Show steamer IN RIVER THOUSAND LIVES LOST WHEN CROWDED MEETS ACCIDENT more mare than twenty five hundred men women and children thrown into water in deare mar mass white while many drown brownn in cabin cabins chicago A thousand persons lost their lives in the chicago river on july 24 by the capsizing of the edcur lon sion teamer steamer eastland while warping from ita its wharf with moro than 2 BOO employees of the western electric elec company and their relatives and friends on board bound for a pleasure trip across lake michigan higan many were drowned in the cabins the bodies of victims had been recovered monday morning after af ter to fo ty houra hours of searching by divers diver a ro round und the steel hulk still lying on its side half halt submerged fully pully 7 men women and children dren came down to the river wharf to board the boats for a holiday elon ion a the lake steamer eastland had been loaded a tug was hitched bitched to the III fated vessel ropes were ordered cult off and 4 the engines began to hum the eastland Ea atland had not budged instead Inn tead the heavily laden hip P wavered sideways leaning first toward the rivea river babic the lurch was so startling that many passengers joined the large concourse conc curso eurse already on lie ito other side of the decks the ship then heeled back it turned slowly but steadily towards its left side aide children clutched the kirts of mothers awl aistars 1 to beep keep from falling thy the tiola cargo was as impelled towards he the faaui ballias side of the hip ship water began to enter lower port porthole holes and the ropes mapped snapped off the puce piles to which tie the vessel was tied screams from passengers attracted the attention of fellow excursionists on tho the awaiting the next teamer and nd picnickers soon oon lined the edge of the embankment reaching out helplessly towards the wavering etaamer et eamer for neaily neatly flye five minutes the ship turned before it finally d hyce under the swift current of the river which owing to the drainage canal can I 1 system flows from the lake during the mighty turning of 0 the ship with its cargo carico of humanity lifeboats chars chatra md and other loose appurtenances on the decks slipped down the doping floore floors oin the passengers toward the rising waters then there a plunge with a sigh of air escaping from the hold mingled with crying of children and shrieks of women and the ship wae was on the bottom of the river casting hundreds of its passengers into the water many sank entangled with clothing and bundles and did not rise but scores came to the surface giving the river the appearance of a crowded bathing beach many seized chairs and ond other objects those on shore share threw throw out ropes and dragged in taase who could hold these life lines employees of commission 11 firms with houses along the river throw crates chicken coops and other floatable khints into the current but knost ecot of these were swept away by the stream boats wera were put oat out tags rushed to the scene aitu shrieking whistles and many men snatched off their coats and sprang into the river to aid the drowning with thousands of spec spectators ready to aid and the wharf within 4 grasp hundreds went to depth despite very effort at rescue one kother wather grasped her two ch children ren la in her ber arms as ahe slipped from 1 1 I the steamer into the rater water one child was was torn tom from her but sho and the other nere were saved fathers were drowned after aiding their wives and children to safety stories of heroism arc almost as numerous as the number num aber of persons on the scene immediately after the disaster divers were placed at work as soon as an possible po eelbie and as the divers gained to the hull bull the scene of dis tress moved for the time being f from rom the river 0 lo 10 o the improvised morgues es of wholesale companies long along the he river were thrown open and bodice bodies were laid in rows on the coore coors scores of persons taken from the waler cr vere were severely verely ne injured and these were ii taken to the hospital in memory of the COO women children and suid a few men who were burned and crushed to death in the iroquois theatre new now years eve several years rears ago efforts to resuscitate thome taken from front the river were unsuccessful except in two or three instances I 1 it t was atoo also aid said that many of those injured would die J REMOVING DEAD FROM WRECKED STEAMER 4 0 il A ae 4 A 4 6 vt capt harry pedersen 57 yeara years old who was in command of the steamer eastland when it capsized said I 1 I 1 vw r as on the bridge and was about ready to pull out when I 1 noticed the tilt e boat begin to list I 1 shouted orders to open the inside doors nearest the dock and give the people a chance to get out the boat continued to roll and shortly afterwards tho the hawsers broke and the steamer turned over on her side and was drifting toward the middle of the river when she slie went over oyer I 1 jumped and held on to the upper side it all happened in two minutes the cause Is a mystery to me I 1 have sailed mailed the lakes for twenty five yeara years and previous to that sailed on salt water twelve years mil i this Is the first serious accident I 1 ever bad had I 1 do not know bow how it happened efforts to discover the cause of the accident were begun long before the work of rescue was over federal and county grand juries were ord ordered pred a coroner a jury was impaneled and all the officers and crew of the eastland were arrested president wilson baa has ordered that a complete investigation be made mad a by the department of pom commerce merce into the sinking of the excursion steamer eastland acting secretary sweet of tho the department sent him word that the cause of the disaster would be looked into and the president directed that nothing be left undone to fix the responsibility identification of victims was all but completed monday night except for corpses still in the river checking against duplications in the various lists proceeded all night more than was subscribed by business bouses houses and individuals on op monday to alleviate any suffering among those who had lost their soure sources ea 4 of f support in the tragedy while a several families were almost wiped out moat most of the households at af fectea lost only oun a or two members many of the employees of the western electric company bad had been working on bart time but with the aid of the national red cross if it Is thought that there will be no suffering for lack of funds william olander secretary of the lake union said on I 1 monday that there were many other ships on the great lakes as dangerous as the eastland because of faulty construction he ile held that the eastland was not properly designed and charged that united states inspectors under captain charles 11 westcott ot of detroit chief of the lake district had played into the hand handt of ship owners at the expense of sailors and passengers he eau ball this was shown by the fact that thirty one ships passed by the inspectors had sunk la in the great lakes since 1905 several of them taking all on board to death the coroner the states attorney and city officers reiterate their charge that all the possible causee causes for the dis dig aster could be blamed to negligence by fed federal aral inspectors or failure of federal officers to enforce marine laws the last inspection of the eastland was made by robert reid government inspector at pt ft joseph joeph jo eph mich who declared the steamer fit this spring and procured a position as chief engineer of the boat for his son in law J M erickson captain john H omeara of the tug kenosha Kc nosha which was hitched to the eastland to tow the ship out of the river testified that he be did not take bold hold of the eastland until after several minutes after the ship had begun to hat list according to other wit nesses even than he waited for word to go ahead and the captain ol 01 tle eastland was not working out the th stem as was necessary to protect the screws captain 0 meara said he fin ally got the word to go ahead but be tore fore the towline was taut the east land listed dangerously and he stopped 4 but the ship never righted he had towed the eastland four ti alnee iee mid and she always listed he said overloading under ballasting ind grounding on the river bottom were cited in testimony at the coroners in quest by two experts as reasons why the steamer eastlond toppled over at its wharf harf ind and drowned hund hundreds reds of CAPSIZED 1 A AT HER DOCK 04 M I 1 ar 9 4 1 il 0 e n A 9 21 0 V tt k 4 e 4 ar N 1 14 77 4 V J 0 V |