River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1913-05-29
LONG BEACH DEATH
LIST REACHES So
DAMAGE SUITS LIKELY TO FOL
LOW PIER TRAGEDY OF
SATURDAY.
MAY TOTAL MILLION DOLLARS
Grand Jury to Commence Probe-Po-
lice Guarding the Ruins-injured
List observation-disclosures
Lost Their Lives.

Long Beach, Cal, May 27.-Pros-
pective damage suits, aggregating
probably S1,000,000 or more and a
grand jury investigation engage the
attention of the city officials as the
most imminent outcome of the disas-
ter Saturday, when &c persons lost
their lives in the collapse of por-
ton of the municipal pier just after
the close of the British empire day"
pageant.
Death List Grows.
The list of dead, which numbered
SO Saturday night, was added to by
the death of Mrs. E. c. Bush, 70
years old, of Long Beach, who sue
cumbed to her injuries. Miss Ethel
Wyvel, Is, died at her home near Los
Angeles. Her mother was among
those instantly killed.
The list is expected to be still fur
Their increased by the death of Miss
Marguerite Reed, aged Ia, of Long
Beach, whose back was broken, and
of William Cooper of Pasadena, one
of the two veterans of the Crimean
war who were in the van of the en-
pire day parade.
Rectifcation of errors made in the
earlier list of dead brought out the
following names:
Miss Frances Harriet Newell, Keno
sha, Wis.
Mrs. Mollie Gates, Oak Park, Ill.
Miss Lilly M. Holme, Denver, Colo.
Ernest G. Eales, Los Angeles.
Mrs. Eales, his wife.
Mrs. M. P. Mcdonald, Compton, Cal.
Eales was the only man killed and
his body remained unidentified until
late Sunday, as we'll as that of his
wife. Both were dead when taken
from the death pier. Mrs. Mcdonald
N aged woman, died late Sunday.
A Grand Jury Probe.
While City Attorney Stephen Long
was occupied with the legal phase OF
the disasters aftermath, Mayor l. S.
Hatch, members of the city council
and of the board of public works con-
ferred with District Attorney John D.
F'redericks with reference to the
grand jury inquiry which is to be
started either on or just before the
coroner's inquest. The object of the
inquiry is to fix responsibility for the
ney two officers were placed on guard
over the ruined section of the pier
They were instructed to watch con-
stantly in 12-hour shifts until re-
lieved by the grand jury and allow
no tampering with any part of the
condition of the pier, a section OF
which in front of the municipal audi
forum went down under weight of
human beings which has been esti-
mated at less than $50 tons.
Police Guard Ruins.
On the order of the district attor.
structure that collapsed and dropped
several hundred of the merrymakers
down to funnel of jagged timbers
and boards to the strand within a few
feet of the ocean tides. Several brok-
en- timbers, which are expected to
show the general condition of the
pier and thus aid in developing evil
dence of negligence, if there be any,
were taken out of the pier today 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 decay
caused by the action of salt air on
wood and it's iron fasteners and sup
ports. However, it was declared that
a much stronger structure might have
been wrecked under similar circum-
stances, as the participants in the big
parade marched upon the pier keep
ing step. Military men pointed out
that the rhythmic vibration created
by the measured tread of thousands
of feet caused a tremendous strain
upon the supports, which already had
been heavily burdened by the crowd
thronged about the auditorium doors
awaiting admission.
The total number of injured proba-
bly, will never be known accurately.
About 65, however, were seriously
hurt, most of them still being in hos
pitfalls here and in Los Angeles.