Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1915-07-25

City, county, state and federal
officials worked to learn the cause of
the disaster to recover bodies of vic
TINS. trace missing persons and aid
the injured. In this they were as
sisted by every agency that the city
could summon, hospitals, mercantile
concerns, physicians, churches and
organized charities lending their or
ganizations or experience to the
work.
Awful Panic on Deck.
Panic of the worst kind struck the
passengers when the boat began to
turn over. Best accounts os witnesses
said the steamer rolled slightly twice,
then turned further, and that hundreds
Of screaming. struggling men, women
and children slid across the sloping
decks. fought for room on the COM
panion ways and clutched at com
panlons. deck chairs. or any other OBJ
ject that came TO hand.
Women and children by the hundreds
were caught below decks and the
scratched faces. torn clothing and bruised
bodies of the dead bore mute evidence
OF the desperation with which they had
fought for chance for life.
The whole tracey occupied less than
five minutes. Members o. the crew
shouted warnings as the steamer first
tilted and Captain Petersen ordered
! lower deck ports opened and all pas
sengers ashore. There was. however
no chance for such measure to sue
| ceed
Some seven thousand tickets had been
distributed for the excursion and five
/ steamers chartered by the company.
The Eastland was first to receive it's
quota and when it's chartered capacity
was reached. federal inspectors ordered
that>no more be taken aboard. The boat
was docked on the south side OF the
river. and when the hundreds hurry
ing TO the boat were turned back from
It they streamed across the Clark street
bridge to the steamer Theodore Roose-
welt. which was to take the second load
Near Panic ON Bridge,
Screams of the Eastlanc victims halted
this rush and the bridge was jammed
with people until police. fearful that the
structure would collapse. ordered 1t
cleared
Every resource of the city was turned
to the rescue work. Remembering the
Iroquois theater disaster, mercantile con-
Germs I'm the vicinity hurried motor trucks
to the scene laden with blankets to warm
the living or cover the dead. PulmotorS
by the score we're sent to the dock; ply
sicians. police, firemen. government life
savers and nurses were summond and
all hospitals and morgues notified to pre-
pare for patients or corpnes.
The steamer --oated on its side into mid
stream and tugs. notorboats and other
river craft swarmed about a. Firemen
climbed on the hull. forced openings in
the steel hull and through these searched
the cabins for possible victims,
City fireboats. police launches and life
boats from nearby steamers In the river
rushed to the rescue. A hole was cut
through the side of the lower deck by
lifesavers and the bodies of six victims
five OF whom were women. were soon
taken out.
Decks and Cabins Crowded.
L. d. Gadory. employed as a candy
butcher on the steamer. was the first
eyewitness TO tell 9 detailed story OF the
accident.
1T was about 7:4O o'clock this morning
and the boat, which had been chartered
by the employees Of the Western Electric
company for an excursion to Michigan
City. Ind. was lying at the dock near
Clark street bridge loading with passen-
gers" said Gadory. We were to leave In
twenty minutes and the upper deck and
cabins were crowded with passengers
There were hundreds OF women and
ehildyen. I estimake that there we're be-
tweed 1000 and 5000 on the boat at the
time OF the accident. 1 was standing ON
the lower deck near the gangplank watch
ing the people come aboard. Suddenly /
noticed the boat list toward the center Of
the river. It rolled slightly at first and
then seemed to stop. Then Il started to
roll again / became alarmed 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 II 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
Passengers .Pahie-strIckeB.
''At this time everybody was panic
stricken. Women screamed and men triad
to quiet them. I attempted to reach an
upper deck, but could not because OF the
crowd and excitement and ran back 20
the port where the gangNsy had been.
The boat then slowly drtftsd away from
the dock. rolling ss II slipped into mid
stream. and a moment later It had turned