The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-07-25

Jacket. She talked like one drugged,
to the guardian at the door.
"it's my baby" she said Simply.
He shook his head. "Not yet, lady,
not yet, in little while, maybe
"a let her 90 with a neighbor Of
mine. She was only three. Her
father is In Wyoming. He doesn't
know yet. When she turned the cor
ner this morning she waved her
hand at me. Won't you let me In
| now, mister?"
IDENTIFICATION is SLOW.
! The work Of Identification 10 90
| lnu on very slowly. The police tag
each body with number, giving
description Of the appearance OF the
body, clothes and any papers or
IeweIry upon t. These descriptions
are sent in to the city hall and the
, coroner's office. But this was
holiday crowd Of workers. The ma.
iority were dressed in light outing
clothes. Few carried any papers with
them. On some of the corpses. %.
draaaled blue and gold arm bands o.
the Hawthorne club, social organ'-
zation, lead to Identification.
II was noticeable that on almost s'
Of the bodies brought up from tho
bowels of the boat that their ieft
arm was thrown up before their race
and when death overwhelmed ther:
they still held to this gesture as
makina one last pitiful effort to avert
the horror they saw coming.
The coroner's deputies slaveo az
their erewsome work the long niahs
THROUGH. Stripped to their under
shirts and trousers, drenched in pers'
piration, they worked up and down
the Iona rows of quiet foin's, eaen
shrouded in a bright pink, blue or
white cotton blanket.
Deaths Choicest Harvest.
1t was among the babies and the
small children that death, as usual,
reaped his choicest harvest. Few eS-
capped If the stolid faces OF the
stretcher bearers ever betrayed the
stress they labored under, 1t was
when these tiny forms were brought 10
th.a morgue. One auto van brought
six each wrapped in a blue covering
Tiny feet dropped pathetically beyond
the edge of the cloth; the bright pink
and scarlet ribbons that proud moth
ers had that morning tied in their
hair. mud-stained, and faded, dragged
behind.
As the hours rolled on the crowds
Of relatives and friends about the
morgue grew. But it was still dumb
and silent crowd Occasionally few,
with proper credentials, would slip
past the door Quickly they would pass
down the narrow lanes between the
dead. A covering would be remoVsd
from the face. One or two of the
searchers, often a woman, would bend
low. Sometimes a stifled gasp; some
times a meer nod. A low voiced order
would be given. a stretcher would be
brought up and the body taken away.
Gethsemene of Sorrow.
But this did not happen often. The
vast majority of identifications will
be made tomorrow, Sunday, Chicago's
tGethsemane of sorrow"
So far no arrangements have been
made for any public funeral of vic
tins. Most of them will be buried by
relatives and friends privately. Plans
for the financial assistance of those
who ara not able to meet this sudden
demand upon their resources already
are being made. Fraternal societies
are active in looking after the needs
of members and members families.
None will go to the pottersfield un-
sorrowed and alone.
At 1O:30 D. m. Coroner Hoffman an
nounced th-t the doors of the Second