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Show 00 SIX INDICTED IN EASTLAND CASE Manslaughter and Criminal Carelessness Is Charged Against Captain, Engi- v neer and Company Officials. Chicago, Aug. 11. Indictments charging manslaughter and criminal carelessness werex returned" before Judge Kersten in the municipal court today in connection with the Eastland disaster. The captain and engineer and four officers of the St Joseph-Chicago Steamship company, owners of tho boat, were named. Those indicted are: Joseph T. Arnold, president of the company. William Hull, vice president and general manager. W. C. Steel, secretary and treasury. Harry Pedorsen, captain of the Eastland. Joseph M. Ericson, engineer. Bonds $20,000 Each. Bonds were fixed at $20,000 each for the company officials and $10,000 each for Pcdersen and EriCBon. Tho two last named are charged with criminal crim-inal carelessnoss and the officers with manslaughter. Separate bills were returned a.,nsLthe caPtain and the engineer, while the four officials were named-m named-m a joint Indictment. x The bill against the officials con- talncd flvo counts charging: ( 1. That thoy knew the Eastland was unsoaworthy and had no stability. stabil-ity. 2. That they permitted 2500 passengers pas-sengers aboard the vessel which is more than its carrying capacity. 3. That they were negligent In Wring Wr-ing an incompetent ongineer, who, because be-cause of his lack of skill, was unable un-able to control the boat properly. 4. That the crew did not number enough hands to manage and control the Eastland properly. 5. That the ballast tanks were allowed al-lowed to be out of repair and not filled with water. Charges Against Captain. Against Captain Pederscn tnese charges were brought: 1. That he permitted aboard tho boat a larger number of passengers than he could safely carry. 2. That he neglected to warn the r. -v Innirn licv TTnMjnd when It became apparent to him that she was about to turn over. 3. That ho was negligent In not seeing that the ballast tanks wore not properly filled and in good repair. re-pair. 4. That he was negligent in not seeing that the chalk holes and gangways gang-ways were closed when the ship was loadod. Counts Against Ericson. The counts in the indictment of Ericson aro in essential similar to those against Pedersen. Great Pumps Working. Four great pumps had been at work on the Eastland for several hours today to-day with the expectation of raising the hull to oven keel and recovering bodios and property on board, when it was discovered that water was reentering re-entering tho hull as fast as it was pumped out. Divers were sent below to search for leaks. Grand Jury Report. Tho report of tho grand jury finds that the disaster was caused "by instability in-stability under conditions of loading" and states that the instability was due to "one of three main causes, or any two, or all of them," atf follows fol-lows : l. The overloading of the vessel with passengers. 2. The mishandling of water ballast. bal-last. 3. The construction of the vessel. The report says that the Eastland began loading passengers without water wa-ter ballast and belated efforts to fill the tanks failed of success. Instability Not Corrected. That instability of the boat was not corrected years ago and "we regard as criminal carelessness, or incompetence, incom-petence, on the part of all persons connected with the design, construction, construc-tion, control, operation and inspection of the boat," says the report. It points out that federal inspectors had the right to refuse a permit to the boat, but they are not gonorally trained men and failed to make stability sta-bility tests. Absolute Disregard of Safety. "Tho handling of the ballasts by the offlcors of tho boat indicates an entire en-tire misunderstanding of the nature and proper uses of water 'ballast, and an absolute disregard of safety after repeated warnings und frequent indications indi-cations of extreme instability" continues con-tinues the report, which also criti cizes the system of water ballast employed, em-ployed, as "not preventing the shifting shift-ing of the ballast Tho jury recommended that expert federal approval, hereafter bo required re-quired for the construction of steam vessels, and constant inspection and supervision when in service and holds that water ballast shall be allowed only as supplementary to a more stable sta-ble ballast and used only for primming prim-ming purposes.' Would Re-organize Steamboat Inspection. In-spection. "We recommend," the report goes on, "that tho steamboat inspection service bo re-orgaulzed in a manner to make all branches co-ordinate and thus eliminate the confusion caused by the state's delegating special powers pow-ers and authorities to subordinate branches. Such service should be' provided with technical inspectors all under expert, systematic control." It is further recommended that inspection in-spection control be removed from the secretary of commerce to the navy department and urges Illinois representatives repre-sentatives in congress to urge legislation legisla-tion to this end. N nn |