The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1909-05-14
$50 OF 5000 SPECTATORS FALL
ON RUNNERS, CRUSHING VIC.
TORS AS THEY FINISH.
SCORES OF BONES BROKEN
Geenral Leads Seattle Militia to Aid
!, Of Unconscious Among Victims
Some Were Injured
Fatally.

Seattle, Washington.-From $50
to 175 persons were injured, some ia
tally, others seriously, and all slight
ly hurt or severely shaken, by the
giving way of an iron guard rail in
the balcony of the National Guard
armory on Western avenue just be-
fore midnight, where fully 5000 spec
tators were witnessing the indoor
track and field championships of the
Pacific Northwest Association Of the
Amateur Union.
Among the more seriously hurt
whose names are known Capt. Maurice
Thompson of the National Guard of
Washington suffered a fractured skull
and internal hurts, while his wife, who
was trampled, was hurt internally.
Cecil Thompson has a fractured skull
and broken nose.
f. Jackson, winner Of the Marathon,
was crushed under the falling crowd,
and e. r. Crabbe, second in the race,
suffered a wrenched back from per-
sons falling on him.
Gus Havers, secretary of the Seat
Wv SHNhiCtit tluD, ouIcItu llttTldl III
,juries.
Scores Of Arms inc Legs Broken.
A score or more persons sustained
broken arms and legs and similar in
juries. Five or six are unconscious
n have not been identified.
AS the ten-mile Marathon contest
ants crossed the line near the center
of the armory the great crowd surged
TO the front of the balcony and as
near the finish line as possible. At
the moment Jackson crossed the line
The IRON guard rail reaching 300 feet
along the east side of the structure
save way for its full length and from
200 70 $50 persons were plunged head
long 16 feet down onto a hard oak
floor, the surface of which is almost
AS solid as steel.
Militia Begins Rescue Work.
They were in an instant hurled into
an undesirable mass of suffering and
moaning humanity. Skulls were
crashed, arms and legs broken by the
score, internal injuries sustained. Men,
women and children. were carried over
and down.
For a moment panic ensued. Nation
al guardsmen, led by Adjt. Gen. Lam
ping, began to extricate the wounded.
Every available ambulance and van
responded to an alarm, as also did
an emergency squad Of police and two
companies Of firement. Physicians
ca lie by the score and gave their serv-
ices.
The injured were conveyed to hos
pitfalls and some Of the less seriously
hurt to their own homes. The Receiv-
ing, Providence, General and minor
hospitals were filled quickly, and many
had to be taken to private hospitals
and sanitariums.
Several thousand persons assembled
entrance to the building, already
crowded, to the annoyance and him
drance of those engaged in caring for
the victims.
The armory, where the disaster &C.
CURED, but recently was finished, and
has not yet been accepted by the Ma
tional Guard. Mathew Dow & Co. are
the contractors, and they claim the
structure was substantially built.
However, Adjt. Gen. Lamping asserted
the accident vas undoubtedly due to
faulty construction; that the guard
rail was not secure. Had its been Sc
curely fastened and braced, he assert
ed, such a crowd could not possibly
have pushed or torn it loose.