Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-04-18

stairs OF the Masonic tempe at lHe
southwest corner of Washington street
and Capitol avenue, were crowded with
a pushing, yelling crowd of newsboys,
each anxious to be first to receive his
pass. When the distribution began, the
excitement became more intense, and
the efforts of several policemen who
had been detailed to prevent trouble,
were unavailing 1t is alleged by a
witness; that one of the boys in the en-
deavor to hasten the exit shouted
fire" Immediately those at the top
faced around and with almost super
human strength began to force their
way to the bottom of the stairs.
Shrieks and physical encounters fol-
lowed for a few seconds, when from
some cause, those near the top fell
headlong upon the struggling mass at
the bottom.
Begin Work Of Rescue.
Immediately policemen from the
central station, who responded to a
riot call, began the work of rescue.
Four of the boys were dead when ex-
tricated from their position at the bot
tom of the stairs. Others believed to
have been fatally crushed, were taken
out as fast as they could be olsen
tangled from their frenzied compan-
ions, who fought and chung to each
other in desperation.
The immense crowd Of people from
the business district attracted by wild
rumors, jostled about the bottom of the
stairs and hampered the work of the
policemen and ambulance corps.
The dead were hurriedly placed in
ambulances and sent to the morgue for
sent to the city hospital and the city
dispensary, while many who received
only slight injuries were made COM
Portable and sent to their homes.
Owing to the excitement which pre-
vailed about the scene of the accident
and the prompt efforts Of the officers
to secure immediate medical attention
for the injured, it will be some time be-
fore the exact number of the casualties
can be ascertained.
The Mystic Tie Masonic lodge was
meeting in it's chambers in the building
when the panic occurred, and many
of the boys were rescued by lodge
members.
Relatives Flock to Place.
Mothers, fathers and relatives of the
boys flocked to the place and frantic
with grief, they forced their way into
the dense crowd, weeping, moaning
and crying for their loved ones. The
police could not allow them to flock
into the hall and around the injured
boys. This fact caused an agonizing
suspense for many.
With the aid of at least fifty police
men, doctors, lodge members and other
rescuers, it required fully three-quar-
tiers Of an hour to remove the lads to
the conveyances which carried them
home or to the hospitals. Relatives
who did not reach the hall before the
boys were taken away, swarmed to the
different hospitals, and dispensaries,
and men had to be stationed at those
institutions to keep the crowd from
breaking into the rooms where the lads
We're being cared for.
After the injured had been taken
from the scene of death and the crowd
had left the sidewalk, the sight pre-
senred by the stairway and walk in
front of the door and in the upper
hallway was gruesome in the extreme.
Blood trickled down the steps and
fragments of clothing and flesh were
strewn here and there.
The catastrophe evidently had little
effect on about forty of the ''Newsies,"
who, instead of returning home to re-
lieve the minds of anxious parents,
Went to the theater.