St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1911-09-02
26 CRUSHED
TO DEATH
Frightened Boy Cries Fire;
a Rush Follow S.
People Pile Up in a Mass At
the Foot of the Stairs.
Others Walk Over Them and
Trample Them to Death.
Three Hundred Escape from
the Ttage Entrance,

Canonsburg, Pa, Aug. 27.-Twen-
ty-six dead from suffocation, twenty
five seriously injured. and thirty suf-
fering from minor hurts, is the
amount of human toll exacted by an
inexcusable panic at moving picture
show in the Canonsburg Opera House
Saturday night.
The moving picture machine de-
veloped a slight defect. A small boy
shouted "fire," at the same time
started for the narrow exit. Budos
Dubrowski, a foreign miner, giant
in proportions, jumped from his seat
and ran wildly for the same exit. In
moment there was fighting, strug-
Cling mass after him. At the head
Of a narrow stairway which led to
the street the foreigner tripped. AS
he rolled down the stairs he swept
others from their feet who were
awaiting their turn to enter the
theatre, and soon there was an in
dcscriable jam of human beings at
the foots of the steps battling like
nladmen.
Dubrowski wild fight through the
theatre and his subsequent stumble
down the stairs into those entering
the building was the beginning OF
the death jam at the foot of the
stairs. The bodies clogged the door
way. Men walked over them and
fought for positions OF safety until.
overwhelmed by the weight of the
moving mass behind, they, too, were
crushed down to death.
When the doorway had been filed
up still other persons walked over
the bodies of those who had gone
down and, breaking the glass tran
som over the door, crawled through
and dropped into the street.
In Few Minutes.
II all ended in a few minutes.
Volunteer firemen, several policemen
and a few level-headed citizens un-
tangled the human mass. The un-
hurt and those slightly injured were
pulled from the top of the pile. Al
they gained the street they ran
screaming away. Next came the
more seriously hurt, and these were
sent home or taken to nearby
houses, while a few were rushed un-
conscious to hospitals. Then the res
cUers came to the silent forms o1
those who had reached the fata
stairway first. One after anothel
TIE victims, many of them womeI
ana small children, were carried tt
the sidewalk ALL had been suffo
Gated.
Manager Ferguson endavored t
: stop the panic. Accompanied by hi
wife, he started for the stairs, bu
/ seeing there was no e scape, he Wen
t to the stage. Calling loudly to tn
{ frightened people to follow, he le'
: th> way to the rear, and fully 80
, escaped in this way.
Of the twenty-six dead, thirtee
5 were children, seven of them pupil
| in the public schools To-day it wa
: decided by the school authorities t
: pc stpone for a week the opening Q
The schools.
Arthur McPeake was passing tn
J building when the bodies began t
+ pile up at the door. The young ma
G rushed to the rescue and was in tn
e act of dragging body from the pill
t when a man came shooting down tn
S stairs. He struck McPeake on tn
: back and the young mans neck ws
broken.
: Sydney Rittiger was at the pc
y Torrance with his fnancee, Mi.
d Lulu Fisher. Before entering til
l. building they had stopped at
it iewelry store near by and Rittig,
l. had bought the ring that was to ha,
D. been used at their wedding. Bot
,e were killed.
4 Finds Two Children.
ly Wilmer Lane, member of the v6
le uEteer fire company, hastened
er answer the alarm, and was workil
IS. at the piles of bodies at the entran
D. when he came upon the lifeless forr
ce Of his two children lying beside /
ay unconscious wife Samuel Lane,
he Morganesa, not knowing that his sol
n family were at the theatre, had {
tered the building short time befo
ed the alarm was given. He rush
es toward the stairs and was maxi
It his way down when he saw a CHI
d. almost under his feet. AS he stot
n ed to pick her up he recognized
re. granddaughter, but at that wome
is he was caught in the mighty VIII
he and she was swept out of his res
or. and killed. He was hurt serious
ng Coroner James T. Hcfferan has
or gun a rigid investigation. He
ry rived at the scene early to-day q
Ike sele cted jury.
he 1t developed during the day Il
there was no flash from the operat
of the theatre, nor was there
ell slightest sign of fire. Mana
lie. Ferguson of the opera house expla
nd ed that when the film broke bril-
a light was thrown on the screen. Z
ter frightened boy imagined it was f
No anti unconsciously shouted out
ter death knell of more than score
It's. persons.