The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1906-01-25

STAMPEDE EMsuES
Several of the Victims Were Literally
Tramp!ed to Death Beneath the
Feet of Hundreds of People
All Seeking the Exits.

Philadelphia, IAN. "a Wild panic
following a oud Shrek of fire
brought death TO eighteen colored per-
sons and injuries to nearly two score
of others las night in st. Pauls Bap-
fist church on the west side of Eighth
street, between Poplar street and Cir
ard went The terrible rush to gain
the street was of short duration, and
that more were not killed in the stam-
pede vas probably due to the fact that
the church was not crowded.
At the time the disaster occurred not
more than 500 persons were on he Sec
ond leo of the building, which with
the gallery was capable Of accorlno-
dating 600 to 700. The fire was q triflinS
one and was extinguished before the
firenaen arrived. The smell of smoke
added to the panic and despite the
heroic work of the Rev. e. w. Johnson,
the pastor of the church, who tried in
VAN to allay the fears of the fright
aned worshippers, the terror stricken
people made u desperate rush TO cave
the church only to be choked up on
he narrow stairway.
Those in the rear leaped over the
PROSTATE forms of those who fell,
and when the rush was over eighteen
lay dead on the first floor n stairs
Of the building.
Death in nearly every case was due
to suffocation or trampling.
Following is a list Of the identified
dead:
SARAH RUFING.
MRS. LAWRENCE.
MRS. PATTON.
RUTH TRAINER.
JOHN BERRY.
ANNA ALEXANDER, aged 40.
MAMIE M;KINNEY.
SUSIE HOLMES.
MRS. MARY WEBLOCK.
CHARLES GARDINER, aged IA
years.
MAMIE M'CALL.
ABOZ SLAUGHTER, 8 years old.
CATHERINE SIIWELL.
RUTH TRAINER.
The disaster occurred while q col
lection was being aiken Up. The
pastor had just concluded his sernlon
l.ere until we die?"
Following the collection there was to
nave been q baptism of q man and wife.
Some Of the colored people, owing to
he lateness of the hour, had left the
church and others We're abou to go.
AS the pastor was arranging the
pulpit preparatory to beginning the
baptism service a woman in n of the
'front.' rows of the left side of the altar
gave a loud Shrek of "Fire!' Instant
~ all those about her were on their feet
looking for the blaze. There were no
flames in sight, but there was a smell
Of smoke, and the whole congregation
became panic stricken.
The pastor by this time realized the
seriousness of the situation and in a
loud voice, which only added to the
confusion, called to the terror stricken
people to be seated. No one listened,
and despite his frantic appeals a rush
started that meant death to many that
were in it.
At the Year of the church on the
second floor there is q wide doorway
which eads to a stairway to each side
of the building. Each stairway has a
sharp bend, which proved to be the
principal contributory cause for the
jam. The front door on the first floor
is wide and easy of exit.
When the rush started those in the
rear of the church did not fully real
ize what was wrong and were slow to
move. The frantic sllrieking of the
women and children became louder and
more general, II many were knocked
down in the two aisles of the church.
Then came the terrible rush down
the stairways. For some unknown rea-
son everybody tried to get down the
left side of the building, comparatively
few attempting to leave by the right
stairway. One eye witness says that
perhaps Il dozen persons got safely
down the stairs when several people
tripped and fell and caused the mar
row way to become damned. Several
men on the first floor attempted to hold
the people back, but were knocked
down, and then the human stream came
tumbling down. The weaker ones fell,
only to be trampled Upon and crushed
by those coming from behind.
The horrible shrieks sent up by the
PROSTATE persons added to the con-
fusion, and by this time even the cooler
ones in the rear of the fighting mass
Of men, women and children became
terror stricken. Strong men in fear
that the building was falling leaped
over the heads of ONE and children
and fought for their own safety.