TWO HUNDRED CHILDREN SUFFOCATED.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1136, 18 August 1883, Page 3

TWO HUNDRED CHILDREN SUFFOCATED.

The European Mail of June 29th gives the following account of the above occurrence :

A sad calamity which has never been equalled in this country, either in regard to its great extent, or the singularity of its circumstances, occurred in Sunderland on the afternoon of June 16th, by which about 200 children lost their lives. The greater number of children were from five to twelve years of age. A conjuring entertainment, known as ' The Fays,' was given to an audience of school children, which filled the vaßt building called the Victoria Hall. The gallery in particular was crowded to its utmost capacity with children, who had been permitted to a special performance at a charge ot one penny; The following will show the nature of the attraction : —' Victoria Hall, Sunderland—On Saturday afternoon, at three o'clock—School ticket—The Fays will give a grand day performance for chil-1 dren ; the greatest' treat' or children j ever given. Conjuring, talking waxworks, living, marionettes, the great ghost illusion, etc. This ticket will admit any number of children on payment of Id each, reserved seats 2d, nurse or parents with children 3d. Prizes— Every child entering the room will stand a chance of receiving a handsome present of books, toys, etc' The entertainment passed off successfully, and at the close the occupants of the gallery rnshed to the lower part, where holders of prize tickets were to receive the prizes to which they were entitled. It was at this moment the dreadful calamity happened. While the children were rushing down stairs, a door on the landing by Borne means got closed, the result being that the children, pressing forward with impetuosity, fell upou each other in a dense mass. A fearful scene at once ensued. The unfortunate victims shrieked and cried for aid ; but those behind, still pressing on, fell upon those in front, until a terrible heap of struggling children gasped and died. Steps were at once taken to liberate the living and remove the dead. The latter were removed to the area and the dress circle, where they were laid'out for identification. Tho frightful news quickly spreading, the hall was soon besieged by an excited crowd, among whom were parents of children who were known to have been in the place. Sunderland has never before witnessed so heartrend-1 ing a scene as was presented by mothers shrieking *nd struggling to obtain entrance to the building in order to recover their children. A number of medical men were promptly on the spot, and the victims were removed to the Infirmary, the Palatine Hotel, and other places in the vicinity. Words cannot picture the extent of the awful catastrophe, nor the sceaes that were witneised when the accident became known. It would appear from the statements made that at least 1100 children were in the gallery of the hall at th 3 time of the disaster, and that it occurred in consequence of the excitement caused by the distribution of the prizes in the area. Those in the gallery rushed down the stairs, and the door, which opens against the wall facing the bottom, in some way or other got almost closed. The staircase is winding from the gallery, and those above could not tell what was causing the block below. They therefore came on ia full force down the stairway, about 7ft wide, until they were heaped up in an indiscriminate mass of struggling and dying children. Behind the door a bolt entered a link, and prevented it either closing entirely or g< ing back. Jt cMj'd not have i?'»ne Ivick, however, such was l.he. terrible strain behind, The liaU keeper «nw that something wa« wrmie, mil mi rushing round to the door, he found thebolt in. There being no chance of doing anything to save the children

but by pulling them through the 2ft aperture, lie rushed up to the upper dress circle landing, and tried to divert the stream of children in that direction. Hap/iiiy, in this he succeeded to a great extent, but the crush was terrible notwithstanding. He then hurried back to the door, where so many were dying, and pulled them out, in the wildest excitement. A man named Frank Raine was passing at the time, and was called upon to render aid. This he did to his utmost, and there would be, he says, at least two hundred behind the door. The difficulty experienced was in getting the little sufferers out of the passage between the outside door and that behind which they were jammed. Dr Waterson arrived, and he, too, strained every nerve to get the children out of the lobby as they were pulled through by Graham. He also helped to pull them through, some of them being dead and some living, but the latter in a helpless condition. So soon as they were extricated, parents were admitted, and it was sad to see them finding their little ones and taking them away in cabs. The conduct of the cabmen was beyond all praise. So soon as the calamity was known they hurried to the hall, and bore away as quickly as possible the grief-striken parents and their burden. Those who were not immediately identified and taken away were stretched out in rows to await inquiring friends. Only a certain number of people were admitted at a time, and as they carried their children to the cabs outside the misery of the scene was terrible to witness. The Queen sent a wreath to Sunderland to be placed among those which have been deposited upon the graves of the victims in the sad disaster, and expressed a desire to be represented at any public demonstra tion to express sorrow at the event. An important statement has been made bj the man who distributed the prizes to the children in the gallery ; he contradiets the allegations made by others to the effect that he bolted down the door only partially open, and thus caused the fatal crush, The manager of a Japanese troupe which recently gave a series of performances in the Victoria Hall, writes:—'l do not impute blame to anyone, but as a proprietor and director of public entertainments, with an experience of upwards of twenty-five years, and being most intimately acquainted with the construction and resources of the Victoria Hall, in the gallery of which I have had upwards of 2000 children, I have no hesitation in saying that the accident was in every wsy avoidable had but the most ordinary precautions been taken to regulate the exit of the children. Ido hope steps will be immediately taken to enforce the opening of all doors of places of amusement, as has been done in Australia.'