The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1902-09-25
OYER A HUNDRBD|
DEATH LlsTsiN BIRMINGHAM CA
TAsTRoPHE GREATER THAN
FIRST REPORTED.
ALL The VICTIMS C0L0RED

ALL The VICTIMS C0LoRED
Fully One Hundred Persons Were
Killed During the Stampede and Fis.
teen of the Injured Have Since SUE.
cnmbed to Their Wounds-Exam:na
ton of the Bodies Shows That Many
Died OF Suffocation.
Birmingham. Ala. Sept. PIT Is
now estimated that lis persons. all
colored. persisted in the disaster here
caused by panic in the Shiloh negro
Baptist Church. where the national
convention of negro Baptists is being
held. OF this number fully 100 were
killed during the panic and the others
have since died Of injuries received
AT least 100 others were seriously
hurt and number of them may die.
Investigation shows that no white
number 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 endeaeorlng
TO quiet the mad throng, was caught
between the moving multitude and the
wall in the narrow passageway leading
Il a., ,.l,, III
clothing was torn from his body. Ills
legs were also mashed, but he. viii re-
cover. His efforts to quiet the crowd
were utterly futile and not until the
fire department and large number of
officers arrived ON the scene was any
thing like order restored. : Then it was
found that practically everybody had
gotten out OF the building. Those neal.
est, the speakers stand seemed To
quickly realize that there was no fire
and no occasion for & panic and the
spea,ter aad the leaders passed outside
through a door at the rear OF the pull
pit where they addressed the wild
mob oi stiugSiittg humanity in an earn
est effort to restore order. Booker I.
Wa.A.:lnt was anung the number
hut e,rn his words foil upon deaf cars.
an examination of the bodies OF the
Vict|iiss SHOW 5 mat very many of them
diet OF suiI0catlon the congestion OF
humanity in lie vestihuie and passage
NaY where the crush occurred being SO
islc@'
Cause OF the Catastrophe.
The church is the largest honse of
worship for negroes IN birmingham
and the pastor says there were at least
1900 persons in the cdifce when tue
stampede began.
= Just as Booker T. Washington con,
ciuded his address Judge Billion. a ne
gro lawyer from Baltimore. engaged
in an alteration with the choir lead
er concerning ii unoccnpied seat and.
it is said, a blow was struck. Some
one in the choir cried tight!"
Mistakins The word fight" for Are,
the congregation rose en- maSse and
started for the door. One at the min
listers quickly mounted the rostrnm
and admonished the people to Keep
quiet. He repeated the word quiet"
several times and motioned To his hear.
ers to be seated. But the excited con.
gregation mstook the word "Qniet%
for fire and renewed the struggle To
reach the door.
Men and women crawled over
benches and fought their way into the
aisles and those who had fallen were
trampled under foot. The ministers
tried again and again To stop the
stampede, but no power on earth. ap
parently. 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.
The level of the floor is about fiji
teen feet from the ground, and long
steps lead to the sidewalk from the
lobby just outside the main audito.
rum. Brick walls extend on each side
of these steps for six or sever feet.
and this proved veritable death trap.
Many Crushed to Death.
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 fifteen minutes persons were piled
upon one another to height of ten
feet. This wall of living beings
blocked the entire entrance, and the
weight of LOO persons was pushed
against it. More than twenty persons
lying on the steps underneath the heap
of bodies died from suffocation.
Two white men who were in the rear
cf the church when the rush began es-
capped, and realizing the seriousness
of the situation, rushed to a corner
nearby and turned in fire alarm,
The department 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 also fastened to
the church and with the firemen re-
leased the negroes from their pinioned
positions in the entrance. The dead
were quickly removed and the crowd
inside. finding an outlet, came pouring
out. Scores of them lost their foot
ing and rolled down the long steps to
the pavement, sustaining broken limbs
and internal injuries.
In an hour the church had been
cleared and the sight which greeted
the eyes of those who had come to aid
the injured was sickening. Down the
aisles and along the outside of the
news the dead bodies of men and wo
-. -rar, ctrouu and tha cries of the