Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-07-27

ready Deen pleQgeu ana tnat the re-
mainder of the 100000 1t Is planned
to raise will be available within thirty.
six hours.
First Funerals Held.
The first funeral services for the
victims of the Eastland disaster took
place today when more than three hun
dred corteges passed throus- the
streets of this city. These solemn
professions will become familiar to the
passers.by before the week is over,
for arrangements have been made to
hold the services for some of the vari-
GUS victims on every day of this week
The larger part of the funerals held
today were for victims who lived in
the neighborhood of the Western
Electric Co.'s plant and in several in
stances the same service was said over
two and three victims, members of the
same family.
Fund Is Augmented.
The street car employees union con-
tributed $4,000 to the Eastland relief
fund today.
Several hundred survivors who
swallowed river water, today followed
the advice of Health Commissioner
Robertson and were treated with
typhoid fever anti-toxin by health de-
partment physicians.
Harry Thayer of New York, presi-
dent of the Western Electric Co., con-
ferred with Mrs. Osborne Rowe, head
Of the citys welfare bureau, and John
j. OConnor, director Of the Red Cross
here, concerning relief work. 1t was
planned to have the company's 10000
employees aid the stricken families.
Diver Does Good Work.
Charles r. e. Bowles, 17-year-old
volunteer diver, explored the hull of
the Eastland where professional divers
refused to 60 and brought to the sur
face forty victims. Bowles arrived at
the scene as soon as the acetylene
torches had cut through the hull and
made access to the interior possible.
Although warned repeatedly, he div
ed into remote parts of the ship, sell
dom coming to the surface without The
body Of one Of the victims. Several
times throughout the day he was advis-
>ed to let others carry on the work tut
he stuck to his task till nearly uncon-
scious, he reached the surface and
grasped an iron rod. His fingers slip
ped from their hold and had not q
naval reserve man caught him. his
name would have been added to the
death roll
Bowles was cared for by the police
and after he had rested asked to re-
sumo his work, claiming that he knew
where several other bodies were.
Physicians warned him against fur
Their efforts as they feared pneumonia.
On one trip Bowles brought up the
body Of mother with her baby In her
arms.
Sees Wife Perish.
With tear dimmed eyes, w. l.. LUX
ems stood on the upturned side Of the
Eastland today and told of the drown
ing of his wife. When he had finished
he covered his face with his hands and
wept. He staggered for a moment
and bystanders caught him and helped
him to the wharf.
From him it was learned for the
first time that Mrs. Lukens had per-
ished. He said he and his wife were
pitched from the upper deck into the
water and that he chung to the bench
on which they we're sitting. His wife
chung to him but others, grasping for
a hold on the bench, pulled her off
and she sank, with upturned face, be-
fore his eyes.
Inspector Calls Boat o. K.
Government Steamboat Inspector
Robert Reid, who is the father-in-law
of the chief engineer of the Eastland
and who pronounced the boat to be
safe at its last inspection In June, to-
dav dofiod those who had charged the
federal authorities with criminal negli-
gence and stated the steamer was in
good condition, thoroughly seaworthy
and capable of carrying an excursion
crowd of $500.
Mr.. Reid explained the peculiar con-
struction of the vessel, which required
two rows of ballast tanks in the hull,
five on each side. He stated that the
danger of capsizing would be much
greater If the ballast tanks were
empty or if the tanks on the port side
only were filled.