The Sentinel=record. (Hot Springs, Ark.) 1900-current, 1918-07-07

/ OF the vessel, who vas on watch at
the time She struck at 1:5S p m,
said he vas running on a slow
| bell' and shat after the crash the
! pilot. Tom Williams gave him the
stop" tell Then, he said, the ship
backed off and again headed down
stream on a SLOW bell" A few min
utes tlaer the water reached the dy-
( namos and the lights went OUT"
The tragedy struck without warn
ing when the five hundred merry
makers, after a nights outing at
Fresno park in Peoria Were ending
| the the evenings entertainment by
dancing and concert by the orchestra
According to survivors there were
about 200 dancers on the inclosed
/ floor on the second deck when the
! first shock came
! For an instant the orchestra paus-
! ed but cry of "One with the dance"
| caused them to continue playing un-
til suddenly the electric diehts flick
cred out and there was I rush Of WI
! ter through the windows on Cne side
| Carried down the steep incline Of
the deck in a struggling heap, the
crowd became a bowling mob in the
| darkness, fighting to escape through
two narrow doorways. Those on the
lower and upper decks had better
| chance and most of them succeeded
| il lcaping into the swift current of
the river after supplying themselves
: with life preserYers,
The screams of the survivors at
| racted the attention of residents OF
| Wesley City opposite the scene os
| the wreck and soon the entire coun-
| try side was aroused Scores of au-
| tOmcbiles soon lined theshore and
| these cars were lined up with their
! headlights sweeping over the waters
while dozens of rowb boats went to the
rescue of the men and women strug-
| Cling in the river.
Many persons succeeded in swim
ming TO the shore. among them being
| the leader OF the orchestra, Arthur
Knapp Of Chicago
1--WE were playing when l felt the
boat suddenly list to the lee side"
said Knapp. 81 knew something was
wrong and made for a skylight
! triket this with my fist and crawled
! through. When l reached the upper
! deck Jumped off aud swan ashore"
After the survivors had been cared
| for it was found impossible because
! of the darkness 10 continue the
/ search for bodies and this was halt
ed until daylight At sunrise scores
of volunteer workers hacked at the
wreckage while two began bringing
out the bodies
| The remains were lifted into
launches and taken to Pekin for iden-
| tification. The homes of practically
all of the victims were either in Pc
kin or Kingston. mining settlement
| about six miles south of Pekin.
Two government inspectors aboard
the steamer Lancaster, "a coal com
/ pany boat, kept careful watch tonight
over the wrecked steamer Columbia
and its cargo OF dead during a storm
which struck this vicinity shortly after
10 o'clock, threatening to break up the
sunken steamer Later it was said
/ the boat would hold out.
| At the wagon bridge at Pekin a
, lookout was being kept for any bodies
that might come down the river, and
| for wreckage from the lost excursion
| boat
! While stretcher bearers carried
| bodies up the main street tonight 10
the morgues. scores of women and
! children, most Of them in tears lined
the curbs, trying for a glimpse OF
! lost relatives Somewhere in the dis
tance a cornet was playing Nearer
! My God to Thee and as each addi-
( tional body was brought up the noise
| in the saloons increased
! At dusk more than sixty bodies had
been brought down the river and
placed in the morgues for identified
tion. Virtually all were from Pekin,
and a majority were women and chill
| dren. The bodies were, for the most
part, quickly identified.
Old time river men were being in
terrogated tonight by officials inves-
tigating the disaster in an effort TO
llearn the condition of the sunken