Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1902-09-26
Identifying TUE DEAD.
Missing Friends Are Being Sought
Among Victims of Panic at
Birmingham, Ala.
LAST ESTIMATE PLACES NUMBER AT It's
Bodies at Present, Identified, Mostly
Were Visitors Mt the Conventions
No White Persons Thus Far ~
covered Among the Dead.

Birmingham, Ala, Sept. 22.-The va
rlous undertaking establishments
were crowded Saturday morning with
hundreds OF persons, mostly delegates
to the National Negro Baptist conven-
ton, searching for missing friends and
relatives who might have been killed
in Friday nights stampede, at the
Shiloh Baptist colored church, which
grew out of a panic caused by a fight
and cry of fire" while Booker Il.
Washington was addressing the con-
yention. Up to nine O'Clock about so
bodies had been identified, the greater
number of them being local residents
who were visitors to the convention.
In front of each undertaking establish
ment where the corpses lie Il squad of
policemen keep back the surging
throng. Every effort is being made
to identify the bodies which have not
yet been claimed.
Work of Identification.
Those who have missing friends and
relatives have been requested to make
round of the undertaking establish
ments and also to make known
through the newspapers the names of
the missing. The fact that delegates to
the convention were here from all
parts of the country. many of them be-
ing strangers. renders the work of
identification somewhat slow. 1t is
expected that at least a dozen of the
injured will die. After midnight Fri
day night several bodies of persons
who We're crushed in the panic were
found lying in the weeds in the vacant
lot adjoining the church. They had
scrambled out of the mass of strug-
CLING humanity with broken limbs or
| crushed breasts and had crawled away
| in this manner to die.
No White Persons Killed.
Investigation shows that no white
| people were killed in the panic. A num-
her of white visitors were in the
! church at the time and several of them
were hurt in the wild scramble. but
none will die. Policeman Elledge, who
was standing at the exit endeavorins
to quiet the mad throng, was caught
| between the moving multitude and the
wall in the narrow passage way lead
| ing down to the stairs and nearly al
| his clothing was torn from his body
| His legs also were mashed. but he will
| recover. His efforts to quiet the
| crowd We're utterly futile and not un.
til the fire department and large
number of officers arrived on the scene
Il
was anything like order restored.
Then it was found that PRACTICAL,
everybody had gotten out of tn,
building. Those nearest the speaker
stand seemed to quickly realize thai
there was no fire and no occasion for 9
| panic and the speaker and leaders
| passed outside through a door TO the
rearof the pulpit where they addressed
the wild mob of struggling humanity
in an earnest effort to restore order
Booker Washington was among the
| number, but even his words fell upon
deaf ears. An examination Of the
bodies of the victims shows that yer,
many of them died OF sutfocation. the
| congestion OF humanity in the vest
bUIe and passaGe-way where the crusl
occurred. being so great. Those who
received bodily injuries We're the one.
who were crushed and trampled under
foot. Many had broken limbs and on
negro threw himself over the heads o
the crowd and had his brains dashe,
out against the wall.
\ report from the hospitals at 10: 5
o'clock says that ten of the injured
died during the morning. 1t is als'
stated that number of dead hav
been found at private houses in TIL,
neighborhood of the scene of the dis
aster. Seventy-eight bodies were a
the undertaking establishments earl,
in the morning. With the additiona
deaths since reported it now appear.
that the death list has almost reached
100.
Dead Estimated mt Il5.
Up to 1880 o'clock Saturday 81 deat
l. T.