Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-07-24

thousand on the boat at the time OF the
! accident. I was standing on the lower
deck near the gang plank watching the
/ people come aboard. Suddenly | no.
ticed the boat list toward the center
Of the river. Il rolled slightly at first
and then seemed to stop. Then ii
started to roll again. I became alarm
ed and shouted TO the crowd 70 keep
still Apparently a majority Of the
passengers were on one side Of the
boat and this had overweighted il and
caused it 10 list, Suddenly the hawsers
which held the boat 10 the dock
snapped and the officers pulled the
gang plank in and refused to allow
any more on the boat.
Everybody Panic Stricken.
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 1t slipped in the midstream,
and moment later it had turned over
on it's side. I climbed over on the side
of the boat and stayed there until I
was taken Off by life savers. Many of
the passengers Ieaped into the water
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 passengers out of
the water and cutting holes in the
cabins to remove bodies"
Mother Jumps with Children.
Mrs. PauIlna Vantak. the mother Of
three children. was among the drown
ed. Her children were believed to
have been lost.
Henry Vantak, the woman S husband,
was pulled out Of the water.
i could not believe the boat was
turning over" Vantak said. About a
dozen of the $50 persons on the upper
decks jumped. The rest were thrown
into the river.
= did not see my wife or children
after the boat turned. They were car
ried into the river with the crowd
Some one grabbed me around the neck
and kept pulling me. It was woman
but l could not save her"
Policeman Henry II. Sesher. one Of
the first TO go to the rescue, gave al
vivid description Of the accident u
saw scores of men and women, many
of them holding children, plunge into
the water. I jumped into a rowboat
and pulled out to the drowning /
think I got about fifty ashore The FIRE
boat and tugs hurried to the scene
and picked up more than a hundred
people.
I'VE grabbed those nearest us first
At one time I had four women in the
boat with me. Others I aided by drag
ging them from the water into the
docks"
Many Cut and Bruised.
Women were cut and bruised, hys-
terical or half insensibIe, some bore
red marks or blood stains. Their
clothing. torn and wet. chung TO their
bodies. Others were screaming Still
others calmly held to the upper rail
ing OF stood on the upper side Of the
steamer.
John Mercy, q Western Electric com
pany employee. was one of the rescued. +
4 was on the upper deck" said
Money. when the boat began to list I
thought the boat was rocking at first,
then it kept turning on one side. /
caught hold of the rail and held on
as the boat went over on its side
"A loose chair swung around and
struck me on the forehead. Some +
thing else hit me but I don't know what
il was. but I managed to keep my hold
on the rail until I was help to land. /
There were more than 500 on my
side Of the boat at the time and many /
of them must have been drowned
Ten Minutes Turning Over.
George Haber, an employe OF South .
Water street commission firm, was a
witness of the accident.
Il was standing on a dock less than .
100 feet away when the boat began 10 +
turn over" said Haber Some of the +
men on the boat were loOsening some T
of the ropes. noticed one heavy cable +
still fast TO the stern. though. Then .
the boat began turning.
1t was seven OF el6AL minutes SEss F
perhaps ten minutes, in turning over T
on its side There were about 150 +
persons, I should Judge, on the upper +
decks, and from the number that had +
gone on board there must have been
many more than that below"
Captain Harry Petersen, 81 years
old, Of Benton Harbor, Mich, who /
was in command of the boat. said:
81 was on the bridge and was about
ready to pull out when noticed the
boat began to list ! shouted orders
TO open the inside doors nearest the
dock and give the people a chance TO
get out. The boat continued 10 roll
and shortly afterwards the haWsers
broke and the steamer turned over /
on its side and was drifting toward the
middle of the river. When she went
over I jumped and held on to the up
per side. 1t all happened in two min
utes The cause is a mystery TO me-
I have sailed the lakes for p years
and this is the first serious accident F.
7 ever had do not know know how
It happened" +,
Chief Steward Albert Wyooff said