Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1902-09-21


tically cleared ana the sis4t which
greeted the eyes Of those who ia,
come to all tie il.5Utet. va sieAeA-
ing. Down the as.es and along ,.ie
cGtside OF peTs the dead bodieaof rAan
women were streWed. and the c.ies
OF the manned and crippled was heart
rending II a few minutes the work
of removing the bodies Was begun,
and the walls of the relatives Cf the
dead, who had waited on the outside,
could be heard for several blocks.
The Shiloh church is located just
in the edge Of the South highlands,
the fashionable residence section OF
thi city, and all the physicians living
in that part Of the town went to the
assistance of the injured. AS many
of the suffering negroes as could be
removed by the ambulances were TAX
Ell to hospitals, and the rest were laid
out on the ground. and there the ply
scians attended them. At least I'll
teen Of those brought out injured died
before they could be moved from the
ground
During the stampede Booker T..
Washington and several other promi-
enent leaders were on the stage and
We're unwilling witnesses to the fright
the choir or ia the pulpit were Injured
in the least. For few minutes they
attempted to restore order, but, see
ing their efforts We're futile, waited
anti the struggling crowd had ad-
vanced far enough for them to pick
up the dead and injured.
Most Of the dead are women. ana
the physicians say IN many cases they
tainted and died from suffoeation. a
remarkable feature of the calmIty IS
that no blood was seen on any of the
Victims The were either crushed or
died from suffocation.
Booker 7. Washington. when seen
after the accident at the residence of
DR.. [. G. Mason. 1925 Avenue G,
said: Il had Just finished my lecture
on Industry, and the singing had
commenced when some women back
of me were heard to scream. Some
member Of the choir yelled, Quiet.
which the gallery understood to be
fire. This was repeated and started
the stampede.
Il found On investigation that a
Birmln CHAM man had stepped on the
toes Of 2 delegate from Baltimore,
namel Ballou. Ballou resented it
and made a motion as if to draw a
gun. This caused the woman to
scream
There was little excitement IN the
center and front ef the church. The
rear of the church was cOngested and
some of the men tried to walk out on
the heads Of the crowd. At the time
of the alarm there We're probably .
600 people in the church. and fully
that number without. The crowd on
the sidewalk surged in and this. in a
measure accounted tor the large loss
of life.
The majority of those Killed were
smotAerea to death, Very few having
| bones broken.
When | saw that a stampede was
imminent I started the choir singing
and n..rt of the audience joined them.
re,s&ipe1 until the excitement had
subs:e.c4 foI fully thirty minutes. One
good sist ar, whose name did no'
learn, caught me dr1aiy by the wais;
and held me throughout the excite
ment saying. Keep still. | am un
able to say positively, but there is
probability that the convention VII
adjourn out of respect to the dead
! The session would have closed Mon
day night.
so far as is known about ten del
ecates we're amoag those silled two
from Texas and TIVE from New Orleans
,s0eing among that number.
| ..$kaneors - Birmingham.
Among the more notable Arkansas
negtoes attending the convention
were:
Prof. Jos 4. Booker, president o
the Arkansas Colored Baptist college
Little Rock.
Rev. J. P. Robinson, pastor Of the
First Baptist church, Seventh and
Gaines, Little Rock
Rev. e W. Merchant. pastor CT
Mount Zion Baptist church, Little
Rock.
Rev. J. G.. Battle. Pine Bluff.
! VIM. o. Davis, Little Rock
Dr.. E. c. Norris Helena.
Pref. P. NJ. Carver. Helena
Rev. J. NJ. Suggs, Forrest City.
DR.. d. B. Gaines, Little Rock.
J. c.. Mccoy, Stamps.
S. A Moseley, Pine Bluff.
T. Mayhan. Little Rock.
c.. H. Whitaker. Fort Smith.
Pauline Green. Little Rock.