Jasper County Democrat, Volume 18, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 July 1915 — Page 2

For Your Baby. The Signature of is the only guarantee that you have the Genuine

tCASTORIAI

prepared by him for over 30 years. YOU’LL give YOUR baby the BEST o - Your Physician Knows Fletcher’s Castoria. Sold only in one size bottle, never in bulk or otherwise; to protect the babies. The Centaur Company,

i jasper cony mm\ f. I BABCOCK, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER. OFFICIAL DEMOCRATIC PAPER OF JASPER COUNTY . ■ Entered as Second-Class Mail Matter June 8,. 1908, at the postoffice at Rensselaer._ Indiana, under the Act of March 3. 1879 Published Wednesday and Saturday. Wednesday Issue 4 pages; Saturday Issue 8 pages. WEDNESDAY.’ JULY 28, 1915

* ,100 Lives Lost in Worst Marine Disaster in History.

(Continued from page one.)

Women Slide Into Water. It was a hill there was no climbing, a hill that grew steeper and more impossible with each instant. There was silence for a second as the deck was swept clean. The water rose w the Port rail. It was the signal so f-a chorus of screams. The water Crowned them. Some of those on the open, upper deck, confident of their, ability to swim - hoys and men for the most partjumped overboard. The >**:. the women, were slid into the fiver.

Below, on the ‘t'wfan decks, it was different- •♦orse. At the last momen*. wit<* the Eastland leaning at an angle r,f 45 degrees, tb-re had been a rush for the qopmauiouways. A few reached the ui/i r deck and comparative safety. .c: • vR b hundreds of :men. women and children jammed in a death tangle, the “grand staircase” gave way. Thus the main escape from the entrapping decks was blocked. It lay like a toy boat of tin wrecked in a gutter, its starboard half rising clear of the water. Sea of Bobbing Heads. On to the starboard side climbed the handful—perhaps 200—who had been fortunate enough to be close to the upper rail and who had the presence of mind to cling to it. Scarcely had the Eastland capsized when on the surface of the river, a moment before showed only Hie scum of commerce, appeared a hundred bobbing beads, a crewless and

REMOVING DEAD FROM WRECKED STEAMER

passengerless lifeboat that had floated free of its davits, and a couple of automatically released life rafts. Before boats lowered by the Roosevelt and the steamer Petoskey, lying near, could reach them many of rue heads disappeared. Employees of tliecommission houses which, back on the river threw crates and barrels overboard, and more, clinging to these, were taken from the water as the rescue forces assembled. But the biggest factor in the business of life saving was tlie Kenosha. Apparently its captain realized what was coming before the Eastland’s own officers.

Pontoon Bridge Built. There was a jangle of bells aboard’ the tug and it backed until its stern rested against the horizontal how of the excursion boat. Then the bow of the tug was swung in to the dock and a bridge to shore was formed for those who had gained the uppermost side of the Eastland. Over the “bridge” scores walked dry footed to safety. Within a few minutes lireboats with tugs and launches, raced up the river to the rescue. Those who had clung to the starboard rail and climbed over side were put ashore: Their places on the hull were taken by rescuers—Cap,tain Cariand and his crew _of life savers from the government station at the mouth of the river, firemen. policemen, a hastily organized medical staff. Police ambulances, hospital ambulances and undertakers’ ambulances, called from all parts of the city, flocked to the Clark street bridge. Trucks and wagons brought lung motors and other artificial respiratory apparatus.

Panic on Roosevelt. After an incipient panic aboard the Roosevelt had been checked by the vessel’s officers, who kept the passengers below decks until their excitement had abated, the second excursion boat was turned into a . temporary morgue. Bodies taken from the Eastland by divers and firemen were stretched along the Roosevelt’s decks until there was room for no mer- Then the Reid-

TAKING SURVIVORS FROM CAPSIZED STEAMER AT CHICAGO

Murdoch warehouse was thrown open for the reception of the dead. Over the side of the Eastland, over the deck of the Kenosha, along the narrow dock, and up the stairs to the street level crawled a continuous double line of stretcher bearers, policemen for the most part. Once the work was systematized bodies were brought out of the hull at the rate often of two a minute

Physicians Aid Rescuers. Through the early hours —while there were any more chances left —not a chance was taken. Physicians injected strychnine into each body as it came forth. But that was not all. Up on the bridge and on the sidewalk to the south a staff of physicians and nurses waited with the lung machines. A score of the machines clanked at the same time, in a few cases men and women apparently dead were restored to life and carried to hospitals.

Most Victims Suffocated. Coroner’s Physician Joseph Springer examined most of the bodies as they were brought ashore. By pinching the throat of each victim with his lingers the physician determined how they had met . death —whether from drowning ' or suffocation. Doctor Springer said the majority had been suffocated.

Under the steel shell of the Eastland the rescuers could hear tappings and faint cries. After divers had failed to locate the imprisoned passengers a call was sent out for acetylene torches. It was planned to cut eight holes in the steamer’s side.

Try to Stop Rescuers. Captain Pedersen, Dell Fisher, his first mate, and a dozen of the crew were still lingering among the rescuers on the hull. As the torch operators set to work Pedersen rushed to halt them. "Here, stop that!” he cried. ‘‘My orders are to save lives, not be careful of the: boat,” retorted one of the operators. Later 15 of Pedersen’s crew were arrested for interfering With the work of the electricians and torch men.

To Place the Guilt. “Punish the guilty,” is the cry of the city, state and federal authorities who have started investigations of the wreck of the Eastland. The threefold inquisition has produced the following harvest: State’s Attorney Hoyne announced his inquiry might disclose “the same story of human avarice and graft now on exhibition in the police graft cases.” Inspectors Mansfield and Nicholas of the steamboat inspection service intimated “a big mistake” had been made by the officers of the boat.

! Captain and Crew Held. ! Chief of Police Charles C. Healey i ordered C|tpt. Henry Pedersen and his crew held in custody, pending examin- • ation by Coroner Peter Hoffman and other public officials. Twenty-nine arrests were made. Then Coroner Hoffman announced that he had ordered the arrest of every official of the Indiana Transportation company, which leased the Eastland. No individuals were mentioned in the coroner’s announcement.

Manslaughter to Be Charge. j Manslaughter is the charge that will be pradjmred against the persons who may be found responsible for the unprecedented accident to the Eastland. i The federal law has drastic provisions against corruption or criminal negligence on the part of boat-owners and officers and public officials, including steamboat, inspectors, that results in the loss of life.

Warning Was Scorned.

Chicago.—“ Get off. De boat's turnin’ over!” This was the warning shout of Mike Javance of 1119 , Larrabee street as he drove his vegetable wagon across the Clark street bridge and saw the Eastland listing qver on its side. I “Gwan, dago, you’re crazy!” That was the answer Mike received from those crowded in the bow of the ill fated steamer. Then came the

shouts or terror, anc aiixe jomea with scores of others in the work of rescue.

WOMEN ARE CALM, MEN IN A PANIC

Thrilling Stories Told by Those Rescued From Death Trap in Steamer. TRAGIC SCENES ARE ENACTED • Men Fight Madly for Their Lives. Dragging Women From Temporary Places of Safety—Eyewitnesses Tell of Tragedy.

Chicago, July 26.—Stories of joy—a joy which found expression in tears —were told by those rescued from the river or from the death-trap hull of the steamer Eastland. In the crisis the women were the stronger. While men fought madly for their lives the women and girls, after the first panic, quickly recovered. Either they clung patiently to rails and bits of wreckage, or. if trapped in the hull, they waited calmly for rescue or death. Rescued, their thoughts for the most part were for those not so fortunate.

With the men it was different. They dragged the women from places of temporary safety in order that they might be saved. They struggled madly to save life, not for others, but for themselves. And some, when rescued, stood stunned and helpless, watching others at work. RECOGNIZES HIS DAUGHTER.

Fred Swigert, a city fireman, werked three hours lifting bodies from the hold. Then a diver handed him the body of a little girl. Swigert placed the little body on a stretcher ■oand looked closely at the child's features. He gasped and fell unconscious across the body. It was his own daughter.

Not until four o’clock did the divers recover most of the bodies from what was known as the second deck. Until that time they had made no attempts to locate any bodies on the first and cabin decks. “BEST LITTLE FELLOW” GONE. George Maley, office boy In department No. 2136 at tae Western Electric, was everybody’s friend. His cheering smile, his rapid thinking, and his ability to please, even under the most trying circumstances, inspired in all the stenographers and woman clerks of the department a sisterly love and in the men a “big brother" attitude.

In the morning he was among the first aboard the Eastland, distributing programs, smiling a cheering greeting, and making himself the pet of the crowd. During the afternoon - more than fifty women and girls tramped from morgue to hospital and from hospital to information bureau to Inquire as to the fate of George. At the bureau at 216 North Clark street three pretty stenographers gathered around the desk marked “Names from J. to N.” and asked about George Maley. A relative ? one of the clerks asked sympathetically, when no report was found in his index. No. But the best little fellow you ever knew,” answered one, and led the group away. FAT MAN SCARED; TWO DROWN. “I heard her flop over with a crash and a splash,” said William Raphael. I jumped out to the door and saw vhat had happened. I saw two women come bobbing up to the surface not far from the shore piling. I Jumped in to grab them.

Some fat man, his face green with terror, was making for them. too. I got hold of the women and started to pull them out. The fat man held on to the women’s dresses, and I couldn’t swim with the whole load. I yelled at him, treading water as I foughL He wouldn’t let bo

“I licked liim in the face and made him let go. I lost one of the women in the struggle, but I got the other woman to shore safely. “All three of them might have been saved if that fellow hadn’t been scared into a frenzy. lam glad that I saved one. anyway. ALL EXCEPT SON SAVED.

Casper Laline, Sr., of 3718 Ogden avenue, his wife and their daughter Cecilia, thirteen years old, were rescued, but their son, Casper, Jr., eight years old, is believed to have been drowned. The Laline family was in a stateroom when the boat began to list and water began to rush into the room. They climbed upon a table, whence all were pulled through a porthole to the upper side of the overturned boat There the boy Casper disappeared, and it was believed he had slipped off the boat in the confusion and been drowned.

Frank Spencer of 5259 South Robey street saved two woman companions, Mrs. K. Jena and her daughter Anna of 175 S West Fifty-first street. “The instant the hawsers were let go the boat began to tip,” Spencer said. “I suspected* what was coming and lifted Miss Jena up over the rail. Then together we managed to get her mother up, and I scrambled up after them. We all crawled top of the boat as it turned over.” J* POLICEMAN SAW TRAGEDY.

With water dripping from his hair and clothing. Policeman John H. Sesc-her, probably one of the first to go to the rescue of the passengers, stood on the Clark street bridge and gave a detailed description of the accident and of the scenes he witnessed as men, women and cheldren were flung into the water.

He said he had assisted about fifty persons to reach shore. “I was standing on the bridge gazing at the boat,” the policeman began, wiping the water from his eyes and wringing his hair. “I noticed that there was an awful crowd on one side of the boat and that it was leaning out towards the water. I believed there were qbout five hundred men, women and children on that side of the steamer. The promenade decks were lined. Then I noticed the boat suddenly flop -over. It just went over on its side without the slightest warning. “I saw scores of men and women, many holding children, plunged into the water. I rushed down to the river and jumped into a rowboat. I pulled out the drowning as I reached them. I think I got about fifty ashore. Then came the fireboat, tugs and rowboats, and I believe that altogether one hundred or more were taken from the water. We grabbed the nearest first and put them ashore. At one time I had four women in the boat with me. Others I aided by simply lifting them from the water to the landing.” WOMEN PULLED AWAY. Joe Lannon, who was at the soda fountain on the lower deck, said: “When the ship first started to turn over everybody took it as a joke. The dance floor on the lower deck was crowded with men and women, mostly the latter. Then when the boat listed over so far that the people beto slide across the floor the panic began. 'Women and children first?’ Not on your life! I saw men tear women and girls from where they were clinging to rails above the water in order to get positions of temporary safety. There was nothing like chivalry. The stronger dragged down the weaker into the water and usurped their places, and usually the stronger were men and the weaker were girls and women. Oh, if the men had only been as brave as the women, the loss of life would have been much less! I refnember one girl—she was only about sixteen—whom I pulled through the porthole. As she reached safety she fainted dead away. In another case I was lifting a woman out of the water. She was heavy and I could hardly raise her. A man grabbed my foot. I shouted to him that all three of us would'be in the water and lost if he did not go, but he hung on. Finally I raised my foot and kicked at him. The shoe slipped off my foot and he disappeared. I got my own footing again and hauled the woman cuL”

Our.4*£R. (§fesifieaSsl tender this head notices will be published for 1-cent-a-word for the first insertion, 1-2-cent-per-word for each additional insertion. To save book-keeping cash should be sent with notice. No notice accepted for less than twenty-five cents, but short notices coming within the above rate, will be published two or more times—as the case may be—for 25 cents. Where replies are sent In The Democrat s care, postage will be charged t °] rWarding su °k re Phes to the adver-

FOR SALE hor Sale—Fresh Durham milch cow, also an aged family horse, gentle anyone can drive or ride him.—H. PAULUS. Rensselaer, phone 938-G. For Sale—Two grade Shorthorn cows, now giving milk and one with calf by side, and 1 pure bred Shorthorn bull caIf.—GRANT SUTTON Fair Oaks, Ind. R-2. For Sale—An armload of clean old newspapers for a nickel at The Democrat office. Just the thing for putting under carpets, on pantry shelves, etc. ts

For Sale—Rich onion land in Wisconsin; yield 400 to 600 bu. per acre. Land cheap now; small payment*, long time. Address MEADOW VALLEY FARM, Sprague, Wis. For Sale—lo 7 acre farm In Otsego county, N. Y.; 8 acres maple, beach and hemlock timber, Including sugar grove, balance in good state of cultivation; good living springs in pasture lots, good well of water at house, land is gently rolling but not hilly and is easy to work. House recently remodeled, and practically good as new; 2 large barns In fair condition, and other outbuildings; farm well fenced, wire fencing; on R. F. D., and telephone. New evain orator and sap buckets goes with farm, all for $2,100. Reason for selling, poor health and too old to farm.—Address L. J. SHELLAND, u orcester, Otsego county, N. Y.

FOR RENT For Rent—My house on Rive 2 street.—MßS. MARY JANE HOP KINS. WANTED W anted—At once, boy to work in The Democrat office. One of good steady habits, who is honest and reliable; .either to work all or part of the time.—THE DEMOCRAT.

Wanted-— 500 stock hogs from 40 to 125 lbs. Watch this ad, will pay Sc per lb. until further notice.—A. W. SAWIN, phone 400. ts

anted—-A good solicitor to travel over Jasper county. Previous experience not necessary, but is preferred—THE DEMOCRAT. Wanted borrow ?4,000 on good real estate security on 5-year loan; will pay 6 per cent interest, semi-annually if desired.—Entire at The Democrat office. *—siJ—MISCELLANEOUS Storage Room—Storage room for household goods, etc., on third floor of The Democrat building. Prices reasonable.—F. E. BABCOCK. Typewriter Ribbons—For all tha standard makes of machines, the celebrated Neidich brand, also cai. bon papers of the same make, on sale at The Democrat office. FINANCIAL Mutual Insurance—Fire and lightning. Also state cyclone. Inquire of M. I. Adams, phone 533-L.

Farm Loans-—I can procure you a five-year loan on your farm at a low rate of interest. See me before placing your loan. Office, west side public square.—-P. R. BLUE. Farm Loans—Money to loan on farm property in any sums up to 510,000. —E. P. HONAN. Farm Loans—l am making farm loans at the lowest rates of interest. Ten year loans without commission and without delay.—JOHN A. DUNLAP. I flnf fhn Without Delay ’ If HI I IH Without Commission I il U I 111 U > Without Charges for H Making or Recording Instruments. W. H. PARKINSON

Notice to Delinquent Debtors. A large number of small accounts due The Democrat for subscription and job printing and from which we have gotten no replies to the numerous statements sent, will be placed in the hands of a collecting agency on August 1, if not paid prior thereto, Statements will be sent to all these debtors once more before placing them in hands fpr collection, but if responses are not received to this last request for settlement, the accounts will be turned over for collections as above stated. While the accounts individually are small, in the aggregate they foot up to SI,OOO or more, and mean considerable to us. We hope the number that it will be necessary to enforce the collection of will be very small. Ideal Account Files, 51.50 each.— The Democrat’s fancy stationery department.