The record-union., 1891-08-13
Special to the REooRD-USIox.


| MINEoLA o.. L., Aug. 12.-The en-
| ployes of Theodore Kaiser of Graham
avenue, Brooklyn, went on an excursion
to Laurelton Grove Cold Spring Harbor,
| to-day on the steamer Crystal Stream
and the barge Republic. There were 500
persons crowded together on the upper
| deck of the barge. Suddenly heavy
| squall struck the barge and tho upper
| deck gave way, pinioning about fifty
| persons. Fourteen persons were in
stantly killed and twenty or moro in
jured. The injured were taken to Oyster
Bay for treatment Eight women, four
! children and two men were killed.
! just before leaving Cold Spring Harbor
| dock for the return trip, after all the pas
sengers were aboard, a squall came up.
| The boat hands. anticipating a shower,
let down the canvas curtains, which are
attached to the hurricane deck of the
barge, and fastened them down to the port
side. This prevented the wind from
! blowing through, and as one strong gust
struck the barge it lifted the starbourd
side of the deck from its fastenings and
! forced 1t over TO the top port side. As it
! pushed over the end OF the deck nearest
! the dock to which the barge was fastened
1t dropped down upon the hundreds of
women and children who had crowded
over to that side OF the barge in an effort
| to escape.
In a moment the air was rent with
| screams and agoniZing cries of the vic
| Tins, whose lives were being crushed
/ and limbs broken. 1t was in the midst
! OF terrible storm, and the waves ran
| high. Some persons think the mast of
the barge was struck by lightning, but
! this is not known.
The officers. deck-hands and other men
on the steamer which had the barge i'll
| tow lost no time in reaching the barge
and doing all iii their power to rescue all
! they could from the wreck. Willing
hands 1rom the grove and neighboring
| places were also soon at work, and in
| fifteen minutes the fallen deck was raised
sufficiently to allow all those who were
alive and uninjured TO crawl out, and the
injured to be assisted from the barge
1t had been hoped that none were
| killed, but the litelesS bodies of fourteen
| were seen lying near the gunwale All
| had their lives crushed out by being
caught between the edge of the fallen
deck and the guard-rail. Women, chill
/ dren and even strong men wept pite-
ously, as they looked upon the dead or
! dying.
OF the dead bodies those recognized
were as follows: Lizzie Schomant, Mrs.
! Pauline Prinz, - Hoffman, Minnie Goetz,
Mrs. Lipentinger, Katie Kautze. Robert
/ Schuler, Amelia Landgraf, Mary Schatf,
! Minnse Schaullein, Annie Voltz, Amelia
| Wagner, Emma We'll, Louise KurtZ
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 deck over. He was thrown
over, and fell between the deck and the
boat: Among the injured are: Charles
Held, Mrs. Henry Isselmann, Mrs. Zerr-
mann.
The injured were carefully carried
| aboard the steamer, which conveyed
them to Oyster Bay, a village a distance
of six miles, where they were attended to
| by physicians. The bodies of the dead
were laid on the deck of the barge to
await the arrival of the Coroner.
| The place where the accident occurred
| is at the head of Cold Springs Harbor,
and is favorite picniclling ground. The
! falling and sad results are due entirely, it
is said, to the rotten condition OF the sup
ports of the deck. Many of the excur-
sionists carried with them pieces OF the
center posts, which show that they were
perfectly rotten at the core The barge
itself, it is said, is unsafe in other pactcu-
! lars.
Mrs. Schammant, whose daughter Liz
zie was among the killed, says she was
standing at the upper end of the barge.
| She saw the storm coming, and was try
| ing to get to shelter when the cyclone
came and ripped the top of the barge of,
ana minute later she saw her daught-
er's legs sticking out from between the
guard-rail and the edge of the deck She
| could hear her screaming but could not
| help her. She does not know what be-
came of her sister, who was standing
near her, and fears she was also killed.
George Peters, who was slightly in
| jured, said: Everybody had gone on
board the barge and steamer, and they
were Just preparing to cast off the haw-
| serS by which the barge was fastened to
| the dock, when a cyclone struck the
| barge and threw it over to one side.
| They had rolled down the canvas on
one side to protect those on board from
| rain. which commenced to fall, when
| fearful gust of wind lifted the roof off and
carried it with the pilot-house and every
thing else over against the side nearest
the dock. a number of people were
crushed between the edge of the roof
| which dropped down when the supports
were broken, and think most of those
who were killed had their lives crushed
| out in this way. | assisted a number of
women and children to get from TIn-
der the collapse. l never saw such a
terrible sight"
Other accounts of the accident are SINH
lar to the foregoing. When the special
train carrying the survivors home
reached Brooklyn crowd of 1000 gath
| cred at the depot anxiously awaiting
news of those near and dear to them.
| The Corners jury this evening viewed
! the bodies of the dead and gave permits
| for their removal to Brooklyn.