The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-07-27
1850 TICKETS SOLD;
CAPACITY 2,N0
(Continued from page i

disaster. has answered those fghtin
for repeal Of the LaFollette seamen
law. Had tho law been in effect, Oh
cago would have been spared TIL
horror. BY that act but 1,20O woul
have been allowed ON board. The La
Is operative November 4. Under it,
believe the Hast1and win be the Las
catastrophe Of It's kind"
Sharp in his defense OF the LaFo
lette law and levelling q bitter q,
tack against the present fedora
steamship inspection system. Andrey
Furuseth, president of the Information
al Seamen,s union, thus gave vent Il
his feelings today on Chicago's ma
rine disaster.
"Ihe federal inspection system y
radically wrong" he said. 'Inspec
tors want to hold their Jobs. The
active inspector mysterlously loses his
Job. So, generally, inspectors are not
rs critical as they might be-and we
have East1and disasters"
Don't blame the inspector. Damn
the system. The cruz of the trouble
is that there are no definite standards
Of safety established by congress. The
supervising inspectors with the in
spector general make their own rules.
inspectors are either captains or en-
g1neers. They are generally recon-
mended for appointment by some shlp
owner. One time an employee Is made
inspector over his old boss vessels.
It's a vicious circle. Deprive the IN
spectors Of their three fold power to
make the rules, enforce the rules and
Judge their own rulings. That must
be done.
1.-THE laws must be changed 50 al
to make 1t easy for the inspector to
work for safety; not hard.
Il charge the federal inspection
system with being a failure. The rec
ords Of marine disaster support me.
Limited liability for loss and I'M
limited opportunity to take out In
surance must also go. 1t makes the
shipping business gamble with
death. 1t permits the ship owners to
shift responsibility. 1t leaves the
helpless public the licensed officers OF
the vessel and the crew, the goat.
"Our limited liability laws have
made the United States shelter for
Injustice and wrong against sufferers
Of marine disaster. The liability OF
the White Star line over the Titanic
In the United States was about $780,
600. In England 1t would have been
SO, 100000 They threw the Titanic
Into the United States courts because
Of that law.
After the Slocum disaster they said
hat they built ships that would not
,urn. The Volturno burned. They |
said they built ships that would not
;ink. The Titanic sank. They said
hey did not need adequate safety ap-
,liances and skilled men On vessels
,peratfng near the shore, as on lakes.
The Empress Of Ireland went dow.l
With 1000 within sight OF land; the
castland carried over thousand souls
o death In what is little more than
canal.
IT hope a strong civilian investtgat-
ng committee is appointed TO go into
he Eastland disaster rigidly and inn
art1alIy. Important facts will be
rought out that will save lives in the
uture and change the whole tnspec-
ion system"
s2a Bodies Taken Out.
CHICAGO, July 27.-Two more
bodies were recovered from the
,lutch of the Eastland today. The
.otal recovered dead is now S28. At
east four hundred bodies are still in
he hulk. This was the estimate
made by Coroner Hoffman after a
conference with divers and police
officials today. 1t was based on re-
yised figures of States Attorney
Hoyne, who said today he Is con-
yinced the number on board at the
time of the disaster was at least q
$50. Some officials still believed
that the number of bodies In or
about the hull will greatly exceed
500.
Exhausted by almost sixty hours
Of continuous plunging, the divers
did little last night. But by dawn
the men were on the boat and worK
had resumed. Shortly afterwards.
two bodies were taken out. A cluster
of bodies were found between the
first and second decks and may be
released today. When the way Is
cleared to the ball room, sicEening
find is expected.
Marine contractors started today
on the work of raising the Eastland .
to an upright position. The work
will be completed within ten days.
a large number of bodies will be re.
leased. Early this morning work.
men finished stretching heavy wire !
net across the Chicago river at /
Wells street from the central pier OF .
the bridge to the shore. 1t is expect /
ed the net Will catch any bodies
freed by the lifting Of the hull and /,
that float unobserved down the river. !
Nets are also stretched across the
river at Randolph and at Western
avenue.
In the recesses Of the hull, groups
OF bodies are now located between
decks in the fofepart of the ship.
The water is eighteen feet deep here
and diving is dangerous. Bodies are
also known to be in considerable
numbers underneath the pilot house
and damned in the bow. BETWEEN the
scene of the wreck and the LOckport
docks. floaters have been reported
and will be caught at Lockport-
In the Ball Room.