Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-11
IN CRUSH AT SENATE
Women Scream and One Man
Faints in the Jam.
CLOTHING TORN IN RUSH
Hats and Wraps Wrested From Own
ers and Trampled Under Foot
POLICE CANNOT CHECK CROWD
Not One-Fifth of Assembled People
Secure Vantage Place in Galleries
to Hear Tillman.
POLICE CANNOT CHECK CROWD

| Screams Of women hurt in the crush
their clothing torn, their wraps and hats
wrested from them and their coiffures
deranged in the struggle for place
echoed through the halls and corridors
| of the Senate wing of the Capitol this
morning
A man who gave his name as c. r. L.
Crout of this city was severely injured
about the head and tainted.
No. one-ffth of the throng that gath
cred in the hope to hear Senator Tillman
in his retort to the charges of Presi-
dent Roosevelt gained admission to the
galleries There were thousands of
wouId-be auditors, those in the rear of
the tbrong trying 10 crush their way to
the fore.
When the gallery doors were opened
the crush reached its climax Those
who were first to enter literally tum-
bled down the steps.
Pandemonium Reigned.
So great was the throng outside the
doors of the galleries that when the
doorkeepers, an hour earlier than usual
allowed the stream to pour In, peflec'
pandemonium reigned. Outside and IN
side the reserved gallery and the ladies'
gallery there We're screaming ana rehu-
| ing of clothes in the fierce fight ior
| seats.
| thousands of both sexes and all ages
| were in the rush The Capitol police were
entirely inadequate to handle them IN
| less time than it takes to tell every avail
! a bic seat was taken in every gallery eA-
| cept those in the Presidents and wee
| Presidents and in the diplomatic boxes
Left on the outside were thousands. III
was absolutely impossible to move about
| in the corridors on the top moor, SO tnichy
| were they packed. And this rfotwlthstanu-
| ing that there was not chance 10 &c.
inside nor even to look IN.
| Those who did get in had to fight tnelr
| way forward. Hats torn from women 5
heads were trampled under foot. Dresses
were rent, hair disheveled and BODIES
| bruised WOmen's cries echoed through
the chamber.
| When at last every seat was taken ana
| the police had by main force pushed BACK
out of the aisleS those who had been SO
| unfortunate as not to get seats, the peo-
ple \on the inside spent quarter OF an
hour looking for their lost garments. In
| the reserved and ladies' galleries, where
| the crush had been the greatest, the po-
| lice gathered up hats, furs and other ar
tlcieS ol WettllhS dplfiiCl anu iOt" e'N.AA
| uD for identification. Most of the hats
were but a sad representation of what
| they had been.
Crowd Keeps Coming.
Meantime the crowd on the outside of
| the doors grew. By IL o'clock the police
| had absolutely refused admission TO the
| top floor This did not prevent thousands
| from gathering on the lower floors, and
| long after noon throngs were pouring into
| the Senate end of the Capitol.
1t looked like a circus day. with the
| Capitol as the big tent.
There was such pressure for seats on
| the part of senator's families that the prl-
vate senatorial gallery was opened as
early as 10 O'Clock. The doors had no
sooner swung outward than the crowd
poured in.
There were. however so many in the
| corridors that the withdrawal of the few
who found seats made little difference in
the appearance of the outside crowd.
! The card galleries usually remain
/ closed until II 40, but the pressure was so
great that they were opened an hour
| earlier today.
Although the day in that body was set
apart for the consideration of legislation
| relating to the District of Columbia and
! nothing unusual was expected to occur.
| the galleries were packed, while hundreds
| of others struggled to gain admittance-
| number of measures of a purely local
character were passed.