The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-08-08
BOAT SINKS WITH 200 ON 1T.
NONE MAY BE LOST, ALTHOUGH
TWENTY ARE MISSING.
Crowd Rushed 70 Ono Side to View .
threatened Collision, Upper Deck
Broke and Threw Excursi enists Upon
These Below Them-Many Swan Ashore

Those Below Them-Many Swan Ashore
INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. with 200 persons
on board, many OF them children, the
pleasure boat Sunshine, which piled White
River above Broad Ripple, went down
this afternoon In fourteen feet OF water,
causing q panic among the passengers.
Several persons were seri ously injured
and dozen or more are missing, but 1t Is
not certainly known that any lives have
been lost. Workmen are now engaged
In tearing the boat to pieces in order to
sec II any one is under the wreck, but 1t
will take hours to determine whether any
fatalities occurred.
This was a picnic day for commission
men and employees OF the stockyards, and
some 200 mon, women and children went to
Broad Ripple Park this mo rning. After
day Of rollioking fun the day 3 pleasure was
to close with trip on the Sunshine for
five miles up the river. The boat was on
its return trip when Capt. Crockett warned
the crowd on the upper deck against assem-
bling on one side Of the boat A launch
and canoe were west of the boat, and to
those on the Sunshine 1t seemed az II the
two were about to come into collision.
There was shout Of warning from the
boat, and this caused rush OF those on the
upper deck to the sde At the same time
a part Of the deck gave way and threw those
on It upon the heads OF those on the lower
deck.
just then the chain that controls the
wheel broke and the boat listed heavily,
throwing the passengers to the opposite
side. The launch appeared on the OPP
posite side and took of six Of the pas
sengers. The boat was sinking rapidly,
and every one that could get there climbed
upon the part of the upper deck that was
left. Boats came from all directions and
took of the frightened people, but many
Of them had jumped into the water and
were swimming for the shores. The boat
continued to settle, and finally rested upon
the bottom, which brought the water two
feet above the wrecked upper deck, on
which most OF the crowd had taken refuge.
These were taken away after those in the
water had been rescued.
How many were hurt when the upper
deck gave way is not known, or whether
any are still in the boat Men are at work
on 1t and some twenty persons are yet I'M
accounted for, but they may have escaped.
Seven persons were badly injured, and two
OF them may die.
Capt. Crockett Of the i'll fated steamer
was ono Of the last to leave his boat. Inc
planning the accident he says: Il was hav-
ing q great deal OF trouble in keeping the
ITO men on the boat divided on the deck.
All insisted on being either on one side or
the other. just after We mad o the turn,
and were on the return trip, the attention
OF the crowd was attracted to a woman
IN canoe near the west bank. All rushed
over to that side Of the boat, and it careened.
Coming up from the cabin warned the
men not to do that any more and, fearful
that they would, headed the boat in toward
the shore on the west. With that there
was a movement to what was now the
north side Of the boat and the upper decks
collapsed. carrying about $50 men. All
jumped into the water, as did the twenty
who were on the lower deck
The captain said the boat was In good
condition. The boat is being torn to pieces
now by dozens Of willing workers, whose
IL to discover whether or not any
one was caught in the debris. The greatest
fear exists for the twenty odd men who
were on the lower deck. =