The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-21

carry the injured to the steamer and
 rescue those who had plunged into the
 waters of the lake rather than face the flames which were raging on the crib structure
 l After several hours of work on the part of the rescuers. in which heroism stood forth even in the heavy fog and drifting smoke. thirty workmen were rescued and when the fire tug Conway and It's crew had succeeded In lquenching the flames. fifty-three bodies had been carried to the shore and placed in moggues in South Chicago awaiting Identification.
 The trunks of the victims in the ma jority of instances were unrecogniz-
 able. and the contracting Arm gave out
 list of missing, which doubtless will be announced as the official list of the
 dead when the coroner has completed
 his Investigation.
 Women Hear News.
 As the news of the disaster spread throughout the south side of the city, thousands of anxious men, women and children took up points of. vantage along the shore of the lake and stood
 shivering hour after hour as the tugs laboriously plowed their way through the Ice hoes with their cargoes of burned and misshapen victims.
 The fire boat Illinois. in command of Lleutenant William Dillon. was obliged to remain some distance from the burning crib. but while powerful
 streams were directed upon the burn
 ing structure, small boats made fre- quent trips and transferred the dead and wounded to the Morford. Conway and other smaller tugs that succeeded in
 making an opening through the ice.
 The scenes on shore and In the morgues in South Chicago and Grand I ~ ufA Nh desolation. Women wearing scant at
 tire, their heads covered with shawls.
 offered fabulous prices to owners of
 small boats to be taken to the scene of the disaster.
 As each boat load of victims was
 carried ashore by the police and trans
 ferred to, the waiting patrol wagons
 and ambulances. force become neces- sary to keep the bereaved multitude from attempting the task of identihca- ton there and then.
 The tunnel, of which the crib is part of the constructive work. is being built by the George W. Jackson Com.
 pany. The first section of the tunnel starts from the shore. The crib. mile and a half out marked the be- ginning of the second section being built still further into the lake. The two sections had not Joined each other as yet, although favorable progress was being made.
 The superstructure of the crib was a barn like building of two stories. It was surrounded by a narrow platform or pier. Under 1t a shaft of steel and | concrete, about twenty feet In diam eter ran down 100 feet where the tun- | net proper began. Normally there were from seventy -ave to ninety niess employed, working Tn three shifts of eight hours each. A tramway, eonasst- | Ing of strong steel cables, from which huge buckets were suspended, gave physical connection with the shore. In summer the men were taken to and
 from their work by the tug Morford.
 but in winter this was impossible. The men were housed in the crib and took
 their meals there. Supplies were sent out by the suspended trolley.
 All Fatalities Not Known. Until such time as the rescuers are able to enter the water tunnel. which connects the shore with the crib. 1t
 will not be known how many perished
 below the surface of the lake. Air pressure was used in this portion of
 the work and as the generating plant
 became disabled soon after the dis
 cUvery of the fire, 1t is thought that
 those who were at work in the tunnel must have perlshed. The volume of
 smoke which filled the tunnel would
 have been sufficient to make breathing
 next to impossible.
 tThe foreman in charge of the work
 Is not certain, however, if any of the
 workmen had proceeded far enough in- to the tunnel to make their escape im-