, 1881-10-30
CASUALTIES.
Yesterdays Search for the Vic.
tins Of the Rock Island
Disaster.
The Cabin of the Jennie Gilch1ist
=. Drifted Down the River
Ten Miles.
Two Bodies We're Found In and Have
Been Taken From This
Yreckage.
"Reminiscences Cofhectod with the 0atas-
trophe-A Previous Casualty in
the sama Locality.

1 hEIulusSGBuEES OQEuEIgdtA H4t4 WIG SdlAh-
trophe-A Previous Casualty in
the sama Locality.
| 1ncident% and "reminiscences Cons
nectcd with the Disaster Mt Rock
Island.
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. Oct. :9.-The wreck OF the
| suuken steamer Jennie Gllchrist was moycei
| last night by tho waves Of passing steamboat.
I The cabin and pfiot-houso becume detached
| from tho hull and ilouted down the gfver dis
| tance Of ten miles. when they stranded upon Il
/ sanL-bur This morning Capt. Wall, the diver,
visited tho hull Of the Gi!chrtst, aud on hasty
! examination discovered that there were no
t,udjcs tol}t.cd il that portion OF the boat lie
! was conveyed to tho place where tho cabin WAS
| located and made careful examination of I'LL
| the rooms und apartments. The result Of this
| Investigation was the recovery OF two bodies
| one that Of Mrs. Camp, Of Davenport, and tho
| other tbut Of William Wcndt, OF Cordoya. The
diving and search for tho missing will be con-
! timed next Tuesday. The total number OF lost
| is reported at cleyen-seyen men and four
| women.
! Special Correspondence Of The Chicago Tribune.
/ DAyEspour,c Ia. Oct. "a year ago last June
the writer Of this stood Oh the great iron Gov
! crnncnt bridge. which spans the mississippi at
| this point wntch,ng one Of tho larger upper
river boats struggling against tho terrible force
! Of the six-me current which shoots under tho
ridge to lessen its force in the nore quiet basin
| a fcw hundred yards below. between the cities
Davenport and Rock lslAnot #nere INC LIE claire
| rapids terminate.
TIC boat huu Just passed through the draw
| and was groauing md strtinlug against tho
rushing waters; the dTAw had closed, and the
| steamer with It's precious freight OF happy pas-
scngers was slowly gotne up the stream
several hundred yards above, when tho
thought ca,ne suddenly to me: What
would happen should any accident be-
fall tho machinery Of the boat? What could
prevent Il terrible acciacnt:'' Such thing
happenea last night. and the only wonder Is that
such accidents do not hApreu oftoner.
Last night about 10 o'clock, after most people
lad retired for tho ught, the signal OF distress
w1iied out from the steam draw whistle On the
top of tho bridge, aud many people living near
the river hurried TO its banks to see whit caused
the ailrnl. 9hcy soon discovered that stcutner
had struck, and could hear the shreks oftthe.
frantic passengers as they struggled In the
water.
Just II few moments before 10 little steamer
h;,u pulled ont from Rock Island aul slgnailed
the draw; slowly she u,a1c her why up the mad
current with her two loaded burseS which she
towed, together with her freight and about
thirty passengers and cruw, testing her utmost
strength against the Strcam. Tho little boat
struggled brayely against the river, passed
through the draw and about thousand yards
up the stream when suddenly her pit1na1l- cain
brake. leaving her helpless aul tloat!u. at the
mercy OF the current ut the rate Of SIX miles per
huur towards the great iron bridge.
Tho walter IS high nov. almost Us high as it was
III June, 1850. and passes under the bridge outy
twelve feet from the 1l,or: how wus the steamer
to pass under: she could not without being torn
to kntllng-wnod.
c:recntd and though the night was pitchy durk,
1hose who stood Oh inc bridge AGoye could see
the natne'' .fennle G'tchrisL" flash III the light
OF tho .;ls- lamps along tue bridge; and then the
pitful cries OF the ponr struggling people came
llp fr4.In The b1acknrss be1ow-: r.
Tho bout r:.n under the bridge and then par
tally rightod herself, yruu.lAlty sinking lower
and lower in the water as she tioated down
stream. aud hnully lodged hnlf mtte beiow.
burgess when tho boar struck: one man bud
stepped OIL. holding his wife bY tho hand utad 1t
seems that they tell into tho stream tosether;
then be climbed TO the barge ngain, and seeing
tllat his wife was gone he ran uoout CRYING, "oh
my wife, Where is MY wife, and then
.fr'lntlc:.lly lcaped into the hlack W.T.
picked lp some minutes after by men in II boat,
alive anu ctiagius to Il Floating timber:
i father and his daughter, 4 young indy OF II
summers were drowned together inside the ILL.,
:n,ctl craft, white young mother, On her way
to her husband and t.abe fe's miles up The
Tho steamer hnd started from here to points
along ,lp tho river distance Of forty miles, aud
the Uassengers were people VITO live in sm'ttl
tuwtls .lto:l. the river who had been here to do
business nud were returning nome 10 the's 1a'n-
lilies.
i. is tut known for Il certainty how many per-
is'1cd, bur it is pretty certain that there must
have been eight dr ten, aud there woulu nave
been more hut Tor the efforts Of five brave men
Louis Ancrt,clls, Iohn Niece, Charles aud
Chris Monroe, aias, officer Falkner OF the police
fnrcc. who rowed hraveiy out Into the tiarkness
and pulled ABOUT among floatinR tlnbers, bar
until they had saved SIX or eight unfortuna!es.
None Of tho bts<lies hare been recovered at
this writing, and it viii probably bc many
months before they arc al! secured, il they are
Th;s is ,ne most terrible disaster of tho Kind
which ever occurred Ut this point. but this one
reminds tho writer Of another sluilar one which
occurred Mnny years ngt1. betHre the new iron
bridge was bn,lt: \ boat RIM against onc OF the
inaci,incry Of the jennie Gtlcarist gave out last
night, and sank. Several lives were lost~ anu
it created quite :, feeling Of sadness through
the city. hut there is an unwrttcn lsiciael1t con-
nectca with TINT disaster which ,nuy be Of in
scres, tn believers il, tlt:anls:
Thc nEnt OF the Sin'sits q! 'ae st ooas laay re-
1T thu wreck with tho precision uf I'LL cye-wit-
tess, and tho stexf mnri.'ssg rcta1et then to tho
nstnl1ist:d f'!ntiy before any OF the re rest kne"
escll susi,ciYneta ll..t there bad been All nc
cidcnt. The lNhy still lives here, and there arc
also others here whu remember the clrcu1l-
stance and haye often reulasGed upon IT'S be-
culiari1y. WARREN DoRA.
Experiences of II Passenger.
Waiting for tho cast-bound j O'clock train on
tho lsaltlsuorc & Ohio Railroad Il Ti:InuSE re-
porter found Mr. Ell Thompson, one OF tho STIR
yvors Of the steuU1tont disaster on the Misss-
sippi River ut Davenport, ILL.,. who gave :he
following description Of TINT terrible accident:
~ bad taken passage upon the iil"fated
steamer ut Davenport uud expected to ro as
fur up tho river us Cordoya. Wo left Daven~
port, as near us con remember, about 1o:2o
p. III. with two parrc5 in tow both OF which
were heavily laden with freight, which undcr-
stpol WAS to have been carried from ROCK
Island to Savannah for tho Milwaukee, s st.
Paul Railroad. which road hal been unib:o for
the last two weeks, on account OF high water.
to connect these two points, aud it WIS thought
by several Of the passengers somewhat peril
Gus undertaking for such M Old steamer TO tow
two such heavy burgess over the rapids IN the
present swollen condition OF the river.
But we we're all unconscious Of the great risk
VIC would run should the machincry siyo out.
Upon leaving. the Davenport dock l a' once re-
paired to the cnbin. which l found almost de-
Serted there being only one gentleman besides