OCR Text |
Show EXCURSION TRIP EHDSJNTRAGEDY STEAMER OVERTURNS IN THE ILLINOIS RIVER, SCORES OF PASSENGERS DROWNED. Boat Ran Into Shore in Fog, Backed Away and Began Sinking Immediately, Imme-diately, Excursionists Being Unable to Escape. Peoria. 111. The excursion steamer Columbia overturned in the Illinois river, five miles south of here, Friday night, scores of people who were returning re-turning home after a day's celebration here being drowned. The number lost is not absolutely known, being estimated esti-mated by some as high as 175. The boat jammed against the Peoria side of the river in a .fog. and tore a huge hole in the bow of the boat. It sank almost immediately. ' There were 450 excursionists on board the boat when it left Alfresco Park, Peoria, on the return trip to I'ekin. " The boat ran into the Peoria shore in a fog that was prevailing. It backed away and began sinking immediately, imme-diately, water rushing in through a large hole in the bow. The boat instantly in-stantly began sending out signals of distress and several craft from this city rushed to the scene of the tragedy. Loss of life is said to have resulted largely from the panic that followed immediately on the boat as it began to sink. Doctors and nurses were rushed to the scene from Peoria. One of the survivors said : "The steamer had three decks. I was. on the upper one. On that below dancing was going on. The bottom was occupied occu-pied principally by men who were talking and smoking. "I do not believe many of the persons per-sons on the first two decks, who constituted con-stituted by far the larger portion of the crowd, could have escaped. "I was chatting with friends. We felt the boat rise out of the river. It was clouded with fog. There was a crash. For a moment no one moved and then almost everybody rushed to one side of the boat. The crew and the .officers, as soon as they realized what was happening, cried for the passengers pas-sengers to even the load, but it was too late. The Columbia tilted and then suddenly overturned. I was thrown into into the water. "When I came to the surface people were swimming about, too dazed to know what direction to follow. The mist hung low above the overturned boat, from which came a horrifying confusion of cries for aid." |