The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1902-09-24
TERRIBLE CHURCH PANIC
HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN LIVES
CRUSHED OUT IN A BIRMING-
HAM NEGRO CHURCH.

hS VI Sa4SS Ao AAASsckASh Ava
That of Fire-Floors of Church :
Looked Like Battlefield
Bodies Piled Ten Feet
High-Other News.
Birmingham, Ala, Sept. 19.-In
an awful crush of humanity, caused
by stampede by the Shiloh Ne
gro Baptist church, at Avenue G
and Eighteenth street, tonight, IS
person we're killed and as many
more seriously injured. The ca
tastrophe occurred at o'clock, just
as Booker T. Washington had con-
cluded his address to the national
convention of Baptists, and for three
hours the scenes around the church
were indescribable. Dead bodies
we're strewn in every direction, and
the ambulance service of the city
was utterly unable to remove them
until after 1 o'clock. Dozens of
dead bodies were arranged in rows
onsthe ground outside of the house
of worship awaiting removal to the
various undertaking establishments,
while more than score were laid
out on the benches inside.
The church Is the largest for ne
groes in Birmingham, and the pas
tor says there were at least two
thousand persons in the edifce
when the stampede began. Instruc-
tions had been issued to allow no
more to enter, but the negroes fore.
ed their way inside the building
and were standing in every aisle.
Even the entrance to the church
was literally packed.
Just as Booker T. Washington
concluded his address, Judge Billou,
negro leader from Baltimore, en-
gagged in an alteration with the
choir leader concerning an unoccu-
pied seat, and, il is said, blow was
struck. Some one in the choir
cried: "They're fighting" Mis-
taking the word fighting" for
"fre," the congregation rose in mass
and started for the door. One Of
the ministers quickly mounted the
rostrum and admonished the people
to keep quiet. He repeated the
word "quiet" several times, and mo-
toned to his hearers to be seated.
Again the excited congregation mis-
took the word "quiet" for "fre,"
and renewed the struggle to reach
the door. Men and women crawled
over benches and fought their way
into aisles,, and those who had fall
en- 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 per-
sons tainted and as they fell to the
floor were crushed to death.
The level OF the floor is about Is
feet from the ground, and long steps
lead to the idewalk from the lobby
Just outside the main auditorium.
Brick walls extend on each side of
these steps for six or seven feet, and
these proved veritable death trap.
Negroes who had reached the top of
the steps were pushed violently for
ward, and many fell. Before they
could move others fell upon them,
and in Is minutes persons were
piled upon each other to height of
10 feet. This wall of struggling hu-
manity blocked the entrance, and
the weight of 1900 persons was
pushed against. More than 20 per-
sons lying on the steps underneath
the heap of the bodies died from
sufocation.
I've white men who were in the
rear of the church when the rush
began, escaped, and, realizing the
seriousness of the situation, rushed
to corner near by and turned in a
fire alarm. The department. came
quickly, and the arrival of the wag
ons served to scatter the crowd
which had gathered around the
front of the church. A squad OF
police was also FASTENED to the
church, and, with the fremen, fin
ally succeeded in releasing the ne
groes from their positions in the en-
trance. The dead bodies were quick
lily removed, and the crowd inside,
finding an outlet, came pouring out.
Scores of them lost their footing
and rolled down the long steps to
the pavement, sustaining broken
limbs and internal injuries.
In an hour the church had been
practically cleared, and the sight
which greeted the eyes of those who
had come to aid the injured was