The Monroe journal. [volume] (Monroe, N.C.) 189?-1965, 1911-08-29
DEAD AT SHOW
False Cry of Fire Creates a Pa
mic and a Crowd is Suffocated
Many Women and Children.


CanOnsburg, Pa, Aug. ~
Twenty-six dead from suffoca-
tion, twenty five seriously IN
jured. thirty suffering from mi
nor hurts, is the human toll ex-
acted last night during AN mex
cusable panic AT moving pie
ture show in the Canonsburg OPP
era house. The moving picture
machine developing slight de
feet. A small boy shouted Fire,
at the same time starting for the
narrow exit. Bolus Dubrowski.
a foreign miner, one of the dead.
a giant i'll proportions, jumped
from his seat and ran wildly for
the same exit. In a moment
there was a fighting, struggling
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 before him who
were waiting their turn to enter
the theator and soon there was
an indescribable pile of human
beings at the foot of the steps,
battling like mad. With the ex-
ception of three people all are
local people.
1t was all over in short time.
Volunteer firemen, several police
man and a few level headed citi-
zens untangled the human mass,
The unhurt and those slightly
injured were pulled from the top
of the pile. AS they gained the
street, they ran screaming like
maniacs to all parts Of the small
town: next came the more Seri-
ously injured, and these were
sent home are taken to nearby
houses, while Il few were rushed,
unconscious, to the hospitals.
Then the reSeuers came to the
silent forms of those who had
reached the fatal stairway first.
One after another, the victims,
many of them women and small
children, were carried to the
sidewalk. All had been suffoca.
ted and the faces showed terror
! Dubrowski s wild flight
through the theater and his sub
sequent stumble down the stair,
into those entering the building
was the beginning Of the death
struggling jam at the foot of Til,
stairs The bodies clogged tn,
doorway. Men walked ovel
them and fought for position,
of safety until. overwhelmed b,
the weight from the moving mas,
they too were crushed to death.
When the doorway had beer
filled, still other persons walk
ed over the bodies Of those VIII,
had gone down, and breaking til,
glass transom over the doc
crawled through and dropped in
to the street.
OF the twenty-six dead. thir
teen were children, seven pupil
in the public schools. Today i
was decided by the school autho
rites TO postpone the openin!
of the schools for week.
Arthur McPeake. aged q
whose name is among the dead
was passing, when the bodies be
gan to pile up at the door. Tn
: young man rushed to the rescu
and was in the act of draggin,
a body from the pile when a MAJ
came hurting down the stair,
He struck McPeake on the back
and the young man 5 neck wa
broken.
Sidney Rigger, aged 30 0
Youngstown. O.. was at the PEI
: formancc with his fiance, Mis-
Lula Fisher, aged %. Of Gle
Campbell. Penn. Before entcl
ing the building, they had StoI
ped at a nearby jewelry stor,
and Rigger had bought the rim
, that was to have been used a
their wedding. Both were XII
led.
Wilmer Lane, volunteer fir,
man, FASTENED to answer til
alarm and was working at tn
pile of bodies at the entranc
when he came upon the lifeles
forms of his two children, lyin
by his unconscious wife.
Samuel Lane entered the bult
ing a short time before the alarr
was given. He was making hi
: way down when he saw Il chill
almost under his feet. As h
: stopped to pick her up, he re,
ognized his granddaughter, br
at that moment he was caagf
in the mighty whirl and she wa
swept out of his reach and Kill