Debris Left by the Panic

Front of National Capitol Strewn with Hats, Umbrellas, and Articles of Clothing.

     Washington, D. C., Sept. 18.—The east front of the Capitol early this morning presented many evidences of the panic in the crowd which assembled there yesterday before gaining admission to the rotunda. The ground was strewn with many articles of wearing apparel. There were hundreds of hats, scores of umbrellas, handkerchiefs, numberless bows, ribbons, and ties, and also not a few women’s skirts and other articles of feminine apparel.
     Believing that pocketbooks, watches, and other articles of value might have been dropped, the police searched the grounds as soon as day broke, but they found nothing, and they are satisfied that other searchers had been there in advance of them.
     The articles left had been trodden over until they were almost unrecognizable. The fire department was called upon to clean the grounds.
     The Chief of Police has directed the officer who had charge yesterday of the police force at the east front of the Capitol to make a report upon the occurrence.
     The police assert that the army officers interfered with the details of their plans by ordering away the mounted members of the force who were stationed in the plaza directly at the foot of the east steps. Thus, they say, they were rendered comparatively powerless in controlling the movements of the crowd.