Jasper Weekly Courier, Volume 57, Number 43, Jasper, Dubois County, 30 July 1915 — Page 6
WEEKLY COURIER OVERLOAD'NG OF
VESSEL CAUSED
EN ED. DOANE, PublUhtr.
INDIANA
JASPER
Laziness is spring fever that has reached a chronic stage.
There never was an excuse as interesting 23 duty wil done.
A peace-loving person doesn't hav much chance to make a noise.
One of the poorest kinds of first-aid treatment is to nurse a grouch.
GREAT TRAGEDY Finding of State's Attorney Hoyne After Examining Many Witnesses.
Age brings wisdom, but most men would rather have youth than be wise old owls.
OTHER VIOLATIONS FOUND
Count among the heroes the man who can keep sweet under great provocation.
Federal, State and City Authorities All Striving to Fix the BlameSecretary Redfield May Name Naval and Civilian Board.
Many of the good things to be said about men are held for release until they die.
If there were not two sides to every question the lawyers would have nothing to do.
Bid Milton have 1915 in mind when ne wrote, "They also serve who stand and wait?"
Blessed is the man whose country doesn't do anything for which he need be ashamed.
Suggested marriage proposal for some men: "Will you take me and reform me?"
Oh, well, what if clams are becoming scarce? There is plenty of old rubber hose.
At least no belligerent has yet accused the enemy of mailing poisoned quinine samples.
There are some advantages in being blind. There are so many unfit things to see and read.
To be the under dog is not so bad, in the eyes of the public, if he refrains from whining.
The strategic value of Przemysl depends entirely on whether you are capturing or surrendering $it It will occasion no regret in J erica if the mailed fist is held in j-U-rope for insufficient postage.
Fashion has certain things which it uses to frighten people. Among them is the old-fashioned hoopskirt
One woman declares that women hould court men. But it would make the men feel miserably unromantic
Dr. Eliot says too much money is & imisfortune. Still, nobody seems to look 'upon a multi-millionaire as an under dog.
Statistics prove that remarriage is more frequent among widows than widowers. Statistics are not very 'gallant.
The reasons for seeing America first and staying there are growing greater and stronger with the native tourists.
Judging from the glad rags affected by the girl of the period, we think it might be well for her to come to a full stop.
Paragraphers may make light of persons and events, but it is not necessarily they who put the lamp in lampoon.
When a young widow takes unto herself a second husband, all the women in the neighborhood look wise and
say, "Poor man!
i
Merchant ships, battleships and international relationships are threatened by the deadly submarine, but all still is plain sailing for the censorships.
Owing, perhaps, to the war, no new dances have been imported. Clearly we must develop trade with South America, where the saltatorial mines are situated.
Some folks always engaged in finding fault with the world would be highly indignant if the world cared enough to express its unbiased opinion of them.
It is said that heaven hMps those who help themselves, but ihis does not apply to those who help themselves to the personal property of their neighbors.
While the population of the United States has only trebled since 1S6Ö, the national wealth has increased twelvefold. No matter who has got it. that proportion is better than if it were the other way about.
Australia in 1913 imported $1,285,877 worth of cement. Which may bo taken as one concrete illustration of Australia'i prosperity.
Men past forty-five are not permitted to do active service in the (Jnited jßtates army; but there is no age limit tin the army of the Lord.
Doctor Wiley's dictum that woman's best profession is marriage, is not weakened by the occasional demonstration that, like all other profesf" - t has it failures.
Chicago, July 27. "The Eastland was overloaded, and the overloading was responsible for the tragedy of Saturday.", This was the finding of State's Attorney Maclay Hoyne, made after examining more than 100 witnesses. Announcement of the finding was made by Edwin J. Rader, assistant state's attorney, who was preparing the testimony for presentation to the grand Jury. As the investigation progressed, headed by officials of the city, state and federal governments, divers, firemen and policemen continued their sorry task of removing bodies from the sunken hull of the death ship. It was believed that between 1,000 and 1,200 persons lost their lives. Coroner Hoffman declared, however, that with more than 800 dead already accounted for, there are stili 700 bodies trapped in the hull and caught in the life nets stretched across the
Chicago river at frequent intervals for a distance of nearly two miles. Overloading Is the Main Fact. The statement of Assistant State's Attorney Rader discussing the results of the investigation said: "All our testimony points to the fact that the boat was overloaded. There
are other considerations, but the main fact is that overloading caused the tragedy. "They had too many persons too high on the ship. The question of ballast has been brought up, but that is of secondary importance. We have been investigating since early Saturday morning. We have questioned more than 100 witnesses. Everything points-to overloading, and the state's attorney's office is prepared to charge this. "There were other violations and irregularities. Some of the inside facts as to the working of the government inspectors will be revealed in our complete report on the catastrophe. "We found that the gangways were not closed. This would have helped stop the inrush of the water. The lower portholes were not closed either, as they should have been. But all these are of minor importance compared to the big fact that the ship
carried more passengers than she should have carried." Acting Mayor Moorehouse gave out the following statement:
"In 1914, the captain of the Eastland filed papers with the Chicago chief of police, swearing in them that the capacity of the vessel was 2,000 persons. The company admitted that 2,500 were on board when she capsized
in the Chicago river Saturday. That certainly seems to be overcrowding,
on the face of it." Inquiry by Federal Inspectors.
As soon as Captain Pedersen of the
Eastland and the other ship's officers are released from custody by State's
Attorney Hoyne, so that they can be
used as witnesses, Capt. Ira B. Mans
field, in charge of the federal steam
ship inspection bureau in Chicago, will
begin his investigation of the capslz
ing of the liner. Captain Mansfield issued a statement in which he said
he believed federal inspectors could
determine the cause of the accident
much more quickly than anyone else
"We are more familiar with steam
ships," said he, "and we know how
they should be run. We could con
duct an investigation along entirely different lines from those followed by
anybody else."
Along with the investigation into the cause of the Eastland tragedy,
captain Mansfield expects an invest!
gation of his department.
"I do not fear any such investiga
tion," he said. "The Eastland had com
plied with all government regulations
It had been passed by four boards of
federal inspectors, at Port Huron. Mich., Chicago. Cleveland and St. Joseph, Mich. Four boards would not
have made the same mistake if the
vessel had not complied with the regu
lations." Three Investigations Started.
Besides the investigations by the
coroners jury and the county grand
jury, the federal department of com
merce, spurred on by an order from
President Wilson, has men here in
quiring into the disaster.
Secretary Redfield at Washington was considering naming a board of
civilians and naval 6fficers to conduct
an inquiry. At the same time de
mands were loud in Chicago against
the department s investigating its own
res pon sibil it y.
Judge Landis in the federal court called a special grand jury to meet Thursday and cunsider the evidence
which is being collected by Charles F.
Clyne, United btates district attornev
The federal officers are expected to
present all they get on the Eastland to him. The city police already have
made -close to fifty arrests of officers
: and crew and collected a large quan
tity of evidence, which they have turned over to the county officials. Indictments for manslaughter are to be asked if the inquisitorial bodies decide anybody was responsible for crowding the helpless victims into the gigantic death trap. Public officials say that the inquiries will be quick and conclusive. In this respect they promise that they will differ from the usual run of inquiries, which die out
as the popular demand for punishment subsides. Westcott is Subpoenaed. A subpoena was served on Charles H. Westcott of Detroit, supervising inspector for the Eighth district of the federal steamboat inspection .service. It commanded that he appear before the Cook county grand jury to testify in the state's investigation into he disaster. The two wheelmen who were at the helm of the Eastland when she tipped over were taken into custody. They were Albert Webber and William Gordon, both of Chicago. The arrest of the two was ordered by First Deputy Superintendent of Police Schuettler.
REMOVING DEAD FROM WRECKED STEAMER
AMERICAN SHIP SUNK Steamer Leelanaw Torpedoed by German Submarine.
Crew of Flax-Laden Freighter Takes to Boats and Lands at Kirkwall, Scotland.
WflMFN HRP fill I IUI I
uumui niiL UnLiii.
By JOHN C. FOSTER.
International News Service Correspondent. London, July 27. Within 48 hours after the German foreign, office had received President Wilson's latest note on submarine warfare, a German undersea boat torpedoed and sank the American steamer Leelanaw off the coast of Scotland. Her crew wTas landed at Kirkwall, Scotland. The Leelanaw was torpedoed on Sunday morning while bound from Archangel, Russia, to Belfast, Ireland, with a cargo of flax. Before she went to the bottom the crew took to the boats under direction of Captain Deik. The identity of the submarine that sank the Leelanaw has not yet been ascertained. Reports from Kirkwall say that the Leelanaw was approached Sunday
morning by the German submarine off the northwest coast of Scotland. The submarine ordered the ship to stop and the commander then brought a
crew aboard. The commander inquired after the Leelanaw's cargo, and being told it was flax immediately declared it contraband, and then ordered the entire crew to the boats. After they put off from the ship 'she was torpedoed and went to the bottom. Washington, July 27. News of the sinking of the Leelanaw by a submarine came as a shock to Washington. In the absence of official information the state department declined to discuss the significance of the act. The news from unofficial sources, however, added to the anxiety shown in the department because of the hostile tone of the German press toward the latest American note to Germany. In its legal aspects the case of the Leelanaw appeared to be on all fours with that of the William P. Frye, for the sinking of which the German government has agreer5 make full payment to the owners. Consequently the case
does not come within the field of thA
recent American note to Germany. The fact, however, that the United States government declined to admit
the right of the Germans to sink tlo
William P. Frye because of treaty obligations between Germany and thA
United States applies as well to the case of the Leelanaw.
Lerwick, Scotland, Julv 27. Thp
British steamer Grangewood, 3,422
tons, was sunk by a German subma
rine in the North sea Saturday. The
crew was rescued and landed here.
lne ship was bound from Archangel
to iavre.
MEN
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.
RUSSIANS HAVE NEW HOPE
Successes by Novo Georgievsk Garri
son Lead to Belief Warsaw May Be Saved.
Petrograd. July 27. Successful sor
ties by the garrison of Novo Opnr-
gievsk have resulted in the regaining
ui ground taken by the Germane;
northeast of that fortress, the war of-
fice announced. The operations of
the Russians in this district are said
to threaten with disaster the troons nf
meia Marshal von Hindenburg, who
crossed tne Aarew river.
The war office announcempn
orougnt the first hope that the Ger
man drive against Warsaw from the
north would result in failure.
Berlin, July 27 (by wireless). Pui.
tusk and Rozan, two of Russia's
strongest fortresses on the Narew
river, have been captured by the Ger
mans, it was unolficiallv announcpri
these strongholds protected Warsaw
from the northeast, and their fall is
expected to facilitate the. camnaten
agamst tne tonsil capital.
Move to Forestall Strike.
Springfield, Mass.. July 27. Thp
iXew England estinghouse comnanv
has announced that on August 6 sub
stantial bonuses will be given to ores-
ent wage scales, according to length
of periods of employment, affecting employees in all departments of it
big war munition plants. This move
ment is to forestall the possibility of
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
tor their lives the women and girls,
arter the first panic, quickly recov
ered. Either they clung patiently to rails and bits of wreckage, or, if
trapped in the hull, they waited calm
ly 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 thev
might be saved. They struggled mad
ly to save life, not for others, but for themselves. And some, when rescued,
stood stunned and helpless, watching
otners at work. RECOGNIZES HIS DAUGHTER.
.bred Swigert, a city fireman.
worked 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 and looked closely at the child's features. He gasped and fell uncon
scious 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, ofläce boy in department No. 2136 at me 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 sisfprlv
love and in the men a "big brother" attitude.
In the morning he was anions- thp.
first aboard the Eastland, distributing programs, smiling a cheerim? e-reptine-
and making himself the pet of the
crowd. During the afternoon
than fifty women and girls tramnpd
from morgue to hospital and from hos
pital to information bureau to innnirp
as to the fate of George.
At the bureau at 216 North PlnrV
street three pretty stenoeranhpr
gathered around the desk marked
iNames from J. to N .," and askpd
about George Maley.
"A relative?" 6ne of the clprk
asked sympathetically, when no report
was iouna in nis index.
"No. But the best little fellow vrm
ever knew," answered one, and led
the group away.
FAT MAN SCARED; TWO DROWN.
"I heard her flop over with a nrr.h
and a splash," said William Raphael "I jumped out to the door nnri MW
what had happened. I saw two wom
en come bobbing up to the surfnop
far from the shore pilin er. I -m
in to grab them.
"Some fat man, his face etpph Jti,
terror, was making for them, t
got hold of the women and started to pull them out.
"The fat man held on to fhp
en s dresses, and I couldn't swim with the whole load. I yelled at him. tread
ing water as I fought He Wn.,M
let go.
"I kicked him in the face and o,
him let go. I lost one of the women in
the struggle, but I got the other wom
an to shore safely.
All three of them might have been
saved if that fellow hadn't been scared
into a frenzy. I am glad that I saved
one, anyway.
ALL EXCEPT SON SAVED. Casper Laline, Sr., of 371S Oeden
avenue, his wife and their daughter Cecilia, thirteen years old, were res
cued, but their son, Casper, Jr., eight years old, is believed to have been drowned.
The Laline family was in a state
room 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 1758 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 up on top of
the boat as it turned over."
POLICEMAN SAW TRAGEDY. With water dripping from his hair
and clothing, Policeman John H.
Sescher, 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 about 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 began to 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 lessl I remember one girl she was onlv
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 let 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 out."
HOOSIER NEWS BRIEFLY TOLD
Marion. For the first time in years It has been found necessary to turn on the heat in the barracks, hospital and mess hall at the Soldiers' home. The pesthouse and guard box, landmarks of the home, have -been razed andcut up into firewood. South Bend. Bishop Linneborn, formerly superior of the Holy Cross seminary at Notre Dame university, died suddenly in Dacca, India,
according to word that reached Jiere. Michigan City. William Edwards, thirty-eight years old, sentenced October 29, 1907, from Clark county to serve from ten to twenty years for burglary, is dead in the state prison. Warsaw. Ethel Proffit, four-year-old daughter of Mrs. Joseph Proffit, was drowned in a rain barrel. She was playing around the barrel and lost her balance, falling in headfirst. Angola. John Baxter, an attorney of Auburn, dropped dead two
I miles north of Waterloo. He was ! ! e TT :ii i i a
uiivmg iiuiu xiainnion, wnere ne nau been at a lake resort with his family. It is not positively known yet whether he died from heart disease or a stroke of paralysis. Mr. Baxter was one of the best-known attorneys in northern Indiana. Terre Haute. When Dave, alias "Dude," Turner, aged forty-five, arrived on a train from Linton, he was arrested on information from the police of that town where he had been passing counterfeit silver dollars. His pockets were filled with the counterfeits and his traveling bag also was heavy with them. He admitted making the coins and laughingly apologized for their erudeness, saying that he had not had time to finish them. The police say he is a much wanted man. Captain Thomas Hall of the government secret service has been notified and will come to be present at a hearing before a United States commissioner.
Evansville. Detectives of an Evansville agency arrested a man giving his name as I. R. Edwin of Greenville, Ky., but who is said to be John Hays, murderer and highway robber, who escaped from the Kentucky penitentiary six months ago. The man was captured as he was about to board a traction car at Hatfield, near here. While making the trip to Rockport, he tried to stab one of the detectives, but was prevented. The man escaped from the detectives after a two-mile chase through the woods, in wnich numerous shots were fired. A number of saws and files were found on the man, but these, he asserted, he used for. making butcher knives for farmers. Terre Haute. With seventeen lead "dollars" in his possession, David Turner, forty-five years old, wTas arrested, charged with having counterfeit money in his possession. He was taken from train No. 6 on the Chicago, Terre Haute & Southern
railroad. The arrest was made after the police had received a long-distance call from Linton, where Turner is alleged to have attempted to pass some of the bad coins. Turner was known in Linton as "Dude" and he is said to have gone to that city from Chicago. He is said to have admitted making the bogus coins. The work was crude, and the police declare Turner said that he "had not finished them yet." Tipton. Mrs. Gilbert Robinson, thirty years old, is in jail here, Charged with killing Walter Varner, twenty-six years old, whom she shot as he attempted to break into her home. The woman fired six shots from a revolver through a door, three of them striking Varner. The young man then swallowed poison and severed an artery in his arm. The coroner decided his death was caused by
the bullet wounds. Mrs. Robinson's eight-year-old daughter witnessed the tragedy. Mrs. Robinson testified at the inquest that Varner had annoj'ed her frequently and that she and her husband, a laborer, had appealed to the prosecuting attorney several months ago for protection. Rockpört. After being vainly sought by officers of the law throughout Indiana and Kentucky,; William Hosey, charged with the mur-' der of Joseph Ashley at Hatfieid,ntar here, about four weeks ago, cameto the county jafl and surrendered to the Spencer county sheriff. He gave as the reason for his surrender that! he was tired of living on blackberries,' and roasting ears, and his first request was for Sheriff Kramer to give! him some dinner. Hosey came into;
town trom Evansville with the avowed' intention of giving himself up, but; evidently became afraid, for he got off the car in town and went- back, into hiding. Since then the woods; near Rockport had been scoured for' the fugitive, but no trace of him could be discovered. The story of the trac-I tion conductor, to whom Hosey told of his purpose of surrendering, was. doubted because of the failure to find anyone else who had seen him. Valparaiso. Ten thousand spectators saw Robert Masterson, an. aeronaut engaged by the local chamber of commerce fo the midsummer festival and mardi gras, 'dangle 1,S0Q feet in the air here with a burning parachute. Before the ascension attendants had overturned a can of gasoline, used with other fluids to provide gas for the balloon. As Masterson made the scent the guy ropes were afire. He cut loose a second parachute while the first was on ftro and descended in safety nin smiles from town. The balloon wai recovered, only slightly damaged. ,
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