Show TELEGRAPHIC DISASTERS Shocking River filishaps Other Casualties Keokuk Iowa IAt about 7 oclock I this evening shrill and continued whistling whist-ling at the Keokuk and Hamilton bridge followed by the ringing of fire bells drew hundreds of people to the level to find a steamboat load of passengers had miracously escaped from death The palatial passenger packet War Eagle in attempting to Y5S through the draw was baffled by eddies and cross currents and swung around against the bridge breaking out one span and entailing a loss of 150000 to the bridge The statements state-ments appended give the particulars of the disaster Several lives are supposed to have been lost but the names could not be le reed Ciph Gregg head clerk of the War Eagle made the following statement to a Gate city representative Captain Jerry Wood was in command with Hiram Beadle and Wm Tibbies r I as pilots both being in the pilot house t though it was Bea lies watch I had I just eaten supper and went back into the cabin to ttlk to some ladies with whom I was acquainted I heard the whistle blow for the bridge and heard the bells ring to check her headway Knowing that it wa customary to drop inside the long pier I felt no uneasiness until I heard the alarm whistle blow twice which meant to back her strong About that time Wm Holmes third clerk came through the cabin which was almost deserted there being only ten or 12 ladies in the cabin at the time the remainder being on the outside looking at the bridge lie threw up his hand and passed out At the starboard gahgwsy I paid no attention to it ki owing that he was alarmed easily when passing through the draw of the bridge but in a few moments he returned and threw up his hand again I then excused ex-cused myself hurriedly and went to him and cn reaching him he threw up hit I hands and said Shes gone this time i I ran out at the larboard gangway on I the larboard guard forward oft the barber bar-ber shop and saw that we were broadside broad-side to the bridge and that the boat was backing strong I instantly ran into the cabin and threw up both hands to give the alarm I caught hold of one lady and cried out to the rest to follow me as the boat was going to strike the bridge We all passed out the aft door onto the starboard guard reaching there just as the crash of the collision of the boat against tho bridge came I kept calling on the passengers who seemed bewildered to get out on the hurricane deck They not seeming to understand I led the way and thev followed several ladies clinging tome to-me As soon as the boat struck the bridge the span gave way quickly with a fearful crash and I telt considerably relieved knowing well that the chances for saving life would now be much better I looked forward and saw that she was leaning on the west pier her stern having cleared the east pier where the break in the bridge occurred and saw the people climbing from the boat to the bridge I took one lady and the rest followed I told them to come and we would all get on the bridge I ran forward on the larboard side down the steps abreast of the smokestacks smoke-stacks and assisted in passing the D passengers pas-sengers out upon the bridgeuntil the boat swung off one lady refusing to go Seeing that the greater part of the passenger had escaped and were safe tho second clerk Alex Robinson and myself determined deter-mined to stay with the boat In a very short time she swung clear of the bridge and we went down on the lower deck to see if she was making water or not Someone Some-one had been down in the hold and reported re-ported that she was making water but not very fast I went up stairs and quieted the fears of the few remaining ladies on the boat and all forward EO that in case the boat went down we could get them without much trouble She then floated with the current and sounded to head down stream to a point a few hundred yards below the elevator where with the aid of one wheel and the assistance of parties who came in a skiff and took a line ashore she was fast resting on the railroad taack which was covered with water the river on the outside out-side being about fifteen feet deep The dredge boat WDSmith came down and held her stern in until she was securely fastened There being one wheel entirely gone 1 was afraid if she swung off she would topple ever The steimur Penguin Pen-guin with Captain Hutchinoi aboard arrived as son as they could get up steam and with a flat took of the baggage I saw Clay Gule + pie in in B skiff and he assisted in gutting ladies to lhe bore Dan Leach took a line Hshurf s CX ptain Wood remained on thereof Nnd nil I t ffi cers so far a known gtmd brv < ly at their posts home Co nes Sut mate was working mania ly d sbe leak and remained at his ppl mini al danger was past a The deck crew gut i to terra firma as soon as they could Captain A M Hutchinson general manager of the St Louis and St Paul Packet Company said it WAS impossible to estimate esti-mate anything like accurtaely the amount of damage done There was insurance about of i25ooo on the boat which is va uwd at 40000 The cargo consisted of R little of everything every-thing She carried wn inundHBQ load and there was a larg nmou tofpotatoes and grain aboard The first Captain Hutcninpon knew of the accident was when he heard the noises on the levee He lumped up from the table and hurried hur-ried to the river finding one pan of the bridge was gone and the War Eagle flunting helpleialy down the river The War Eagle is now settled in about seventeen fern of water on the larboard side and seven feat on the starboard side with bar hetid down stream It cannot be laid as yet how badly she is damaged She is badly broken in two places especially where she struck the piers Dont think she is badly broken though leaking and one wheel ia entirely gone I think the hull is not badly damaged and the cabin is not injured The engines also are in good shape A flat la now alongsideand a portion of the cargo will be caved in good orderprobably onethird Commodore Com-modore Davidson will be up on the Gem City on Sunday The particulars of the damage and insurance cannot be given for some time Keokuk la 5The wreck of the elegant pasiaager packet War Eagle was visited by hundreds of people today Captain H 14 Hutohinson general manager of ha St Louis Packet Company Com-pany is of the opinion that the boat can be raised The loss to the bridge company com-pany will be fully 150000 no insurance The War Bagle was valued at 40 000 and insured for 25000 Onethird of the cargo was saved No bodies have been round It is known that one man large portly and well dressed jumped into the river and was drowned going down when a skiff was within a few feet of him A colored deck hand was struck by a piece thrown from the bridga and instantly killed falling into the river The names are not known Of the passengers who were aboard the ill fafcd steamer at the time of the disaster fifty are accounted for Several persons were doubtless drowned but it is impossible to give the urges or numbers Chicago 4The Wnr Eagle which is reported to have been destroyed at eokuk by striking the bridge is a young boat having been built only about three years ago She is the laalst boat on ths upper river and the finest her companion the Golden Eagle having hav-ing been burned below Louisiana Mo within a year These two boats were built exprewly for passenger traffic between be-tween St Paul and at Louis and made heir trips ia an incredibly short time They wero suedels of steamboat arehi recture bsautifutly equipped and were the pride of the corporation which put them afloat the Keokuk Northern Line Captain hard says be tried to keep the passengers on tho bolt knowing they would be safer there than anywhere any-where elsa He did not think anybody was drowsed though several jumped into the river There was no panic She had a miscellaneous cargo of about 10000p kagoi 1000 sacks of potatoes and 425 lacks of barley for Quincy 4000 sacks er barley for St Louis and 3000 sacks of potatoes for St Louis There ware three Wizard oil wagons and ten hones and four mules asd 1000 packages sundries and 600 barrels of flour for Kaw Orleans fifty barrels of oatmeal and a miscellaneous assortment of freight The cargo is mostly insured and with what will be saved the loss on the cargo will be light While the War Eagle was heavily loaded her guards wars all of eighteen inched out of the water and she lacked fully 200 tons of being loaded to her full capacity capa-city Chicago 5 Journals Kankakee Illinois p ciaU Ludwig Berko and Peter Vohner laborers in the emplsy of the Illinois Central railroad bridge department de-partment ware carried over the dam on a flat boat this morning and drowned Two companions were saved come 6 Several lives were lost in a hurricane here Boston 5The ship New Era of Boston from Hong Kong for San Francisco Fran-cisco was totally wrecked on Luzon Island No date is given She was 1125 tons and insured in Boston for about 36000 Londoa 4The mate and five seamen sea-men of the German ship Hugo before reported OB fire while on a voyage from ewcastln England for San Francisco have landed at Queenstown |