Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-07-24

L became alarmed and shouted to the
crowd to keep still. Apparently a ma
JoI1tS OF the passengers were ON one
side of the boat and this had over
weighted 1t and caused it to list. Sud-
denly the hawsers which held the boat
to the dock snapped and the officers
pulled the gangplank in and refused
TO allow any more on the boat.
AT this time everybody was panic
stricken, women screamed and men
tried TO quiet them. I attempted to
reach an upper deck. but could not be-
cause of the crowd and excitement,
and ran back to the port side where
the gangway had been. The boat then
slowly drifted away from the dock,
rolling as it slipped into midstream,
and moment later 1t had turned over
on its side. / climbed over on the side
OF the boat and stayed there until
was taken off by life savers. Many of
the passengers Ieaped into the river
as the boat went over. Scores of
others were caught in the cabins and
drowned. When the small boats began
coming out TO us I worked with other
survivors in taking the passengers out
of the water and cutting holes In tho
cabins to remove bodies
Captain Gives Details
Captain Harry Petersen, 81 years
old, of Benton Harbor. Mich, who
was in command of the boat, said:
Il was on the bridge and was about
ready to pull out when I noticed the
beat begin to list. I shouted orders
to open, the gangways nearest the
dock and give the people a chance to
get out. The boat continued to roll
and shortly afterward the hawsers
broke and the steamer turned over on
its side and was drifting toward the
middle of the river. When she went
over jumped and held on to the upper
side. 1t all happened in two minutes.
The cause is mystery to me. I have
sailed the lakes for twenty-five years
and previous to that sailed on salt
water twelve years, and this is the first
serious accident I ever had. I do not
know how 1t happened"
Chief Steward Albert Wycoff said:
II was in the lunchroom on the
main deck when I noticed the boat
beginning to list. Dishes fell out of
the rack and a scene of wild excite
ment followed I shouted for the
people to save themselves. A moment
later I jumped into the water and
managed to rescue three women"
William Barrett, a deckhand, said:
"I was on the main deck at the
stern line ready to cast 1t off when the
boat started to list. I shouted warn
ings to the passengers around me and
tried to let go the hawser. When the
boat went over I climbed on the upper
side and helped get a number of pas
sengers into boats. It all happened
in few minutes"
1000 Tickets Distributed
The steamer Eastland was filled to
capacity and hundreds were turned to
other boats, according to S. G.. Hall,
one of the Western Electric picnickers.
He estimated that seven thousand
tickets had been distributed to the
employees and that more than $500
were crowded on the Eastland.
IT got to the dock" said Hall, "and
was told to go to the other boats, as
the Eastland was already too crowded.
There were fifteen or twenty people
behind me and more coming fast.
II was told that 1000 tickets had
been distributed among the company's
employees and that there We're to be
six boatloads. The only boats that I
heard were to be used. however. were
the Eastland and the Theodore Roose-
welt.
81 had scarcely gone ten feet toward
the Roosevelt when the Eastland be-
gan to list. Hundreds ran to the rail
and many climbed over its sides as II
turned over. All were thrown into the
water"
Mother of Three Lost
Mrs. Paulina Vantak, the mother of
three children, was among the
drowned. Her children were believed
! to have been lost.
band, was pulled out of the water.
II could not believe the boat was
| turning over" Vantak said. about q
| dozen of the $50 persons on the upper
decks jumped. The rest were thrown
into the river.
IT did not see my children nor my
| wife after the boat turned. They
were carried into the river with the
crowd. Someone grabbed me around
the neck and kept pulling me. It was
a woman and I could not see her"
Policeman Henry H. Seshr, one OF
the first to go to the rescue, gave a
vivid description of the accident.
'I saw scores of men and women
many of them holding children, plunge
into the water. jumped into a row
! boat and pulled out to the drowning
I think ! got about fifty ashore.
The fire boat and tugs hurried tc
the scene and picked up more than a
| hundred people.
1--WE grabbed those nearest us first
At one time had four women in the
boat with me. Others aided by drag.
| ging them from the water onto the
docks"
: PuImotors In Service
Pulmotors were rushed to the scene
In an attempt to revive victims drag
| ged from the water.
The North Clark street bridge wa.
choked with persons on their way L
work when the accident occurred
Friends and relatives of many whC
were going on the excursion lined TIL,
bridge railing waiting for the boat t.
| depart.
Captain Charles Garland of tn,
United States Life Saving Station a.
the mouth of the river hurried will
his crew to the scene and aided II
] the rescue, as did dozens of tugs ant
other river craft.
The first body recovered was identi
fed as that of Mrs. Peter Kommer
Her two sons were believed to be lost
Her husband was saved
/ Firemen chopped hole in the sidt
of the cabin and recovered the bod,
of Mrs. Kommer.
Private motor cars and wagons were
pressed into service in transporting
/ the injured to hospitals. The police
were called to the scene from a score
of outlying stations.
Police drove the thousands of per.
sons who crowded the Clark and Well.
street bridges from the structures fol
fear that they would collapse.
| Eyewitnesses said that the boa