Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1915-07-30
HUNDRED S drown
N CHICAGO RIVER
STEAMER EAsTLAND' LAoE"
WITH 7huoH PICNIC PARTY.
SUDDENLY TURNS TURTLE.
MANY WOMEN AND CHILD Rem
Narrowing Spectacle Witnessed by
Thousands on Bridges and Docks
Unable to Render Any Assistance
Worst Ship Disaster in History.

: Unable to Render Any Assistance
Worst Ship Disaster in History.
Chicago. July 26.-About fifteen
hundred lives were lost Saturday
morning in the greatest ship calamity
in history.
The steamship Eastland turned on
its side at it's dock in the Chicago
river near Clark street at TAO in the
morning. Aboard were $500 holiday
makers, bent on the annual excursion
ito Michigan City given by the West
,ern Electric company to its employees.
AS the boat capsized hundreds on
the upper deck we're thrown in masses
into the water, where many were lost
Most of the other passengers, caught
below In the cabins or on the lower
decks, persisted without chance Of es-
cape. They were swallowed up in
watery graves in the sight of other
thousands who we're crowding tho
Clark street bridge, the wharves and
the adjoining streets on their way to-
other boats, for five vessels had been
chartered for the excursion.
Terror Follows Gayety.
The disaster was a matter OF only.
a few minutes. Many were surging to-
the gangplank, anxious to embark.
AS the gangplank was pulled in and
the steamer listed to port, or toward
the river. The passengers were crowd
ing on that side to get the view. The
sway at first occasioned little alarm.
The Joking and laughter continued,
but as the great hull continued to
swing over terror suddenly gripped
the passengers.
There was mad scramble, panic
in which the terrified passengers
fought for places of safety. Shrieks
and cries wrung the hearts Of those
on shore. A minute OF two more and
the ship was fiat ON its side like a
dead fish, and those caught beneath
and within were entombed by the in
rushing water.
River Thick With Bodies.
AN0 0u AdC0 VI lilo I1Vc1 was Iu4Ch
with struggling forms. Babies per
1shed In sight of those on the docks
and bridges. The witnesses say il
was all over in between four and six
minutes. One instant the boat was
filled with laughing picnickers in their
holiday f1nery. The next instant forms
Of men and women in frenzied fight
for life churned the water, then sank.
On the side Of the boat were numbers
who had clambered over the rail as
the boat settled on its side. Soma
escaped without even, wetttng their;
feet
The whistle Of tugs and excursion
boats shrieked the alarm. Boats put.
off to the rescue. Hundreds Of per-:
sons were dragged from the river to-;
safety. South Water street men tossed:
barrels and crates and chicken boxes
into the river. Forty miles away
at Lockport the bear trap dam in thej
drainage canal was closed to stop the
river current. Fire boats and tugs
spread out like a fan around the
death ship and then began the work
OF taking out the bodies.
The nearby streets and warehouses
were turned into morgues. Bodies
were piled in row. Ambulances and
vans and delivery trucks we're pressed
into service as death carts, while as
fast as the bodies were taken out hun
dreds of physicians strove to bring
back life.
At the south approach to the Clark
street bridge respiration machines
were operated on the sidewalk. Vic
tins were worked over the moment
they reached shore. Emergency hos
pitfalls were established within q few
feet Of the disaster. !
Mcrque on Steamer. !
The Theodore Roosevelt, one of the
five boats chartered for the excursion,
which was moored on the opposite side
Of the Clark street bridge, was turned
into a morgue and hospital.
As soon as the calamity became
known, doctors and nurses by the
hundreds volunteered their services,
and for hours they strove in the work
OF resuscitation. Few were revived.
however, as the bodies had been in!
the water too long.
As the ay day wore along ana tho
bodies came forth, stiff In the rigor Of
death. the respirators were retired.
The physicians administered fnjeo-
lions Of strychnine, and occasionally
when the powerful drug seemed to re-
hndle a spark Of life the lung motors
were called into reQuisition. Doctor,
Springer. coroner's physician. exam.
tined each body as it came ashore. He