Rocky Ford enterprise., 1915-07-30
EXCURSION STEAMER, LOADED
WITH PicNIckERs, cAPsIZEs
AT DOCK IN THE HEART
OF CHICAGO, ILL.
DIVERS SEARCH HULL
OFFICERS ARRESTED DOUBLE
INVESTIGATION STARTED
TO FIX BLAME FOR
DISASTER.
western Newspaper Union News Service.

announced SATURDAY nlSnt tnat ne naQ
ordered the arrest of every official of
the Indiana Transportation Company,
leasing the steamer Eastland which
capsized Saturday morning with a
party Of excursIonists, nearly 1,5OO of
whom were reported drowned. No in
dividuals were mentioned in the coro-
ners announcement.
w. c. Steele, secretary and treas
urer of the st. Joseph Chicago Steam
ship Company, which owned the East
land, built on Lake Erie in 1908 and
remodeled later because topheavy, 1t
is said, was arrested and locked up at
the police station.
The cororer at IL o'clock Saturday
night said that he had hopes that the
number of dead would not exceed
1000. The number of bodies in the
morgue, according to official count,
was 500. The coroner said that any
bodies In addition to the 500 were in
the river or the hull Of the Eastland.
The big steamer capsized within a
few feet of land as 1t was about to
leave its wharf in the Chicago river
with $500 relatives and friends Of
employees of the Western Electric
Company for trip across Lake Michi-
gan. The ship rolled on its side in
twenty-five feet of water within five
minutes after it began to list.
Coroner's Physician Springer de-
clared that 1900 persons were killed,
while other estimates ran as high as
2,100, but these did not agree with the
statement that not more than $500
passengers were on board the vessel
During the day more than 500 bodies
were taken from the river and the
hull of the overturned vessel, whose
sides were cut open with gas flames
to admit divers. Several persons
were taken alive from the cabins in
the ship after 1t had lain on its side
in the river for four hours. but the 20C
other persons said to be in the hulk
are all dead. ... ...
Under the glare OF searchlighta
scores of men worked in the hull OF
the vessel to remove the bodies. The
steamer lay on the bottom of the river
one-half of its side protruding from the
water.
The cause of the capsizing had not
been determined Saturday night. but
federal, city and state officers were
conducting investigations to determine
whether the ship was topheavy from
faulty designing. was improperly bal
lasted, or was poorly handled in
warping from the wharf
Under misty skies, 1000 men, WON
en- and children wended their way tc
the river wharf to fill five large lake
4. ...l. s-..
to Michigan City. The steamer East
land, brought to Chicago from Lake
Erie, after an unsatisfactory career
was the first to be loaded.
Rain began to fall as the wharf su
perintendents lifted the gang planks
from the Eastland, declaring that the
government limit of $500 passengers
had been reached. White dresses
peeped from raincoats. as those aboard
waved goodbye to friends on shore
waiting to board the other vessels.
Then the passengers swarmed to the
left side of the ship as the other
steamers drew up the river toward the
wharf A tug was hitched to the East
land. ropes were ordered cast off and
the engines began to hum
For nearly five minutes the shiI
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 its
cargo of humanity, lifeboats, chairs
and other loose appurtenances on the
decks slipped down the sloping floors
crushing the passengers toward the
rising waters.
Then there was a plunge with 8
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 its passengers into the
water
Many sank, entangled with clothing
and bundles, and did not rise, but
scores came to the surface. giving the
river the appearance of a crowded
bathing beach. Many seized floating
chairs and other objects Those on
shore threw out ropes and dragged in
those who could hold these lifelines
Employees OF commission firms along
the river threw crates. chicken coops
and other floatable things into the cur
rrnt, but most of these were swept
away by the stream.
Rushed to Aid Of Drowning.
Boats were put out, tugs rushed tc
the scene with shrieking whistles. and
many men snatched off their coats and
sprang into the river to aid the drown
ing With thousands of spectators
ready to aid and the wharf within
grasp. hundreds went to death despite
ut