New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-09-20

AN AUFLL PANIC AT NEGRO
BAPTIST CONVENTION.
CRY OF FIGHT" MISTAKEN FOR
FIRE" STARTED \ MAD STAN
E-CHURCH A DEATHTRAP

Birmingham. Ala. Sept 19-In an awful
crush of humanity caused by stampede in the
Shiloh Cooree Baptist Church. az Avenue G
and Eighteenth st, tonight, seventy-eight per
sons were killed and as many more seriously in
jured.
The disaster occurred at o'clock. just as
Booker T Washington had finished his address
to the nationa! convention of coIored B2<tists.
and for three hours the scenes in the church
were indescribahle. Bodies were strewn In every
direction. and the ambulance service Of the city
was utterly unable to move them until a. m
The Injured were attended TO first. and dozens
OF bodies were arranged in rows on the ground
outside the church. awaiting removal to the
various undertaking establishments. While more
than & score were laid out the benches in
side
M1sTO0K FIGHT" FOR FIRE.
Shiloh Church is the largest house of worship
for negroes IN birmingham. and the pastor says
there we're at least two thousand persons IN
the building when the stampede began IN
structtons had been issued to allow no one eise
to enter after the building had been hlieo' Ou'
+,,a ,,.e,roes forced their way inside the church
and were standing in every aisle Nileh d O'S -
Fight, Ftght"' was mistaken for IRE anu q
deadly scramble 10 get out began Inc en'i"'o'
n the church was literally packed ana 'iie
nerroas were trampled 10 death in theF sur
gle TO escape ,,,-
Booker T. Washington had just coi'c1N'.eu '--'
address when Judge Btllou' hs5io
from Baltimore engaged III d oiSP"'e
choir leader concerning unoccupled seat It
is said that a blow struck some one III 0
choir cried They're fghting" MistaNhs TIE
word fighting" for fire, the congregation '''o
in mass and started for the door
One Of the ministers quickly mounted the
rostruno and admonished the people to keep
ouiet He repeated the word quiet seVerai
times. and motioned to his hearers to be seated,
The excited congregation mistook the "of"
quiet" for second alarm of ire ana asalil
rushed for the door. Men and women craWleo
over benches and fought their way into the
aisles and those who had fallen were tranlPie"
upon like cattle.
The ministers tried again to stop the STAN
pede but no power earth could stay lhe
struggling fighting mass of humanity
CAUGHT IN A DEATH TRAP
The screams of the women and children add
ed to the horror of the scene Through mere
fright many persons tainted and as they fell
to the floor were crushed to death
The level of the floor of the church is about
fifteen feet from the ground. and long steps
lead to the sidewalk from the lobby just outside
the main auditorium. Brick walls extend on
each side of these steps for six seven feet,
and this proved veritable death trap.
Negroes who had reached the top of the steps
were pushed violently forward. and many fell.
Before they could move others fell them and
in a few moments persons We're piled on each
other to a height of ten feet. where they strug-
gled vainly to extricate themselves This wall
of struggling humanity blocked the entrance
and the weight of /. 800 persons in the body of
the church pushed against it. More than
twenty persons lying the steps underneath
the heap of bodies died from suffocation
Two white men who in the rear of the
church when the rush began escaped and
realizing the situation rushed TO a corner near
nv and turned in fire alarm. The Fire De-
nartment answered quickly and the arrival of
Continued fourth page.
The only way to see both shores of the Hudson is
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