Daily Kennebec journal., 1913-12-25
FOUR SCORE PERSONS
DIE IN FIRE PANIC.
Continued from Page One.)

|
stairway and lay them in row be-
side the building.
This disposition of the crumpled
bodies was found inadvisable because
of the misery it caused among the
spectators, and the corpses were car
ried back into the hall as soon as 1t
was emptied of the frightened persons
All the chairs were lined with bodies
and other corpses had to be placed in
the kitchen of the hall and beneath
the stage.
Inside of an hour nearly every one
in Calumet was as near the scene as
it was possible to get. The police form
ed a Gordon about the place and kept
back the crowd. After much effort
lane was opened through the crowd and
the bodies of the children were carried
to the Red Jacket Village hall which
was turned into a morgue.
1t was many hours before all the
bodies We're identified.
During the confusion several bodies
of children were wrongfully identified
by mothers and taken away, only to
be returned later by the parents who
had found their own offsprings. In 9TH
er cases parents ran about for some
| time uncertain whether their children
were dead or alive Many mothers
tainted, while others cursed those who
lnterfered with their mad search.
Frantic women ran the streets for
hours calling for their little ones. Eff
! forts were made to calm them and
many were taken into homes so that
they might have proper attention. In
this way often husbands and wifes
We're separated.
Of the 700 persons in the hall more
than three-fourths were children, many
of them having gone without their pa
| rents.
! These fathers and mothers rushing
te the scene added to the confusion
hindering the rescuers by insisting on
! information as to what had occurred
There was fire escape at the rear OF
/ the building, but only those who were
very near it could make any use of it un-
/ til after the fatal rush was over. Prob
aoly not more than a hundred persons
/ escaped the first rush by way of this fire
escape About score more jumped from
windows and escaped without injury.
The italian hall was built about five
years ago and was we'll provided for
/ emergencies, it was thought The en-
/ trance was a hallway about 10 feet deep
/ A stairway abaut eight feet wide led up
4 from this vestibule to small landing
about by 10 feet. The main door of the
+ hall opened on this landing There is a
small cloak room about 10 feet square at
one side of the main door. The loss of
life was heavy at the small door of this
! room The rush apparently turned many
against the door of this room and crush
| ed them to death within the doorway.
The greatest number of dead in any one
place, however, was at the bottom of the
/ stairs. Those who reached the stairs
/ first were evidently hurled downward by
those behind, and in this fashion the
stairway was filled to the ceiling That
death in most instances was due to suf-
location under the weight of those who
fell Hast was indicated by the fact that
few of the eorpses bore marks of inju.
ries.z Bodies We're crumpled and broken
/ but the features We're not cut or bruised
1t was ascertained that there was
| no fire in the building to cause the
alarm. Even the Christmas tree did
not show any evidence of fire. It was
! lighted by electricity and every pre-
| caution had been taken by those in
charge of the entertainment to avoid
! danger on account of the large num-
Der of children. Mrs Annie Clemens,
president of the Women's Auxiliary,
said she was on the stage directing
the distribution of gifts, when the
panic started. She and other women
| had been intent on keeping the chill
| dren orderly and in line. She said the
women in charge tried to stem the on
rush and quiet the people, but their
4.shouts that nothing was wrong were
futile.
The children, even, were seized with
panic, but the smaller ones, many not
more than years old, were soon de-
prived of fear with the snuffing out
! of their lives under the heels of the
| larger persons, who blindly, or be-
cause impelled by those behind, trod
their very offspring to death.
One man was seen to stop to take
UP his little girl, only to be pushed
with great force to tread her beneath
him. A woman who ran to seize three
smaller boys was crushed to death
with them as she sought to shelter
| them in her arms. One child about 5
| years Ola, VINO was TOO greatly IrlSnt-
ened to give her name, made her way
unharmed to the street, by way of the
! fire escape, after all others who were
free had fled. She had been knocked
down by the mad rush, but no one had
stepped on her.
A search was begun for the man who
began the panic. Some of the strikers
asserted they had reason to believe he
is a member of the Citizens Alliance,
recently organized to restore law and
order in the mining field during the
strike. This charge was quickly denied
by Alliance members, hundreds of
whom were early on the scene aiding
in the removal of bodies and caring for
the injured and bereaved.
| 1t was said by those near the door
that the man came up the stairs from
a saloon, and that his breath, blowing
| forth with the word Fire" smelled
strongly of liquor Many men in the
crowd about the hall after the catas-
trophe swore vengeance if the man
could be found. 1t is also feared that