Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1914-01-02
z KILLED IN PANIC
MAN's CRY AT CHRISTMAS cELE-
BRATIoN CAUSES MAD RUSH
AT CALUMET, MICH.
STEPS BLOCKED By BODIES
Men, Women and Children Are Vic
tins of Fiend's Act-Hundreds
Rush Down Narrow Stairway Try
ing to Escape from FLAMES"

Calumet, Mich, Dec. 27.-Seventy-
two persons-men, women and chill
dren, some babes in arms-were
trampled and sufoeated to death here
in mad panic to escape from what
they thought was burning building.
What they really fed from was an
insane mans cry of "Fire!"
When he let out his fateful cry sew
eraI hundred persons were gathered
round great Christmas tree ar
ranged for the starving children of
the striking miners. It was Sne first
to;tca of joy they have known in
months
A moment later human avalanche
was pouring madly down a narrow
aiight of stairs-the only egress from
Che building to the street.
In five minutes it was all over. The
stairway was packed and damned to
Che ceiling with dead bodies. Seven
ty-tWo were taken TO undertaking
ROOMS.
The bodies of five men, 13 women,
q boys and 80 girls lie in temper
Rry morgue established in the town
hall
Detectives are seeking the scatter
aorained-or, perhaps. worse-person
whose shout started the rush to death
The miners, already desperate from
months of fruitless struggle for better
conditions and higher wages, are NUT
fering threats against the Calumet &
HecIa properties. Many think the cry
of alarm was uttered by some one
agent or employee, perhaps-not IN
sympathy with the strike.
Investigation later showed there
wasn't a vestige of fire in the build
nothing a blaze could have start
ed from There wasn't even candle
on the Christmas tree-the people
who gave the celebration were too
poor to buy candles. For that reason
! thsy gave the celebration in the day.
time
There is some dispute among those
VINO saw the man whose act is re-
GEonsible for the loss of so many lives
&C. 10 whether he was in the hall dur
ing the exercises. Two women who
we're near the door when the rush
started, but pressed back against the
wall and escaped being caught in the
maelstrom of death, say the first cry
came from the stairway.
Fire." shouted the man. "Fire'"
The crowd turned toward the stairs,
but they saw no fire nor anyone yell
Ing ~Fire!"
The next moment he appeared in
tRe doorway, while all the crowd
gazed at him spell-bound
fire." he screamed
a low murmur ran through the
crowd and it shifted uneasily.
Tire! Fret" ne repeated. He
waved his arms and dashed down the
stairway. with death in his wake.
The next moment the. crowd swept
10 che top Of the stairs and began its
maddened fight to reach the street.
Women with babes in their arms
were hurled over the stairway on top
Of their own and their neighbors' chill
dren. The frenzied shouts and
screams of the living mingled with
the gasps and groans of the dying in
a horrible tumult.
Many Of the frantic men and wom-
en- fought to get to the windows, 40
feet from the ground Some did Half
n dozen bodies, all Of adults, crushed
beyond recognition we're picked up
Beneath the windows. But the few
3n the hall who kept their heads final
fy stopped the rush for the windows,
and when rescue parties arrived
these left alive in the hall were ex-
hausted from their efforts.
Men rushed to open the doors They
did not then know the extent of the
horror and for some time tried to
press the doors inward. This was i'm
possible Finally axes were brought
and the doors were chopped off their
hinges.
Then the rescuers encountered TIER
real trouble. The bodies were piled
to the ceiling and it was impossible
TO extricate them. The efforts from
below finally were abandoned and it
was necessary to begin at the top
OF the stairs and work downward
through the mass.
Mcughton citizens pledged $1,2OG
for the relief of the relatives of the
panic victims and appointed conf
Eaittee to receive other contributors,
which are expected to be large.