Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1901 — BOLT SLAYS ELEVEN. [ARTICLE]

BOLT SLAYS ELEVEN.

LIGHTNING STRIKES PIER WITH FRIGHTFUL RESULTS. Boys, Youths and a Man Comprise the Victims— Bo J tea Found Twisted In* to Hideoua Shapes by Force of the Electricity. . ■ < ■ ——— Six boys and five men were instantly killed shortly after noon Monday by a lightning bolt that struck an old pier, a short distance north of the marine hospital in Chicago. The victims ranged In age from 12 to 45 years. When a terrific storm broke over the city the lads and men sought refuge under a zine-roofed shelter at the end of the pier nearest the shore. A party of twelve was crouching In the narrow spncq when the bolt of lightning struck the roof. Eleven were instantaneously killed. The twelfth one, Willie Anderson, had a marvelous escape from the fate of his companions. He was made unconscious by the shock, but fell underneath the others. He revived in a few minutes, and called for help. The bodies of all the victims had to be removed before Anderson was reached. He was taken to the hospital and will recover. - A majority of the boys who met death so suddenly had left their homes to go In swimming. The beach at the pier is sloping, and lads can wade out some distance. The pier is known as Robbias’ pier, having been built by Burr Robbins, the old circus man, whose residence is near by. The place is also a favorite fishing ground. The fierce thunderstorm which came up about 12:15 o’clock, accompanied by wind and lightning flashes, drove the timid ones in the crowd on and about the pier to the little hole In the timbers, which some fishermen had used in past seasons as a lodging place. The cavity was roofed with zinc, one of the best conductors of electricity known. The bolt struck squarely on this roof and ran down the Iron-studded timbers Into the huddled mass of humanity below. There was no cry of pain or fear from the doomed ones. They lost their lives tn an Instant, quicker than a current from the most powerful dynamo could have acted. Thrown in every conceivable attitude by the concussion, they presented a grewsome spectacle when the police arrived. The arms and lower limbs of the vietjms were entwined one with another, and it required a half hour to extricate the bodies and straighten them out on the sand. Underneath, crying piteously for help, was Willie Anderson, the only one alive in the awful den of death. In the history of lightning strokes costing human lives there is no record of eleven meeting death by one bolt. Four years ago four persons were killed by lightning at the Grant monument in Lincoln Park, but eleven at one stroke is believed to be the appalling record in such accidents.