Chicago, July 25 – One of the worst catastrophes in the history of this country occurred last Saturday morning when the steamer Eastland with 3,000 excursionists on board turned turtle in the Chicago river while the boat was still at her dock and almost one-half the number lost their lives. It all happened within the course of a few minutes.

The Eastland was one of the five boats that were to convey the employees of the Western Electric Company and their families to Michigan City for a day's outing. The Eastland was the first boat scheduled to leave the city and it is now claimed was crowded beyond her capacity. It appears that the boat was unseaworthy and when the great crowd moved to one side of the craft the uneven distribution of weight and the lack of proper ballast caused her to turn turtle, and plunge her cargo of human souls into the river. A majority of those drowned were women and children and the most heart-rending scenes were enacted. Thousands of others who had gathered to take the other boats witnessed scenes terrible beyond description, the disaster being of a most appalling nature.

The last estimate places the number of identified dead at 826, unidentified dead at 5, missing 531, a total of 1,362.

Fred Dorchester is an employee of the Western Electric Company and with his wife had planned to take the trip. Fortunately for them the alarm clock failed to perform its function and they over-slept. However they reached the dock in time to witness the awful disaster. Whern the first news reached Bellevue of the accident grave fears were entertained by the relatives of Mr. And Mrs. Dorchester for their safety, but Fred sent a telegram that afternoon stating that they were safe.

The cause of the disaster is now being investigated by the coroner's jury and a most thorough and searching examination will be made.

Late last night the jury reached a verdict placing the blame upon six men as follows: William H. Hull, general manager of the Chicago, St. Joseph Steamship company, owner of the Eastland; Captain Harry Peterson of the Eastland; J.M. Erickson, engineer; Robert Reid, federal inspector of steamships who gave the Eastland license to carry 2,500 passengers July 2; J.O. Ecklin, federal inspector of steamships; W.K. Greenebaum, general manager of the Indiana Transportation company, lessee of the Eastland.

The jury recommended that these men be held to a grand jury for indictments on charges of manslaughter.

After stating the recommendation that the men name be held to the grand jury "on the charge of manslaughter and for such other offenses as the facts do warrant," the verdict continued.

"Nothing in the testimony offered before this grand jury indicated that the passengers were guilty of any unusual act that contributed to the disaster and we are of the opinion that not act of the passengers was responsible for the disaster"

"In the absence of evidence of undue acts on the part of the passengers or violent physical causes such as explosions, or collision the fact that this vessel overturned is proof either that it was improperly constructed for the service employed or that it was improperly loaded, operated, maintained or that all of these causes operated to bring about the serious result."

EASTLAND SEIZED BY JUDGE LANDIS
Federal Judge Takes Drastic and Unexpected Action at Chicago.

INVESTIGATION IS BEGUN
Coroner's Jury Finish Work – Recommend That Six Men Be Held for Both County and U.S. Grand Juries for Steamer Disaster.

Chicago, Aug 2 – Federal Judge Landis, exercising the power of his office, Friday, issued an order seizing, in the name of the United States government, the overturned steamer Eastland on which more than 1,000 lives were lost last Saturday.

The action of Judge Landis was the most drastic taken by any official since the disaster. It was as unexpected as it was drastic.

The order placed the Eastland wholly in the hands of the federal government, and lifted the matter of investigation and rescue of bodies from the sunken hull of the vessel out of the hands of the police and the state authorities, except insofar as Judge Landis may direct their activities.

Judge Landis' order overshadowed all the other investigations of the Eastland disaster, including the one being conducted under the personal supervision of Secretary of Commerce William C. Redfield.

The coroner's jury has found six men responsible for the Eastland disaster.

The charges include manslaughter and "such other offenses as the facts may warrant."

The men held are:

Robert Reid, United States steamboat inspector, with headquarters at St. Joseph, Mich.

E.C. Eckliff, United States inspector of steamboat boilers with headquarters at St. Joseph.

William H. Hull, vice-president and general manager of the St. Joseph-Chicago Transportation company, owners of the Eastland.

W.K. Greenbaum, general manager of the Indiana Transportation company, which chartered the boat.

Harry Pedersen, captain of the Eastland.

Joseph M. Erickson, chief engineer of the Eastland and son-in-law of Inspector Reid.

All six are in Chicago, either in custody or under surveillance.

Held for Both Juries
The jury recommended the six men be held for both Cook county and United States grand juries.

The jury, so far as its jurisdiction in firing the blame was concerned, included the owners of the ship, the charterers, the operators, and federal inspectors who certified to the seaworthiness of the ship.

Jury Instructed
Judge Kenesaw Landis in the United States court in instructing the federal grand jury, which started an inquiry into the Eastland disaster, delivered what was considered as a deliberate rebuke to Secretary of Commerce Redfield.

Judge Landis directed the jury to make a full investigation into the tragedy and fix the responsibility on whatever shoulders were found guilty.

At conclusion of his instructions, Judge Landis said:

"One word by way of caution. Much publicity has been given the declarations purporting to emanate form official sources in vindication of the conduct of persons with whose acts you will be concerned. Of course, you will not be impressed by any such publication, no matter how high the purported authority may be, just as you will not be influenced by any publication respecting any other thing or matter involved."

Taken as Rebuke to Redfield
In his instructions Judge Landis made the scope of the grand jury's work so broad that it may include an investigation of the department of commerce right up to Secretary Redfield's office.

"It will be for you to inquire whether the navigation laws of the United States have been obeyed and to act according to your determination of that fact. Those laws deal with the construction, equipment, management and navigation of passenger-carrying craft."

"A department of the government is charged with the duty of enforcing obedience of their terms; officials are charged with this duty and clothed with authority for its discharge. You will, therefore, perceive it will be for you to ascertain in so far as it is humanly ascertainable, all the facts of the construction, equipment, management and navigation of the boat."

"And in this your inquiry will not be limited to conditions existing at the instant of the occurrence on July 24, but you will familiarize yourselves with the career of this boat and the experiences of her owners, managers and crew in its management and participation. All this is ordered that you may answer the question: "Did the occurrence result from any act or acts of omission or commission enjoined by federal law on the parts either of the owners, managers, crew or other persons having to do with the subject matter, or on the part of any government official or officials charged with the duty of inspecting the same matter?"

Grand Jury Inspects Boat.
The grand jury went to the scene of the disaster and inspected the Eastland. Judge Landis named George Roberts, a hotel man of Arlington Heights, as foreman of the grand jury.

Meanwhile the department of commerce quiz, under Secretary Redfield's direction, proceeded in the federal building.

Secretary Redfield himself promised a thorough quiz to discover the fault of the steamboat inspection service and the shortcomings of the officers and crew of the Eastland.

In opening his inquiry at the federal building Secretary Redfield stated it would be "confined to the conduct of the licensed inspectors who had to do with the steamer Eastland." He said it took place "automatically, as in other accidents of less moment."

After this preface he ran a caressing hand through his blond side-whiskers and proceeded to bombard the witnesses with his own theories garbed as questions.

Here Are Some Samples.
At times he became sarcastic. Some impression of his ideas of what President Wilson meant by the three words, "thorough, searching and complete," may be gained from the following excerpts;

Capt. Nils B. Nelson, supervising inspector, of Cleveland, is on the stand.

Secretary Redfield – Captain Nelson, some genius has discovered that the Eastland had no keel – that it was keel-less. Do you agree with the genius who says it was without a keel?

Captain Nelson – Yes. None of the lake boats have keels. None of the great freighters have them.

Secretary Redfield – Ah. None of the great freighters carrying 10,000 tons of freight have keels?

Captain Nelson – That is true.

Secretary Redfield – And is it not true that none of the great battleships of the United States have keels?

Captain Nelson – That is true.

Secretary Redfield – Could you, if you were ordered by the government, calculate the metacentric height of vessels in your district with your present force?

Captain Nelson – No, we could not.

Secretary Redfield – Has it ever been suggested to you that this should be a part of the government's inspection functions?

Captain Nelson – Yes, and I think it should be.

More Bodies Located.
Gruesome piles of bodies were seen lodged against the pilings and cables under the Randolph street bridge by divers. One – that of a man – was brought to the surface , horribly mutilated. At the same time the body of a woman was found lying at the bottom of the Eastland. The federal grand jury, which had arrived on the scene at the time, watched the bringing up of the woman. Then they turned away – sickened.

After a consultation of the divers and police it was decided that a new method be used in dislodging the bodies from under the bridge where they had drifted.

Quicklime, partially covered with water, is sealed in jars and lowered into the water. A gas is generated, causing the jars to explode. This method is to be used hereafter.

Place Cable Around Ship.
A great steel cable now encircles the Eastland and the tugging of a powerful donkey engine is about to be started in the work of righting the steamer.

With the completion of the placing of the heavy chain about the boat, spectators watching from nearby buildings saw a remarkable sight. Thousands and thousands of small fish rose to the surface and darted away in every direction.

The presence of the fish means, according to lake men, that many bodies are lying in the mud near the boat. Another reason given is that the fish have been attracted by the thousands of baskets of lunch which were brought by unfortunate picknickers.

Volunteer crews are patrolling up and down the river continuously in the search for bodies which may come to the surface. All have their own launches. More than seventy men – divers, volunteer swimmers and members of the fire department – are

A great steel cable now encircles the Eastland and the tugging of a powerful donkey engine is about to be started in the work of righting the steamer.

With the completion of the placing of the heavy chain about the boat, spectators watching from nearby buildings saw a remarkable sight. Thousands and thousands of small fish rose to the surface and darted away in every direction.

The presence of the fish means, according to lake men, that many bodies are lying in the mud near the boat. Another reason given is that the fish have been attracted by the thousands of baskets of lunch which were brought by unfortunate picknickers.

Volunteer crews are patrolling up and down the river continuously in the search for bodies which may come to the surface. All have their own launches. More than seventy men – divers, volunteer swimmers and members of the fire department – are assisting the crew of the Favorite in the work on the Eastland.

Get Body in Net.
One crew was sent to Western avenue, where a huge net, 300 feet long and 22 feet deep, has been stretched across the river.

THE BELLEVUE LEADER, BELLEVUE, IOWA
JULY 25-AUGUST 10, 1915

MORGUE IN A WAREHOUSE
Row After Row of Bodies Fill Great Rooms as Waiting Crowds Weep and Curse – Pathetic Scenes Are Witnessed.

Chicago, July 26 – The tug Kenosha, tied to the pier west of the Clark street bridge, formed an approach to the liner.

From the tug's after rail one stepped on to the great iron side of the overturned steamer and scrambled up to the flat length, taking care of the open portholes, and the holes cut by acetylene blowpipes.

The side of the boat had become as a deck – a place where the rescuers might stand.

The scene was confusing.

Policemen, officers, firemen, soldiers, divers, men in bathing suits – life guards – priests, reporters, physicians and others jostled and bumped each other.

Every second came the cry: "Stretcher!" and a dozen men would rush toward the spot. Then came the warning, "Gangway! Gangway!" and four men would go by carrying a still, blanket-covered figure.

Now and then a policeman walked through the crowd, carrying a bundled corpse of a child in his arms.

Here two men were pumping air to a diver down in the depths, there a group waited, pulling on ropes, watching someone down below – ready to haul up another body when the signal came.

Office of Church.
A priest stood by one such hole. There was a shawl round his shoulders and he held an umbrella.

"I have given them all conditional absolution," he said; "some who came out alive, but almost dead, received the last sacrament, the viaticum."

"All ready upstairs!" came the shout from below.

The firemen pulled on the ropes. The body came up bit by bit.

"Stretcher!" bawled someone, and in a trice there were two stretchers waiting.

The hand of the priest made the sign of the cross as the body came into view and his lips muttered:

"Ego te absolve a peccatis tuis, in nomine Patris, ea Filli, et Spiriti Sancti, Amen! -- I absolve you from all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen!"

It was the body of a young girl, dressed in a white dress. There were white pumps on the feet and white silk gloves on the arms. She held clasped in one hand a gold watch. It was opened.

"Ah, poor soul!" said the priest. "She was holding her sweetheart's watch, perhaps, and they were chatting together when the boat overturned."

Up came the man from the hold – Henry Bauer of 1137 Lawrence avenue, a lifeguard at Diversey beach.

"I must rest awhile," he said. "I'm all in. I must have fastened a dozen girls to the ropes. It seems there are piles of them. Somebody give me a cigarette."

The bodies were carried down to the tug, across the tug, on the right side, up the steps and over the bridge to the Reid-Murdoch storage room.

Others were taken in the opposite direction, placed in one of the score of small boats at the end and taken across the stream to the warehouse.

Thousands of men and women looked on, crowding the bridges, filling every window overlooking the river, choking the docks and the piers near by.

Morgue in Warehouse.
The Reid-Murdoch warehouse presented another picture of confusion.

The dead were placed in long rows, side by side – men, women, children. There were boxes, and bundles, and barrels and articles of merchandise all over the great room.

The police swarmed all around, company officials, doctors, nurses – and undertakers who were embalming bodies.

"Clear away all these things," bellowed Schuettler through his megaphone; "make room!"

"How many bodies are here now?" he asked someone.

"Six hundred," he was told.

"There's twice that many on the boat yet," he said; "get some more men in here to guard these bodies. We caught one ghoul robbing on the boat – and one's too many."

Finds Girl's Body.
A man stumbled through the crowd around the corner and exclaimed:

"I've found my little girl, I've found her and I want to take her home."

The coroner shook his head.

"We can't do it, we cannot release a single body. We're going to take all these to some central point – the Second infantry armory or the Coliseum or some place big enough. Write down the girl's name on a tag, the one who identified her, the address and the amount of the estate."

And so it went all day, the stretcher men going and coming.

Work to Restore Lives.
Upstairs in the storage building physicians worked to resuscitate many. Many were brought to life, many were given up after lung motors had been used for hours in vain.

One of these latter was a boy of eight years.

A diver had found him clinging to the submerged rail. He was dressed in an "Indian" play suit, with a bathing suit underneath.

"We worked on him for more than an hour," said Dr. Joseph Ross. "There were signs of life, but very faint. He's gone in spite of all we could do."

A string of ambulances and auto trucks lined Clark street. A cordon of police stood about the doors of the Reid-Murdoch building, and crowds sought to get past, claiming relatives, parents, children, friends.

The police were forced to refuse most of them admittance – and the women went away weeping – the men murmuring, cursing or threatening. And more came in their places.

Suddenly Finds Wife.
A man in overalls, who was thought to be one of the electricians at work putting in the emergency lights at one of the hospitals, suddenly sank by the side of a young woman who had just been brought back from the embalmer's table. The black-haired, pretty girl wrapped in the shroud was his wife.

WOMAN TELLS OF DISASTER
Mrs. William Peterson Says She Was Separated From Husband and Child.

Chicago – Among those rescued was Mrs. William Peterson.

Mrs. Peterson was on the second deck with her husband, a foreman at the Western Electric company, her daughter Ruth, eight years old, and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Emily Chellburg of 4118 Sheffield avenue, when the steamer upset.

In describing her experience and rescue she said:

"We were on the side of the boat nearest the dock and as the steamer suddenly listed I threw out my hands in an effort to catch hold of something, but failed and fell into the water. I went under and as I came to the surface I saw two hands reaching out through a port-hole. They pulled me through. I do not know whether my husband, daughter and sister-in-law were saved."

DAY OF MOURNING IN CHICAGO
Funeral Processions Make Way Through City's Streets During Rain and Fog.

Chicago, July 30 – Wednesday was a day of general mourning in Chicago, set apart by Mayor Thompson in a proclamation as a day of public sorrow over the loss of nearly 1,500 lives on the steamer Eastland in the Chicago river last Saturday. It was observed by the closing of all city offices and scores of business houses.

In a driving rain hundreds of funeral processions made their way through the city's streets, each cortege led by the body of one of the disaster victims. Every hearse in the city of Chicago was in use. These were not sufficient, and many bodies were carried to the burying grounds in auto trucks, wagons, automobiles, and carriages.

Saved From Watery Grave.
Chicago – Mrs. J. O'Keefe and her daughter Katherine who were thrown into the river when the Eastland turned over, but who were rescued by the crew of the steamer Petoskey.

(picture caption)

MAYOR REFUSES FILM PERMIT
Backs Judgment of Officials and Business Men, Declaring Display Would Be Commercializing.

Chicago – Mayor Thompson refused to permit the exhibition of Chicago motion pictures of the Eastland disaster. The mayor acted after a committee consisting of James Simpson, Julius Rosenwald and A.A. Sprague II had viewed all of the pictures of the disaster and unanimously disapproved of their exhibition.

"Exhibition of the pictures would be commercializing a disaster," said the mayor. "It would be against the policy of the city and I will not permit it. Permits for the pictures were refused by Major Funkhouser, Chief of Police Healey and Commissioner of Public Works Moorhouse, who was acting mayor during my absence. The committee of business men I appointed to view the pictures also are unanimous in asserting they should not be shown."

STEAMER EASTLAND RIGHTED
Boat Which Capsized Three Weeks Ago Raised 75 Degrees – No Bodies Found.

Chicago, Aug 16 – After 20 hours of lifting by huge cranes with the assistance of several powerful tugs, the Eastland, which capsized just three weeks ago, causing the loss of nearly a thousand lives, was slowly raised from the mud of the Chicago river on Friday until the steamer reached an angle of about seventy-five degrees. No bodies were found.