachers or there might have been far
more excitement than that which fol-
lowed the fall of the stand.
AS ii was, people ran here and there
after the collapse of the time-worn af-
fair. DR.. j. II. Bugg CHANGED to be
present, and he administered what help
he could under the circumstances. The
police ambulance was called, and the
man with the fractured ankle was
driven away. The others were able
to make their own way home.
The game was suspended temporarily.
The players ran to the assistance of
those who had fallen in with the stand.
AS they and others approached the
struggling mass that was heaped upon
the wreck of the bleachers, it was
thought almost a certainty that, if no
dead were found, there would at least
be many badly MANNED. Considerable
relief was felt when it was ascertained
that the injuries wrought were no
mil,
After a bit, the fears of those who
had fallen with the bleachers and of
those who had witnessed the collapse
from the grandstand and other points
upon the ground had subsidized, and the
game was then concluded. It was
known then that so many should not
have crowded upon the bleachers,
which had undergone no repairs and
were not in condition to bear up such
weight. The ball grounds receive no
attention from their owners now, and
the bleachers might have been expect
ed to be found in a dilapidated condi-
ton. With but few exceptions, there
has been a game of ball at the park
every day this season and it is a mat
ter of surprise to the baseball enthu-
siasts that the Schley estate does not
have the grounds rolled and improved
and the buildings put in better condi-
ton.
The game resulted In another vic
tory for the Chathams. and it was by
the old score of 8 to 0. This was not
through default, either, for the umpire,
Monroe. was making no gifts. The
Macon team did its best to score, but
the players were up against the real
thing" in the Chathams. They couldn't
find Jabe at all. He querred them
with his misleading drop balls. and
they got only three hits off his delivery.
Those were scattered, and didn't count
The Chathams and the Augusta team
will play another game this afternoon
The Chathams beat the Augusta play
ers day before yesterday, winning by a
score of to /. Jabe and Baken will
be the battery for the Chathams.