The farmer and mechanic., 1915-07-27

thousands whose hearts have been
pierced by grief. The day was one
Of gloom. The sky was cloudy and
a mist hung in the air. There was
more than the usual Sabbath quiet
everywhere and the crowds of out
door pleasure-seekers were thin. AS
was the case yesterday, baseball
games were postponed.
Various theories as to what caused
the F,astland to turn over were dis
cussed. but without prospect of def
mite explanation being reached untll
the official inquiry which is to be
taken up tomorrow is finished. Ihe
much discussed theories are four:
That the boat was overloaded; that
she was not properly ballasted; that
a tug that made fast TO warp the
Eastland from the docks started pull
ing too soon: that congestion OF pas
sengers rushing to the port side at
tracted by some passing sensation
tipped the steamer over.
With the assembling today or
stories of witnesses and survivors,
more and more incidents Of horror,
pathOS and herOiSm came to Nght. All
of the Eastland's passengers save two
or three hundred who clung to the
starboard rail or climbed out OF star
board port holes were thrown into the
river, crushed into the Shiny mud of
the bottom or imprisoned between
decks, when the steamer turned over.
Smiles Driven Away.
Some sudden signs of terror had
driven smiles from gay faces several
minutes before the waters swallowed
the throng, but generally the women
and girls in white summer attire and
the men and boys dressed for jovial
outing were laughing and shouting
fareWells when death swept upon
them.
The listing Of the boat to port was
noticed, some said, fifteen minutes be-
fore she turned over. Captain Peder-
sen said five minutes. Some women
clutched their children but decided
the slope of the deck mustt be some
thing necessary to warping from the
dock When the full realization came
the slow list had become an Overturn
Babies, girls, women and men, decl
gear and furniture slid into the wa
| ter in cOnglomorate mass. In thirt.
minutes the survivors had been pu
safely ashore and the fishers for tn
dead started the work that was t
| continue in long mOnOtOny through
out the day and night.
Beginning late last night the lin
of bereaved passed through the ar
mory They came all through tn
night and all day today. Indenti
fications were made with great rap
idity so that the unidentified bodie
had tonight dwindled to less than
hundred.
Identifications Being Made.
Tension and repression were tn
outstanding qualities shown in tha
identification line. Those who wake
in it today had long since given u
hope and with clenched hands steel
ed themselves for the sight the
tifications were made the bodies wer
turned over to undertakers and car
ried to long lines of hearseS drawn u
at the armory.
This quiet half cloudy Sunday Wa
day Of gloom for all Chicago. TIL
city turned to prayer and though
Minister'S said more people attende
church than OR many Sundays pas
The preachers nearly all referred I
the Eastland disaster in their sci
mons and asked congregations to joi
in prayers or the bereaved. Thel
, were crowds Of morbidly curio,
along the river, but for the most pa
the populace either went to chure
or aged at home in appalle
. thouef Mt.
With the details of the catastropl
summed up, the people shuddert
, one of the great cities Of the Wor
a thousand people could go to the
death with hundreds Of persons po,
: erless to aid standing within a stone
, throW-that that great mass cou
1 drown in a narrow river 20 feet fro
l the dock.