Comment seems idle in the case of the Canonsburg panic. A broken film let out a ray of light, probably, and a boy too young to know how criminally idiotic he was yelled “Fire.” The crowd did the rest, not waiting to see if there was any fire, or smoke even, or whether it needed to hurry or not. The mind of a crowd is a study in itself. Books have been written on this kind of psychology. Under some conditions the reasoning faculties of those in a large group of people become quite drowned in the overflow of the primeval animal and emotional instincts. This tendency to act like a lot of frightened cattle can be diminished by training the reason so that it shall not be so easily mastered by old race instincts to run away when frightened, but It cannot be abolished in our day. When the mob turns brute, the consequences are not to be wondered at; they are to be accepted as are the results of volcanication. The amusement hall seems to have been fairly safe and to have had fair means of exit for people possessing reasoning power. The tragedy has no remedy and from what information we have, it appears that there is no gain in trying to punish anyone.
Perhaps the more, because there seems to be nothing to be done about the matter, all the public that knows that bright and kindly town will feel deep sympathy for the loss and wish I some way to make lighter the weight of its grief. The disaster came without warning at a season of the year when relaxation from the stress of life was the order of the day and left the town desolate. Death is sure and whether it come at one time or another it comes with certainty. But the unexpected visitation is especially hard to bear, and we voice the feelings of all our people when we try to express to Canonsburg our regret for the misfortune that has fallen upon it.