Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1902-10-01
DIE IN CHURCH PANIC
GREAT DISASTER AT BIRMING
HAM, ALABAMA
woman's Scream and Cry Of Fire Siam
pede Convention of Negro Baptists
with Horrible Consea aences-known
Dead IS, and 100 More Are Injured.

In a wild panic caused by a belief the
building was on fire eighty persons, many
from distant points, were killed by a
stampede in the Shiloh Negro Baptist
Church in Birmingham, Ala, at the close
of an address made by Booker Il. Wash
ington to the national convention of Bap-
| lists, which was there in session. Nearly
loo persons were injured, and it was
three hours before all the wounded could
be attended to and the dead taken to IN
dertaking establishments.
The ambulance service of the city was
utterly incapable of moving the injured
without great delays, which in MANY
cases proved fatal. Dozens of dead
bodies were arranged in rows on the
ground outside the church. while more
thar a score were laid out on the benches
inside.
The church is the largest house Of wor-
ship for negroes in the city, and there
were o5c- 900 persons in the edifiee
when the stampede began. Instructions
had been issued to allow no more to enter,
but the negroes forced their way inside
the building and were standing in every
aisle; even the entrance to the church
was literally packed.
Mistake Eight" for Fire"
lust as Booker T. Washington conciud.
ed his address Judge Ballou, a negro law
yer from Baltimore, engaged in an alter
cation with another delegate, and 1t is
said blow was struck. Someone in the
choir cried Flight! Fightv'
Mistaking the word fight for fire."
the congregation rose in body and start
ed for the door. One of the ministers
quickly mounted the rostrum and admon-
ished the people to keep quiet.
He repeated the word quiet several
times and motioned to his hearers TO be
seated, but the excited congregation mis-
took the word 'quiet" for fire. and with
redoubled exertions renewed the struggle
to reach the door. Men and women
crawlnd over benches and fought their
way into the aisles, and those who had
fallen were trampled upon like cattle. The
ministers tried again and again to stop
the stampede, but no power on earth
could stay the struggling, fighting mass of
humanity. The screams of women and
children added to the horror of the scene,
and through mere fright many persons
tainted and as they fell to the floor were
crushed to death.
Entrance n Death Trap.
The level of the floor is about fifteen
feet from the ground and long steps lead
to the sidewalk from the lobby just out
side the main auditorium. Brick walls
extend on each side of these steps for
six or seven feet, and this proved verit-
able death trap.
Negroes who had reached the top of the
steps were pushed violently forward and
many fell. Before they could move 9TH
ers fell upon them, and in fifteen minutes
there was struggling, shrieking mass CT
men and women and children piled to a
height of ten feet. This wall of torture
blocked the entrance and the weight Of
the l 500 persons remaining in the church
was rammed against it. More than TWEEN
ty persons lying on the steps underneath
the heap of bodies died from suffoeation
Two white men who were in the rear
of the church when the rush began es-
capped, and, realizing the seriousness Of
the situation, rushed TO a corner near by
and turned in a fire alarm. The depart
ment came quickly and the arrival of the
wagons served to scatter the crowd which
had gathered around the front of the
church. A squad of police was also hast
ened to the church, and with the frcmen
finally succeeded in releasing the negroes
from their pinioned positions in the en-
trance.
During the stampede Booker T. Wash
ington and several other prominent ne
groes were on the stage and We're rn-
willing witnesses to the frightful catas-
trophe. None of those in the choir or in
the pulpit were injured IN the least.