McNairy County independent. (Selmer, McNairy County, Tenn.) 1902-1969, 1915-07-30

Eastland had not budged, however
Instead, the heavily laden ship wa
yered sidewise, leaning first toward
the river bank. The lurch was SO
startling that many passengers joined
the large concourse already on the
river side of the decks.
The ship never heeled back. It
turned slowly but steadily toward It's
ieft side. Children clutched the skirts
of mothers and sisters to keep from
falling. Water began to enter lower
port holes and the hawsers tore out
the spiles to which the vessel was tied.
Screams from passengers attracted
the attention of fellow excursionists
on the dock awaiting the next steam
er. Wharfmen and picknickers soon
lined the edge of the embankment
reaching out helplessly toward the
wavering steamer.
For nearly five minutes the ship
turned before 1t finally dived under
the swift current of the river. Dur
ing the listing of the vessel lifeboats,
chairs and other loose appurtenances
on the decks slipped down the slop-
ing floors, crushing the passengers to-
ward the rising waters.
Then there was plunge, with a
sigh of air escaping from the hold,
mingled with crying of children and
shrieks of women, and the ship was
on the bottom of the river, casting
hundreds of living creatures to the
water
Many sank, entangled with clothing
and bundles and did not rise, but hun
dreds came to the surface, seized float
ing chairs and other objects. Persons
on shore threw out ropes and dragged
In these who could hold these life
lines.
Boats put out, tugs rushed to the
scene with shrieking whistles and
many men jumped into the river to
aid the drowning. With thousands Of
spectators ready to aid and the wharf
within grasp, hundreds went to death
despite every effort at rescue.
One mother grasped her two children
In her arms as she slipped from the
steamer into the water. One child was
torn from her, but she and the other
were saved Fathers were drowned
after aiding their wives and children
to safety.
One man was seen to cling to a
spike in the side of the wharf while
two women and three children stepped
up on his body to safety. He fell ex-
hausted into the river as the last one
of the five reached the pier.
Instances of heroism were almost
as numerous as the number Of persons
on the scene Boats, as soon as full,
took rescued passengers to the wharf
or to the steamer Theodore Roose-
welt, which was tied up opposite the
Eastland.
Shortly after the water was cleared,
city firemen and workmen were on
the exposed side of the Eastlands
hull, cutting through it's steel plates
with gas flames. Divers were hur-
ried into underwater suits. A tug was
moored as bridge between the pier
and the capsized ship.
AS the divers gained entrance to the
hull, the scene of distress moved for
the time being from the river to the
extemporized morgues. Warehouses
of wholesale companies along the
river were thrown open and bodies
were placed in rows on the floors.
Scores of persons rescued from the
water were injured and these were
taken to the Iroquois Hospital, built
in memory Of the 600 women and chill
dren and few men who were burned
and crushed to death in the Iroquois
Theater fire several years ago.
Efforts to resuscitate those taken
from the river were generally unsuc-
cessful. Only two or three were thus
saved.
iuO WuOiC CNy was III COuotcI ud-
ton over the catastrophe. Word of
the accident spread rapidly and to the
thousands already at or near the
wharf other thousands added them
selves. The Clark Street bridge near
the wharf was crowded until it threat
ened to collapse. Streets had to be
cleared by the police to allow the
passage of ambulances.
Mayor William Hale Thompson was
in San Francisco and Chief of Police
G. G. Healey was also out of town,
but Acting Mayor Moorhouse sent out
request that the city display signs
of mourning. Flags on public build.
ings were placed at half-mast and
many places were draped with mourn.
ing. Baseball games were postponed
and festivities largely ceased.