The Calumet news. [volume], December 26, 1913, EXTRA, Image 1

About The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938

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EXTRA
MEMBER OF THE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALL TODAY'S NEWS TODAY.
Ay
VOLUME XXIII.
CALUMET, MICHIGAN, FRIDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 26, 1913.
price: five cents.
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Committee
WITNESSED
WHO DID
Awakening In the enormitv of the
Christmas eve catastrophe, when seven
ly-two men, women and children went
to their deaths in a maddened rush to
leave (lie Italian hall, following
the cry of 4,l'ri!M by some arch
r.oiid who is yet unknown, the copper
country is in deep mourning, (iloom
spreads over the entire district, citizens
in all walks of life are saddened and the
hearts of everyone go out in sympathy
with the bereaved. Nothing is spared
that the heartaches of Hie parents, broth
ers and sisters may he alleviated. In Urn
dale of sorrow, citizens have forgotten
the industrial strife into which the dis
trict has heen plunged, and are standing
shoulder to shoulder in an effort to con-
sole
those herelt ol their loved ones.
With the subsiding i turmoil, deeds
1......;.,,, ,.,ne In li'hl Folcinost
el
lunon'.' Ihose who risked their lives were
the meinhers of the lied .laeUH lire
....vlin.uit who were the Ill's! on the
scone. Deputies, mounted police am!
niemhers of tie- Citizens' Alliance work
ed hand in hand and by thcr untiring
efforts, possibly hundreds were saved.
During the struggle to relen-e the mass
of human forms, many men and women
who were in the hall when the panic oc
curred, made frantic by the ghast Iv sight
of limp bodies being earriou helore t lien;,
impeded (he work of tin; rescuers. In
the coupon, they tugged alt
those who responded to the call lor help,
and time and again they became hyster
ical while the rescue work was in prog
H The heroism of Captain Manley head
of the Waddell Malum force in Calumet,
resulted in the saving ol" many lives
though he came within an ace ot hnvini:
bis life crushed out. Through a mob of
people, he surged up the lire "J'
J.ed his way into the strugg g
nowdtothostairwav where he assiste d
in moving the dead and injured. I v
was "erelyhurt that his life was in
''sAVED BY HEROIC MEASURES.
Kverv phvsician in the district re
sponded to the call for ined.ca aid and
their efforts were responsible ol t lie sjv
" o "everal lives. Two eh. Mrcn were
aved W artitieial re,, ration l.ree
other to the Tnmar ack am no thrb
to the Calumet Public. Laeli ot
Sildren will recover. ;j
late of the father ot one ot them, tlu. ois
n tho C. & IT- ll,ial y' y 1151,1
Mcntiy recovered lobe a Je o romp
about a Christmas ""l t?W
erected in one of the wards. I H om i
mho sent to their homes I?'
Waiuo Snari, aged .eve,. ' !;
lient at tho Laurium hospital. Vw u -
uTiltrcl to b Ifik.n lo fH" .
PhicU, JkUio Ui.it !lMt!, m m?a
day Will B
MTRENDING
HALL
lamed sit
e in
Out Its
SCENES
BY THOSE
RESCUE WORK
instances, was instantaneous, the. chil
dren dyinir from t!ie rupture of nrlerie.
or the crushing of vital organs, and the
adults dyinir from suffocation.
Scene after scene was so pathetic that
strong men were compelled to turn their
eyes.
One little tot, after being given up for
dead and taken to the morgue, showed
s'ilmi of life. Physicians were summon
ed, hut meanwhile, he had passed away.
Another little girl, not more than (I, lay
lor fully a half hour in a huihliug near
the ill-fated hall, apparently cold in
dealh. While men and women stood
mIiouI the little form, a slight move of
1 Imiids was noticed, then the feet mov
ed and the child vasped for breath. She
was taken to a hospital.
SCENES ARE HEARTRENDING.
The sight of nearly a hundred peoph-,
piled into a rcas six or more feet high
and extending almost thirty feet toward
the top of the stairs, was heartrending.
Children heirged to he rescued, pleaded,
iu the throes of death, to he drawn from
the mob mid cried amid sobs of excru
ciating pain for their parents. So irreat,
was the impact that children lying at tins
bottom of the mass, could not be ex
tricated. Abov. them, men and women,
slowly crushed out the lives' of those be
low. .lacoh Kaiser, second assistant chief of
the Ifed dackel department, was the lirsl.
lo arrive upon the scene. As he was 'ii
...;.,,r linino :it Kim and Fifth Wed.
nesdav evening, about !:!" o'clock, he
was attraeted by the alarm of lire. The
crv was repeated and ho sped toward the
lire station. As he entered the station,
n telephone call told of a tiro in the Ital
ian hall. An alarm was immediately
turned in from 15ox 4."), and a few mem
bers of the department who happened
to bo iu the vicinity of the station, re-
S ENTANGLED MASS OF BODIES.
As tiiev reached the, hall, the horror
was imni diately l rought to view. The
i-ush had already occurred and the surg
ing crowd was iu an entangled mass near
the bottom of the stairs. None of the
bodies were within eight feet of the out
er doors. After vainly tugging at the
bodies, Kaiser ran to the rear of the
building. He mounted the tire escape and
ran into the building. Pandemonium
reigned everywhere. Men, women and
children ran about tho rooms, screaming
franticallv, while others continued to
rush down the stairs to their death. Four
bodies lav upon the floor in a ticket office
at the top of the stairs. Other firemen
immediately followed aud the rescue
work began.
Vainlv calling to puuie-stnckcn pco
pie that there was no danger, they made
their wav through the mass toward the
center of the gioup. Continually, men,
women aud children were hulled against
them, in the mad effort to gain access to
the sheet. Eoy weie hoi lo leap ova
WTi
9
Bi
& Meeting of Citizens Tester
essioa Two
Plans
of
A
RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT
CALUMET MASS MEETING
"On the day, which Muouehout all
Christendom is set aside as a day o'
rejoicing over the birth of the Savior,
Calumet, stricken lo uic heart uv an
almost unbelievable catustropbc,
stands mourning by the side of its
dead.
"All bitterness and in-lccling that
has existed in this community during
the nast months is wiped away by one
great, common affliction. Today the
people of Calumet can only sec their
ncigbbors, tnoir nrotners, incir sisicis,
nnd their little children stacscrinff un-
der an almost unbearable burden of
distress and grief. " -
"It is not for us today to try to as
certain the cause, nor to speculate as
to how it might have been prevented.
With feeble mortal niinas we grope
about in vain, we try to penetrate the
evil which hides the logic and the rea
son for the acts of God, and from the
bonrts of our ncorlc the crv eoes out
todav. Whv must this overwhelming
blow at this time strike a community
and a people who have already suilcv-
cd so much And mere is no answer.
We can onlv bow our heads and know-
that somewhere, sometime and in His
own good way, He Himscll will give
the answer.
"And so today wc have gathered
liere to devise some means of allevi
ating the suffering of our people. With
thckindhestfcelinglor those who oiici
it, wc ask no outside help. These arc
our own people and tins is our sacred
privilege to (are lor our dead ami 10
comfort the living.
"Therclorc, wc order that the pur
pose of the meeting may be carried out
in an orderlv way and that the heart
felt svmpathv of not onlv this com
munity but of the entire state and na
tion may be conveyed to eacn one of
the afflicted, it is
"Resolved,. That the chairman of
this meeting and the presidents of
Red Jacket and Laurium appoint a
committee of twelve as a relief com
mittee; "That such committee meet at once
and choose a chairman, a secretary
and treasurer; ,
"That such committee be instructed
to take charge of the work of receiving
contributions and extending to the
sufferers all comfort and assistance m
their hour of distress;
"Thnt. suc.b committee may at any
time call for all such assistance as it
may need in its work and.
"That bv this meeting, represent
ing the people of Calumet, such com
mittcc is bidden Godspeed on its cr
rand of mercy."
the heads of the struggling crowd, only
to halt midway aud meet their doom. In
their death struggle the crowd seemed to
grasp anything within their reach and
Tin.' arms or legs of every person were
linked to those, nearest him. Some ol the
bodies lav upon the stairs, others had
been plunged hvad foremost. Slow ly, the
bodies nearest the top were carried by
the rescuers to the main tloor.
MANY BECOME DESPERATE.
Meanwhile, the remainder of the de
partment arrived and ladders were rais
ed to the windows into tho room to as
sjst. in the rescue. One by one, the bodies
Continue om P3' 4'h Column.
75
1
to
As a material expression of' the sym.
palhv of the community at large for the
hereaved families of the victims lost in i
the Italian hall disaster Christmas eve, ;
there was raised up to last night a tund ,
of $7,0(10 to ho used Ibr relief purposes ;
and to assist in defraying the expenses j
of burying the dead. This, iu addition
lo a fund uf Jf 1,500 raised a a mas meet
ing of Houghton citizens on the niirh!. ,
of the disaster, provides a sum ol Ml (
axailahle for immediate use. loie iimn j
cy will be forthcoming immediately.
No assistance from outride sources
will be necessary. The willins;'iies of
the citi.ens of this community and the
jopper country generally to meet the
emergency , whate er it mav require, v;i ;
aptly expressed iu reobd ioii.s, parsed
vesterdav afternoon at a mass niectiir.;
id' the citizens of Ifed .laeket, Calumet.
Laurium and vicinity in the Calumet,
theater, with this simple statement :
"With the kindliest feelim fr
those who offer it, we ask n outside
help. 'I hese are our people and this
is our sacred privilege, to care lor
our dead and to comfort the i inc. "
The mass meeting was called .jointly
by Maxor F. H. Schumaker of Ked lack
ct and Mayor .Joseph Wills of Laiiiium.
Citizens of all walks of life, bowed b
the sorrow which has befallen the cum
ibunity, responded to the call of dut.s
and sympathy and gave cxpies.-ion to
llieir desire to help. A rebel committee
of twelve members was chosen to do
everything possible to ameliorate the
suffering of the bereaved. This commit
tee is composed of Mnor F li. Schu
maker of Ifed Jacket, Mr-yor Joseph
Wills of Laurium. Capt. Thomas lloat
son, Johnson Vivian. Dr. M. A.ThouHz.
F. J. Kohlhaas, Dr. IV K. McQueen. O,
car Kcckouen, John Knox, Jr , Peter Mi
Clelland, O. F. Maih-v and Thomas Sod
d v 'VC
' ' ' COMMITTEE IN SESSION.
It has been decided that, this commit
ter will he in continuous session in the
Ifed Jacket council chambers for the
next two days to furnish information to
the public, and to make it the headquar
ters for all rebel work. The instant ap
plications are reeeied for assistance, il
is planned to have men in waiting to e
, pedite the service as much a possible.
The members of this committee will
likewise, receive contributions from citi
zens of Calumet who desire to assist iu
the relief work. It is expected hundreds;
of such contributions will be received.
In addition to directing this work, the
members of tho committee will also visit
c-ieh of the homes in sadness, offer their
svmpathv as well as the sympathy of the
community at large, and ascertain
whether anything can be done to ameli
orate tho suffering aud lighten the bur
den of sorrow.
The committee was authorized by the
mass meetiug to call on the citizens of
this community for any as-sUtaiicc need
Pays
ssistance
ATsSUflR ALL OF THE
GRIEF STRICKEN FA1UES
imiirpp
it
Carry
ed and assurance was given that the call
will mcel with an instantaneous re
sponse. The members of the commit tc:
are prepared to lay aside their person
al business, to devote their entire lime to
diseharginir the mission to which they
have been called.
COMMITTEE IS ORGANIZED.
Almost immediately after the adjourn
ment of the mass meeting, the commit tee
beau its work, livery member was pres
ent at a meeting held in the Ifed Jacket,
council chamber, where an organization
was perfected and provision was made
lor continuous sessions ami instantan
eous action in eases called to the atten
tion of the committee or located in per
sonal investiTatious.
The committee's officers are a- fol
low s:
Chairman Mayor F. II. Schumaker.
Secretary and treasurer Frank U.
Kohlhaas.
Assistant secretary and h (-a surer
Or. M. A. Thomel-.
Theie was named at the gathering
la-t evenin'j a committee of women to
eicM'-ie and as-i-t in relief work. This
committee i- composed of Mrs. Herman
(iu. k. Airs. Charles J. AVieltrom. Mrs.
Joseph Vertin, Mrs. F. II. Sehumaker
and Mrs. Suino. This committee was au
ihorizi d to give am assistance found
necessary and to mime such sub commit
tees as are deemed necessary
'! he members of these sub-committee?
and of the general committee ol women,
will do their utmost to console those iu
each home which is stricken bv death.
IMPRESSIVE ADDRESSES.
In the brief space of time occupied by
I he meeting, the tender feeling of the
oiiimuiiit towards the families whose
loved ones have thus been taken away,
were expressed very beautifully by Kev
Fr. I'asil. pastor of the Sacred Hear4,
church, Pew Daniel D. Stalke r, I). D ,
pastor of the First Presbyterian church;
Judire of Probate Pentlcy of Hancock,
Chairman James 'J'. Fisher of La iriuiu
and othwrs. The resolutions were read
l. . Homey Albert II P tennaun, conn-
! for tlm C. II. Mining company and
m I Aith unanimous appr'v.-d.
James T. Fisher, ehaim m addicted
In' meeting as follows:
"Citizens, we have us-embled nno to
il iv for the leiriKise of deising was
and means to ameliorate the sufferings
of those on whom the hand of death has
fallen so heavily, and 1 would ask Kev.
IV.lher P.asil to open the meeting with a
' ' ' " T A LK BY FATHER BASIL.
Fellow Citizens: I was called upon
.m;iv to say a few words here this af
Mnooii. and 1 assure you it will be only
a Vw words. I am standing before ou
not as a lecturer but as a preacher of tho
Cospel, aud in this strain T will speak
to von, It is sad for us to be here in
stead of being homo in our family circle.
Ccfit.'ttutd oa Z:i Pi3C 11 Column.