The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-02-23


 this afternoon the morgue on Second av- enue has been beseiged by a, seeking mass of humanity. Some os the caskets which were brought on a special train this morning were used to keep the srog back from the door of the store- room which Is being used by the under takers to prepare the illfated men for burial. Policemen have had hard work to control the crowds both at the front and the back doors
 The excitement commenced with the ar- rival of the first special at D. m. last night, which brought 26 of the dead. At a. m. another car containing 19 more arrived and by daylight streams of people were endeavoring to get a glimpse of the bodies. Before 8 o'clock friends of the victims were on hand to claim their dead, but as the caskets did not arrive until 10 o'clock 1t was mid night before the first corpse was taken out for shipment. By o'clock nearly all had been claimed
 Pitlful Exhibitions of Grief.
 The scenes which have been enacted all day long are such as will dwell for ever in the minds of those who witness ed them. The grief of those who failed to find their dead was heart-rendering In the extreme. One man who had heard that ms DTDt0eT Idu DttIl SHipptu HSi walked from the scene of the catastro- phe only to find he had been misinform- ed. Another man, a negro who had lost three relatives, pleaded hard with the officers to be allowed to enter the room as he had found two and wanted to ma the third-a brother. The man he want ed was not within and his grief was pitiful to behold.
 All day long it was expected that more
 ...1 at n A whistle from the Louisville and Nash vile railroad tracks the crowds would flock to the depot. At 3:t5 D. m. another special with six more bodies arrived and the excitement which had somewhat sub- sided after most of the dressed corpses had been taken away received decided impetus and again ran to the highest pos sible pitch
 Every effort has been made to keep back the morbid curiosity seekers, but in spite of all hundreds managed to evade the officers and get inside of the morgue.
 Gruesome Scene Presented.
 The scene inside the building was grue- some to the very extreme.
 One one side of the room, which Is 100 by 25 feet, the bodies of the white miners were laid side by side While the other side was used for those of the colored. Nearly all the faces bespoke un- utterable agony and most of the hands were frightfuly burned; evidently in the effort to ward off the flames from their faces. A few looked placid and serene. but the majority were horribly mangled. One man was headless while another had had the top of his seal, completely torn off. Many were perfectly limp having had ev- cry bone in their bodies broken. With dis torted features. broken and mangled limbs, the bodies presented frightful spectacle It was sight to shudder at.
 The following bodies were carried away by relatives and friends this afternoon: M l.. Turner. to Cottondale; John Brown, to Blocton; Will Dickinson. to Dolomte; Steve Hawkins, to Blossburg; Frank l.. Turner, to Tuscaloosa; John l. Nelson. to Birmingham: Sandy Nelson, Ira Powell, Kirby Powell, James Brown, James Meachan. Henry Meachan. Pat Crowley, Steve Crowley, J. F. Stalling (colored), Dick Tidmore. to Pratt City; Fred Nor gan, to Adger. The bodies of the follow ing Italians were sent to Blocton for burial: Tolsey viristo, Roca Rafford Lam zie Viro. Tolsey Versido. The funeral of all the men who have been carried away today will be. held tomorrow.