Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 August 1883 — HORRORS ACCUMULATE. [ARTICLE]

HORRORS ACCUMULATE.

Another Appalling Calamity Added to the Horrors of the Year. -A Rotten Pier Gives Beneath the Weight of Two Hundred * Excursionists. Over Seventy Known to Have Perished —Heartrending Grief of Parents and Relatives. An appalling calamity occurred at a wa-tering-place resort on the Potapsoo river, ten miles from the oity of Baltimore, M&, by the giving way of a pier crowded with several hundred people—excursionists from the city—nearly all of whom were precipitated into the water, and between sixty and seventy of whom were drowned, most of them being women and children. The particulars of the horror are embraced in the following dispatches gleaned from the Chicago press: in point of horror and fatality combined, no catastrophe has ever been written in the annals of Baltimore that will compare with the awful loss of life in the night-covered waters Of the Patapsco at Tivoli last evening. A crowd of pleasure-seekers, weary after the sports of the day, were gathered on the wharf as the barge that was to bear them to their homes approached. No thought of danger was in their minds. With scarce a moment’s warning, the structure gave way, and the immense mass of humanity was plunged into the waters, where the darkness shut them out of sight. In hundreds of homes last night anxious wives, husbands and parents were awaiting the arrival of the excursionists, and the anxiety became intense as the small hours of the morning came on. At 2:30 o’clook the barge reached Henderson’s wharf, bringing its awful tale of woe, and freighted with the forms of twenty-eight drowned men, women, and children. The anxiety of the parents gave place to horror and grief, and the friends of the missing grew wild with terror. Almost half of the excursionists passed the night around the blazing fires on the shore, where those who had been rescued from the waves were Becking to dry their dripping clothing. The scenes on tne grounds daring the night were indescribable and awful The noisy cries of children and the hoarse shouts of men and the piercing notes of grief of the women were as nothing to the terrible silence of the four hours that preceded the dawn, when nothing was heard bat an occasional dull moan or the call of one of those who were watching by the shore for the bodies of the dead. From what could be gleaned from the remarks of individual witnesses of the terrible accident it appears that the disaster occurred a very few minutes after 10:30 o’clock. The wharf did not break; the piles spread. The crowd stood in a bunch in the center of the wharf which was but poorly supported underneath by logs and consequently the Jarring of the barge when she struck the wharf gave the shock which caused the piles to spread and let down the center of the wharf with its crowd of living beings into the water. The planks were of course unable to support the heavy weight and so snapped short off, thus giving rise to the supposition that they had broken. The Bev. W. E. Sterr, pastor of Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church, was an eye witness of the disaster, and gives a graphic account of it. “There is a long wharf at Tivoli,” said he, “running out from the shore perhaps 1,030 feet Near the shore end there are large gated, which are generally closed upon the arrival of the boats. Last night a number of persons, fatigued, and desiring to obtain advantageous positions on the boat, strolled out upon the wharf before the arrival of the barge, so that at the time she came in sight there were probably between 200 and 300 persons on the wharf between the gate* I, myself, together with some few others, had gained the extreme end of the wharf beyond the boat-gate where the barge made fast Meanwhile both gates had been closed, and the keeper of the one toward myself and the boat-gate would not allow any one to pass, evidently thinking, poor fellow, they were safer on the outside The people near the boat were just walking over the gang-plank when I heard a crash behind me, and saw a dark hole in the wharf and a mass of human beings struggling in the water beneath, while others on tae wharf were pushing and jostling each other in frantic endeavor to reach a place of safety. Men and women were shrieking and yelling and children crying, while from the dark abyss below the most heart-rending cries were heard, only to end in gurgling sounds as the helpless beings succumbed to the cruel waters. Then ensued a scene of indescribable confusion Stools, piles of Slank. everything available, were thrown ito the water in the midst of the struggling mass, until it became evident that some who might be saved from death by drowning would become victims of the of those who, with the best intentions, but very poor judgment, were casting the heavy articles into the water. I, myself, stepped on a parallel wharf, on which there is a small track, and made my way back to the scene of the disaster. I endeavored to calm the tumult, but as well might I have tried to 6top the earth from revolving on its axis. Those who were safe had suddenly conceived the idea that the boat was unsafe, and refused to go on board. I reasoned and persuaded, but only a few followed my advice. 1 told them that their iriends in the city, as soon as they learned of the accident, would mourn them as among the victims, but my efforts proved fruitless, and when we did Etart for Baltimore, more than half were left down there.” In meantime, efforts to rescue the drowning persons were beiDg made by a few brave young men, and quite a number of ladies and others, who were well-nigh dead had been brought up and lay dripping on the wharf. When the Cockade City arrived on her second trip, about 9 this morning, she brought with her thirty-five additional bodies, and the remainder of the excursionists who had remained over night at Tivoli searching for their friends Many were crying bitterly, white the haggard tear-begnmed faces of the others showed the intense suffering they had undergone All had lost friends or relatives, many of them more than one There were parents leading children, sobbing as if their hearts would break. As soon as the barge arrived, at 9 o'clock, the bodies were hurried into an empty building on Hendersons wharf, and laid out on the floor, awaiting Identification, which was not long coming, as none of the bodies had been in the water long enough to suffer any disfiguration, and were conseqentiy easily recognizable. The news of the accident had brought to the scene nearly every one who had friends on the excursion. Every few minutes, as the crowd passed slowly in and out of the room viewing the bodies, a piercing shriek and ejaculation of “Oh, my God. would announce that some unfortunate one had been recognized Young girls and strong men sobbed and cried like children. Many men and women were hurrying from one person to another, asking if such and such person had been found. The bodies already brought to this city number sixty-six. It is now thought that the less may reach 100. The pfcmc grounds where the terrible calamity occurred is on a small bay about two miles from North Point lighthouse. It was formerly known as Holly Grove, was first fitted up about fifteen years ago, and was the most poptdar resort at that time and for several years afterward The Cotoner held an inquest, and at tha ! conclusion of the testimony the jury rendered the following: We the jury find that Louisa Swearer and the others came to their deaths by drowning by the breaking of the bridge at Tivoil on the night of July 13, and that the authorities of the place did not use proper care and precaution to prevent the occurrence.