The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1915-07-29

The ship never heeled back. 1t turn
ed slowly but steadily toward it's left
side. Children clutched the skirts OF
mothers and sisters to keep from fall
ing. The whole cargo was impelled
towards the falling side of the ship.
Water began to enter lower portfolios
and the hawsers tore out the piles
to which the vessel was tied.
Screams from passengers attracted
the attention of fellow excursionists
on the dock awaiting the next steam
err Wharfmen and ,picnickers soon
lined the edge of the embankment,
reaching out he1plessly towards the
wavering steamer.
For nearly five minutes the ship
turned before it finally dived under
the swift current of the river, which
owing to the drainage canal system
flows from the lake. During the
mighty turning of the ship with it's
cargo of humanity, lifeboats, chairs
and other loose appurtenances on
the decks slipped down the sloping
floors, crushing the passengers toward
the rising water.
Then there was a 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
water.
Many sank, entangled with clothin
and bundles and did not rise, but hun
dreds came to the surfec, seized
floating chairs and other objects.
Those on shore threw out ropes and
dragged in those who could hold these
life lines. Employees of commission
firms along the river threw crates,
chicken coops and other foatable
things into the current, but most of
these were swept away by the stream,
which runs five miles an hour.
Boats put out, tugs rushed to the
scene with shrieking whistles and
many men snatched off cats and
shoes and sprang 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.
dren 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
Instances of heroism were almost
as numerous as the number of per-
sons on the scene. Boats as soon as
full took rescued passengers to the
wharf or to the steamer Theodore
Roosevelt, which was tied up oppo-
site the Eastland.
In an hour the water was cleared
of excursionists. Those VINO had not
been taken to land had sunk or were
swirling down the river towards the
drainage canal locks at Lockport, ILL.,,
many miles away. The locks were
raised to stop the current and ar
rangements were made to take bodies
from the river. along it's course
through the southwest part Of Chi
cago.
Shortly after the water was clear
ed, city firemen, ship engineers and
helpers were on the exposed side of
the Eastland's hull, cutting through
it's steel plates with gas flames. Div
ers were hurried into underwater
suits. A tug was moored as a 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. Ware
houses of wholesale companies along
the river were thrown open and bod
les were placed in rows on the floors.
Scores of persons rescued from the
water were injured and thea were
taken to the Iroquois Hospital built
in memory of the 600 women, chill
dren and a few men who were burII-
ed and crushed to death in the Tro-
quois Theater New Years Eve some
years ago.
Efforts to resuscftate those taken
from the river were generally unsuc-
cessful. Only two or three were thus
saved. 1t was also said that many
of the injured would die.
The whole city was in consterna-
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