A CHICAGO HORROR.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 73, 26 July 1915, Page 2

A CHICAGO HORROR.

RIVER STEAMER CAPSIZES. OYER 1000 PICKNICKERS DROWNED. Untied Press Association. New York, July 24. The Chicago Electric Company's •employees chartered the steamer Enst|land to go to the buys for their nn[nual picnic. Two thousand live hundred poisons crowded aboard while the vessel was moored at the wharf. The (weight of humanity caused a list, and 'many persons fell or rolled to the 'wrong side. The vessel heeled over, broke her hawsers, and floated into the middle of the river with one side [submerged, midst scenes of panic. 'Scores of people were drowned in the 'cabins, and others leaped into the 'river. A .steamer put out boats and rescued hundreds, and policemen in launches picked up many scores who clambered down the side while the Eastland was floating slowly down the ! liver. These were all saved. It is believed that seven hundred bodies 'are still aboard in the flooded cabins. Life-savers are cutting through the [ship's sides, hoping to reach any who may have survived. One policeman in 'a boat rescued fifty women and children. Three hundred bodies have been recovered.

SHIPS OFFICIALS ARRESTED

Chicago. July 24. The police have arrested all officials of the steamship company. The crowd threatened to lynch ; them en route to the police station. Many remarkable escapes are recorded. One man was una hie to swim caught his coat in a rail and was held up. Firemen have chopped through the sides of the ship, but everywhere dead bodies are piled like bales of merchandise. There were pathetic scenes at the morgue. The Customs reported that the vessel carried no more passen-'.Tci-s than the regulations provided. Survivors describe the sinking like a lightning stroke, and it was impossible to affect rescues. Divers are recovering many bodies. The city is in mourning. It is impossible to ascertain the number of the dead, but it is known to exceed a thousand. The accident is believed to have been dw to a defect in the .steamer's construction.