The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1891-08-15
Midst Heavens Thunderings Shrieks of
Bereaved Parents Rend the
Atmosphere.
The Boat Timbers Rotten to the
COre-The Pilot Also shares
Their Fate.
ACCIDENT TO a STEAMER.
The Upper Deck Gives Way and Instantly
Kills Fifteen Persons.

GOLD SPRlNG 6ARBOR, L.. L., Aug. l..
A terrible accident occurred here this
afternoon 10y which fourteen persons,
eight women. four children and two men.
lost their lives. The steamer Crystal
Stream. with the barge Republic in tow.
| and having aboard about 800 adults and
about as many children on an excursion,
a dry goods dealer at No. 197 Graham
avenue. Brooklyn. arrived at the Cold
Spring dock about / o'clock. having left
South Sixth street. Brooklyn. At $3.50
the last whistles for all to get
aboard were blown by the steam
er and at BID every body
was ready to start. The larger portion
of the excursionists were on the barge.
where the younger people were dancing.
Just then some heavy clouds covered the
sky, then came a squall of wind. driving
everything before it. The boat hands,
anticipating a shower. had let down the
canvas curtains which are attached to
the hurricane deck Of barges and fas-
tened them down to the port side. This
prevented the windfrom blowing through.
and as one strong gust struck the barge
it lifted the starboard side of the hurri-
cant deck clear from its fastenings and
supports and forced it and the posts and
partitions in the center over to the port
side, AS it pushed over the
end of the deck nearest the dock
to which the barge was fastened dropped
down upon hundreds Of women and
children who had crowded over to that
side of the barge in their effort to escape.
In a moment the air was rent with
screams and agonizing cries of the poor
victims whose lives were being crushed
out and limbs broken. 1t was in the
midst of a terrible thunder storm and
the waves ran high. Some people think
that the mast Of the barge on which the
people were killed was struck by light
ming. but this is not known. Women
and children became panic stricken
and were running frantically about
the boat and screaming wildly.
The sea was fearfully wild. The
scene was heart-rending in the extreme
and the excitement caused by relatives
and friends of those on the barge. who
were on the steamer. only added to the
pandemonium which prevailed.
The officers. deck hands and other men
on the steamer lost no time in reaching
the barge and doing all in their power
to rescue all whom they could from the
wreck. In fifteen minutes the fallen
deck was raised sufficiently to allow all
those who were alive and uninjurcd to
crawl out and the injured to be assisted
from the barge.
1t had been hoped that none
would be killed. but the ~lifeless bodies
of fourteen were seen lying the gun
vale. All had had the lives crushed out
of them by being caught between the
edge Of the fallen deck and the guard
rails. OF the dead bodies those recog-
nized were as follows: Lizzie Schamant.
8 years; Mrs. Pauline Prinz. 81 years;
Hoffman. a man. 81 years; Minnie Goetz.
1G years; Mrs. Lipentinger. Katie Kantze,
4 years. The pilot Of the barge. whose
name could not be ascertained, was also
killed. He was in the pilot house when
the wind threw the dock over.
He was thrown over and fell between
the deck and boat. The bodies Of four
teen dead were laid in a row on the deck
of the Inflated barge and were covered
over with a tarpauling to await the ar
rival of the coroner from Huntington.
The place where the disaster occurred is
at Lead Cold Spring Harbor, not far
from Laurelton, and is a ~favorite picnic
ground. The falling Of the deck OF the
barge and the sad results that followed
are, it is said, due entirely to the rotten
condition of the supports. Many OF the
excursionists carried some with them
| pieces of center posts-which show they
were perfectly rotten at the core. The
barge itself is said to have been unsafe
in other particulars.
A special train carrying the larger
! number of the excursionists, whose days
pleasure had been so sadly ended. ar
| rived at Bushwick station, Brooklyn,
about $50 o'clock. The news of the ac-
cident had preceded it's arrival and the
station was besieged by a crowd of not
less than 1900 people, who were friends
or relatives of those who had gone away
on the excursion in the morning. Every
one was asking those who left the train
whether those neal and dear to them
had escaped. Others, mostly men, were
looking for wives and children and were
crxy;nr ac thew asked for their