Show STEAMER CAPS Z S IN HOUSAND thousand I LIVES LOST WHEN CROWDED VESSEL MEETS MEET WITH ACCIDENT more than hundred men women and children thrown nto into water in dense mass while many drown in cabins chicago A thousand persons lost their lives in the chicago river on july 24 by the capsizing of tile the excursion L anier abaer eastland while warping front from i wharf with more lhnn 2600 employees of the western electric company and their relatives and friends on board bound for a pleasure trip across lake michigan many were drowned la in the cabins tile the bodies of victims had been recovered 1 monday fonday morning after forty hours of Ge arching by divers around the steel hulk still lying on oil its side halt half submerged the total dead as a result ot of the turning over of the ship still remains at approximately 1000 according to estimates made by coroner hoffman Hof finan whose reports indicated that probably 00 bodies still were held in the mud of the river by the superstructure of the overturned boat efforts to discover the cause of the accident were begun long before the work of rescue was over federal and county grand juries were ordered a coroners jury was impaneled Im paneled andall and all the officers and crow or of the eastland were arrested president wilson lias has ordered that a complete investigation be made by the department of commerce into the sinking of the excursion steamer eastland acting secretary sweet of the department sent him word that ilie cause of the disaster would be looked booked into and the president directed that nothing be left undone to lix fix tile the responsibility capt I 1 arry pedersen 57 years old w who ho was in command of the steamer eastland whorl when it capsized said 1 I was on oil the bridge and was about ready to pull out when I 1 noticed the boat begin to list I 1 shouted orders to open pen the inside giside doors nearest the dock and fl nd give the people a chance to fet out the boat continued to roll and shortly afterwards tile the hawsers hawkers broke brake and tile the steamer turned over on her side and was drifting toward the middle of the river when she went over I 1 jumped and held field on to the upper side it all happened in two minutes the cause la Is a mystery to tile me I 1 have sailed the lakes for twenty five years and previous to thit that sailed on salt witter water twelve years and this Is the arst serious I 1 ever had I 1 do not know how it happened 11 fully men women and children came down to the river wharf to board the boats tor for a holiday excursion the lake steamer eastland had been goaded a tug was hitched to the ill fated vessel ropes were ordered cast oft off and tile the engines began to sum the maitland Kast Mast land had not budged however instead the heavily laden ship wavered sideways leaning first toward the river bank the lurch was so startling that many passengers joined tile large concourse already on oil the other side ol oj tho the decks the ship then heeled bu it it turned slowly but steadily its left side children clutched tile the skirts of mothers and sisters to keep from falling the whole cargo was impelled towards the falling side of the abill water began to enter lower portholes port holes and the ropes hi lapped oft off the piles to which tile the vessel was tied screams front from passengers attracted tile the attention of fellow excursionists on 0 n the wharf awaiting aN alting tile the next ney t steamer Wharf mea and picnickers soon lined the edge of the embankment reaching out helplessly towards the wavering et etaamer Ete niner eamer for nearly minutes tile ship turned before it filially dived under tinder the swift current of nf tile the river which owing to the he drainage canal system flows from the lake during tho the mighty turning of tile ship with tta its cargo of humanity lifeboats cheirs and other loose appurtenances on the decks slipped down die sloping floors crushing the passengers toward the ill rising waters then there was a plunge with a sigh of air escaping front from the hold mingled with crying of children and shrieks of women and the ho ship was on the bottom of tile the river buting hundreds eds of its passengers into the water many sank entangled clothing and bundles and did not aut rise but scores came to the surface giving the river tile the appearance of a crowded bathing beach many arany seized flo noat atinis nis chairs and other oilier objects those on shore throw out ropes and traced in those thos who could hold these life lines employees or of commission firms with houses alonar the river lirow throw critics crates thicken coops arid and other oilier floatable things into the current but most of these were swept sept away by tho the stream boats were put out tugs rushed to the scene with shrieking whistles and many men snatched off their coats and sprang into tile river to aid the drown ir 1 ing with thousands of 0 spectators spectator ready to uld aid and the wharf within grasp hundreds went to death despite every effort at rescue one mother grasped her two children in ill her arms as aa sho she slipped from the steamer title into the water one child was wag torn from her but she aud and the other were saved fathers were drowned after aiding their wives and children to safety stories of heroism were almost as an numerous as the number of perso persons 8 on oil the scene immediately after tile the disaster divers were placid placa A at work as soon as possible anaas and aa tile divers gained entrance to the hull tile the scene of distress moved tor for the time being from tile the river to the improvised inor morgues gues warehouses of wholesale companies along the river were thrown open and bodies were laid in rows on the floors scores of persons taken from tho the water were severely injured and these were taken to the hospital built in fit memory of the he women children and a few men who were butner and crushed to death in tile iroquois theatre new years eye several years ears ago efforts Ef torti to r resuscitate those taken from the river were unsuccessful ex capt lit in two or three instances it was waa also said that of those injured would die |