Los Angeles herald., 1906-01-22
18 NEGROES DIE
IN CHURCH PANIC
CRY OF "FlRE" CAUSES A
STAMPEDE
Nearly Two Score Of the Worshipers
Injured In the Crush-LittIe
Damage Caused by
Blaze
~ Associated Press.

~ Associated Press.
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 21.-A wild
panic, following a loud shrek of fire"
brought death to eighteen negroes and
injuries to nearly two-score of others
tonight in st. Paul's Baptist church
on the west side of Eighth street be-
tween Poplar street and Girard ave-
nue. The terrible rush to gain the
street was of brief duration, a. 4 that
more were not killed in the stah pede
probably was due to the fact that the
church was not crowded.
At the time the disaster occurred
not more than 300 persons were on the
second floor of the building, which,
with the gallery, was capable of ac-
commodating 600 to 700. The fire was
trifling one and vas extnguished
before the firemen arrived.
The smell of smoke added to the panic
and despite heroic work by the Rev.
Mr.. johnson, pastor of the, church,
who tried in vain to allay the fears
of the frightened worshipers the ter
ror-stricken people made a desperate tc
rush to leave the church, only to be
choked up on the 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 tine first rioor and stairs of
the building. Death in nearly every
case was due to suffocation or tramp
ling. NJ
The IL ,ntified Dead
Following is 3, list of the identified
dead:
SARAH RUFfNG.
MRS. LAWRENCE.
MRS. PATTON.
RUTH FRAMER.
JOHN BERRY.
ANNA ALEXANDER, aged 40.
MAMIE MCKINNEY.
SUSIE HOLMES.
MRS. ARE-stNEBLOC
CHARLES yGf RDINER. aged IA.
MAMIE MCCALL.
AMBROSE SLAUGHTER, aged 8.
CATHERINE SEWELL.
RUTH TRAINER.
The disaster occurred while a colIec-
tion Vas b. ing taken up. The pastor
had jIlst concluded his sermon, the text
of which was WHY sit we here until
we dis!"
Preparing for Baptism
Following the collection there was to
have been a baptism. Some of the
negroes had left the church and the
others were about to CO. AS the pas
tor was arranging the pulpit prepar-
atory to beginning the baptismal SER
vice woman in one of the front rows
gave q loud shrek of fire"
Instantly all those about her were on
their feet, looking for the blaze. There
We're no flames in sight, but those near
the pulpit smelled smoke and started
down the aisle toward the pulpit. Then
followed a half dozen cries of fire"
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 ap-
peals rush started that meant death
to many that We're in it.
At the rear of the church on the
second floor there is a wide doorway
which leads to 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.
Weaker Ones TrampIed Upon
When the rush started those in the
rear of the church did not fully realize
what was wrong and We're slow to
women and children became louder and
more general and many were knocked
down in the two aisles of the church.
Then came the terrible rush down the
stairs. For some unknown reason
everybody tried to get down the left
side of the building, comparatively few
attempting to leave by the right stair
way One eyewitness says that per-
haps a dozen persons got safely down
the stairs when several people tripped
and fell and caused the narrow way to
become jammed. Several men on the
first floor attempted to hold the people
back, but were knocked down, and then
Pf human stream came tumbling
Gown, The weaker ones fell only to be
" crampled upon ar crushed by those
coming from behinl
The horrible s,l2eks 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,
men, women and children, became ter
ror-stricken. Strong men, in fear that
the building was falling, leaped over
the heads of women and children and
fought only for their own safety. The
terrific crush i'm the bends of the stairs
became so great that the balus trade,
which was only a frail wooden affair,
gave way There was terrific crash
as YfoJf a hundred persons were pre-
ciDit.ted to the floor,