Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1913-05-27
SUITS AFTER:
NAIH Of BIG
PIER TRAGEDY
$1,OO0,00O Damages to be Asked
Because of Long Beach
Crash.
GUARDING THE RUINS CLOSELY
To Permit No Tampering Until
Jury Has Made
Inquiry.
GUARDING THE RUINS CLOSELY

Long Beach, Cal. May 26.-Pro
pective damage suits aggregatin
probably s1,0O0,OOO or more, and
grand jury investigation engage
the attention Of city officials yestel
day as the most imminent outcom
of the disaster Saturday, when thil
ty-five persons lost their lives in tn
collapse of a portion of the munich
al pier just after the close of tn
British Empire Day. pageant. Tn
list of dead, which numbered thirty
three Saturday night, was added t
by the death of Mrs. E. c. Bush, 7
years old, of Long Beach, who sue
cumbed to her injuries yesterday at
ternoon. The list is expected to b
further increased before tomorrow
by the death of Miss Marguerite
Reed, aged II, of Long Beach, who's,
back was broken, and of William
Cooper of Pasadena, one of the vet
Grams of the Crimean war, who were
in the van of the empire day parade
Eales was the only man killed
and his body remained unidentified
until late yesterday as we'll as that
OF his wife. Both were dead when
taken from the death pile. Mrs.
Mcdonald, an aged woman, died late
yesterday.
While City Attorney Stephen
Long was occupied with the legal
phase of the disasters aftermath
yesterday, Mayor I. S. Hatch, men,
bers of the city council and of the
board of public works conferred
with District Attorney John D. Fred
ericks with reference to the grand
jury inquiry which will be started
either before or just after the cor
oner's inquest.
The object of the inquiry is to fix
responsibility for the condition of
the pier, section of which in front
of the municipal auditorium went
down under a weight of human be-
ings which has been estimated at no
less than $50 tons.
On the order of the district at
torney, two officers were placed on
guard yesterday morning over the
ruined section of the pier They
were instructed to keep watch con-
in twelve-hour shifts, until
relieved by the grand jury, and al
low no tampering with any part of
the structure that collapsed and
dropped several hundred merrymak-
ers down a funnel of jagged timbers
and boards to the strand within
few feet of the ocean tides. Several
broken timbers, which are expected
to show the general condition of the
pier and thus aid in developing ev-
idence Of negligence if there be any,
were taken out of the pier yesterday
and locked up under official seal.
The weakness OF the pier, which
was built eight years ago and never
repaired in that particular portion,
Is believed to have been due to de-
cay caused by the action OF salt air
on wood and its iron fasteners and
supporters. However, it was declar-
ed that a much stronger structure
might have been wrecked in the
same circumstances, as the partici-
pants in the big parade marched up
on the pier in step. Military men
pointed out that the rhythmic vi
bration created by the measured
tread of.thousands of feet caused the
tremendous strain upon the supports
which already had been heavily bur-
dened by the crowd thronged about
the auditorium doors awaiting ad-
mittance.
The grand jury investigation was
demanded by the officers OF the unit
ed societies Of British-born resi-
dents and visitors whose celebration
Of Queen Victoria's birthday ami
versary was interrupted by the trag-
ady.
City Attorney Long answered re-
ports Of the prospective damage
suits with the statement that in his
opinion the city could not be held |
for the deaths and in
iuries because no charge had been
made by the city for the use OF the
amusement property. Use
# the piers and auditorium had
,een given without cost and the cell
orators, he said, had used 1t at
heir own risk.
The total number Of injured prob
bly, will never be known accurate