Newspapers / The Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.) / July 30, 1915, edition 1 / Page 2
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mm URN LOST IN irrnmiiin Hundreds, Mostly Women and Children, Per ish in Chicago River When Great Steam er Eastland Capsizes at Pier MOST BODIES RECOVERED Excursion Trip is Suddenly Ended and All Chicago is Thrown in Mourning , Chicago. Bodies of more than one thousand persons have been found, most of them women and children, who were drowned within a few feet of lard by the capsizing of the steel steamer Eastland, as It was about to leave ita wharf In the Chicago river with 2,500 relatives and friends of the employees of the Western Elec tric company, for an excursion across Lake Michigan. The ship rolled over on Ita side In 25 feet of water and with in five minutes after It began to list. The total dead remained at approx imately 1.000 according to estimates by Coroner Hoffman, whose reports Indicated that possibly 100 bodies were held In the mud of the river by the steamers superstructure. While only 1.0Q2 the .paasfingiirs_ j}jL-lhe Eastland have registered as saved, It wss thought that al>out 475 survivors, Including the crew of 72, had failed to report. Several persons were taken alive from the cabins of the ship after It had laid on Its side In the river for four hours, the the others said to be in t!io hulk all are dead I'ader the glare of searchlights at tight, scores of men worked in the hull of the vessel to remove the bodies. The steamer lay on the bottom of the river, one side protruding like a monu ment to the hundreds It had drowned as It turned over. The cause of the caplslzlng had not been determined but federal, city and state officers were conducting investi gations to determine whether the ship was top heavy from faulty designing, was Improperly ballasted or was poor ly handled In warping from the wharf. Marine architects asserted that the Kastland was faulty In design, that the top dock had been removed because of the tendency of the ship to list and also pointed to the possibility that the ship had been unevenly or In sufficiently ballasted. The Eastland used water ballast, so that it could pump out some on entering shallow lake harbors, so some investigators are working on a theory that the bal last tanks were not filled and the rush ing of passengers to one side of ths deck caused It to roll over. Under misty skies, 7,000 men, wo men and children wended their way to the Clark street dock early In the day to All five large lake steamerers with holiday mirth In a trip to Michi gan City. The steamer Eastland brought to Chicago from I>ake Erie, after an unsatisfactory career, was the first to be loaded. Rain began to fall as the wharf su perintendent lifted the Ran*" planks from the vessel. declaring that the gov ernment limit of 2,800 passenger* had been reached. White dresses peeped from raincoats along the shore rails as those aboard waved good bye to friends on shore who were waiting to board the steamer Roosevelt and oth er vessels. Then the passengers swarmed to the left side of the ship as the other steam era drew up the river towards the wharf. A tun was hitched to the East land, ropes were ordered cast off and the steamer engines began to hum. The Bastland had not budged, how ever. • Instead, the heavily laden ship wav ered sldewise, leaning first towards the river bank. The lurch was so •tartllng that many passengers Join ed the large concourse already on the river aide of the decks The ship never heeled back. It turn #4 slowly but steadily toward Jts left aide. Children clutched the skirts of mothers and sisters to keep from fall ing. The whole cargo was Impelled towards the falling side of the ship. Water began to enter lower portholes •fid the hawsers tore out the piles to which the vessel waa tied. Screams from passengers attracted the attention of fellow excursionists on the dock awaiting the next steam er. Wharfmen and picnickers soon lined the edge of the embankment, reaching out helplessly towards the wavering steamer. For nearly five minutes the ship , turned before It finally dived under Che swift current of the river, which ©win® to the drainage canal ayatem ftowt from the lake. During the mighty turning of the shin with Its cargo of humanity, lifeboats, chairs end other loose aopurtenances on the decks slipped down the sloping floors, crashing the passengers toward the rising water. Then there was a Hnnre with * elrh of air ese«t»ln«r frotp the ho*d. »a«-«led with crying of children and Ju ii: 'S s . ' •tarleki of women and the ship was on the bottom of the river, casting hundreds of living creature* to the water. Many sank, entangled with clotbln and bundles and did not rlae, but hun dreds came to the surfec, seized floating chairs and other objects. Those on shore threw out ropes and dragged In those who could hold these life lines. Employee of commission Arms along the river threw crates, chicken coops and other floatable things into the current, but most of these were swept away by the stream, which runs Ave miles an hour. , Boats put out, tugs rushed to the scene with shrieking whistles and many men snatched ofT cats and shoes and sprang into the river to aid the drowning. With thousands of spectators ready to aid and the wharf within grasp, hundreds went to death despite every effort at rescue. One mother grasped her two chil dren In her arms as she slipped from the steamer Into the water. One child was torn from her but she and the other were saved. Fathers were drowned after aiding their wives and children to safety. Instances of heroism were almost as numerous as the number of per sons on the scene. Moats as soon as full took rescued passengers to the wharf or to the steamer Theodore Koosevelt, which was tied up oppo site the Kastland. In an hour the water was cleared of excursionists. Those »ho had not been taken to land had sunk or were swirling down the river towards the drainage canal locka at Lockport, 111., many miles away. The locks wore raised to atop the current and ar rangements were made to toko bodies from the river along its course through tha southwest part ol Chi cago. Shortly after the water was clear ed, city firemen, ship engineers and helpers were on the exposed side of the Eastland's hull, cutting through ita steel plates with gas flamos. U'v ers were hurried into underwater suits. A tug was moored as a bridge between the pier and the capalred ship. As the divers gained entrance to the hull, the scene of distress moved for the time being from the rl>er to the extemporized morguos. Ware houses of wholesale companies along the river were thrown open and bod ies were placed in rows on the floors. Scores of persona rescued from the water were Injured and then were taken to the Iroquois Hospital, built In memory of the 600 women, chil dren and a few men who were burn ed and crushed to death In the Iro quois Theater New Year'a Eve some years ago. Efforts to resuscitate those taften from the river were generally unsuc cessful. Only two or three were thus Baved. It was also said that many of the Injured would die. The whole city was In consterna tion over the catastrophe. Word of the accident spread rapidly and to the thousands already at or near tho wharf, other thousands added them selves. The Clark street bridge near the wharf was crowded until It threatened to collapse. Streets had to be cleard by the police to allow the passage of ambulances. Business men sent their automo biles and motor trucks to help aid the Injured and carry away the dead. One warehouse soon was filled with bodes and other dead were taken to the Second Regiment armory, a mile away. , Mayor William Hale Thompson was in San Francisco and Chief of Police C. C. Healy also was out of town, but Acting Mayor Moorhouse sent out a request that the city dis play signs of mourning- Flags on public buildings were placed at half mast and many places were draped with mourning. Base ball games were postponed and fes tivities largely ceased. While those on land were dispos ing of the dead. Inured and rescued, the divers In the heart of the sunken vessel aent up an almost constant stream of corpses from the rub merged decks. First it was a girl In her teena who had been ciugfct be tween a pile of chairs and a wall. Next It was t slight boy, Rath- i ered from the lifeless arms of a fond father, who had clung to nis offspring even In death. Then followed an old woman, who had gone aboard the ship to watch the youtbf.il pleasure of her grandphaildren, or a little girl with bare lega and hooters and with gay ribbons sodden against the lace of her holiday gown. One thrill passed through the crowd as word came from the steam er that a girl baby bad been found alive anting the hundreds of dead in the ship. The child *ia discovered In a stafmrd stats: oom, wh*re she , i v. . »HK ENTBRPRIBB, WILLIAMBTOW, WORTH CAROLINA bad baen held from the water oj a chair that jammed against the berth. The baby only half awakened aa !t was carried to land. Ita mother couM no* b.t found. Two wemen were found alive In another suterom lr. r. protruding sied of the Eastland but that ended the hopes that any number bad •*- cai ed death In the trap. Tb«*.e were (till 300 persona In tbe bold when •hese three persons were taken out alive and tb« explorers of the hulk said tnat all were dead. Work of tagging the bodies of the dead and placing them in accessible places or identification proceeded all day and nlgbt. Identification was slow and scenes at tbe morgues were as affecting as tbosa at the*river when the steamer capsized. Mothers fell across "tbe biers of children whom tbey bad sent away a few bours before on what was intended to be a day of pleasure. Federal Judge Landls ordered a grand Jury irapannelled to investigate tbe catastrophe; State's Attorney Hoyne prepared a county grand Jury inquiry; Coroner Hoffman selected a jury to look into tbe cause of tbe deaths; the police arrested all the of ficers of the Eastland, and the health commissioner prepared to clear the river, for fear disease might be spread by the presence of so many bodies In the stream. Arrangements also were made t? get at the sunken vessel to determine the underlying causes of the accident. Derrick* on scows were taken to the side of the Eastland and marine engl neers were engaged to inspect the treacherous ship. Those in charge of the various works of clearing up the toll of can ulties and determining the respon nihility for the capsizing of the bom said that the endeavor would nece* sarily be slow because of the large number of persons aboard the East tinmd the difficulty of jetting at the hull of the steamer. Acting Mayor Moorehouse and hi* advisers decided to raise a relief fund of $200,000 to be distributed by H sub committee acting under the dlre tlon of the National Red Croaa, the Associated Charities, and tbe Munici pal Health Department. In addition to this the Western Electric Company, whose employes formed the majority of the excursion party announced that 1100,000 from its employes' lnsur ance funds was available for relief. Numerous private relief funds ware started. ■ Meanwhile Mayor Thompson, who was at the .J'anama-Paclflc Exposition to take part in the celebration of Illi nois Day, left Immediately for Chica go on a special train to take hia place in Investigation and relief work. Coronor Hoffman issued an appeal to the public for a fund for tbe burial of whatever dead may remain uniden tified. City officials with one voice declared that all dead should have proper burial. Various theories as to what caused the Eastland to turn over were dis cussed, but without prospect of a defi nite explanation. The moat discussed theories are four: That the boat waa overloaded; that she was not properly ballasted; that a tug that made fast to warp the Eastland from the docks started pulling too soon; that conges tion of passengers rushing to the port side attracted by aoma passing sensa tion tipped the steamer over. One of the divers, Louis Krugar, seld that he thought, several score bcdles were still pinned under the boat, which he Bald was resting in about four feet of stiff mud. These bodies cannot be moved until after tbe coroner's inquest, when efforts will be made to right tbe vessel. The steamer Theodore Roosevelt, of the Indiana Transportation Company, made Us regular trip to Michigan City and the .steamer City of (Jrand Rapids, of the Graham A Morton Mne, sailed as usual for St. Joseph, Mich. Both boats had comparatively small passenger lists. With the assembling of stories of witnesses and survivors, more and more Incidents of horror pathos and neroism came to light All of the Eastland's passengers save two or three hundred who clung to the star board rail or climbed out of starboard port holes were thrown Into the river, crushed Into the slimy mud of the buttom or imprisoned between decks, when the steamer turned over. The quiet hair clouds Sunday vw a day of gloom for all Chicago. The city turned to prayer and thought Ministers said more people attended church than tor many Sundays past. The preachers nearly all referred to the Eastland disaster in their sermons and asked congregations to join in prayers for the bereaved. There were crowds of morbidly curious along the river, but for' the most part the populace either went to church or stayed at home In appalled thought. With the details of the catastrophe summed up the people shuddered that close to the throbbing heart of one of the great cities of the world a thou sand people could go to their death with hundreds of persona powerless to aid standing within a stone's throw —that that great mass could drown in a narrow river 20 feet from the dock. Message From President Chicago. Acting Mayor Moors house of Chicago received the follow ing telegram from President Wood row Wilson: "1- am sure I Bp6tk the tmivsr**} feeling of the people of the country In expressing my profound sympathy and sorrow in the presence of the great disaster wbch saddened so many home* " sans as mm™ LEELENAW LADEN WITH FLAX IS TORPEDOED OFF COAST OF ~ * SCOTLAND. CARGO WAS CONTROBAND Captain and Crew of the Steamship War* Bavert Making Land In Thalr Own Boata. London.—The American freight steamer Leelenaw bound from Arch angel, Russia,* for Belfast, with a cargo of flax, was torpedoed and sunk by ft German submarine off the North weat coaat of Bcotland. Captain l»k and the craw were saved, landing at Klrkwell in their own boata. Keen interest was displayed in ISrltlsh official drr'es orer the newa of torpedoing of the Leelenaw, but comment was withheld until the ra re Ipt of further detalla which the Ad mlralty haa requested. The Leelenaw > crew will be sent to Dundee, where the American Consul will take their depositions. American official* will make a rigid Investigation eape'lally with regard to the point whether the crew was re moved before the torpedo was fired, an the Leelenaw was carrying a condi tional contraband cargo from one bel ligerent port to another. The Leelenaw left New York May 17 with a cargo of cotton consigned to Kuaala. She was detained at Kirk wall but wait released June 26 with permission to proceed to Archangel, w ami a cargo of flux was loaded for Belfast. No details of the torpedoing of the Leelenaw have been received beyond a message stating that the crew had been safely landed at Kirkwall, Scot land. MEXICO NEEDS ATTENTION. United States Will Take Steps Unless Differences Are Settled, Washington.—A definite atep toward settling the Mexican problem will be taken by the United States govern ment In the near future. Authorita tive announcement to this effect was made at the state department, al though the nature of the contemplated action was not disclosed. President Wilson Is understood to be revolving several suggested courses la his mind, but his decision probably will not be come known before bis return to Waxhlngton. Mr. Wllaon Is known to have been reviewing the situation for some time the warring Mexican factions having failed to heed his suggestion of two months ago that they accommodate their differences and restore peace In the distressed country. Apparently be has determined that the other measures which the Washington gov ernment announced It must take If the battle of the factions continued must now be resorted to. Officials In close touch with the president think that he has not final ly determined what Is to be done. His most probable coune, it was reported would be to urge General Carranca for the last time to confer with other faction leaden In an efTort to bring about peace. Should Carrania again refuse, this plan, It Is aald, contem plates efforts to assemble other Mex ican leader* who will represent a ma jority of the Me*lean people. Cotton to Sweden. London.—A dispatch to The Morn ing Post from Stockholm says: "The British Government has granted per mission to the Swedish Cotton Spin ners' Association to convey to Sweden 55,000 bales of cotton now lying In English ports, provided satisfactory guarantees are given that the cotton will not be re-exported." Will Export Grain. Berlin, via London. —A dispatch from Bucharest says that Roumanla has authorised the / exportation of wheat, rye and barley. An exporta tion tax of $l6O. 1140. and *l2O re spectively, has been Imposed on the grain. Greatest Trade Balance. Washington—Exact figures of the record-breaking American export com merce of the fiscal year which ended June 80. just made public, show that the trade balance in favor of the Uni ted States—the greatest In Its history —was $1,094,422,792, an increase of $623,800,000 over the year preceding and $428,000,000 more than the best nrevious record made In 1908. Exports totalled $2,768,643,532, an Incresse of 404,000,000 over the proceeding ytmx. Imports were $1,674,220,740. a decrease of $219,700,000. Russlsne Yielding to Teutona. London —While there is a compara tive lull In the fighting In southeastern Poland, there has been n odhnlnntlon In the German attacks to the north west of Warsaw and northward of this region over the Poltsh border in the -nvernments of Kovno and Conrland Respite the obstinate resistance of the nUMlins the German* have forced a Tossing of the Narew River. Above ind below the fortress of Oetrolenks •be Germans are advancing the •ortiflcatlons around Novo Oeorgfevsk nnd Warsaw. -,, % r.4r«r • • jij- •„ -v,'... •""If.t.'.yy M * - • iff?.'. . ."'v Mr* ' " • ' sfi . J. CONTENDS FDR TRW OF SENS AT M COSI New Note to Germany is Considered the Last Word from Washington Touching on Submarine Attacks NO THREATS CONTAINED Germany it Given Clear Under standing What This Nation Will Demand Washington.—The text of the Amer ican note on tha submarine warfare, presented at Berlin by Ambassador Ge rard, has been made public. It re veala that the Imperial government had been informed It is the Intention of the United States to regard as "de liberately unfriendly" any repetition by the commanders of German naval veasels of acta In contravention of American righta. Following ia the official text of th« latest American note to Germany re garding submarine warfare, which was delivered to the Foreign Office at Beriln by Ambassador Gerard. The Secretary of State to Ambasaa dor Gerard. Department of State. Washington, July 21, 1915. You are instructed to deliver tsxt iflly. the following note to the Mln- The note of the Imperial German Government dated the eighth of Juljr, 1916. has received the careful con sideration of the Government of the United Statea and It regret* to be obliged to say that it has found it very unsatisfactory, because it fails to meet the real differences between the two Governments and indicates no way in which the accepted principles of law and humanity may be applied In the grave matter In controversy, but proposes on the contrary, ar rangements for a partial suspension of those principles which virtually set them aside. The Government of the United States notes with satisfaction that the Impbrlal German Government recog nizes without reservation the validity of the principle Insisted on in the sev eral communications which the Gov ernment haa addressed to the Impe rial German Government with regard to its announcement of a war cone and the uae of submarines against merchantmen on the high sess—the principle that the seas are free, that the character and cargo of a mer chantman must first be ascertained before she can lawfully be seised or destroyed, and that the lives of non combatants may in no case be put In Jeopardy unless the veasel resists or seeks to escape after being summoned to submit to examination, for a bellig erent act of reallatlon la per se an act beyond the law and defense of an act as retaliatory Is an admission' that It la illegal. The government of the United Statea la, however, keenly disappoint ed to find that the Imperial German government regards Itself as in large degree exempt from the obligation to observe these principles, even where neutral vesaels are concerned, by what It believes the policy and practice of the government of Great Britain to be in the present war with regard to neu tral commerce. The Imperial German government will readily understand that the government of the United 9tates cannot discuss the policy of the government of Great Britain with re gard to neutral trade except with that government itself, and that it must re gard the conduct of other belligerent governments as Irrelevant to any dis cussion with the Imperial German gov ernment of what this government re gards as grave and unjustifiable viola tlona of the rights of American clti tens by German naval commanders. Illegal and inhuman acts, however Justifiable they may be thought to be against any enemy who is believed to have acted in contravention of law and humanity, are manifestly inde fensible when they deprive neutrals of their acknowledged rights, particu larly when they violate the right to life itself. If a belligerent cannot re taliate against an enemy without In juring the lives of neutrals, as well as heir propery, humanly, as well as Justice and a due regard for dignity of neutral powers, should dictate that the practice should be discontinued. M persisted in It would hi such cir cumstances constitute an unpardonable offense against the sovereignty of the neutral nation affected. The gov ernment of the United Statea is not unmindful of the extraordinary condi tions created by this war, of the radl- APPROVE NOTE TO GERMANY. Danville, Va., Register—The Amer ican reply is courteous and restrain ed, but definite, vigorous, clear and tnolsive. It effectually punctures all German subterfuges and calls for def inite remedial action. Quit Fiddling. Lynchburg, Va.. News —President Wilson baa shown tnat be will ceaae to tolerate quibbling and fiddling in fefpect to tbe grave question about which Berlin and Washington have not as yet reached agreements. cal alterations of circumstances ani methods of attack produced by th# use of instrumentalities of naval war- fare which the nation* of the world cannot have had la view when the ex isting rales of international'law were formulated, and It la ready to make every reasonable allowance for these novel and unexpected aspect* of war at sea; but It cannot consent to abate any essential or fundamental right of is people because cf a mere alera tlon of circumstance The rights of neutrals In time of war-are baaed up on principle, not upon expediency, and the principles are Immutable. !t is the duty and obligation of belliger ents to find a way to adapt the new circumstances to them. The eveota of the past two month* have clearly indicated that It la pos sible and practicable to conduct audi submarine operation* as hare charac terized the activity of the Imperial German navy within the so-called war zone in anbatantlal accord with the accepted practices of regulated war fare. The whole world has looked with interest and Increasing satis faction at the demonstration of that possibility by German naval command fore to lift the whole practice or aoo marine attack above the criticism which it has arouaed and remove the chief cause of offense. In view of the Illegality made bjr the Imperial government when it pleaded the right of retaliation in de fense of its acta, and in view of the manifest possibility of conforming to the established rules of naval warfare the government of the United States cannot believe that the Imperial Ger man government will longer refrain from disavowing the wanton act of Its naval commander in sinking the Lust tanla or from offering reparation for the American lives lost, so far as repa ration can be made for a needless de struction of human life by an Illegal act. The government of the United States while not indifferent to the friendly spirit in which it Is made, cannot accept the suggestion of the Imperial German government that certain vessels be designated and agreed upon which shall be free on the seas now illegally prescribed. The very agreement would, by Implication subject other vessels to Illegal attack and would be a curtailment and, there fore, an abandonment of the princi ples for which this government con tends and which In times of calmer counsels every nation would concede as of course. The government of the United States and the Imperial German gov'* ernment are contending for the came great object, have long stood togeth er in urging the very principles upon which the government of the United States now solemnly Insist*. They are both contending for (he freedom of the seas. The government, of the United States will continue to con tend for that freedom from whatever quarter violated, without compromise and at any coat. It invites the practi* cal co-operation of the Imperial Ger man government at this time when cooperation may accomplish most and this great object be mo*t strikingly and effectively achieved- The Imperial German governmen •» presses the hope that thin object may be in some measure accomplished even before the present war ends. It can be. The government of the United States feels obliged to insist upon it, by whomsoever violated or ignored, in the protection of its own cltlcens, but 'it is also deeply Interested in seeing It made practicable between the bellig erents themselves, and holds Itself ready at any time to act as the com mon friend who may be privileged to suggest a way. In the meantime th* veiy value which this government sets ppon the long and unbroken friendship between the people and government of the Uni ted States and the people and govern ment of the German nation Impels it to press very solemnly vpon the Imperial German government th* necessity for a scrupulous observance of neutral rights In this critical flatter. Friend ship itself prompts it to say to the Imperial government that rep* it ion by the commanders of German naval vee sels of acta In contravention of those rights must be regarded by the govern ment of the United States when they affect American citlaene, as deliberate ly unfriendly. LANBINO. States Position. Raleigh New* and Observer—Pres ident Wilson states the position of the United States as Americans would have him. • • • He speaks as the red-btooded representative of a red blooded people. Not Influenced by Qsrmsny - Roanoke, Va.—President Wilson has not been influenced, either by the afr titude of the German or by the senti ment among a certain class of citizens of the United States and has repeat ed his demands on Germany. V . .
The Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.)
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July 30, 1915, edition 1
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